Kraft Heinz Hits Pause, De La Calle Unveils New Look 🍹

Author

CPG WIRE
February 12, 2026

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

  • Reliance bets on Australian CPG 👀

  • Collab Fund backs Cambiotics 🧪

  • O Positiv launches Prenatal + Probiotic 💊

  • UFC partners w/ FoodStory Brands 🍫

  • Hard cider is having a moment 📈

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • According to Steve Cahillane, the recently appointed CEO of Kraft Heinz, the company is pausing its plans to spit into two separate companies. Kraft Heinz will instead focus on profitable growth and invest $600M into sales, marketing, and product development. This is a surprising move since Cahillane spearheaded the very successful Kellanova x WK Kellogg split. Fast Company

  • India’s Reliance Consumer Products has acquired a majority stake in Goodness Group, an Australian better-for-you beverage company. Goodness Group owns several brands including Nexba (kombucha & prebiotic soda), Pace (hydration), Bison (protein coconut water), and The Good Sorts (BFY food & beverage brand). The acquisition offers Reliance a foothold in Australia’s food & beverage market. Just Drinks

  • British beauty brand Barry M has been bought out of administration by Warpaint, a rival beauty brand, for £1.4M. Barry Mero launched the beauty brand in 1982 but the company failed to evolve and filed administration paperwork in January. The Industry

Fundraising

  • Cambiotics, a Danish startup that created a probiotic supplement designed to flush forever chemicals from the body, closed a €4M seed round led by Collaborative Fund. Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund and True also participated in the round. The Copenhagen-based startup uses a precision-formulated probiotic strain that supports the body’s natural process for removal of forever chemicals. Athletech News

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Luxury biotech beauty brand REOME unveiled its newest product: Hydra-Plasma Veil. The bio-cellulose face masks promise hydration and visible luminosity in 15-20 minutes. A 5-pack retails for $137. Instagram

  • O Positiv launched an OBGYN-formulated prenatal supplement called PREGGO Prenatal + Probiotic. The daily supplement is formulated to support both fetal development and maternal wellness. Key active ingredients include methylfolate, choline, omegas, iron, probiotics, and vitamin B6. Instagram

  • Grüns expanded its Grüns Kids offering with a limited-edition Mango Sorbet flavor. The gummies are also shaped like flip flops which is a fun touch. LinkedIn

  • Cardi B is launching a haircare brand called Good-Grow Beauty in the spring. Good-Grow is part of her joint venture with Revolve Group and will be Cardi B’s first owned beauty brand. WWD

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Modern Mexican soda brand De La Calle revealed a refreshed brand identity yesterday. They dialed up the imagery, added a key callout. and became a much more flavor-forward soda brand. The refresh makes De La Calle more retail-friendly without alienating their existing customer base. LinkedIn

  • Tony’s Chocolonely launched a new filled chocolate bar line in the Netherlands. Three decadent flavors are currently available: Milk Caramel Sea Salt Crunch, Milk Hazelnut Praline Crunch, and Milk Chocolate Ganache. These are going to do very well. LinkedIn

  • Model and TV personality Ashley Graham just launched a lambrusco brand called Lucci. Graham co-founded the sparkling red wine brand with Danny Epstien of Skylark. The bottle and label are both pretty good-looking. PR Newswire

  • UFC is teaming up with FoodStory Brands, a developer of mostly licensed food & beverage brands, to launch a UFC-branded protein bar line. FoodStory Brands scaled Fresh Cravings into a $100M refrigerated dips brand and has done more than $100M in sales with its Yellowstone food brand. PR Newswire

  • Better-for-you beverage brand Awesome Ice Tea is launching soon. The company was co-founded by Bill Connors who spent 25+ years at Red Bull, most recently as EVP & GM of the East Business Unit. Awesome Ice Tea is lightly sweetened and offers functional benefits due to prebiotic fiber and avocado seed extract. LinkedIn

  • German confectionery firm Katjes just added Jake Shane, a popular creator and podcaster, as Chief Creative Officer. Katjes is eager to expand its footprint in the U.S. and partnering with Shane offers a meaningful cultural foothold. Shane has been a longtime consumer of Katjes products. Instagram

  • Brown-Forman and Coca-Cola are expanding their Jack & Coke partnership with 16 oz tallboys. The Whiskey Wash

  • Brightland and Sumo Citrus collaborated on a limited-edition citrus flavored olive oil. The collab is available exclusively via Brightland’s website for $48. PR Newswire

Data 🖥️

  • Hard cider is surprisingly having a growth moment right now. According to national scan data, hard cider volume is up 2% while unflavored dry cider volume is up an impressive 12.4%. One brand to watch given the above-mentioned data is Paulie’s out of Los Angeles. They’re launching in the spring. Beer Insights

  • Energy drink volumes continue to rip despite modest price increases. For the 4-week period ending on January 10th, energy drink volume increased by 11.8%. Twitter

Distribution News 🚚