Springdale Backs Kooshy, Pernod Buys Almave Stake 🍹

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CPG WIRE
August 31, 2024

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

  • SFERRA buys Antica Farmacista 🕯️

  • Freaks of Nature raises debt ☀️

  • Augustinus Bader x Victoria Beckham 🔥

  • First look at Slice 3.0 🫧

  • MALK is killing it 🥛

Since Monday is a federal holiday, there will be no newsletter on Tuesday. We’ll be back in your inboxes on Thursday, though. Hope y’all enjoy the holiday weekend 🥳

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • French spirits giant Pernod Ricard acquired a minority stake in Almave, the non-alc agave spirits brand co-founded by Lewis Hamilton and Casa Lumbre. Pernod will leverage its brand building experience and distribution prowess to help scale Almave. Business Wire

  • Conagra Brands has sold its 51.8% ownership stake in Agro Tech Foods, an Indian manufacturer of snacks and pantry staples. The buyers are Convergent Finance and Samara Capital. Conagra is selling its stake in order to streamline its portfolio and maximize shareholder value. Feedstuffs

  • Luxury fragrance brand Antica Farmacista has been acquired by SFERRA, an Italian purveyor of luxury linens and home decor. SFERRA is owned by Dallas-based private equity firm Highlander Partners. PR Newswire

Fundraising

  • Springdale Ventures has invested in Kooshy, a producer of sourdough croutons that are made with organic flour. Chicago-based Kooshy was founded in 2020 and retails at H-E-B, Sprouts, Whole Foods Market, and others. Instagram

  • Spiceology, a chef-founded purveyor of fresh spices and seasonings, raised $4.8M in equity funding from undisclosed investors. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Spokane, WA. Spiceology retails at Target, Walmart, and many other independent stores. SEC 

  • Freaks of Nature, the performance suncare brand co-founded by Kelly Slater and Squared Circles, secured $2.9M in debt financing. Curious if this financing event presages a major retail announcement. SEC

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Skincare unicorn Augustinus Bader collaborated with Victoria Beckham on a new product called The Concealer Pen. The embossed blue cap is a nice touch. The product launches on September 4th. WWD

  • Luxury skincare brand MELYON released a new body wash called Odyssée D'alfrique. Their packaging is pretty stunning across the board, particularly their Day Cream SKU. Instagram

  • Luxury fashion house Balmain released their first fragrance collection with The Estée Lauder Companies. Balmain and Estée Lauder entered into a licensing agreement two years ago and this is their debut beauty line. The Industry

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • BFY soda brand Poppi is releasing a new flavor on September 3rd. Poppi is hyping up this launch with a major OOH campaign in New York, so I bet they’re releasing a classic flavor like Cherry Cola. Instagram

  • Thanks to SodaSeekers we have our first look at the rebooted version of Slice, the iconic soda brand that Suja Life acquired earlier this year and will relaunch in 2025. IMO the packaging would be improved if they scrapped all the callouts e.g. “Healthy Soda” and “Prebiotics + Probiotics.” Soda is supposed to be fun and so many brands have already staked the gut-friendly soda claim. Instagram

  • One of my favorite recent brand discoveries is GIANTS Coffee. The product combines coffee, protein, electrolytes, and other active ingredients into one convenient powder. This would kill as a RTD. Love the packaging too 👇GIANTS Coffee

  • It looks like Graza is cooking up a fun collab with Talenti, the gelato brand that Unilever acquired in 2014. Sign me up. Twitter

  • Another favorite recent discovery is OHME! Foods, a Canadian purveyor of freeze dried fruit snacks. The packaging and flavor imagery are both brilliant. Packaging of the World

Data 🖥️

  • Alt dairy brand MALK is on an absolute heater at Sprouts. Sales at the retailer jumped from $247K in 2022 to $9.9M two years later. MALK is now the #1 plant-based milk at Sprouts. Twitter

  • While other carbonated soft drink brands are struggling, Poppi and OLIPOP are still growing fast. Poppi’s volume surged 165.6% while OLIPOP’s volume jumped 163.5% for the four weeks ending on August 10th. Twitter 

Distribution News 🚚