Drumroll Grabs $3M, Jiant Scores Celeb Partner🍹

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CPG WIRE
October 29, 2024

Welcome back to This Week in CPG, folks. If you find this newsletter informative or interesting, please forward it others who might enjoy it too. Let’s dive in:

  • Caldera + Lab raises $6M 🧪

  • Joyance backs Gratsi 🍷

  • E.l.f. Beauty x Stanley đź’Ż

  • Mateina launches Yerba Sticks 🍵

  • Fishwife heads to Target 🎯

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Deals đź’°

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Hormel Foods — the owner of CornNuts, Justin’s, Planters, and Skippy — is selling its medical foods division for an undisclosed sum. The buyer is Lyons Magnus, a California-based contract manufacturer and a producer of healthcare nutrition products. Minnesota Star Tribune

  • Canadian spirits firm TOPIKOS has acquired REN Vodka, an ultra-premium vodka brand that’s produced in Canada. TOPIKOS was founded by Peter Kourtis who’s an alum of Diageo and Pernod Ricard. Drinks Intel

  • Private equity firm Permira is taking a 40% stake in K-Way at a valuation of $545M. K-Way is a French purveyor of premium sportswear and outerwear. Italian apparel firm BasicNet will retain a 60% stake in K-Way. Reuters

Fundraising

  • Better-for-you donut brand Drumroll secured $3M in funding from 7 Mile Brands, a brand incubator founded by serial entrepreneurs Jason Cohen and Sammy Kestenbaum. Drumroll’s donuts contain 1g of sugar, 10g of protein, 8g of net carbs, and 190 calories. Founded by Hassan Safieddine & Ryan Brothers in 2019, Drumroll retails at H-E-B, Kroger, Target, Wegmans, and many other stores. PR Newswire

  • Actor Chace Crawford is now an investor in Jiant Hard Tea, a Los Angeles-based purveyor of spiked teas and kombuchas. Crawford will also act as Jiant’s Chief Creative Officer moving forward. Jiant was founded in 2019 by college friends Larry Haertel Jr. and Aaron Telch. PR Web

  • Men’s skincare brand Caldera + Lab secured $6M in Series A funding from HIPstr, the early-stage venture arm of HighPost Capital. Launched in 2019 by founder & CEO Jared Pobre, Caldera + Lab sells clean, clinically-proven skincare products for men. FinSMEs

  • UK-based Artah Nutrition raised ÂŁ3M in order to scale its science-backed supplements biz. Paris-based Five Seasons Ventures led the round. Active Partners and a number of consumer-focused angels also participated. The Grocer

  • Joyance Partners invested in Gratsi, a popular boxed wine brand from Austin, TX. Gratsi’s previous investors include Top Shelf Ventures and Newbound. Medium

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • There’s a new skincare brand called Skincare Generics that’s openly duping popular products from Augustinus Bader, Dr. Barbara Sturm, and La Mer. Really clever concept. They could be having a lot more fun from a branding perspective, though. Beauty Independent

  • E.l.f. Beauty and Stanley teamed up on a very fun collaboration. The collab includes Stanley tumblers in custom colorways with attachable lip oil holders. Beauty Packaging

  • Kith and TUMI released a four-piece luggage collection. The two brands plan on releasing more collaborative pieces moving forward. Hypebeast

  • Actress Lili Reinhart launched Personal Day, a skincare line specifically designed for acne-prone skin. Reinhart developed the brand alongside CEO Shelagh Wong, a beauty exec who previously worked at KIKO Milano and Luxury Brand Partners. Love the branding. Hypebae

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Voyage Foods is opening a 284,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Mason, Ohio next year. The company plans to produce its cocoa-free chocolate, nut-free spreads, and bean-free coffee at the facility. Coastal brands are flocking to Ohio in order to own their manufacturing. In July, Bobbie opened a 90,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Heath, Ohio. Food Dive

  • The collab of the year might belong to V8 and Grillo’s Pickles who released a Dill Pickle Bloody Mary Mix. They absolutely nailed the packaging. Sporked

  • Organic yerba mate brand Mateina released a great-looking range of yerba mate + electrolyte drink mixes. The new product comes in two flavors: Lemon Lime and Orange Mandarin. Fitt Insider

  • Chubby Snacks has been hit with a class action lawsuit for allegedly mislabeling its sugar content. It’s been a rough few months for Chubby Snacks. Their chief rival, J.M. Smucker, hit them with a false advertising lawsuit in September. NOSH

  • TCHO Chocolate and Sausalito Liquor Co. released a limited edition chocolate liqueur. BevNET

  • Bacardi released a glow-in-the-dark bottle ahead of Halloween. Agree with Mark — glow-in-the-dark bottles could be a major opportunity for beverage brands. Twitter

Data 🖥️

  • Alani Nu continues to post impressive volume growth. For the four weeks ending on October 5th, Alani Nu’s volume jumped 55.2%. For context, CELSIUS volume increased by 11.6% over the same period. Twitter

Distribution News đźšš