P&G Buys a Haircare Brand 💈

Happy Saturday, folks! We've got a lot to cover this morning, so here's a quick preview: 

• P&G acquires a black-owned haircare brand 💈

• LVMH unloads a winery 🍷

• There's a new women-led energy drink brand ⚡️

• A beauty incubator files for bankruptcy 💸

• Starface launches a cool new product 🤩

A ton of founders, investors, and super consumers read This Week in CPG, so if you're interested in sponsoring the newsletter, let us know here. 

The Big Story

Procter & Gamble — the CPG goliath that owns Tide, Bounty, Tampax, Old Spice, and a litany of other instantly recognizable brands — acquired black-owned haircare brand Mielle Organics on Wednesday. 

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but considering that Berkshire Partners invested $100m for a non-controlling stake in 2021, we can confidently assume a high nine-figure exit for the company. 

Founded in 2014 by husband-and-wife duo Monique & Melvin Rodriguez, Mielle sells textured haircare products to a largely black customer base. 

Mielle's story is a scrappy and fascinating one. Monique Rodriguez, a 39-year-old registered nurse at the time, pulled together $10,000 and hired a local chemist to formulate her first product: a mint almond oil for healthier hair. That first product was a hit and remains a best-seller today. 

After months of using their kitchen as a production facility and fulfillment center, Monique & Melvin landed their first retail customer, Sally Beauty. Since then Mielle has exploded. They've gone from one product to over one hundred. They've graduated from Sally Beauty to Ulta Beauty and over 100,000 other retailers.

Once the deal receives regulatory approval, Mielle will operate as an independent subsidiary within P&G Beauty. Monique and Melvin Rodriguez will retain their roles as CEO and COO, respectively. 

Despite the successful outcome, many of Mielle's customers are upset, convinced that P&G will water down the products, favoring cost efficiencies over quality, leaving an already underserved demographic with less effective options. 

Deals

• Bambody, a period underwear brand from Australia, was acquired by brand aggregator Heyday. Interest in the period underwear space has intensified lately. Essity paid $320m for 80% of Knix, and $140m for Modibodi. Kimberly-Clark also acquired a majority stake in Thinx for an undisclosed sum. Link 

• Luxury giant LVMH agreed to sell Australia's Cape Menelle Winery to Paragon Wine Estates. LVMH acquired a controlling interest Cape Menelle Winery in 1990. In 2020 LVMH sold another Australian winery, RM Williams, to Tattarang. Link

• High protein chocolate milk brand Slate secured $10m in Series A funding. The fresh capital will be used to fuel national expansion and expand their product lineup. You'd never guess that Slate's Chocolate Milk only contains 1G of sugar. Link

• Playboy Spirits — a joint venture between Playboy and Spirits Investment Partners (SIP) — secured $13m from a private investor. Was shocked to learn that Playboy Spirits has actually released some cool, interesting products. Link

• German fragrance & flavors firm Symrise invested in Ignite Venture Studio, a consumer brand incubator and investor based in Princeton, NJ. Ignite develops personal care brands and invests in early stage companies. Symrise and Ignite both invested in Sunday II Sunday, a haircare brand, in 2021. Link

• Beauty brand incubator FORMA Brands filed for bankruptcy and agreed to be acquired by a group of lenders. FORMA owns a variety of beauty brands including Bad Habit, Morphe, and Lipstick Queen. When General Atlantic acquired a majority stake in 2019, FORMA was valued at $2.2B. Quite a fall from grace. Link

• L Catterton sold skincare brand Bliss World to AS Beauty. Catterton has owned Bliss World since 2015 when it purchased Steiner Leisure. AS Beauty, a joint venture between the E.l.f. Cosmetics co-founders and the Azrak family, owns and operates a number of beauty brands. Link

• Private equity major Carlyle purchased a 70% stake in Indian skincare brand VLCC for between $275-300m. Link

What's New...

• Glossier, the beauty brand founded by Emily Weiss, is entering an entirely new category: deodorant. Unsurprisingly, the product looks incredible. Link

• San Francisco's Fort Point Beer Co. just launched two *beautiful* ciders. Link

• Diaper brand Freestyle collaborated with celeb stylist Amanda Merten and clothing brand All the Babies on a sweatsuit for kids. Very fun collaboration. Link

• Nestle will pilot recyclable paper packaging for KitKat. The recyclable KitKat will be available for a limited time at Coles in Australia. Link

• There's a new women-led, clean label energy drink brand from NYC: Gorgie. The product contains 150mg of caffeine, B vitamins, biotin, and only 5 calories. Link

• The talented folks at Starface unveiled their latest product: preventative pimple patches. Excellent branding yet again. Link

• Japanese personal care firm Kose Corporation collaborated with luxury resort group Aman on a new skincare line. The five products will be sold online and at Aman's resorts in 20 countries. Link

• UK supermarket chain Waitrose is now packaging their private label wines in cans, and they look pretty good. Link

Distribution News 

• Served, Ellie Goulding's hard seltzer brand, is available at Morrisons in the UK.

• Hydrating hand sanitizer brand Touchland now has dedicated displays at Sephora.

• Affordable beauty brand ColourPop Cosmetics will launch 120 SKUS online and in-store at Target.

• Undercover Snacks, a chocolate covered quinoa crisp brand, launched storewide at Publix.

• TikTok sensation Pink Sauce will launch exclusively at Walmart for six months.

Thank you for reading along. If you enjoyed this newsletter, please pass it along to others who might enjoy it. If you think a particular story was omitted, feel free to get in touch: [email protected].