This Week in CPG - Saturday Edition

Good morning, welcome to the first edition of This Week in CPG! Some housekeeping before we dive into the headlines:

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• If you have any notes on how to improve the newsletter, feel free to email me.

Additionally, for those interested, The Enthuse Foundation is looking for women entrepreneurs in CPG to apply to its Pitch Competition. Grand Prize is $20K in cash & prizes. Apply here.

Let's dive in!

Deals

A lot of deals this week...

• Kate Farms, a producer of nutritionally advanced shakes & formulas, raised $75m led by Novo Holdings. Link 

• Craft sparkling water brand Aura Bora raised $8m in Series A funding. Very easy to root for this company & team. Siddhi Capital led. Consumer Ventures, Gaingels, Seaside Ventures and Simple Food Ventures also participated. Link

• Ole Smoky Distillery, a Tennessee-based producer of whiskey & moonshine, received investment from Patricof Co, an investment platform for athletes. Link

• South African biltong co-packer Stormberg Foods acquired AYOBA, a Virginia-based biltong brand. Stormberg's objective is to dethrone Stryve as the most popular biltong brand in the states. Link

• Sexual wellness brand Dame raised $7m in Series A funding. Amboy Street Ventures led with participation from Listen Ventures, Flybridge, Echo, and Forest Road Company. Link

• European private equity firm Investindustrial acquired 52% of specialty grocer Eataly for $198m. Link

• Premium hot sauce brand Red Clay Hot Sauce raised $3m. Curate Capital led. Link

• Former Gymshark chairman Paul Richardson bought 50% of UK-based menswear brand Kalibre Clothing. Link

• More M&A in Euro pet food space. Portugal's Barkyn acquire Barcelona-based Happets. Link

• L'Oreal agreed to buy Skinbetter Science, a physician-dispensed skincare brand. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed but Skinbetter posted around $95m in sales last year. Link

• Wellness tech leader Therabody closed on $165m. North Castle Partners led with Kevin Hart's Hartbeat Ventures and Rx3 Growth Partners (Aaron Rodgers) joining. Link

• Nestle India *might* be acquiring Yoga Bar, a healthy snack brand founded in 2015. Great-looking products, here's their website. Link

• Berlin-based Blue Farm, a producer of powdered oat milk products, raised 3m euros. Zintinus Capital led. Link

• Monos, a Canadian luggage brand, raised $30m in Series B funding. Venn Growth Partners led the round. Link 

• Cloud Water, a hemp-infused water brand, raised $5m. Link 

What's New...

The celebs (or their business managers) have been busy:

• Brad Pitt launched a new genderless skincare brand, Le Domaine Skincare.

• Travis Barker of Blink 182 and now Kardashian fame launched a CBD skincare brand, Barker Wellness Co.

• Scott Disick also of Kardashian fame will bring Leo De Verzay Champagne to the US.

• Dermatologist and "skinfluencer" Dr. Sherenne Idriss launched a new skincare brand, PillowtalkDerm.

Content to Commerce is alive and well:

• Food52 introduced an uninspiring line of pantry items.

• Minimalist Baker, a popular food blog, launched a great-looking line of baking mixes.

A few new brands & products:

• Sauces inspired by Jamaican flavors, Sauces by Jrk!

• Energy shots with adaptogens & superfoods. 5 Hour Energy meets Goop, MTE (More Than Energy).

• Non-alcoholic spirits brand Lyre's launched a Highland Malt.

• Ithaca Hummus introduced squeeze pouches for on-the-go eating.

Distribution Quickfire

• Cereal brand Magic Spoon launched at Sprouts Farmers Market.

• Chocolate brand Mid-Day Squares rolled out at Target.

• BYOMA, the new skincare brand from Future Beauty Labs, will launch at Ulta.

• Just Ice Tea from the Honest Tea co-founders launched nationwide at Whole Foods.

• Melanin-rich skincare brand Bolden launched at 1,000+ Walmart stores.

• Performance beverage brand TapouT will launch at select Target stores.

• French plant-based bacon brand La Vie Foods (beautiful packaging) launched in the UK.

• Indoor farming company Plenty will launch 4 produce SKUs at Bristol Farms in SoCal.

• Tepache brand De La Calle went nationwide at Whole Foods.

• Supplement brand Ritual also went nationwide at Whole Foods.

Personnel

• Leading F&B private equity firm Manna Tree hired Steve Young (not the QB) as a Managing Director. Link

• Chobani has a new CFO, Tarkan Gurkan. Link

• Luke Fisher was appointed CFO at Talking Rain Beverage Co., the owner of Sparkling Ice. Link

And that's it! Thanks for reading our first edition. Look out for This Week in CPG again on Wednesday. Enjoy your weekend!

Best,

Robbie @ CPG Wire