Vuori Explores IPO, Cuban Backs Gatsby 🍫

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CPG WIRE
October 03, 2023

Welcome back to This Week in CPG, folks. If you enjoy the newsletter, please pass it along to others who might like it too 🙂 

Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

  • Vuori weighs ‘24 IPO 📈

  • Gatsby crushes Shark Tank 🍫

  • Mooski scores funding 💰

  • New tech-enabled fragrance brand 🧪

  • Graza x Target 🎯

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • San Diego-based activewear brand Vuori is exploring a possible 2024 IPO. The brand, which launched in 2015 and has been profitable since 2017, secured $400M from SoftBank at a $4B valuation in 2021. Lately the brand has been expanding to the east coast and key international markets. Bloomberg

  • Schwarze und Schlichte, a German spirits distributor and brand owner, acquired Hamburg Distilling Company (HDC), a producer of craft gin and aged rums. Terms weren’t disclosed. HDC was founded in 2017 by Martin Spieker and Kaspar Hagedorn. Just Drinks

  • Premium beef jerky brand and producer Cattaneo Bros. purchased Bob Tallman’s Authentic Cowboy Beef Jerky. Tallman, a fifth generation rancher and Hall of Fame rodeo announcer, launched the jerky brand in 2018. Snack and Bakery

Fundraising

  • GATSBY Chocolate, a Chicago-based purveyor of low-sugar, low-calorie chocolate bars, raised $500K in a mix of debt and equity from Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner. GATSBY was co-founded by Doug Bouton who previously founded and sold Halo Top Ice Cream. CNBC

  • Refrigerated oat bar brand Mooski secured funding from RXBAR co-founder Jared Smith. Terms weren’t disclosed. Mooski was founded by Clio and RXBAR alum Robert Broome and can be found at Fresh Thyme, Foxtrot, and Central Market. Good-looking products ⬇️ Food Business News 

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Biotech startup Arcaea launched a groundbreaking new fragrance brand called Future Society. In order to create their novel fragrances, Arcaea leveraged DNA sequencing and bio-fermentation to reproduce scents of extinct flowers. So cool ⬇️

  • Emma Chamberlain and Levi’s dropped an absolutely awesome new collection ⬇️ Sourcing Journal

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Feastables, the confectionery brand founded by YouTuber MrBeast, is now the official jersey sponsor of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. This move is no doubt a net positive from an awareness perspective, but this isn’t like PRIME partnering with the FC Bayern or the LA Dodgers — two prestigious sports institutions — the Hornets are the basement-dwelling punching bag of the NBA. The net beneficiary in this deal might be the Charlotte Hornets who for the first time in many years might be cool thx to MrBeast ⬇️ Axios

  • Luxury condiments brand TRUFF will now be available at fast food chain Popeyes after collaborating on a new line of eight different chicken sandwiches. This strategy — introduce TRUFF to consumers at a relatively low cost at Popeyes or Taco Bell and convert a few into regular buyers — seems to be working well ⬇️ The Fast Food Post

  • Diageo-owned Guinness opened a new 15,000 square-foot brewery, taproom, restaurant, and event space in Chicago called the Open Gate Brewery. This is their second location in the U.S. after Baltimore. Twitter

  • PRIME added a new flavor to its energy drink lineup. The can was inspired by Logan Paul & KSI’s original doodles for the brand. Very fun ⬇️ Instagram 

  • Acid League dropped a new line of products called Shortcut Sauces. They can be used for stir-frys or just dipping chicken nuggets. Beautiful products. Instagram

Distribution News 🚚