Moth Secures $6M Investment, Seedlip Founder Launches New Venture 🥃

Welcome back to This Week in CPG, folks. Hope everyone had a great weekend and a productive Monday. Yesterday wasn’t a crazy news day but we still have some very interesting items to cover:

• L Catterton buys body care brand 🧴

• Mandy Moore backs Perelel Health 💊

• Ritual launches fertility drink mix 🫧

• Mike’s Hot Honey x Montchevre 🧀

• Jesse & Ben’s launches at Whole Foods 🍟

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• L Catterton acquired a majority stake in Stenders, a premium bath & body care brand that was founded in Latvia in 2001. In 2018, Stenders was purchased by Chinese businessmen Yang Gang and Zhao Yang, along with China's state-owned investment bank CICC. Stenders has a portfolio of more than 400 products and over 300 stores worldwide. Business of Fashion

• Cooper Street Snacks, a family-owned producer of cookies and granola snacks, has acquired Harvest Valley Bakery, an Illinois-based manufacturer of private label cookies and brownies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Food Business News

• Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ: CALM) announced a strategic investment in Crepini, a New York-based producer of high protein wraps and pancakes. Cal-Maine Foods will invest $6.75M in exchange for a 51% stake. Crepini retails at 3,500 stores throughout Mexico and the United States. Business Wire

Fundraising

• Moth, a UK-based canned cocktail brand, secured $6M in fresh funding. The round was led by Beringea, a transatlantic investor in high growth startups. Moth launched in 2021 and is sold at over 3,000 retailers across the UK. The Spirits Business

• Mandy Moore is now an investor in Perelel Health, a leader in the prenatal and postnatal vitamin space. Moore will also act as a Women’s Health Advocate alongside the brand. Perelel raised $6M in Series A funding from Unilever Ventures, Willow Growth, and Selva Ventures earlier this year. Perelel Health

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Skincare brand Dieux launched their first-ever facial cleanser. Dubbed Baptism, the cleanser is available in fragranced as well as fragrance-free format. Beautiful product. The Cut

• Women’s wellness brand Ritual launched a fertility-supporting drink supplement called Fertility Support 3-in-1 Drink Mix. The product is formulated with inositol, CoQ10, and retails for $99. WWD

• Estee Lauder has partnered with Dresden University of Technology to study the neurological connections between fragrance and emotion. Estee Lauder hopes that the research partnership will give them an edge in the functional fragrance category. Glossy

• Chanel has tapped Simona Cattaneo, a former exec at Coty and Tod’s Group, as its next Head of Fragrance & Beauty. Cattaneo will officially join Chanel in October. WWD

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Ben Branson, the founder of non-alcoholic spirits brand Seedlip, launched a new non-alc distillery and maturation laboratory called Sylva. UK-based Sylva will produce luxury dark spirits with an ABV of less than 0.5%. Branson launched Seedlip in 2016 and Diageo acquired a significant majority stake in 2021. The Spirits Business

• Wyoming Whiskey, the American whiskey brand that’s majority owned by Edrington, expanded their whiskey lineup with two new products: National Parks No. 4 and Old Faithful. Love both labels. Instagram

• Mike’s Hot Honey collaborated with Montchevre on a spicy goat cheese. Would be very curious to see what Mike’s Hot Honey licensing revenue looks like. They have some massive partnerships with Kellanova and Utz. PR Newswire

• Sparkling water brand Aura Bora released another fun flavor — Blackberry Black Pepper. Another great-looking can from the Aura Bora team. Instagram

• UK-based PerfectTed launched a stunning new matcha — Citrusy Yuzu Matcha. Love the packaging. Instagram

Data 🖥️

• LesserEvil, the BFY snack brand that Charles Coristine acquired for $250K in 2011, generated over $103M in gross sales last year. The company also posted EBITDA of $14.4M. Incredible biz. CNBC

Distribution News 🚚

• Seedly is now available at MOM’s Organic Market.

• LiveMore Superfoods launched at Costco in the Midwest.

• Jesse & Ben’s launched their BFY frozen fries at Whole Foods.

• Laoban launched their Bao Buns nationwide at Sprouts.

• Seed Health scored nationwide distribution at Target.

• UK-based FHIRST Living Soda launched at Ocado.