Unilever Bets on Straand (Again) 💰

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CPG WIRE
December 12, 2023

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

  • Benestar merges with Palmex 🥨

  • Rare Beauty pushes into body care 🧴

  • Birkenstock opens in Miami ⛱️

  • Lobos 1707 heads to the UK 🥃

Unilever Bets on Straand (Again) 💰

Australian scalp care brand Straand has secured an additional $4M in funding. Participants in the round include Unilever Ventures, who invested $2M into Straand earlier this year, and Gerry Harvey, the billionaire co-founder of Australian retailer Harvey Norman, as well as Katie Page, the CEO of Harvey Norman. 

Founded in 2022 and based in Melbourne, Straand sells a variety of prebiotic scalp care products that purportedly improve the scalp microbiome. They currently sell four key products — a shampoo, conditioner, scalp serum, and scalp scrub — along with a number of accessories like detangling combs and satin scrunchies. All of their products are cruelty-free and manufactured without parabens, sulfates, or silicones. 

Despite being a very young brand, Straand has global aspirations, and they have the retail chops to bring these aspirations to fruition. In addition to their retail presence in Australia, they recently announced their launch at Sephora in the UK and Southeast Asia. Straand has also soft launched in the U.S., and they’re now available via Amazon and at both Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. 

Scalp care, like hand care in 2021, has become a large and fast-growing category of its own seemingly overnight. Divi, which launched in 2021 and exceeded $40M in first year sales, was one of the first movers in scalp care. Now a host of newcomers like Act + Acre, Living Proof, Uzima, Oribe, and Monpure London are piling into the category.

More on the fundraise here.

Sales tax isn’t everyone’s cup of tea 📠

Shark Tank brand The Woobles tried managing sales tax themselves. While it was fine early on, they grew faster than ever, and soon Adrian (co-founder) was wasting dozens of hours on spreadsheets, trying to figure out sales tax.

They tried using Avalara but it fell short as well. That’s when they switched to Numeral and haven’t looked back since.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Chicago-based Benestar Brands — which owns a variety of snack brands like 4505 and Chicas Tortilla Chips — is merging with Mexican food manufacturer Palmex. Dallas-based private equity firm Highlander Partners will retain a minority stake in the business while Wind Point Capital will own the majority. PR Newswire

  • Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management have submitted a $5.8B bid to acquire Macy’s. Arkhouse is primarily known for its real estate transactions. CNBC

Fundraising

  • Kombucha brand Better Booch has secured $7.8M from Wellness Growth Ventures and a number of undisclosed investors. Twitter

  • Singapore-based cultivated meat developer Meatiply raised $3.75M in seed funding. The round was co-led by AgFunder and Wavemaker Partners with additional participation from SEEDS Capital. AgFunder News

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Rare Beauty, the cosmetics brand founded by Selena Gomez in 2019, has expanded into body care with a 4-product collection dubbed Find Comfort. The beautifully packaged collection features a body lotion, hand lotion, fragrance mist, and an aromatherapy pen. Rare Beauty has been growing fast — in 2022 they reportedly exceeded $90M in net sales 🔽 WWD

  • German footwear giant Birkenstock opened their first-ever store in the southeastern U.S. The new store is located in Miami’s Design District and is only their fifth owned store in the United States. Footwear News

  • Popular jewelry brand Mejuri will begin selling lab-grown diamonds alongside mined diamonds. Mejuri will release its first lab-grown diamond collection exclusively to loyalty members. Glossy

  • Swiss luxury watch brand TAG Heuer will return to the eyewear category via a partnership with Thelios, the eyewear division of luxury giant LVMH. Fashion Network

  • Vacation has launched yet another very on-brand product — Chardonnay Lip Oil SPF 30. Love the case. Vacation

  • Clean haircare brand Bread is launching a new shampoo, clear-wash, and a new conditioner, baby-soft, exclusively at Sephora later today. Beautiful packaging. Instagram

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • PRIME released a limited-edition flavor and bottle to celebrate launching in Mexico. The limited-edition flavor, Piñata Colada, will likely be released outside of Mexico in the near future. Dexerto

  • Supplements brand RYSE is preparing to launch a new line of hydration products. Instagram 

  • Probiotic soda brand Culture Pop launched a new flavor — Black Cherry. Culture Pop

  • Concentrated coffee brand Jot released a Peppermint Mocha flavor for the holidays. Instagram

Data 🖥️

  • Per IWSR, e-commerce alcohol sales are expected to slow to 4.5% per year. The category is expected to hit $40B by 2027, however. The Spirits Business

Distribution News 🚚

  • Lobos 1707, the tequila brand co-founded by Lebron James, is now available in the UK.

  • Aussie low sugar candy brand Funday Sweets launched storewide at Coles.

  • Non-alcoholic agave cocktail brand Parch is now available at Bristol Farms and Lazy Acres Market.

  • Better-for-you energy drink brand Happypop launched at Erewhon.