This Week in CPG - Tilray Goes Beer Shopping 🍺

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CPG WIRE
November 09, 2022

Welcome back, folks. For the first time in ages there isn't a major spirits transaction to cover, but fortunately there's a multitude of other deals to cover. 

As per usual, if you find this newsletter helpful, please pass it along to others who might benefit from it. Let's get into the news...

Deals

  • Peace Out Skincare, a skincare brand founded by Enrico Frezza in San Francisco in 2017, raised $20m from 5th Century Partners. This is their first round of outside funding. Industry sources expect $50-60m in revenue for 2022. Link

  • Investment firm Bidayat Group acquired a minority stake in Azza Fahmy, an Egyptian jewelry brand founded in 1969. Bidayat invests in luxury brands in and around the Mediterranean Basin. Link

  • Cannabis and craft beverage group Tilray Brands acquired Montauk Brewing Company, the #1 craft brewer in Metro New York. Tilray owns a number of beverage brands including Alpine Beer Company, SweetWater Brewery, Green Flash Brewing Co., and Breckinridge Distillery. Link

  • Peloton co-founder John Foley is back with a new startup, Ernesta, and $25m in Series A funding from Addition and True Ventures. Ernesta is a DTC custom rug company. Link

  • New Culture — an animal-free dairy startup — raised an undisclosed amount of funding from CJ CheilJedang, the South Korean ingredients giant. This makes a lot of sense for New Culture: they're targeting the pizza & frozen pizza markets, and CJ reportedly commands 25% of the domestic frozen pizza market. Link

  • Sustainable outdoor footwear brand HOLO raised $5m in funding from an undisclosed private equity firm. The company was founded by veteran footwear designer Rommel Vega. They're launching their first running shoe on November 15th (it's stunning). Link

  • Global investment firm Eurazeo sold its majority stake in fragrance brand NEST New York to North Castle Partners at a $200m valuation. Eurazeo and NEST co-founder Laura Slatkin will retain minority equity positions. Link

  • Austin-based sparkling water & energy drink brand Rambler secured $11.5m in equity funding. Link 

  • Proper Good, an Austin-based ready-to-eat soup & oatmeal brand, closed on $3.5m in seed funding from YETI Capital and Artisan Group. Link

  • Men's grooming brand Manscaped closed on an undisclosed amount of Series B funding. Investors include Banner Ventures and Smash Ventures. Fun Fact: the co-founder of Banner Ventures is Tanner Ainge, the son of Celtics front office legend Danny Ainge. Link

  • Celleste Bio, an Israeli startup leveraging cell-cultivation to produce high value cocoa ingredients, announced a round of seed funding from The Trendlines Group, Mondelez International, Barrel Ventures, and Regba Group. Link

  • UK-based fashion & partywear brand Ro&Zo raised £1.5m from Pembroke VCT. Ro&Zo launched in Feb '21 and has generated £6.8m in revenue to date. Pembroke has been busy lately, last week they acquired a minority stake in Jamie Genevieve's makeup brand, VIEVE. Link

  • Apparel brand Gap will sell its Greater China division to Baozun, an e-commerce services provider. Link

What's New...

  • Restaurant chain sweetgreen is taking a different approach to its CPG line. Instead of doing the obvious thing and launching a line of salad dressings, they collaborated with chef Malcolm Livingston II on a dessert: Crispy Rice Treats. Link

  • Energy drink brand Monster is belatedly going after Liquid Death. In the first half of next year they'll introduce Monster Tour Water, a line of unflavored waters in 19.2 oz cans. Link

  • A new feminine hygiene brand with a great name, Private Matters. Link

  • Intimate wellness brand Nessa Organics rebranded as Naydaya. Link

  • Wearable tech startup WHOOP is collaborating with performance apparel brand TYR on Smart Swimsuits. Link

  • Beleaguered plant-based meat brand Beyond Meat expanded its chicken portfolio with the launch of Nuggets and Popcorn Chicken. Link

  • New coffee-based skincare brand from Italy, Amarey. Its founders are the Illy sisters of Illycaffe fame. Link

  • NBA All Star Carmelo Anthony and his business partner Asani Swann released their first wine blend, Oath of Fidelity. Great-looking bottle. Link

  • New sparkling coconut water brand from Australia, Raw C. Link

Distribution Quickfire 

  • Pizza stuffed bao bun brand Baozza now available nationwide at Walmart.

  • Plant-based seafood brand Mind Blown is making a big food service push, partners with Sysco, US Foods, and Fancy Foods Inc.

  • London-based non-alc aperitif brand Everleaf launched in the US.

  • Another non-alc spirits brand, Lyre's, launched its RTD cocktails in Australia & New Zealand.

  • Cosmetics brand ColourPop is coming to Target.

  • Adaptogenic beverage brand Odyssey Elixirs launched at 800 Publix stores.

  • RTE soup and oatmeal brand Proper Good is now available at 2,000 Walmart stores.

  • Hard kombucha & RTD cocktail brand Juneshine launched at Costco in Hawaii.

Personnel

  • Kohl's CEO Michelle Gass is leaving to become President of Levi's.

  • Impossible Foods has a new CMO, Leslie Sims.

  • Joe Oblas, the co-founder of biltong brand Stryve, is leaving the company.

  • Puma has a new CEO, Arne Freundt. The former CEO of Puma, Bjorn Gulden, just left to become CEO at Adidas.

See you again Saturday morning! 

All the best,

Robbie @ CPG Wire