Major Indoor Farming Merger, Phlur Goes Abroad 🌏

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CPG WIRE
August 19, 2025

Welcome back to This Week in CPG, folks. Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

  • A2 Milk buys Kiwi facility 🥛

  • Beekman expands into haircare 🐐

  • Perfumer H heads to Seoul 📈

  • Saffron Road refreshes, reformulates 🐔

  • Brami lands at Fresh Thyme 🍝

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • 80 Acres Farms and Soli Organic, two large players in the indoor farming space, are merging to form a company with $200M in annual revenue. The newly formed company will operate under the 80 Acres Farms name and be headquartered in Hamilton, Ohio. A number of indoor farming outfits like Bowery and Plenty have recently shuttered, so we’ll see if meaningul scale is the solution (doubtful). PR Newswire

  • The A2 Milk Company is shelling out nearly $170M to acquire an infant formula manufacturing facility on New Zealand’s North Island. The seller is a subsidiary of China Mengniu Dairy. A2 Milk will invest just under $60M to expand capacity at the facility and meet the rising demand for infant formula. WSJ

  • Associated British Foods (ABF) has acquired legacy bread brand Hovis for around £75M. ABF will merge Hovis with Kingsmill, making it the largest bread brand in the UK. Baking Business

Fundraising

  • Better Origin, a Canadian purveyor of plant-based omega-3s, raised $1.25M from undisclosed investors. The company specializes in vegan omega-3s made from micro-algae. Vegconomist

  • According to an SEC filing, Touch Capital is raising $100M for Fund II. The firm’s previous investments include Amara Organics, Oats Overnight, Catalina Crunch, LesserEvil Snacks, and Super Coffee. SEC

How LOLA Uses Highlight to Test New Packaging Concepts with Real Customers 📦

Period and sexual wellness brand LOLA creates products with their customers foremost in mind. Empowering people with product knowledge and transparency is crucial to their brand ethos.

So it only makes sense that when the question of packaging updates arose, there was only one way to start: by asking their consumers.

🌱 Would a color change help to more clearly signal "sustainability"?

🤔 Does the proposed concept still convey a premium experience?

🛒 What kind of changes would risk alienating loyal customers?

To get the answers they needed, LOLA asked consumers using concept testing by the Highlight product intelligence platform.

Now LOLA has the data they need to create packaging their consumers will love.

Wondering what your consumers think of your ideas? Identify winners before investing a cent in prototyping with concept testing by Highlight.

Request a demo to see how quick and easy concept testing can be.

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Sensitive skincare brand Beekman 1802 expanded into haircare with their Milk Therapy range. The 3-step haircare treatment includes a Peptide Shampoo, Peptide Conditioner, and a Leave-In Serum. The line debuted on QVC and HSN on Saturday. WWD 

  • Vibras is a new daily performance fuel supplement. The brand’s debut drink mix contains electrolytes, caffeine, adaptogens, and nootropics to provide consumers with a boost. The product was developed by Jaclyn Sklaver who’s Head of Performance Nutrition for the Orlando Magic. Vibras was founded by Mike Sill who previously co-founded functional gummies brand Sunday Scaries. Vibras 

  • Recently acquired fragrance brand Phlur is launching in Australia and the Middle East. Phlur’s fragrance range will be available at Mecca in Australia later this month and at Sephora in the Middle East in September. TSG Consumer Partners acquired Phlur in July. Business of Fashion

  • Sophia Wojczak, a granddaughter of Conair founder Leandro Rizzuto and a former Director of New Products at the company, is building a professional hair tools brand called Arachne. Beauty Independent

  • London-based fragrance brand Perfumer H is opening a store in Seoul on Friday, August 22nd. Perfumer H is backed by Fable Investments — the venture arm of Natura &Co — and has recently opened stores in Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, Taipei, and Tokyo. Instagram

  • Children’s nutrition brand Mighties just launched a once-daily chewable multivitamin for kids. Mighties

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Trü Frü just refreshed its freeze dried fruit packaging. It’s not a massive departure from the previous iteration but they do a much better job of communicating flavor and what the product actually is. They also improved the product photography and added some new callouts. Instagram

  • Better-for-you snack brand Quinn released a Filled Pretzel Stick line with two flavors: Peanut Butter and Peanut Butter & Honey. The branding is excellent and the product itself is pretty novel. Twitter

  • Saffron Road rebranded and reformulated its product range to meet two key trends: high-protein and no seed oils. The products now contain 21g of protein and are made with premium cooking oils instead of canola and soybean oil. NOSH

  • BUNKY is a new player in the high-protein popcorn category. Each bag delivers 10g of protein and no seed oils. Two flavors are currently available: Sriracha Lime and Aged White Cheddar. Curious how this stacks up against Khloud Protein Popcorn from a taste and texture perspective. BUNKY

  • Nicotina Energy is a new energy drink brand that’s powered by microdosed nicotine. The product is designed to spark focus, heighten awareness, and boost dopamine. The active ingredient profile is interesting but this sounds like a merchandising/regulatory nightmare. Will no doubt try, though. Nicotina 

  • Fly By Jing partnered with food influencer Frankie Gaw to release a limited edition Chili Crisp Ketchup. According to Food & Wine, it’s delicious. Food & Wine

  • Protein snack brand Legendary is launching an Apple Beignet Protein Pastry. Stack3d

Data 🖥️

  • Circana anticipates more of the same in 2026. Food and beverage volumes will remain flat or decline while consumers will continue to seek value, less alcohol, and less snacking. Food Business News

  • Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) reported tepid results in Q2. Net sales increased 1.5% to over $1.2B but net income declined 12.8% to $58.4M. Flowers Foods acquired Simple Mills earlier this year for $795M in a bid to diversify beyond its ailing bread business. Simple Mills contributed $61.4M in net sales and $10.9M in adjusted EBITDA in Q2. PR Newswire

Distribution News 🚚

  • Adaptogenic gummies brand NOON launched at Raley’s.

  • Big Bold Health launched 4 SKUs at Erewhon.

  • El Nacho launched at Whole Foods Market in the northeast.

  • Brami launched their protein pasta line storewide at Fresh Thyme.