JDE Peet's Bets on Caribou Coffee ☕️

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CPG WIRE
January 23, 2024

Welcome back to This Week in CPG, folks. Yesterday was a fairly quiet news day in CPG Land but we still have some exciting stuff to dive into.

Here’s a preview:

  • JDE Peet’s x Caribou ☕️

  • Scottish distillery sells stake 🍸

  • Nurture Life raises over $5M 🍼

  • New from Liquid Death 💀

  • Celsius goes international 🌡️

JDE Peet's Bets on Caribou Coffee ☕️

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JDE Peet’s, the coffee & tea giant that’s majority owned by Mondelez and JAB Holding Company, announced a $260M licensing agreement with Caribou Coffee, the Minnesota-based coffee chain with 800 locations across the globe. 

Since Caribou Coffee is a subsidiary of Panera Brands, which, like JDE Peet’s, is majority owned by JAB Holding Company, this is a fairly incestuous deal. 

Per the terms of the agreement, JDE Peet’s will now manufacture, market, and sell Caribou Coffee to the retail and foodservice channels. The transaction also includes Caribou Coffee’s roasting operation in Minnesota, along with their preexisting office and foodservice contracts.

This appears to be a win-win for both JDE Peet’s and Caribou Coffee.

For Caribou Coffee, they now get to focus entirely on their fast-growing retail operation. Last year alone Caribou Coffee announced 300 new franchise locations in the U.S., and they don’t need to be distracted with wholesale or foodservice. Starbucks has a similar arrangement with Nestle so they can focus on what they do best — running coffeehouses. 

For JDE Peet’s — which owns Peet’s Coffee, Stumptown, Intelligentsia, Mighty Leaf, and many other tea & coffee brands — they add another large brand to their portfolio that’s particularly popular across the Midwest.

More on the transaction here.

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Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Linlithgow Distillery, a Scottish producer of handcrafted gin & vodka, sold a 75% stake to Billion Global Chase (BGC), a financial services firm. Linlithgow cited rising energy bills and duty hikes as the reason for selling a majority stake. The co-founders will retain the remaining 25%. The Spirits Business

  • Domaines Barons de Rothschild, the owner of Château Lafite Rothschild, has acquired storied Chablis maker William Fèvre for an undisclosed sum. William Fèvre has been producing Chablis since 1959 and is a significant landowner. VinePair

Fundraising

  • Nurture Life, a producer of healthy meals for babies, toddlers, and kids, secured an additional $5.1M in funding from undisclosed investors. The Chicago-based company previously raised funding from Two Culture Capital and Fernbrook Capital Management. Twitter

  • Solbari, an Australian maker of stylish UPF50+ apparel, has raised $10M from state-backed Australian Business Growth Fund (ABGF). The company launched in 2014 and produces sun protective clothing, hats, and accessories. Startup Daily

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Creator Nicolas Sturniolo has launched a new wellness brand called Space Camp. Their debut product is a line of certified organic lip balms. Three flavors are available — Wild Cherry, Juicy Watermelon, and Frosted Mint — but they’re already sold out. Space Camp

  • Pamela Anderson has joined minimalist skincare brand Sonsie as a co-founder. The brand was founded by Marie von Behrens-Felipe and Roberto Felipe in June of 2023. Business of Fashion

  • There’s a new scalp care brand, Jing Botanics, that combines Traditional Chinese Medicine with modern scalp science. The packaging is pretty similar to Crown Affair IMO. Beauty Independent

  • Stella McCartney is expanding into supplements with the launch of an ingestible beauty product called Alter-Care. WWD

  • Popular skincare brand rhode is launching their first-ever daily cleanser on January 25th. Instagram

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • John Paul DeJoria, the co-founder of Patron Tequila, has launched a new spirits incubator called Round 2 Spirits alongside former execs from Patron and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. The Texas-based incubator will launch its first spirits brand later this year. BevNET

  • Liquid Death is launching three new sparkling water flavors: Cherry Obituary, Squeezed to Death, and Grave Fruit. The packaging is great ⬇️ Twitter

  • The latest flavor partnership from C4 Energy is with Popsicle. Together they’re launching three new flavors: Popsicle Cherry, Popsicle Grape, and Popsicle Hawaiian Pineapple. Stack3d

  • Oliver Stormshak, the founder of beloved coffee roaster Olympia Coffee, has launched a new high-end coffee brand called Oliver’s Custom Coffee. Oliver’s Custom Coffee focuses on rare varietals and experimental lots from the world’s most celebrated farmers. The prices are high, too. Daily Coffee News

Data 🖥️

  • Birkenstock had a pretty strong fiscal 2023 — revenue jumped 20% year-over-year to €1.492B — but shares took a hit as the company warned of margin headwinds in 2024. CNBC

Distribution News 🚚

  • Chamberlain Coffee launched its matcha latte line nationwide at Target.

  • Haircare brand Hair Proud is now available at 1,000 CVS stores.

  • AriZona HARD will be available nationwide via Gopuff.

  • Energy drink brand Celsius launched in the UK, Ireland, and Canada.