Nutrisco Buys LiveMore Superfoods, Naomi Osaka Backs ZICO 🥥

GM and Happy 4th of July, folks. Even though it’s a holiday here in the United States we still have a lot of interesting stuff to cover. Let’s dive in:

• Seaweed Bath Co. buys two brands 💰

• The Finnish Long Drink scores funding 🍸

• Fat Ice raises over $7M 🧊

• BODYARMOR x Dude Perfect 🏀

• Poor Toms packaging refresh 😍

Since the remainder of the week will likely be slow due to the holiday, there will be no newsletter on Saturday, July 6th (unless Keurig Dr Pepper buys Poppi or something).

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• Chilean food & beverage firm Nutrisco has acquired LiveMore Superfoods, a seller of organic, pre-made smoothie cups. LiveMore Superfoods was founded in 2010 and is based in Newport Beach, CA. In addition to their DTC business, LiveMore retails at Costco, CVS, H-E-B, Raley’s, and Target. Just Drinks

• Boulder-based Seaweed Bath Co. has acquired two beauty brands — Andalou Naturals and Mineral Fusion — from bankrupt Australian beauty conglomerate BWX. The combined revenue for all three brands is expected to be around $50M. Happi

• O’Neill Vintners & Distillers has acquired Substance Wines, an acclaimed and top-selling wine brand from Washington State. Substance was introduced by Charles Smith in 2015. Wine Business

Fundraising

• Per a number of SEC filings, The Finnish Long Drink secured over $24M in equity funding from undisclosed investors. Founded in 2018, The Finnish Long Drink is the fastest growing RTD cocktail brand in the U.S., and sold nearly 80 million cans last year. Incredible. SEC

• Fat Ice, an Austin-based purveyor of premium ice cubes for cocktails, raised just over $7M in equity funding from undisclosed investors. I spotted their branded cooler at Spec’s a few weeks back. Interesting brand and product. SEC

• Supermodel Natalia Vodianova has become an investor in Niance, a Zurich-based luxury skincare and supplements brand. Vodianova and her husband, Antoine Arnault, are also investors in Augustinus Bader. Global Cosmetics News

• Tennis star Naomi Osaka invested in premium coconut water brand ZICO. ZICO Coconut Water was founded by Mark Rampolla who, along with a group of original investors including Jesse Itzler, reacquired the brand from The Coca-Cola Company in 2021. Osaka will also act as a brand ambassador. BevNET

• BoldHue, a hardware startup that sells a “Keurig for Makeup” device, secured $3.4M in seed funding. The round was led by Lucas Venture Group with additional participation from Capital Eleven, Backstage Capital, Tacoma Ventures, Mark Cuban, and Kevin Huvane. PR Newswire

• Frites Street, a purveyor of gourmet frozen fries, raised $2.7M in equity funding from undisclosed investors. Obviously Instagram can be misleading but their products look pretty incredible. SEC

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Debut, a biotech beauty startup, signed an agreement with L'Oréal to develop more than a dozen bio-identical ingredients that will replace conventionally sourced ingredients currently used in L'Oréal’s beauty and personal care brands. A major coup for Debut. PR Newswire

• Celine, the French luxury fashion label that’s owned by LVMH, expanded its beauty range with a line of bath and body products. The collection includes body lotion, hand soap, and hand cream. Business of Fashion

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• New Zealand’s Salash Delicatessen unveiled a fantastic brand refresh. Auckland-based design agency Onfire Design facilitated the refresh. Packaging of the World

• BODYARMOR collaborated with popular YouTube group Dude Perfect on a limited-edition flavor — Cherry Berry Ice. You can find the co-branded beverage at Walmart. Twitter

• Cadence, a performance hydration brand co-founded by Ross MacKay and George Heaton, launches in the U.S. later today at 11am PST. The minimalist, premium packaging is pretty brilliant. Stack3d

• BFY tea brand RYL Tea launched two new products: Unsweetened Green Tea and Unsweetened Black Tea. Instagram

• Jordan’s Skinny Mixes, the popular beverage enhancing brand, just dropped a packaging refresh. I’m clearly not the target demo for the brand but I don’t love the refresh. Curious what others think. Business Wire

• Australian gin brand Poor Toms also unveiled a fantastic packaging refresh. They retained some of the charm of the old packaging but upgraded to a more premium bottle. The yellow neck across all three SKUs is a nice unifying touch. More great work from Peculiar Familia, a small design practice with an excellent portfolio. Instagram

Data 🖥️

• According to 818 Tequila, it’s now the fastest growing premium tequila brand in China. 818 also just announced a new distributor in Austria and the Netherlands. The Spirits Business

Distribution News 🚚

• Pirq Protein Shakes are now available nationwide at Sprouts Farmers Market.

• Lo Siento Tequila launched in its third state, Georgia.

• Harken Sweets scored distribution at Hy-Vee.

• Ami Ami launched at Bi-Rite in San Francisco.