Hims & Hers Bets on Australia, PRE Dumps Insighta 💊

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CPG WIRE
February 21, 2026

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

  • Bain explores dessert deal 🥧

  • Nestlé deprioritizes ice cream 🍦

  • Spoon Cereals raises £1M 🥣

  • Create unveils new look 💪

  • USANA is cooking with gas 📈

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Hims & Hers is shelling out $1.15B to acquire Eucalyptus, the largest digital health provider in Australia and one of the country’s fastest-growing companies. Eucalyptus was founded in 2019 by Tim Doyle, Benny Kleist, Alexey Mitko, and Charlie Gearside. The company raised $300M in venture funding from BOND, AirTree Ventures, and Blackbird VC. Hims & Hers is currently trading at a heavy discount due to GLP-1 scrutiny and the recent Novo Nordisk lawsuit. CNBC

  • Bain Capital is exploring a sale or IPO of Dessert Holdings, a scaled manufacturer of branded and private label desserts. Gyphon Investors sold Dessert Holdings to Bain Capital in 2021. The company could be valued as high as $3B. Reuters

  • Nestlé will sell the remainder of its ice cream division to Froneri over the next 12 to 18 months. Froneri was created in 2016 when Nestlé carved out its ice cream biz and merged it with another ice cream biz owned by PAI Partners. It’s the world’s second largest ice cream producer behind Magnum. Morning Brew

  • Prenetics (NASDAQ: PRE) is selling its 35% equity stake in Insighta for $70M. The buyer is Chinese tech giant Tencent. The divestment will allow Prenetics to focus on IM8, the fast-growing longevity brand it co-founded alongside David Beckham. Prenetics

Fundraising

  • Beauty brand Pat McGrath has emerged from bankruptcy with $30M in financing from GDA Luma. The deal includes $10M of debtor-in-possession financing along with $20M of post-emergence working capital. Retail Dive

  • According to an SEC filing, Fara Homidi raised another $3.99M in equity funding from undisclosed investors. The eponymous cosmetics brand was founded in New York in 2023. Sandbridge Capital invested in Fara Homidi last February. SEC

  • Fast-growing snack brand Olyra secured $3.5M in debt financing on February 19th. Olyra unveiled a killer brand refresh around six months ago and Grupo Bimbo backed the company in April 2023. SEC

  • Spoon Cereals, a UK-based producer of better-for-you breakfast cereals, secured more than £1M in funding from Finance Yorkshire and Justin Cook. The cereal maker will use the funding to bring an 11,000-square-foot manufacturing facility online. LinkedIn

PSA: Email Is Still The GOAT 🐐

People were saying it in 2016 and it’s still true in 2026.

Email is the most powerful and cost-effective revenue channel, yet most brands don’t act like it. 

Here’s why email is the GOAT:

  • $36–$68 back for every $1 spent, no other channel is close

  • 50% of consumers made a purchase directly from an email last year, more than from social ads

  • Automated flows drove 37% of all email revenue in 2024

  • A 5% lift in retention can increase profits by 25–95%. That's a P&L number, not a marketing metric

The channel works. The problem is execution.

Most retention programs are half-built. Legacy flows nobody's touching, campaigns sent on vibes instead of data, and segmentation that made sense a year ago. 

That’s where Cousins comes in. We’re operators and we've built email inside real businesses. Month to month. No long contracts.

If you want an honest read on whether your retention program is pulling its weight, book a call with Christian & Jackie here. Mention CPG Wire for 20% off your first month.

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Create, the first mover in the creatine gummies space, is gearing up to unveil a brand refresh in April. The company also plans on launching a new product line around the same time. The updated branding is cleaner and bolder. Create expects to grow 3x this year. LinkedIn

  • Salt & Stone expanded its bodycare range with two body oil SKUs: Santal & Vetiver and Bergamot & Hinoki. The fast-absorbing body oil is formulated with macadamia oil, squalane, vitamin E, and seaweed extract. Instagram

  • South Korean skincare brand Innisfree is celebrating the launch of its newest product, Green Tea Ceramide Milk, with a pop-up at Space NK in Westfield London. The Industry

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • New York-based Etelka is bringing European style cottage cream to the U.S. market. The product has a similar nutritional profile to cottage cheese — high in protein and low in carbs — albeit without the lumpy texture that repels a lot of potential customers. Bullish. Instagram

  • J.M. Smucker is reformulating its enormously successful Uncrustables line in order to make the product more “fridge friendly.” Uncrustables will soon be able to be kept in the fridge for up to five days, eliminating thaw and wait time. PR Newswire

  • After revealing several fiber-infused snack products a few weeks back, PepsiCo is doubling down on functional salty snacks by launching a Doritos Protein line. Two flavors are available — Nacho Cheese and Sweet & Tangy BBQ — and each 1 oz serving delivers 10g of protein. Instagram

  • USANA Health Sciences expanded its Protein Pop range with Protein Pop Plus. The new beverage line contains more protein than the OG line and is available exclusively at Costco. More on USANA in the data section. Stack3d

  • Chris Lansing, the former CEO of Health-Ade Kombucha and Nature’s Bakery, just took the helm at Gimme Seaweed, a Bay Area-based snack brand co-founded by Annie Chun and Stephen Broad. Lansing will focus on expanding distribution and accelerating innovation. PR Newswire

  • Cizzle Brands, the Canadian company behind CWENCH Hydration and Spoken Nutrition, just announced the launch of SnakStars Sports Bites. The snack line was designed for active kids and each bag contains 16g of protein and 10g fiber. Business Wire

  • New York-based Brodo released Fire Cider, a chicken bone broth featuring apple cider vinegar, horseradish, and herbs & spices. Instagram

Data 🖥️

  • USANA’s Rise Wellness division, the home of Protein Pop and Rise Bar, continues to grow at an impressive clip. Division sales tripled in 2025 and USANA expects Rise Wellness net sales to land between $65M and $80M in 2026. Twitter

  • Unsurprisingly, hemp-derived THC beverage sales recently skyrocketed due to regulatory uncertainty. Cann, Nowadays, and Cornbread Hemp all reported massive sales spikes in November, December, and January. Food Dive

Distribution News 🚚

  • BRĒZ launched its non-infused line at Stop & Shop.

  • Non-alc beer brand Years launched at Trader Joe’s in IL.

  • Tide Treats launched at Costco in Utah.

  • El Nacho is now available at Hy-Vee.

  • Harken Sweets launched nationwide at Natural Grocers.