Vilore Buys Tia Lupita, Ulta Expands Wellness Set 💊

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

• Jack Link’s buys Aussie brand 🥩

• Jot secures funding ☕️

• Function of Beauty hires CEO 🧴

• Van Leeuwen collabs with Guinness 🍦

• Halfday launches at H-E-B 🍋

Vilore Buys Tia Lupita 💰

Tia Lupita Foods, a producer of authentic, better-for-you Mexican food products, has been acquired by Vilore Foods, a San Antonio-based distributor of Hispanic food & beverage products.

Founded in 2018 by Hector Saldívar, Tia Lupita is best known for its grain-free tortilla chips and clean label hot sauces. The brand’s retail presence has grown considerably in recent years and now includes Whole Foods Market, Walmart, Target, and a handful of regional chains like The Fresh Market and Hy-Vee.

Tia Lupita famously secured an investment from Kevin O’Leary on Shark Tank in 2023, but the company was also backed by institutional players like Santatera Capital, TIG Brands, Clover Vitality, and GBM Ventures. 

For Vilore Foods, acquiring Tia Lupita makes sense for two reasons. First, Vilore is the exclusive importer and distributor of iconic Hispanic brands like Jumex, Totis, and La Costeña in the U.S. and Canada. When it comes to distributing and marketing Hispanic F&B products across North America, Vilore is a powerhouse. They have the retail relationships, distribution chops, and capital required to meaningfully scale Tia Lupita’s footprint in relatively short order. 

Second, the acquisition offers Vilore greater exposure to the increasingly important Mexican natural foods category, a segment the distributor has wholly ignored until now. This category is critical for a few reasons, but namely because consumers are switching to better-for-you diets at a rapid clip, and the popularity of Mexican cuisine is only expected to rise in the years to come.

There’s another interesting data point that bodes well for the category according to Datassential: 45% of Gen Z consumers would choose Mexican if they could only eat one cuisine for the rest of their lives.

The importance of this category in the decades to come is best illustrated by the recent flurry of deals in the space: 

• PepsiCo acquired Siete Foods for $1.2B

• Forward Consumer Partners scooped up 50% of Xochitl

• CIM purchased Del Real Foods 

The next brand to watch in this category? It’s without a doubt SOMOS, the Mexican food brand co-founded by Daniel Lubetzky, the founder of KIND, as well as Miguel Leal and Rodrigo Zuloaga. Leal also served as the CMO of Cholula prior to its $800M acquisition by McCormick, so he’s scaled in this space before.

More on the transaction here.

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Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• Jack Link’s has acquired KOOEE! All Natural Snacks, an Australian producer of all-natural meat snacks. Founded in 2015 by former consultants Shaun Malligan and Andy Fist, KOOEE! originally debuted at a farmers market but now retails at the likes of Woolworths and Coles. Jack Link’s purchased the brand via its APAC division. Retail World

• Hong Kong-based Li & Fung has acquired Orrsum, a UK-based manufacturer of socks, underwear, and loungewear. For context, Orrsum produces more than 50 million pairs of socks per year. Inside Retail Asia

Fundraising

• Jot, a DTC purveyor of coffee concentrates, just secured over $8.5M in equity funding from undisclosed investors. Jot was co-founded by Palo Hawken and Andrew Gordon in 2020. The brand recently expanded beyond coffee concentrates with a powdered protein coffee. SEC

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Function of Beauty, a leading customizable personal care brand, has appointed Monica Belsito as its next CEO. Prior to joining Function of Beauty, Belsito served as the Chief Marketing Officer at Sabra and LOLA. Function of Beauty launched in 2015 and produces its made-to-order personal care products at a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania. PR Newswire

• Buzzie is a new insect repellant brand founded by Ali Guthy. The brand launched with two very clean label products: an insect repellant and an anti-itch cream. The branding, website, and storytelling are all terrific. Instagram 

• Period care brand Scarlet unveiled a completely new brand identity as the company prepares to launch at its debut retail partner, Ulta Beauty. Beauty Independent 

• Masstige haircare brand California Naturals released a hair serum called Re:GRO Hair Serum. The product is formulated with Capixyl — clinically shown to spark new growth and strengthen thinning hair — along with caffeine, biotin, and a handful of other active ingredients. Instagram

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Van Leeuwen joined forces with Guinness to release a limited edition ice cream called “Lovely Day for a Guinness.” The new product combines Van Leeuwen’s creamy ice cream with the flavor of Guinness and chocolate chunks. You can find this collab at Van Leeuwen scoop shops and via their website. PR Newswire

• Monster Beverage filed a motion with the USPTO to block a trademark filing by MrBeast. MrBeast applied for the trademark “Feast Like A Beast” as it applies to fruit drinks, flavored waters, and a handful of other beverage categories. Monster claims it has spent over $8.5B promoting its brand since 2002, making its “Beast” trademarks widely known among consumers. Gerben IP

• Hero, a purveyor of low net carb baked goods like bread, rolls, and buns, is expanding into the pasta category. NOSH

• Another brand, Egglife Foods, also launched a pasta with some actually impressive macros. Dubbed Power Pasta, their egg-based pasta line contains 20g of protein, 3g of carbs, and only 100 calories per serving. Egglife offers four different pasta SKUs: Original, Sundried Tomato, Spicy Chili, and Roasted Garlic. Stack3d

• PepsiCo is launching a prebiotic soda line with two flavors: Original Cola and Cherry Vanilla. Pepsi Prebiotic Cola contains 5g of cane sugar, 3g of prebiotic fiber, 30 calories, and no artificial sweeteners. PepsiCo acquired Poppi for $1.95B earlier this year so this is an interesting move. There’s likely very little crossover between Poppi and PepsiCo customers, so maybe the CSD giant is hoping for some cross-pollination between these two customer bases. PR Newswire

• Prés is a new beverage brand that’s combining cold brew with protein. Each beverage contains up to 150mg of caffeine, 20g of protein, and 1g of sugar. The branding is clean but this space seems fairly saturated, no? Prés

Data 🖥️

• According to NielsenIQ, bev alc sales are down 3% YTD in off-premise channels. RTD sales continue to thrive, however. BevNET

Distribution News 🚚

• BFY iced tea brand Halfday launched at H-E-B.

• Lucky Energy launched at Circle K in 10 states.

• Women’s wellness brand Ritual launched online & in-store at Ulta Beauty.

• Pressed Juicery is launching at 550 Costco locations across the U.S.

• Colostrum brand ARMRA launched nationwide at Ulta Beauty.

• Supplements brand One of One is launching at GNC.