L'Oreal Backs Jacquemus, Fruit Riot Heads to Canada 🍇

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

• Pernod Ricard weighs sale 🥂

• Little’s Coffee scores funding ☕️

• Jones Road Beauty heads to Austin 🤠

• Kettle & Fire collabs with Maui Nui 🦌

• e.l.f. Beauty takes a hit 📉

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• L’Oreal took a minority stake in Jacquemus and signed a long-term beauty partnership with the Parisian fashion label. Together the two firms will co-develop a range of luxury beauty products that will likely debut in two years. Founded in 2009 by Simon Porte Jacquemus, the company generated €270M in revenue in 2023, up from €100M in 2021. Very excited to see Jacquemus’ novel take on beauty and fragrance. L’Oreal also revealed a minority stake in Amouage, the Omani luxury fragrance brand that’s now worth more than €3B. Vogue Business

• Pernod Ricard is reportedly considering a sale of its Mumm champagne brand which could go for as much as $600M. Pernod has already divested a number of wine labels in order to focus on premium spirits. Reuters

Fundraising

• UK-based instant coffee brand Little’s received an £80K investment from Steven Bartlett on BBC’s Dragon’s Den. I recently saw Little’s at Central Market in TX and loved the packaging. Business Live

• Greyson Clothiers, a Detroit-based premium performance apparel brand, secured $20M in growth capital. The round was co-led by NewBound Venture Partners and Chris Koch, the CEO of New Era. Other investors include Tom Nolan, the CEO of Kendra Scott, and David Chu, the founder of Nautica. Prior to founding Greyson Clothiers, CEO Charlie Schaefer designed clothes at Ralph Lauren for 13 years. PR Newswire

• High Rise Beverage Company, a South Carolina-based purveyor of D9 and CBD beverages, raised $755K in fresh equity funding from undisclosed investors on February 6th. The company raised $1M in equity funding last August. SEC

• Sustainable haircare brand Everist secured an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Sandbridge Capital and existing investors. Everist was co-founded by Jayme Jenkins and Jessica Stevenson in 2021. WWD

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Jones Road Beauty is opening a store on South Congress Avenue in Austin, TX. Jones Road currently operates eight retail stores and the Austin location will be its westernmost store. Twitter

• Target enlisted COLLINS to refresh its popular Up&Up private label line. Up&Up has over 2,000 SKUs and does over $3B in annual sales so this was a massive undertaking. IMO COLLINS succeeded in elevating Up&Up from a private label brand to a slightly aspirational one. Great work. The Dieline

• Sunnee BaeSkin is a new natural self-tanning brand co-founded by Isabel Vita, a tanning artist to stars like Miley Cyrus (an investor), Selena Gomez, Kylie Jenner, and many others. The line is available exclusively at Ulta Beauty. The packaging is whimsical and approachable. WWD

• DTC apparel brand Quince expanded into wellness with a new line of Everyday Electrolyte Drink Mixes. A 30-pack only costs $20 so a steal compared to many of the other hydration players. Campaign Buzz

• Summer Fridays opened a stellar pop-up at Bondi Beach in Australia. Instagram

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Kettle & Fire teamed up with Maui Nui Venison to launch the first-ever 100% Wild-Harvested Venison Bone Broth. The packaging is fantastic. Instagram

• Clean hydration brand BioSteel is preparing to launch its first protein beverage. Details are scarce but we know it’ll contain 30g of protein and 130 calories. Stack3d

• Lolli is a new player in the THC-infused soda category. Three flavors are available — Cherry Cola, Grape Soda, and Orange Soda — and each can contains 10mg of THC. Lolli is currently available at Spec’s throughout TX. Lolli

• ALDI plans on opening a record-breaking 225 new stores in the U.S. in 2025. This is the most new stores ALDI will open in one year in its nearly 50-year history in the U.S. market. In order to pull this off, ALDI will convert select Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores to ALDI format. PR Newswire

• Jiant Hard Tea launched a new variety pack called The Paradise Pack. Four new flavors are available: Pineapple Lime, Tropical Mango, Paradise Punch, and Guava Lemonade. PR Web

• Hendrick’s Gin is launching a limited edition variety called Oasium. The new expression is inspired by the desert. Instagram

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Data 🖥️

• e.l.f. Beauty reported a 31% increase in Q4 net sales but shares collapsed after the company cut its annual net sales and profit forecasts. e.l.f. Beauty generated more than $1B of revenue and over $180M of EBITDA last year, yet it only has a market cap of $4B right now. Yahoo Finance

• Brooks Running finished 2024 with record global revenue, up 9% YoY, fueled by growth in every region and channel. This outcome marks eight consecutive years of growth for the leading run brand, which delivered a 13% compound annual growth rate over that horizon. Footwear News

Distribution News 🚚

• Fruit Riot officially launched in Canada.

• LiveMore Superfoods launched at Aldi in the U.S.

• Lottie’s Meats & Provisions launched at Foxtrot.

• Bloom & Blossom launched at Boots in the UK.

• Unwell Hydration launched at Sprouts Farmers Market.

• Clean haircare brand RŌZ is launching at Sephora.

• Three Wishes launched at Costco in Los Angeles.