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Daily Crunch Lands Funding, Liquid Death Expands Into Effervescents 🫧

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CPG WIRE
February 20, 2024

Welcome back to This Week in CPG, folks. Hope y’all enjoyed the long weekend. Let’s dive into the newsletter:

  • Guess acquires Rag & Bone 🪡

  • The Uncommon scores funding 🍷

  • Bobbie expands beyond formula 🍼

  • Crocs delivers record revenue 📈

  • Better Sour x Target 🎯

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Daily Crunch Lands Funding 🥜

Daily Crunch, a Nashville-based purveyor of sprouted nut snacks, raised just over $1.1M in funding from undisclosed investors. Per the SEC filing, Daily Crunch plans on raising another $2.8M, too. You can find the SEC document here.  

Founded in June of 2020 by Diane Orley, her niece Laurel Orley, and Dan Stephenson, Daily Crunch sells their sprouted nut snacks at retailers across the country like CVS, H-E-B, Publix, Sprouts, Wegmans, and others.  

If you’re like me, you might be asking yourself what the hell is a sprouted nut? It’s actually pretty straightforward. If you were to take an almond or a cashew, soak it in purified water for over 8 hours, then dehydrate it, voila, you have a sprouted nut. The end result is an almond or a cashew that’s crunchier, more nutritious, and easier to digest than a standard version of either. Sprouted nuts are easier to digest, in short, because the soaking process activates enzymes, which in turn aids digestion. 

Sprouting nuts has been an Ayurvedic practice for centuries, and Daily Crunch has simply adapted it to a Western audience. They’ve accomplished this by offering sprouted nuts in popular flavors like Nashville Hot, Dill Pickle, and Cocoa + Sea Salt, and by putting sprouted nuts in familiar products like trail mix.

Daily Crunch hasn’t disclosed what they’ll do with the funding, but I imagine the majority will go toward inventory and juicing up retail ops. Given that Daily Crunch has already landed CVS, Publix, and Sprouts, they’re due to land Target and or Walmart.

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Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Guess and brand management firm WHP Global are joining forces to acquire Rag & Bone, the popular fashion label that launched in 2002. Rag & Bone reportedly generated $250M in revenue last year. One of the co-founders of Rag & Bone, David Neville, also co-founded Westman Atelier which was expected to exceed $100M in annual revenue last year. Hypebeast

  • Some Pacific Northwest spirits M&A…Washington-based Heritage Distilling Company has acquired Oregon-based Thinking Tree Spirits for an undisclosed sum. The combined entity will have two spirits production facilities and five retail tasting rooms. The Spirits Business

Fundraising

  • Kroma Wellness, a producer of high-quality wellness products, raised $5.2M in Series A funding from undisclosed investors. Pitchbook

  • Nicotine replacement therapy brand Jones has secured $1.1M in pre-seed funding from Good Friends, an early stage venture firm co-founded by the founders of Warby Parker, Harry’s, and Allbirds. The smoking cessation category has been on a heater lately. Beauty Independent

  • The Uncommon, a UK-based canned wine brand, has raised $1.5M in funding from existing and new investors. The Uncommon launched in 2018 and is now the fifth largest producer of English wine by retail sales. FoodBev

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Beyonce officially launched Cécred, her new haircare brand. Here’s what the whole collection looks like. Pretty stunning IMO 👇Cécred

  • Summer Fridays is celebrating its sixth birthday with a limited-edition lip butter balm. Happi

  • Coty has announced a new agreement with Etro to produce and distribute its fragrance lines and home scent collections beyond 2040. Business Wire

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Liquid Death has expanded into electrolyte drink mixes with the launch of Death Dust. Three flavors are available: Mango Chainsaw, Convicted Melon, and Severed Lime. This is a smart move for a few different reasons, but primarily because the margins on effervescent products like Death Dust are enormous, and it’s a lot cheaper to ship than 16 oz cans. BevNET

  • Pediatric nutrition brand Bobbie has expanded beyond formula with the launch of two organic infant supplements: Vitamin D and Probiotic Drops. Business Wire

  • Zero sugar beverage brand Swoon revealed a sleek packaging refresh. Curious what y’all think. Twitter

  • Sprout Beverage, the startup accelerator from InvestBev, has unveiled its Winter 2024 cohort. So many exciting spirits brands are participating. The Spirits Business

  • Blume, the wellness brand best known for its superfood lattes, launched a new line of Gut-Building Hydration Powders. Love the packaging. Blume

Data 🖥️

  • Footwear brand Crocs had a killer 2023. Revenue grew 11% to $4B, while diluted EPS jumped 46% to $12.79 per share. Crocs

  • Skincare brand Glow Recipe did $300M in revenue last year. Fortune

Distribution News 🚚

  • BFY chocolate milk brand Slate is now available at Sprouts.

  • Indian-inspired sparkling water brand Bollygood launched at The Fresh Market.

  • Lower-carb, high protein ramen brand immi launched at Raley’s.

  • Better Sour is now available at select Target stores.

  • Sustainable hair tools brand Mane launched nationwide at Sephora.