Kirin Explores Bourbon Sale, TTV Backs Happy Coffee ☕️

Author

CPG WIRE
October 25, 2025

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

  • Froneri buys ice cream portfolio 🍦

  • Sweet Chemistry scores $1M 🧪

  • Monos opens NYC outpost 🧳

  • Simply Good Foods disappoints 📉

  • Plant People launches at Target 🍄

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Japanese conglomerate Kirin Holdings is looking to sell Four Roses Bourbon for around $1B. Kirin has owned the Kentucky-based bourbon producer since 2002. Lately Kirin has spent several billion dollars acquiring beauty & VMS brands as younger consumers shy away from booze. The $1B price tag seems rich given that a) whiskey demand is down and b) strategic buyers are struggling with their own portfolios. Financial Times

  • European ice cream giant Froneri is acquiring Food Union’s ice cream division in Northern & Eastern Europe. The acquisition gives Froneri a portfolio of locally beloved brands and greater exposure to Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania. FoodBev

Fundraising

  • Happy Coffee, a coffee brand co-founded by Robert Downey Jr. and Craig Dubitsky, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Taste Tomorrow Ventures (TTV), the $30M venture arm of L.A. Libations. Happy Coffee launched in 2024 and as of February had more than 60,000 points of distribution across the U.S. For TTV, this is their third investment after Just Ice Tea and Better Sour. LinkedIn

  • Regenerative peptide skincare brand Sweet Chemistry secured $1M in funding. Sandbridge Capital led the round while a number of strategic angel investors also participated. Sweet Chemistry retails exclusively at Violet Grey was co-founded by Alec Batis, a chemist who went from R&D to marketing at L’Oreal. Beauty Independent

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Brooklyn-based fashion label Abacaxi launched its first-ever fragrance with Tropic of Sheena. The perfume is named after the brand’s Creative Director and is made with natural extracts and bottled by hand. Hypebae

  • Twofold Wellness is a new hybrid beauty/wellness brand. The San Diego-based company launched with two complementary products: an antioxidant rich serum and an ingestible wellness powder. PR Newswire

  • Premium luggage brand Monos is opening its first NYC store in Soho today. The store was designed by Belgian architect Bernard Dubois and is located at 120 Mercer St. LinkedIn

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • After co-founding Primal Kitchen and selling it for $200M in 2018, Morgan Buehler Zanotti has returned with a beverage brand called Waay. Waay is a sparkling protein drink with 10g of protein, 0g of sugar, and only 45 calories. Three flavors are available now on Amazon and at Whole Foods Market 👇 Waay

  • Cincinnati-based craft brewer Rhinegeist is exploring the THC beverage category with Fuzzy Bones. Each beverage contains 5mg of THC and 10mg of CBD. Three flavors are available: Blood Orange Tangerine, Lemon Blueberry, and Blackberry Hibiscus. Fuzzy Bones

  • Bitchin’ Sauce, a producer of a popular line of almond-based dips, just dropped its first collab in company history with Yellowbird. Two varieties are available — Habanero and Serrano — which are available at select Costco and Albertsons stores. Perishable News

  • Linear is a new clean protein bar brand. Each bar is made with 100% organic ingredients and features 20g of protein and an impressive 12g of fiber. Linear’s products are also free from seed oils, sucralose, and artificial flavors. Linear

  • Buffy Protein just added WNBA star Kelsey Plum as a co-founder and brand ambassador. The company produces chicken & cottage cheese-based dips which are now available for pre-order on their website. Instagram

  • Culture Pop Soda announced a new partnership with singer Noah Kahan. The collaborative social series will debut this fall with more partnership announcements coming next year. PR Newswire

  • Fizzy Moo is a new carbonated milk beverage brand from Colorado. The company was co-founded by three students from the University of Colorado Boulder. The branding is cute. Instagram

  • Diamond Brew Coffee just released its second product which is a Decaf Instant Espresso. Diamond Brew

Data 🖥️

  • Atkins continues to drag results for Simply Good Foods (Nasdaq: SMPL) as Q4 net sales dipped 1.8% to $369M. Quest Nutrition and OWYN performed well with retail takeaway up 4% and 11%, respectively. Simply Good Foods shares dropped nearly 20% when the company reported Q4 results. GlobeNewswire

  • High Noon remains the clear leader in the RTD spirits category with nearly 40% market share. Surfside is nipping at its heels and rising quickly, though. LinkedIn

Distribution News 🚚