EIGHT Brewing Raises $26M, JBS Bets on Eggs 🍳

GM and Happy Tuesday, folks. Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

• Diageo kills rumors 🥃

• Foxtale secures $30M 💄

• Flamingo Estate x Bloomingdales 🔥

• Not Beer expands lineup 🍻

• Kanpai adds retailers 📈

EIGHT Brewing Raises $26M 🍻

EIGHT Brewing Co., the light beer brand co-founded by broadcaster and NFL legend Troy Aikman, secured just over $26M in equity funding from undisclosed investors. You can review the SEC filing here.

EIGHT Brewing hit the market in early 2022 in a bid to disrupt the enormous light beer category. Instead of using mass-produced grains and cheap fillers like some of the major players in the category (you know who I’m talking about), EIGHT utilizes organic grains and premium hops to deliver a more flavorful light beer. 

The thesis behind EIGHT Brewing is actually an interesting one. The global light beer market is reportedly worth well over $300B, but there just haven’t been many challenger brands trying to steal market share from Anheuser-Busch, Constellation Brands, Molson Coors, and Heineken. 

By creating a more flavorful light beer that still delivers on macros — each beer contains 90 calories and 2.6g of carbohydrates — while using Aikman’s considerable platform to reach light beer drinkers, EIGHT stands a chance of becoming a force in the category.

Thus far EIGHT Brewing has taken a disciplined approach to distribution. The Austin-based company launched in its home market of Texas in February of 2022, then it headed north to Oklahoma in February of 2024. As of today, that’s the extent of their distribution, but EIGHT Brewing will presumably spend much of 2025 expanding its presence throughout the central U.S.

With the tequila category already spoken for and vodka getting pretty crowded, athletes and celebrities have been piling into beer lately:

• Jason & Travis Kelce acquired a significant stake in Garage Beer

• Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney acquired Wrexham Lager

• Hulk Hogan launched Real American Beer

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• JBS, the Brazilian meat processing giant, is entering the egg sector by acquiring a controlling interest in Mantiqueira Alimentos. Mantiqueira currently produces around 4 billion eggs per year and operates manufacturing facilities in six Brazilian states. JBS will own 48.5% of Mantiqueira but will control 50% of the voting shares. Reuters

• In a short message published on January 26th, Diageo made it abundantly clear that they’re not interested in selling Guinness or its 34% stake in Moët Hennessy. Diageo

Fundraising

• Los Angeles-based Kirra Iced Tea raised what appears to be a $400K convertible note. The brand launched in 2018 and produces iced tea with simple, organic ingredients. SEC

• Indian skincare brand Foxtale secured $30M in Series C funding from Japan’s KOSÉ Corporation. KOSÉ, which owns a number of prestige beauty brands like Tarte Cosmetics, is eager to increase its presence in India and Foxtale will be a key strategic partner moving forward. Global Cosmetics News

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• The Skinny Confidential, a popular media and consumer goods company, launched a new wellness product called Beauty Water. The product features colostrum, electrolytes, pearl powder, and ginger powder. This appears to be the first wellness product from The Skinny Confidential. Instagram

• Aesop is doubling down on fine fragrance and releasing a new scent called Aurner on February 10th. Aurner was developed by Céline Barel and features notes of magnolia leaf, chamomile, and cedar. WWD

• Emilie Mascarell, a former exec at Le Labo and Tory Burch, is bringing luxury to the refillable hand soap category with Maison Mascarell. The art deco label is gorgeous. Beauty Independent

• Flamingo Estate opened a pretty stunning pop-up at the flagship Bloomingdales store in NYC. The space opened on January 23rd and will run through mid-March. Retail TouchPoints

• Nécessaire teased its new deodorant line on Instagram which launches later today. Instagram 

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Crunchits, a London-based healthy snack brand, unveiled a solid packaging refresh. The company produces high-protein snack clusters made of rice, edamame, and black beans. Great work from Earthling Studio who also worked on branding for MOJU, Top of the Mornin Coffee, and JUBEL Beer. Crunchits is a pretty novel snack concept. The Dieline

• Colombian rum producer Dictador partnered with French contemporary artist Richard Orlinski to release a number of limited edition bottles. They’re pretty impressive but likely an acquired taste. The Spirits Business

• SideDish unveiled their newest salad dressing — Greek Vinaigrette. The new SKU is available exclusively via their website. Excited to try this one. Instagram

• Sparkling water brand Not Beer launched three flavored SKUs: Lemon Lime, Black Cherry, and Red White & Blue. Looks like the new flavors will hit shelves at H-E-B in the near future. Instagram

• Oatly and Nespresso collaborated on some co-branded coffee pods. The coffee is designed to pair seamlessly with oat milk. Nespresso

Data 🖥️

• Canadian energy drink brand GURU reported Q4 results and it was a mixed bag. Net revenue dipped 6.9% to $7.2M but sales in the U.S. jumped by 29.5%. FY 2024 net revenue increased by 3.3% to just over $30M. An interesting aside related to tariffs: GURU is sitting on 5-6 months of inventory in the U.S. to circumvent any forthcoming tariffs. GlobeNewswire

Distribution News 🚚

• California Naturals launched at Ulta Beauty.

• IQBAR is now available at Target.

• Pretty Tasty Iced Tea is launching at Sprouts Farmers Market.

• Kanpai Foodz launched at Scheels, FYE, and Gopuff.

• Monte’s launched at Bristol Farms, Whole Foods Market, and Kings.

• Cloud23 launched on Amazon.

• Wild Sol launched at Albertsons in Texas.