Humble Growth Backs Salt & Stone, Cinven Bets on Vitamin Well 💰

CPG WIRE
August 08, 2024

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

If you’re looking for an interesting job opportunity, non-alcoholic aperitif brand De Soi is hiring a Director of Sales - West. More info here.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions

European private equity firm Cinven acquired a significant stake in Vitamin Well Group. The seller is Bridgepoint who will retain a minority equity interest. Vitamin Well Group is a Swedish nutrition company that owns Barebells, NOCCO, and Vitamin Well. Vitamin Well products are sold in more than 40 countries. The company generated €500M of revenue and roughly €150M of EBITDA last year. Cinven
After delivering record results in Q2, Hims & Hers announced the acquisition of a compounding pharmacy for $31M in cash & stock. The acquisition enables Hims & Hers to manufacture and scale weight loss drug knockoffs. Axios
Australian wine group Treasury Wine Estates is divesting four cheaper wine labels as it refocuses on premium brands. The four labels — Wolf Blass, Yellowglen, Lindeman’s, and Blossom Hill — accounted for less than 5% of the group’s gross profit in fiscal 2024. TWE’s premium portfolio, on the other hand, posted a sales CAGR of 10% over the past three years. Global Drinks Intel
GrubMarket is acquiring Good Eggs, a San Francisco-based online grocer. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed but GrubMarket has already begun laying off employees. Carol Ortenberg

Fundraising

Salt & Stone, a fragrance-driven personal care brand, secured a significant investment from Humble Growth. Salt & Stone was founded in 2017 by former pro snowboarder Nima Jalali. Salt & Stone sells one product every seven seconds and has achieved consistent triple-digit YoY revenue growth. PR Newswire
L Catterton made a strategic investment in Viee, a Chinese plant-based beverage company. Based in Western China, Viee sells beverages that are frequently consumed alongside spicy foods. L Catterton’s previous beverage investments include Chi Forest, Glaceau Vitaminwater, Heytea, Innis & Gunn, Odwalla, Remedy, and Sweet Leaf Tea. PR Newswire
Plant-based cheese brand Plonts launched with $12M in seed funding. The company opened a pilot plant in Oakland, CA and launched its debut product at select restaurants in San Francisco and New York City. The $12M round was led by Lowercarbon Capital with additional funding from Litani Ventures, Ponderosa Ventures, and others. PR Newswire

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Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

Prose, a purveyor of customizable hair and skincare products, unveiled a packaging refresh. Curious what y’all think of the refresh. Twitter
90s apparel brand Von Dutch is seemingly back with a little help from Charli XCX. The brand was acquired by New York-based brand management firm White Space Group in July. Glossy
The Ordinary, the skincare brand that’s now owned by Estee Lauder, unveiled a range of body care products. Cosmetics Business
Dolce & Gabbana has released a new range of luxury perfumes for dogs…Global Cosmetics News
There’s a new suncare brand called Duette which is taking a holistic approach to sun protection. The company was founded by Jennifer Leebow, a nurse practitioner who was diagnosed with melanoma in 2010. Beauty Independent

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

It’s been a big week for CPG x Sports partnerships…Open Water was named the official water of the Los Angeles Clippers, while Athletic Brewing was named the official non-alc beer of Arsenal. Lastly, UK-based Drip was named a jersey partner of the Tottenham Hotspur Women. Twitter
OLIPOP is officially now shelf stable. The BFY soda brand is selling shelf stable multi-packs at select retailers across the U.S. OLIPOP expects to hit $500M in sales this year and these multi-packs ought to significantly increase that figure. Twitter
There’s a new pasta sauce brand called Sorry Nona that’s shaking up the category. The packaging is pretty brilliant. Their debut product is an arrabbiata sauce that features gochujang. The Dieline
In a rather surprising move, Nespresso, which is owned by Nestlé, launched two honey products: Coffee Blossom Honey and Coffee Blossom Honey Syrup. Food Dive
Goodles is launching a new mac & cheese line in the very near future. Details are scarce but the packaging looks great. Instagram
Siete introduced a limited edition seasoning called Siete Small Batch Chilito Chile Lime Seasoning. Beautiful label. Instagram
Black Rifle Coffee is launching a line of RTD energy drinks in late Q4. Black Rifle has a fast-growing coffee biz — revenue increased 18% in Q1 to over $98M — so it’ll be interesting to see if they can find success in a new category. Business Wire

Israeli beauty firm Oddity posted record results in Q2. Revenue jumped 27% YoY to $193M while net income rose 52% to $45M. Per the company, both IL MAKIAGE and SpoiledChild delivered excellent, profitable growth. WWD