Mahomes Launches RTD Coffee Brand, Good Crisp Heads to Target 🎯

GM and Happy Saturday, folks. Thursday & Friday were quiet news days so today’s newsletter is a shorter one. Here’s what we’re getting into though:

• Above Foods buys GoodWheat 🍝

• Marcy backs RTD cocktail brand 🍸

• Glossier opens Las Vegas store 🎲

• Oobli partners with Grupo Bimbo 🥧

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• Arcadia Biosciences is selling GoodWheat — a producer of high-fiber pasta and pancake mixes — for $4M. The buyer is Above Food, a Canadian food group. GoodWheat retails at 3,500 stores across the U.S. Just Food

• Athletic apparel giant Lululemon is acquiring its Mexico franchisee which operates 15 stores throughout the country. The local franchisee, Lululemon Mexico, has been in the market since 2017. Bloomberg

Fundraising

• Marcy Venture Partners, the venture firm founded by Jay-Z, Larry Marcus, and others, made a significant investment in The Finnish Long Drink. Founded in 2018 by four friends, The Finnish Long Drink sells gin-based RTD cocktails. Actor Miles Teller is an investor and an active brand ambassador. Brewbound

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Glossier officially opened its first retail store in Las Vegas. The store is located in The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace. This is their 13th store. WWD

• WHOOP partnered with ASSOS of Switzerland to create the next-generation of cycling shorts. ASSOS has been producing premium cycling apparel for the last 48 years. Business Wire

• Rhode, the skincare brand founded by Hailey Rhode Bieber, is launching a new line of Blush Sticks in the near future. Instagram

• Sporty & Rich collaborated with adidas on another badass footwear collection. Love it. Hypebae

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Patrick Mahomes and former BodyArmor exec Michael Fedele launched a functional coffee brand — Throne Sport Coffee. In addition to 150mg of natural caffeine, their RTDs also feature electrolytes, B vitamins, and BCAAs. Throne Sport Coffee retails at Casey’s and Hy-Vee. The packaging is pretty good IMO 👇 Sportico

• Food tech startup Oobli announced a new partnership with global baking giant Grupo Bimbo. Oobli is best known for producing sweet proteins which can be 5000x sweeter than sugar, and can replace 70-90% of sugar in most food and beverage products. Grupo Bimbo plans to use Oobli’s technology as a new way to sweeten baked goods. PR Newswire

• Non-alcoholic aperitif brand De Soi unveiled their latest RTD product — Spritz Italiano — which launches on May 20th. Instagram

• Turner Duckworth refreshed the Reese’s Popcorn packaging and they did an unbelievable job 👇 Instagram

• Monte’s Fine Foods, a producer of clean, authentic pasta sauces, launched two dried pasta products. The packaging is terrific — they nailed a vintage look without trying too hard to be vintage. Monte’s 

• Magic Spoon launched two new protein bar flavors: Birthday Cake and Strawberry Milkshake. Stack3d

• CVS Pharmacy launched a new private label food & beverage brand called Well Market. Is it just me or does this look better than private label brands from Target and Walmart? NOSH

Data 🖥️

• Japanese beauty giant Shiseido had a decent Q1 with net sales rising 3.2%. Drunk Elephant sales jumped an impressive 30%. Global Cosmetics News

Distribution News 🚚

• The Good Crisp Company launched at select Target stores.

• BFY soda brand Poppi launched a new variety pack at Costco.

• Slate Milk is now available nationwide at Target.

• Pretty Tasty Collagen Tea is now available at Pop Up Grocer.