More Gin M&A, General Mills Buys Edgard & Cooper 🐶

CPG WIRE
May 02, 2024

GM and Happy Thursday, folks. Here’s what we’re getting into today:

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions

Japanese beverage firm Asahi Group is acquiring Australian craft gin producer Never Never Distilling Co. for an undisclosed sum. The distillery was co-founded in 2016 by three friends. The Australian spirits space has been hot lately. Kirin acquired Four Pillars Gin last summer, and Diageo scooped up Mr Black in late 2022. The Spirits Business
General Mills acquired Belgian pet food brand Edgard & Cooper for an undisclosed sum. The premium pet food brand launched in 2016 and is active in 13 European markets. Edgard & Cooper delivered retail sales of €100M in 2023. General Mills has made a number of pet food bets lately. In late 2023, they acquired pet supplement brand Fera Pets, and prior to that they purchased Blue Buffalo for $8B. Business Wire

Fundraising

Tomorrow Farms, the sustainable food & beverage startup behind Bored Cow, raised just over $4.7M in fresh equity funding. The company will launch its second brand soon. SEC
Bazooka Candy Brands, the novelty candy producer that Apax Partners acquired for $700M last year, landed a number of athlete investors like Cade Cunningham, DK Metcalf, Jason Kelce, and others. PR Newswire

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

Bella Hadid partnered with Celebrands to launch a clean fragrance brand called ‘Ôrebella (pronounced aura-bella). The fragrances are alcohol-free and also contain nourishing skincare ingredients. ‘Ôrebella will be available online starting today then will debut nationwide at Ulta Beauty on May 12th. The product is fairly differentiated but I’m curious how folks respond to the packaging 👇 PR Newswire

Global fast fashion player Shein wants to sell items like toothpaste and skincare products via its marketplace. Business of Fashion
Plus, the eco-friendly personal care brand from the co-founders of Starface, is sadly shutting down. Beauty Independent
Augustinus Bader collaborated with Sofia Coppola on a new collection of Tinted Lip Balms. Three shades are available and the retail price is surprisingly accessible for the brand. WWD
Press-on nails brand imPRESS released a limited-edition collection with AriZona Beverages. AriZona has really been dialing up its licensing biz lately. PR Newswire

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

New York-based branding agency Pearlfisher facilitated a fantastic rebrand for Doughnut Peddler which is now BakeFace. What a bright, charming upgrade. Pearlfisher also did the branding for BYOMA and Seedlip. The Dieline
It appears that hydration brand LMNT is launching a RTD line in the very near future. The brand has been surprising subscription customers with a variety pack (smart). If you scroll down to the second tweet you’ll get a better look at the can. Twitter
BFY soda brand OLIPOP partnered with Barbie on a new flavor — Peaches & Cream. How the partnership came about is an amusing story. Food Navigator.
DC-based hummus brand Little Sesame unveiled a great-looking new product — Tahini Sauce. Instagram
Liquid IV, the hydration brand that Unilever acquired in 2020, just revealed a very clean brand refresh. PR Newswire
GHOST Hydration launched another licensed flavor with Sour Patch Kids. Blue Raspberry will begin hitting retail shelves on May 6th. Instagram
Craft brewer Firestone Walker is getting into the non-alcoholic beer game with 8ZERO5. Brewbound

818 Tequila, the spirits brand founded by Kendall Jenner, saw 65% growth in January compared to 9% for the overall tequila category. Food Dive
The turnaround at Oatly seems to be going well. The company’s gross margins improved considerably and losses narrowed in Q1. They also experienced solid growth in North America and Europe. Just Drinks
Australian baby formula brand Bubs had a good third quarter with revenue up 25.9% to $19.9M. The growth was largely driven by the U.S. market. Inside FMCG