Sofie Pavitt Face Grabs Seed Funding, Espolòn Tests RTDs🍹

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

• Ahimsa buys Simulate 🐔

• Unilever makes India beauty bet 💄

• ILIA Beauty names next CEO 👀

• OLIPOP slims down 🔥

• Graza’s refills head to Target 🎯

Shout-out to Hummingbirds for making hyperlocal influencer campaigns such a breeze.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• Diageo is no longer selling British liqueur brand Pimm’s after the spirits giant failed to reach an agreement with bidders. Surprised that Pimm’s wasn’t acquired given that it’s a strong (albeit seasonal) brand. FoodBev

• Sodalis Group, a European beauty and personal care platform, has acquired HRB Brands which owns 20 skincare, haircare, and personal care brands. The seller is middle-market private equity firm Tengram Capital Partners. HRB owns brands like Alberto VO5, Zest, and Coast. Happi

• PRESS Coffee, a Phoenix-based specialty coffee roaster, acquired a 70-hectare coffee farm in Western Panama. PRESS currently operates 13 standalone stores throughout Phoenix and 6 stores in Sprouts Farmers Market. BevNET

• Simulate, a plant-based meat company that raised $57M, has been acquired by Ahimsa Companies. Lately, Ahimsa has been scooping up alt-protein brands at a steep discount due to flagging consumer interest and venture dollars drying up. Per Axios, Ahimsa has two larger deals in the pipeline too. Beyond Meat? Impossible Foods? Axios

Fundraising

• Sofie Pavitt Face, a skincare line designed for acne-prone skin, secured seed funding from True Beauty Ventures, an investor in Crown Affair, Dieux, K18, and many other beauty brands. The eponymous brand was developed by a New York-based skincare expert and licensed esthetician. Beauty Independent

• Clayco Cosmetics, a Mumbai-based premium skincare brand, secured $2M in Series A funding. The round was led by Unilever Ventures. Unilever has been very active in Indian lately. Their recent investments include SkinInspired, Wishcare, and What’s Up Wellness. BeautyMatter

• Another Indian skincare brand, Conscious Chemist, raised $1.4M from Atomic Capital. Conscious Chemist was co-founded by Robin Gupta and Prakher Mathur in 2019. BeautyMatter

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• ILIA Beauty has named Paul Schiraldi, the former CEO of Murad, as its next CEO. Famille C acquired a majority stake in ILIA Beauty in early 2022. The outgoing CEO, Lynda Berkowitz, helped grow the brand from $2M to $200M in annual sales. The Industry

• The next great beauty export from Australia could be Standard Procedure, a nostalgic sun care brand that launched in 2020. Beauty Independent

• London-based fragrance brand Perfumer H is opening a store in Macau. Perfumer H currently operates retail stores in London, Paris, Taipei, and Hong Kong. Instagram

• Benefit Cosmetics (owned by LVMH) released a limited-edition collection of beauty products that resemble grocery staples. Love the concept. The Dieline

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Lindsay Hancock, the former SVP of Sales at KIND, has launched a range of premium cookie mixes called My Better Batch. The brand offers four different cookie mixes which are non-GMO and free of artificial colors and preservatives. The packaging is quite good. NOSH

• OLIPOP is releasing 12 oz. sleek cans next year in a bid to appeal to convenience stores and bodegas. Poppi appears to have a slight head start in the convenience channel, so it looks like this will be a priority for OLIPOP moving forward. Twitter

• Espolòn Tequila, owned by Campari Group, is testing out RTD cocktails in Australia. The cans look pretty damn good. Twitter

• UK-based Tideford Organics partnered with The Space Creative on a terrific brand refresh. Bravo. Packaging of the World

• Iconic hot chocolate brand Swiss Miss partnered with Indianapolis-based Hotel Tango Distillery to release a hot cocoa-inspired whiskey. Love the label. The Dieline

• European nutrition company NUTREND released a 2 oz. shot that contains 20g of protein. Pretty incredible nutrition density. Stack3d

• Create is expanding beyond creatine gummies and will introduce a Daily Performance Gummy in the very near future. Create

Data 🖥️

• Constellation Brands reported mixed results in Q2. The beer biz delivered mid-single digit net sales growth while the wine & spirits division posted a double-digit net sales decline. Very curious to see which brands Constellation divests and what they acquire over the next few quarters. Reuters

Distribution News 🚚

• Sourse launched at Sprouts and Whole Foods Market.

• Graza launched their canned refills at Target.

• Meat Church launched their BBQ seasonings at Publix.

• Lentiful launched at Walmart and Wegmans.