General Mills Bets on Pets, Unilever Ventures Focuses on India 📈

GM and Happy Saturday, folks. The end of the week was quietish but we still have some juicy headlines to dive into. Here’s a preview:

• General Mills buys Fera 🐶

• Unilever backs Wishcare 🧴

• Pro tennis player backs Beekeeper’s 🐝

• Aesop opens stunning Heathrow store 😍

• TÖST heads to Walmart 🥂

Shout-out to Rivo for making customer retention such a no-brainer.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• General Mills has acquired Fera Pets, a vet-founded pet supplements brand that launched in 2017. General Mills has made some major bets on pets lately — they acquired Blue Buffalo for $8B in 2018, then they purchased the pet treats division of Tyson Foods for $1.2B in 2021 — but this is their first foray into pet supplements. Business Wire

• UK-based spirits merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd and port producer Symington Family Estates have acquired Hambledon Vineyards, one of the oldest commercial vineyards in England. Drinks International

• Hanesbrands has begun the sale process for iconic athletic apparel brand Champion. Major brand management firms like Authentic Brands Group (ABG) and WHP Global are unsurprisingly in the mix. WWD

Fundraising

• Indian personal care brand Wishcare raised around $2.5M from Unilever Ventures. Wishcare was founded in 2019 and sells a variety of natural skin, body, and hair care products. They retail direct-to-consumer and at NYKAA, Purplle, etc. Unilever has really been focused on emerging markets via its venture arm. They backed Indonesia-based halal cosmetics brand ESQA in 2022, and backed another Indonesian brand, Youvit, that same year. Business of Fashion

• Per an Instagram post, professional tennis player Aryna Sabalenka has invested in wellness brand Beekeeper’s Naturals. Earlier this year, the brand secured $14M from the likes of Devonshire Partners and CAVU Consumer Partners. Instagram

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Aesop, the premium personal care brand that L’Oreal acquired for $2.5B earlier this year, opened a gorgeous store at Heathrow airport. The self-service store is inspired by futuristic interiors from the 1960s 🔽 The Industry

• Refillable deodorant brand Fussy expanded into body care with the launch of their sustainable Body Bars. They launched an exfoliating bar along with a bodywash bar. Instagram

• Swiss sportswear brand On continues its retail march, opens first French store in Paris. Recently, On has opened stores in Zurich and London. Fashion Network

• Women’s wellness brand O Positiv introduced a new hair growth supplement called WILLO Hair Growth Support Capsules. I’m not in love with the packaging for WILLO, but O Positiv usually knocks it out of the park 🔽 PR Newswire 

• Sexual wellness brands Maude, Jems, and Playground introduced a variety of new products. WWD

• Shapewear giant SKIMS partnered with Patrick Mahomes and family on a family-friendly marketing campaign for the holidays. The Industry

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• UK-based canned cocktail brand Whitebox partnered with hospitality guru Mr Lyan to release three of his famous cocktails in can format. Among the cocktails are a Beeswax Old Fashioned and a Bulletproof Espresso Martini 🔽 The Spirits Business

• Final Boss Sour, the better-for-you sour snack brand incubated by Science Inc, launched a new line of sour blueberry snacks. Their packaging is terrific. Instagram

• Drink This Wine, the wine brand founded by chef and recipe developer Molly Baz, launched a sparkling red wine. Gorgeous bottle. Even the backside of the label is pretty 🔽 Instagram

Data 🖥️

• Popular lifestyle brand YETI reported flat sales for Q3. Revenue landed at $433.6M with DTC revenue increasing by 14%, and wholesale revenue dipping by 16%. YETI remains profitable and delivered net income of $42.7M. Business Wire

Distribution News 🚚

• Liquid Death is now available at Tesco in the UK.

• Alcohol-free sparkling beverage brand TÖST launched nationwide at Walmart.

• Hand-crafted fragrance brand TOCCA is now available at Ulta Beauty.