Soeder Secures Funding, Conagra Buys Fatty 🥩

Author

CPG WIRE
August 10, 2024

GM and Happy Saturday, folks. Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

  • Shinsegae buys Amuse 💄

  • High Rise Beverage scores more funding 🫧

  • Remedy Drinks is now Liquid Remedy 🆕

  • Momentous launches Elite Recovery 🔥

  • Alani Nu continues to crush 📈

If you missed our Q2 Consumer Review, you can find it here. It’s a 36-page cheat sheet on everything that happened in CPG in the second quarter. Use discount code CPG20 to take 20% off.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Conagra Brands acquired FATTY Smoked Meat Sticks for an undisclosed sum. FATTY was founded in 2010 by Ryan Wood who also co-founded Under Armour. Conagra’s portfolio of meat snack brands includes Slim Jim and Duke’s Meat Snacks. Curious if Conagra tried to acquire CHOMPS which is the premier meat stick brand. PR Newswire

  • Shinsegae International acquired 100% of K-beauty brand Amuse for $51.6M. The seller is majority owner Naver. Shinsegae aims to turn Amuse into a $150M/yr brand by 2028. Global Cosmetics News

  • Swiss investment firm Midi Management acquired a stake in Grivel, an Italian producer of mountaineering equipment that was founded in 1818. Mont Blanc-based Grivel sells a variety of products including ice axes, crampons, carabiners, and harnesses. PR Newswire

Fundraising

  • Soeder, a Swiss producer of natural soap and skincare products, secured an investment from Georges Kern, the CEO of Breitling. Hanna and Johan Akerström launched the Zurich-based brand in 2013. Kern also joined the board and will help the company expand into new markets. Soeder manufactures soap using a centuries-old method and their products are free of artificial additives. WWD

  • High Rise Beverage Company, a purveyor of CBD and Delta-9 THC seltzers, raised $1M in equity funding from undisclosed investors. The South Carolina-based company also raised $320K in July. SEC

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Beekman 1802 released its most expensive product yet — Milk RX Advanced Better Aging Cream. Instagram

  • Auntie Anne’s released a limited edition fragrance called Knead for all the Pretzel Heads out there. The fragrance is intended to capture the smell of walking past an Auntie Anne’s. PR Newswire 

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Australian kombucha brand Remedy Drinks has rebranded as Liquid Remedy in the U.S. An improvement IMO. PR Web

  • UK-based BFY cereal brand Surreal collaborated with Gymshark on a new product — a Strawberry Milkshake flavored cereal called Cardi-Os. FoodBev

  • Momentous, the performance nutrition brand that sold a minority stake to Humble Growth earlier this year, launched a range of recovery shakes called Elite Recovery. The post-workout beverage contains 45g of protein, 5g of creatine, 500mg of tart cherry, and other active ingredients. Stack3d

  • Lemonday, a lemon water brand that also contains electrolytes and probiotics, is launching soon. The packaging and flavors are fun. Lemon Perfect continues to inspire more & more knockoffs. Instagram

Data 🖥️

  • e.l.f. Beauty had a strong Q1 with revenue jumping 50% to $324.5M and gross margin widening to 71%. Their dollar share at Target also surged to 21.4%, up from 12.7% in Q3 of 2023. Business Wire

  • The only spirits categories to post growth over the past 12 months were agave spirits and RTD cocktails. Pre-mixed cocktails now account for 14.9% of total spirits volume compared to 3.9% in June 2020. The Spirits Business

  • Vital Farms also had a killer Q2 with revenue increasing 38.5% to over $147M. Gross margin also expanded 362 bps to 39.1%. The company has over $150M in cash & cash equivalents with no outstanding debt. Vital Farms

  • Alani Nu continues to post impressive month-over-month growth. Their growth is now outpacing competitors like Celsius and C4. Twitter

Distribution News 🚚

  • Grooming brand Smoosh is now available at Urban Outfitters.

  • Skincare brand Experiment also launched at Urban Outfitters.

  • Flavored whiskey brand Skrewball launched in Australia.

  • Beauty brand Chantecaille opened a storefront on Tmall.

  • Yolélé launched their fonio chips at Whole Foods Market in the Northeast.

  • El Rayo Tequila launched at Waitrose in the UK.