ZBiotics Scores $12M, Mount Franklin Buys Stuffed Puffs 💰

GM and Happy Thursday, folks. Here’s what we’re getting into today:

• Applied Nutrition plans to IPO 💪

• New Belgium divests Magnolia 🍻

• Lerer Hippeau backs Aerflo 🫧

• Evelyn Wang launches Silverist 🧴

• Capri-Sun launches…bottles 🏖️

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• Mount Franklin Foods, a leading contract manufacturer of candy, nuts, and snacks, has acquired Stuffed Puffs for an undisclosed sum. Stuffed Puffs is a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of stuffed marshmallows that was founded by Michael Tierney in 2019. Given how much debt Stuffed Puffs had accrued, my gut tells me this wasn’t a particularly fruitful deal for Stuffed Puffs investors. Food Business News

• Applied Nutrition, a UK-based producer of sports nutrition products, plans to go public in London later this year. The Liverpool-based company reported £86M in sales and £26M in adjusted EBITDA last year. Applied Nutrition sales were up 42% YoY. Bloomberg

• New Belgium Brewing, a Colorado-based craft brewer and a subsidiary of Kirin, has sold San Francisco’s Magnolia Brewing. The buyer is Kevin Kynoch who owns several neighborhood bars throughout San Francisco. SF Chronicle

Fundraising

• ZBiotics, a producer of genetically engineered probiotics, raised $12M in Series A funding. The round was led by Spring Tide Capital with additional funding from Goat Rodeo Capital, Access Capital, and others. Their debut product was Pre-Alcohol, a probiotic shot that breaks down toxic byproducts of alcohol to mitigate hangovers. ZBiotics has doubled sales every year and reached profitability in 2023. Business Wire

• Aerflo, a beverage hardware startup that makes an on-the-go carbonation device for sparkling water, raised $10M in funding. The round was co-led by Lerer Hippeau and Torch Capital. Co-founders Buzz Wiggins and John Thorp started working on Aerflo in 2020. It’s actually a pretty interesting product. Medium

• New School Foods, a producer of plant-based, whole-cut seafood alternatives, raised $6M in funding from IKEA Group, NewTree Capital, and others. AgFunder

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Longtime beauty exec Evelyn Wang launched a haircare brand specifically designed to care for gray or graying hair. Dubbed Silverist, the new haircare line offers a shampoo, conditioner, and leave-in serum. Beauty Independent

• For the first time since launching in 2015, Tecovas is entering the wholesale channel. The DTC cowboy boot brand will launch at a select number of retailers like Lebo’s and Texas Boot Company. It sounds like they’re taking the Birkenstock approach AKA partnering with a limited number of high quality retailers. Axios

• Creed, the luxury fragrance brand that Kering acquired for €3.5B last year, is launching two new fragrances on September 4th: Delphinus and Centaurus. WWD

• Luxury fragrance brand Byredo opened a new store in the Parisian neighborhood of Marais. The new store offers Byredo’s full range of beauty products. Instagram

• Reckitt has quietly shut down Queen V, a sexual wellness and intimate care brand that it acquired in 2021. Queen V was founded in the U.S. in 2018. Beauty Independent

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Liquid Death collaborated with YETI on a coffin that doubles as a cooler. Only one “Coffin Cooler” was made and they’re auctioning it off as we speak. It kinda rules. Twitter

• Iconic beverage brand Capri-Sun is launching…single-serve RTD bottles. I don’t love this move from Capri-Sun — the juice pouch is sorta their thing — but I understand the impulse to double the serving size. Also not sure why they went with a vertical logo for the bottle instead of the usual horizontal logo. Instagram

• Caffeine-free energy drink brand AVVIKA officially launched. Instead of using caffeine, AVVIKA utilizes active ingredients like Ashwagandha, D-Ribose, L-Theanine, and B Vitamin Blend. The flavors are named after vibrant cities around the world which is a nice touch. PR Newswire

• Kraken, the rum brand that’s owned by Proximo Spirits, unveiled their newest product — Kraken Dark Caramel and Cornish Sea Salt. FoodBev

Data 🖥️

• Alani Nu continues to outpace rivals like Celsius and C4 Energy in terms of growth. Alani Nu’s volume increased 47.9% for the 4 weeks ending on August 10th. Celsius volume, on the other hand, increased 17.9% while C4 lifted 14.4%. Twitter

Distribution News 🚚

• Sarah Creal, a luxury beauty brand for women 40 and over, is launching at Sephora.

• Tower 28 launched at Mecca in Australia and New Zealand.

• IQBAR is launching their drink mixes at Costco.

• PRETZELIZED is rolling out at BJ’s Wholesale Club.

• Sanzo teased their upcoming launch at Costco.

• Fancypants Baking Co. launched at Gelson’s and Nugget Markets.