Pillsbury On The Block, Quavo Launches Cognac 🥃

Welcome back to This Week in CPG, folks. Today’s newsletter is a short one. Like the weather, we can’t control the news cycle and yesterday was a sluggish one.

Anyways, here’s what we’re getting into:

• Pillsbury owner up for sale 🍪

• Quavo launches cognac brand 🥃

• Keto Krack’d rebrands 🆕

• Fever-Tree stays hot in U.S. 📈

Shout-out to Barrel, the go-to web agency for brands like KIND Snacks, Dr.Jart+, Sweet Loren’s, Austin Eastciders, The Nue Co., and many others.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• Hometown Food Company — the owner of Birch Benders, Pillsbury, Hungry Jack, and other brands — is up for sale and could be valued as high as $800M. Private equity firm Brynwood Partners owns Hometown Food Company which generates around $90M in EBITDA per annum. CNBC

Fundraising

• Fine jewelry brand Kimai secured a £250K investment from Steven Bartlett on popular TV series Dragon’s Den. Kimai launched in 2018 and the accessible jewelry brand is growing 120% year-over-year. The Industry

The Go-To Web Agency for CPG Brands 👇

Barrel helps consumer brands design and develop impactful web experiences.

Since 2006, we’ve helped build digital experiences for well-known brands like KIND Snacks, Dr.Jart+, Sweet Loren’s, Austin Eastciders, The Nue Co., and many others. We’re also Shopify Plus Partners.

If you’re interested in taking your web experience to the next level, contact us here. We’d love to hear from you.

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• South Korean beauty firm Amorepacific has rebranded as AP. Their rebranded retail stores have already begun opening too. Global Cosmetics News

• French fashion label Soeur opened their first-ever UK store which is located in Shoreditch. Beautiful. The Industry

• Beekman 1802, the skincare brand that sold a controlling stake to Eurazeo in 2021, launched an adaptogenic eye cream that features five different mushrooms. Happi

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Over the weekend better-for-you soda brand Poppi opened an unbelievable pop-up in Los Angeles. Poppi Mart featured Paris Hilton and a number of other influencers, a new flavor (Wild Berry), and new tall boy cans. An expensive but really well executed event. Instagram 

• Popular rapper Quavo has joined forces with spirits firm Sazerac to launch a cognac brand — White X Cognac. Compared to other cognac brands, which are mostly dated or stuffy, Quavo’s brand is pretty refreshing. Cognac sales are down significantly in the U.S. so it’ll be interesting to see how the brand performs. PR Newswire

• Keto Krack’d has rebranded as Krack’d Snacks. The updated packaging is a vast improvement IMO ⬇️ Twitter

• Ethical chocolate maker TCHO launched a nacho-flavored chocolate product called Choco Natchos. I am both intrigued and repelled. TCHO

• Hain Celestial has launched a line of better-for-you Doritos under their Garden Veggie brand. Two flavors are available: Nacho Cheese and Zesty Ranch. PR Newswire

• 14 culinary gems from the 2024 Fancy Food Show. The Dieline

Data 🖥️

• UK-based mixers brand Fever-Tree continues to grow fast in the United States. FY sales in the U.S. grew 22% to $149M last year. Total sales grew 6% to just over $463M. The Spirits Business

Distribution News 🚚

• Masstige haircare brand Hairitage by Mindy launched at CVS, H-E-B, and Kroger.

• Simply launched three products at specialty airport retailer Marshall Retail Group.

• Celsius Energy launched their Essentials line at Walmart.

• Credo launched their pasta sauce line nationwide at Whole Foods Market.