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  • Culture Pop Scores $15M, Fruit Riot Partners With OLIPOP 🍒

Culture Pop Scores $15M, Fruit Riot Partners With OLIPOP 🍒

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CPG WIRE
April 15, 2025

Welcome back to This Week in CPG, folks. Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

  • Wellkasa buys Peak+Valley 🍄

  • Ryl Tea secures $15M 🍵

  • Harry Jowsey launches Pash 📺

  • Solento launches raicilla 👀

  • Realsy lands at Lowes Foods 📈

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Arizona-based digital health company Wellkasa has aquired Peak+Valley, an adaptogenic and herbal supplements brand that launched in 2018. Nadine Joseph founded the brand which helps with sleep, stress management, and brain health. Terms weren’t disclosed. Wellkasa markets a number of migraine solutions under its Migra-Well brand. LinkedIn

  • Heartisan Foods, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer and distributor of specialty cheese products, has been acquired by Gellert Global Group. The sellers are Ronin Equity Partners and Landon Capital Partners who established Heartisan Foods in 2021 via the merger of three specialty cheese companies. Business Wire

Fundraising

  • Culture Pop Soda secured just over $15M in fresh equity funding from Enlightened Hospitality Investments (EHI) and other investors. The fast-growing modern soda brand last raised funding in early 2024 when they landed $21M. Beverage vet and investor Tom First launched Culture Pop Soda in 2020. SEC

  • Better-for-you iced tea brand Ryl Tea raised $15M in Series B funding, bringing its total funding to date to $30M. Ryl Tea was founded in 2022 by beverage exec Blodin Ukella and country singer Morgan Wallen. The company plans to use the funding to expand its product offering and hit 40,000 points of distribution by the end of 2025. The BFY iced tea category is getting crowded with challenger brands like Ryl Tea, Halfday, and Swoon. Business Wire

  • THC-infused beverage brand Magic Cactus grabbed just over $1M in debt financing. The company last raised funding in early 2024 when it secured $275K in equity funding. SEC 

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Media personality Harry Jowsey officially launched Pash, a clean and sustainable skincare brand. Pash launched with one SKU: Skin Rescue and Repair Lotion. PR Newswire

  • Guerlain, the French beauty brand that LVMH acquired in 1994, is opening a wellness spa at the Waldorf Astoria New York this summer. WWD

  • UK-based supplements brand Spacegoods released a new hydration product called Hydro Dust. Twitter

  • Siegelman Stable released a preview of its US-made denim collection. Their new Knicks cap is also killer. Hypebeast

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Fruit Riot and OLIPOP, two fast-growing brands in very different categories, collaborated on a fun new product — Candy Crunch Cherries. This is Fruit Riot’s first non-sour flavor which is becoming a monster in the frozen novelties category. Similarly, this is the first time OLIPOP has licensed their brand to another food or beverage company. 10/10 collab. You can find this SKU nationwide at Whole Foods Market. Twitter

  • Flash-frozen coffee company Cometeer partnered with Proud Mary on three new products: Humbler, Brazil Mantiqueira, and Ethiopia Deri Kidame. The co-branded capsules look great. PR Newswire

  • Solento Organic Tequila teamed up with Jalisco-based La Reina Raicilla to launch the limited edition Solento Raicilla. The bottle is really impressive. Raicilla is one of the lesser-known agave spirits behind tequila and mezcal. Sotol is also picking up a lot of steam but that’s made with desert spoon, not agave. BevNET

  • Popular seasonings brand Dan-O’s recently revamped their packaging. The brand launched in 2015 and is available online and at 20,000 retail doors across the U.S. Business Wire

  • Six-year-old modern pantry staples brand NotJustCo is sadly shutting down. The company attributed its closure to a lack of working capital. NOSH

  • There’s a newish protein bar brand out of Austin, TX called Wild Horizon. The bar is comprised of grass-fed beef, beef tallow, locally sourced honey, and various spices. The company, founded by Scott Wells and Ethan Whitfield, is veteran-owned. Curious how this performs as it’s very on-trend. Wild Horizon 

  • REDCON1 finally revealed what its reboot of Jolt Cola will look like. Such an iconic logo. They should just reboot the entire Jolt brand as a separate line if their licensing agreement allows. Stack3d

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Data 🖥️

  • Functional beverage brand BRĒZ had a monster Q1 with revenue nearly hitting $13M. Retail only comprised 17% of revenue but that figure is rapidly on the rise. BRĒZ hopes to hit $75M in FY 2025 revenue. LinkedIn

  • According to Bloomberg, the market value of Hermès has surpassed that of rival LVMH. Bloomberg

Distribution News 🚚

  • Snack brand Realsy launched storewide at Lowes Foods.

  • Beverage brand Protein2o launched nationwide at Target.

  • Culture Pop went storewide at Target.