General Mills Buys More Pet Food, MUSH Launches Protein Bars 💪

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

• Hammond’s Candies acquired 🍫

• FoodNerd secures $1M 👶

• SKIMS x Dolce & Gabbana 👀

• Neve officially launches 🚲

• Yaza takes Texas 📈

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Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• General Mills is acquiring the North American division of Whitebridge Pet Brands for $1.45B. Best known for manufacturing premium cat food and assorted pet treats, Whitebridge Pet Brands was owned by NXMH, a Belgian private equity firm. Since 2018, General Mills has acquired five pet food assets and spent well over $10B. As Lawrence Hamtil pointed out, General Mills is becoming a formidable challenger to Mars in the pet food space. Business Wire

• Candy retailer Lolli & Pops has acquired Hammond’s Candies, a Colorado-based manufacturer of branded confectionery products. The acquisition enables Lolli & Pops to control a portion of its manufacturing. The deal was financed by a revolving credit facility and capital from TerraMar Capital, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm. PE Hub

Fundraising

• FoodNerd, a Buffalo-based purveyor of nutrient-dense snacks for toddlers, secured $1M in fresh funding from undisclosed investors. The funding will enable FoodNerd to scale production and move into a 30,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. NOSH

• Frönen Foods, a producer of better-for-you frozen desserts, raised $2.9M in equity funding from undisclosed investors. The brand is best known for its ice creams that contain 4-7 simple ingredients. Frönen retails at Fresh Thyme, Wegmans, and Whole Foods Market. SEC

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Vacation dropped a new product — Perfumed Body Lotion. The product is available exclusively via their website. Vacation

• Chanel opened its first dedicated beauty store in Paris. The three-story boutique features treatment rooms and a wide variety of Chanel’s makeup, skincare, and fragrance collections. WWD

• Grown Alchemist officially opened its first store in London. The space is small but well-executed. Some of the smaller details like light fixtures do seem cheap for a premium skincare brand, though. The Industry

• SKIMS is releasing a co-designed collection with Dolce & Gabbana. The collection drops on November 19th. Hypebae

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• MUSH, the brand best known for its overnight oats, launched a great-looking line of protein bars. Three flavors are available. Each bar contains 15g of protein and no refined sugars, syrups, or seed oils. This is a really smart extension for MUSH. Instagram

• Neve, a plant-based nutrition brand for athletes, officially made its debut with two SKUs. The Vail-based brand was founded by Nora Fierman, an endurance athlete. The packaging is great. Neve 

• BFY breakfast brand Three Wishes released a limited-edition holiday flavor — Hot Chocolate Cereal. Love it. Instagram

• Creature Comforts Brewing Co. joined forces with Tip Top Proper Cocktails to release a co-branded beer called Jungle Bird. The can is fantastic. No notes. Instagram

• Krack’d Snacks launched two new keto-friendly candy products — Mylk Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Crunch and Mylk Chocolate Aloha Caramel. Krack’d Snacks unveiled a fantastic brand refresh earlier this year. GlobeNewswire

Data 🖥️

• Shopify posted impressive results in Q3. GMV increased 24% YoY to $69.7B while revenue jumped 26% YoY to $2.16B. The company also landed a number of key accounts including Reebok and Off-White. CNBC

Distribution News 🚚

• Yaza launched at Central Market, H-E-B, and Whole Foods Market in TX.

• Hanni is now available at all Sephora stores in the U.S.

• Elavi is now available at Natura Market in Canada.