Ripi Raises $2.4M, More Canned Cocktail M&A 🍸

Author

CPG WIRE
April 14, 2026

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

  • No Sleep Beverage expands portfolio 🥃

  • Suja Life files for IPO 🍊

  • Soft Services x Vacation collab 🏝️

  • BRĒZ appoints new CEO 👀

  • Elavi debuts at Wegmans 🛒

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • The parent company of White Claw, The Mark Anthony Group of Companies, has acquired fast-growing RTD cocktail brand The Finnish Long Drink for $325M. Founded in 2018 by several Finnish friends and American entrepreneur Evan Burns, The Finnish Long Drink sold 3.3 million cases in 2025 and is the ninth largest spirits RTD brand per NIQ scan data. The company was backed by Palm Tree Crew, Miles Teller, Rickie Fowler, Ben Kaplan, Marcy Venture Partners, Neuberger Berman, and several others. BeatBox, Monaco Cocktails, and Dirty Shirley have all exited within the past 5 months. VinePair

  • No Sleep Beverage expanded its spirits portfolio by acquiring Whiskey Del Bac, Nine Banded Whiskey, and Ume Plum Liqueur. Founded by former Pernod Ricard executive Nick Papanicolaou, No Sleep Beverage typically invests in emerging spirits brands but now the firm is acquiring them outright. Craft Spirits Magazine

Fundraising

  • New York-based frozen pasta brand Ripi secured $2.4M in seed funding. Cutting Horse led the round while Great Circle Ventures, SuperAngel Fund, and Paperboy Ventures followed on. Founded by Ian Tecklin and celebrity chef Joe Sasto, Ripi is gearing up to launch at 1,100+ Target stores later this month. Ripi is also available nationwide at Whole Foods Market and several hundred independent stores. LinkedIn

  • Suja Life, a vertically integrated manufacturer of branded wellness shots and cold-pressed juices, plans to raise up to $100M by listing on the NYSE. Suja Life is the parent company of Suja Organic, Vive Organic, and Slice Soda. The better-for-you beverage company will list under the ticker SUJA. Revenue for 2025 jumped 26% to $327M. Food Dive

  • London-based Eka Ventures raised $107M for Fund II. The early stage venture firm typically makes pre-seed and seed investments of between £1M and £3M. Their consumer portfolio includes Jude, Ditto, and Hylo. LinkedIn

  • Amulet, the science-backed hormonal health company created by Squared Circles, just added Maria Sharapova and Gabriela Hearst to its cap table. Sharapova, who’s married to Squared Circles co-founder Alexander Gilkes, will also act as a Strategic Advisor to Amulet. WWD

  • Chlorophyll Water secured its first institutional funding from Blue Scorpion Investments. The functional hydration company will use the funding to launch at Walmart, Harris Teeter, and several other retailers. BevNET

Drive Shoppers From Screen To Shelf With Minisocial 🛒

Securing retail distribution is a huge win, but driving velocity is the real challenge. minisocial helps you bridge the gap between digital awareness and in-store sales. It’s already trusted by retail favorites like Bero, MadeGood, Halfday Iced Tea, Lundberg, and many more.

Here’s how it works:

📍 Hyper-Local Influence: We match you with creators local to your specific retailers (Target, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Pop Up Grocer, etc.) to produce content and share it with their own local audience.

🚀 Power Your Paid Media: Leverage whitelisting access to run creator content as ads. Target specific zip codes around your retailers to drive even more foot traffic. Plus you're safe to use the content across ALL of your owned channels, forever! 

💯 High-Quality Creators = High-Quality Results: minisocial is not an open database for just anyone. Each creator is hand-picked for each project from our pre-vetted database. We only work with creators who have a track record of producing high-quality content and the engagement to prove it. 

The best part? minisocial is a project-based service. Just pay per project you choose to spin up, no longterm commitments. Although once you do a minisocial campaign it's hard to go without!

Book a call with Kirsten or see more here. Mention CPG Wire and save 15% on your first campaign.

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Arrae is expanding its Tone Creatine Gummies range on April 16th with a new Watermelon flavor. Each serving delivers 5g of creatine monohydrate along with postbiotics and ginger root to reduce bloating. Instagram

  • Soft Services and Vacation collaborated on an exfoliating Buffing Bar. The $36 bar is available via Sephora and on Soft Service’s website. So far Soft Services has collaborated with Vacation, DedCool, and D.S. & Durga. Instagram

  • UK-based functional fragrance brand Vyrao launched a moisturizer line called The Cream Scents. The hand & neck creams are available in bestselling scents like Witchy Woo, Free 00, and The Sixth. Vyrao

  • Phlur is releasing two new Hair & Body Fragrance Mists — Island Swim and Paradise Nectar — in the very near future. Instagram

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Pabst Blue Ribbon and Grillo’s Pickles are releasing a limited-edition pickle beer early next month. The pickle-infused lager will debut at Albertsons, Walmart, Safeway, Publix, and several other chains on May 4th. Twitter

  • Aaron Nosbisch is stepping down as the CEO of BRĒZ and Travis Duncan is taking over. Duncan has been with BRĒZ for just over three years and previously served as Formulator and Chief Product Officer. Nosbisch will remain involved as Chairman. LinkedIn

  • MOSH, the brain health protein bar brand co-founded by Patrick Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, is releasing a High Protein bar range later today. Each bar contains 20g of protein, 3g of creatine, and other brain-boosting ingredients. It looks like the line will be available at Sprouts. Instagram

  • Smash Kitchen launched an organic salad dressing range with four varieties: Ranch Dressing, Italian Dressing, Caesar Dressing, and Balsamic Vinaigrette. The new line is available exclusively at Walmart. Instagram

  • Dad Grass expanded its THC beverage range with two 10mg options. Dad Grass Extra comes in two flavors: Yuzu Grapefruit and Margarita. Great-looking cans IMO. Instagram

  • Happy expanded its cold brew range with 48 oz ready-to-serve bottles. Two varieties are available: Cold Brew and Perfect Vanilla Cold Brew. The new line is available nationwide at Kroger. PR Newswire

  • Garage Beer is tapping into nostalgia by releasing two of its beers in stubby glass bottles. They look phenomenal. Twitter

Data 🖥️

  • Little Spoon officially surpassed $1M in weekly sales at Target just six months after launching at the retailer. Instagram

  • Simply Good Foods had a rough Q2 as net sales declined 9.4% year-over-year. Atkins remains their most troubled brand as retail takeaway dipped 23.4% in the period. Quest Nutrition and OWYN also experienced dips albeit only 2.4%, respectively. Interestingly, Quest Bar consumption was down 5% while Quest Salty Snack consumption rose 14%. Returning CEO Joe Scalzo remains bullish on a turnaround, even with Atkins. Just Food

  • Mother Root is now the #1 no & low spirit SKU in the grocery channel across Great Britain. LinkedIn

Distribution News 🚚

  • Elavi is now available at 114 Wegmans stores.

  • Bio.Me launched nationwide at Target.

  • Mission MightyMe debuted at 1,200 Walmart stores.

  • Joyburst rolled out at Aldi in the U.S.

  • Waay launched nationwide at Target.