Epetōme and Just Ice Tea Close Rounds 💰

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

• BrewDog explores distressed sale 🍺

• Redrice Ventures grabs £45M 👀

• Nestlé unveils longevity drink 🧪

• TRUFF drops new hot sauce 🌶️

• Happy Dad continues to crush 📈

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• BrewDog, the once-dominant Scottish craft brewer, has hired AlixPartners to restructure the business and expedite a sale. The beverage company posted a loss of £35M in 2025. BrewDog raised £75M via a crowdfunding campaign so around 220,000 individual investors will likely lose their shirts. Drinks International

• Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL) is divesting its whole-bird turkey business for an undisclosed sum. The buyer is Life-Science Innovations. Hormel has been busy cleaning up its portfolio. In October 2025, the company sold a majority stake in Justin’s to Forward Consumer Partners. PR Newswire

• MidEuropa Partners acquired a significant minority stake in Oshee, a Polish producer of branded sports drinks and nutrition bars. Dariusz Galezewski and Dominik Dolinski, the co-founders of Oshee, will retain a majority interest and continue to operate the company. Just Food

Fundraising

• UK-based gut health startup Epetōme closed a 7-figure funding round led by Active Partners and Redrice Ventures. Epetōme was founded in 2023 by Emily English, a registered nutritionist and content creator. The company offers a daily supplement that delivers 11 bacterial strains along with fiber, vitamin D, zinc, and biotin. The category is (obviously) booming right now. Both Supergut and Good Bacteria recently closed funding rounds, while Metagenics acquired Symprove in January. LinkedIn

• Speaking of Redrice Ventures…the London-based venture firm secured a £45M commitment from British Business Bank for Fund II. Redrice plans on raising a total of £75M for its next fund. Previous investments include Castore, Luna Daily, Spacegoods, Mother Root, and Skin Rocks. UKTN

• Fast-growing beverage brand Just Ice Tea closed a $9M Series B round. Investors include Taste Tomorrow Ventures, Polar Strategic Ventures, Robert Trone, and several execs from Big Geyser. Just Ice Tea is currently available in 12,000 doors and will expand to 17,000 doors this year. Just Ice Tea

• Throne Sport Coffee closed a $10M funding round to support its upcoming DSD push. Beverage veteran Michael Fedele launched Throne Sport Coffee with significant backing from Patrick Mahomes in 2024. The brand retails at over 7,000 doors across the U.S. Twitter

• Go Brewing, an Illinois-based producer of craft non-alc beer, scored an undisclosed amount of funding from Rich Roll Enterprises and Listen Ventures. The company will use the funding to expand into new markets and increase brand awareness. FinSMEs

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Nestlé just launched a nutritional drink mix line for healthy aging called Nestlé Vital. The Swiss CPG giant offers a Morning Routine which supports focus, energy, and strength, as well as an Evening Routine that supports Sleep, Muscle Mass, and Healthy Skin. Extremely bullish on midlife + senior nutrition, especially with the launch of Lucille coming up. LinkedIn

• Modern fragrance brand NOYZ released its new Mylk de Parfum line. The pour-on fragrance milk comes in three scents: Only Human, Detour, and Unmute. It’s a pretty novel fragrance product and their community seems enthused about it. Instagram

• The Hair Edit, a purveyor of hair tools and accessories, released its Hair Care Concentrate collection exclusively at Target. The collection includes a shampoo concentrate, conditioner concentrate, hair mask concentrate, and two other products. PR Newswire

• ZALT officially launched with a line of oral electrolyte pouches. Four flavors are available and each pouch is formulated with sodium, potassium, magnesium, and B vitamins. Curious if oral pouches are even a good delivery system for electrolytes. ZALT

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• After crossing $100M in sales in 2025, David is gearing up to expand its brand and product portfolio under a new umbrella called Medici. The idea is to let David stay in its lane, while using other brands to tackle new opportunities. New Consumer

• TRUFF just dropped its newest flavor — TRUFF Mild Hot Sauce. The company describes their mild hot sauce as bold and flavorful with just a dash of heat. The new SKU is available nationwide at Whole Foods Market. Instagram

• Australia-based Drizzy pulled a Graza and put peanut butter in a squeeze bottle with a cute label. I instinctively rolled my eyes at Drizzy but it’s actually pretty clever considering how messy peanut butter is. Pre-orders are open now and expected to ship in March. Stack3d 

• Popular almond dip brand Bitchin’ Sauce expanded into a new category with a line of chips. The chips are made with simple ingredients and cooked in almond oil. The new line is available at Frazier Farms in SoCal. NOSH

• Nicholas Reichenbach, the Canadian founder of Flow Water, acquired and relaunched Formosa Springs Mineral Water. The heritage water brand has been dormant for the past 40 years and returns to market with still and sparking varieties in cans and glass bottles. BevNET

• Lantern Beverages just launched The Original Matcha Soda. The branding is excellent and the beverage is currently available throughout New York. Lantern plans on expanding its matcha soda line with seasonal flavors in the near future. Lantern

• Primal Kitchen is launching what it claims is the first grass-fed salad dressing line. The collection features grass-fed buttermilk, cheese, and yogurt. Three flavors will be available: Buttermilk Ranch, Creamy Romano, and Tzatziki. PR Newswire

• Soom Foods is releasing a tahini squeeze bottle line with three flavors: Everyday, Harissa, and Mediterranean Herb. The new line will debut on Amazon in March. NOSH

Data 🖥️

• Spanish beauty firm Puig had a killer Q4 as sales rose 6.2% year-over-year to €1.45B. The growth was largely attributed to Byredo, Carolina Herrera, and Jean Paul Gaultier. Puig’s FY net sales crossed the €5B mark for the first time while net profit came in at €594M. WWD

• Happy Dad is on a roll right now. According to Nielsen, Happy Dad ranked #1 in growth during Dry January as sales jumped 31% YoY. White Claw sales increased 3.4% in the same period while Truly Hard Seltzer sales dipped 10.8%. Instagram

• Coca-Cola did some bragging while at CAGNY. The Atlanta-based beverage giant revealed that it currently owns 32 billion-dollar brands. For context, Unilever owns 14 billion-dollar brands. LinkedIn

Distribution News 🚚

• Cann is now available at Spec’s throughout Texas.

• Back to Nature expanded to 2,000+ Target doors.

• Good Eat’n launched at over 1,600 Kroger stores.

• Moon Juice launched at 700+ Target doors.

• Mateina launched nationwide at Sprouts Farmers Market.

• NuTrail is now available at Meijer.