Mega Cider Merger, FIGS Breaks Into Retail đź©ş

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CPG WIRE
November 04, 2023

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

  • Austin Eastciders x Blake’s Hard Cider merger 🍻

  • Casella buys Ampersand Projects 🍸

  • Ambercycle closes round ♻️

  • FIGS opens first store 🏥

  • Milk Bar x Got Milk 🥛

Deals đź’°

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Austin Eastciders and Blake’s Hard Cider are merging to form the largest independent craft hard cider company in the U.S. Blake’s Hard Cider acquired Oregon-based AVID Cider last year, so the combined entity will have operations spanning New York, Michigan, Texas, and the Pacific Northwest. They also own the #1 ciders in Texas and Michigan. PR Newswire

  • Australian family-owned wine firm Casella Family Brands has acquired Ampersand Projects, a producer of vodka, gin, and tequila RTD cocktails. Since launching in 2018. Ampersand Projects has sold more than 15 million cans. Their packaging is pretty great IMO đź”˝ Business News Australia

  • Brown-Forman completed its $220M sale of Finlandia Vodka. The buyer is Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, a European brand owner and bottling partner. The Spirits Business

Fundraising

  • Circular textiles startup Ambercycle raised $5M from DRIVE Catalyst, the venture arm of Taiwanese conglomerate Far Eastern Group. The LA-based startup will use the funding to develop its commercial-scale facility. Late last month, Inditex announced a partnership with Ambercycle to buy $74M worth of its recycled polyester. PR Newswire

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Medical apparel brand FIGS opened their first permanent retail store at Century City Mall in Los Angeles. The brand surpassed $500M in net revenue last year — most of which was DTC — so it’ll be interesting to see how much they invest in retail or if retail even works at all đź”˝ Business Wire

  • HOKA collaborated with artist & designer Nicole McLaughlin to reimagine one of their iconic trail sneakers. Brilliant collab. The gaiter is a particularly nice touch. McLaughlin’s other work is pretty compelling, too. Highsnobiety

  • Swarovski and SKIMS will launch a new collaboration on November 7th. The collection will feature body jewelry, intimates, and crystal-embellished SKIMS staples. SKIMS has been crushing it lately đź”˝ Hypebeast

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Milk Bar partnered with Got Milk to launch a fun new line of Holiday Milks. Three flavors are available: Apple Cider Donut Milk, Pumpkin Cinnamon Milk, and Sugar Cookie Milk. These all sound unbelievable đź”˝ Milk Bar

  • French spirits firm Pernod Ricard introduced a new wine brand, Greasy Fingers, which is supposed to be paired with greasy foods like gourmet burgers (??). FoodBev

  • Erin Lichy, one of the stars of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City, launched a new mezcal brand called Mezcalum alongside her husband, Abe. The label is half decent but it’s difficult to identify any other differentiators from a product or brand perspective đź”˝ The Spirits Business

  • LesserEvil Snacks unveiled their latest product — Outer Planet Pizza Space Balls. Absolutely love the packaging. Twitter

Data 🖥️

  • FIGS (mentioned above) posted solid Q3 results with revenue increasing 10.7% to $142.2M. Their net income margin also climbed slightly to 4.2%. Business Wire

  • PRIME Hydration volume shot up 384% while Electrolit jumped 27.4%. Curious to see how Electrolit’s 2024 distribution partnership with Keurig Dr Pepper impacts month-over-month volume. Twitter

Distribution News đźšš