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Weekly Summary: This week saw an increase in Series A funding in the healthy-snacking space and significant investments in established, yet struggling brands
SkinnyDipped, a family-run company that sells nuts thinly coated in chocolate, has raised $12M in their recent series A funding round. The company’s fundraising strategy focused on individual investors rather than an investment vehicle. Notable investors included: Post Malone, Mark Wahlberg and Shakira (Source).
Eat Just, a California-based company that sells plant-based eggs, has secured funding from the non-profit VegInvest/Ahimsa Foundation. The funding provides a short-term cash infusion for the company, which has faced profitability challenges in recent months (Source).
M&A Weekly Summary: There was a healthy amount of M&A activity this week in the CPG sector, including 2 strategics, 1 financial and 1 merger.
Snack nut seller, John B. Sanfilippo & Son, has reached a deal with TreeHouse Foods to acquire assets related to their snack bars unit. As part of the deal, John B. Sanfilippo & Son Inc. will pay TreeHouse Foods $63M in cash, subject to adjustments (Source).
Swiss chocolate giant, Nestlé has purchased a majority stake in Grupo CRM, a Brazilian luxury chocolatier. This investment is part of Nestle’s broader strategy to expand its presence in the premium chocolate space (Source).
Heartisan, the largest online retailer of specialty & flavored cheeses, has acquired North Country Packaging. The deal is expected to triple Heartisan’s manufacturing capacity, significantly expanding its fulfillment capabilities (Source).
National Lecithin, a major lecithin supplier, has acquired Soya International, a New York based food ingredients supplier. The deal will allow National Lecithin to expand into the bakery, dairy and confectionary sectors (Source).
Retail & Distribution Weekly Summary: Last week saw new rollouts at Walmart and Good Earth Markets, as well as breakfast-foods product expansions
Kellogg has launched a new flavor of its iconic breakfast pastry, Pop-Tart. The new flavor, Frosted Chocolatey Chip, features a chocolate chip filling and maple-flavored icing. The product is now available at Walmart and will be available at other retailers in December (Source).
Wonderful Pistachios, the largest pistachio seller in the US, has launched its first new flavor in 10 years: Seasoned Salt. This new variant offers a salty taste with hints of garlic, onion, and paprika. Seasoned Salt is set to launch at retailers across the country later this month (Source).
Oscar Mayer, a Kraft Heinz brand, has unveiled on-the-go breakfast items with its new Scramblers line. The Scramblers, available in 3 varieties, are now available at major retailers around the country (Source).
Banza, an American company that specializing in Chickpea-based comfort foods, has unveiled a line of protein waffles. The waffles, which are available in 3 varieties, officially mark Banza’s entrance into the breakfast foods market (Source).
Hello, this is a weekly newsletter covering major venture funding, M&A, and retail & distribution updates in the US food & beverage CPG space. If you aren’t subscribed, please see the subscribe button below.
Our sponsor SKUsafe is an enterprise software platform focused on:
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Weekly Summary: Moderate seed stage activity in the functional and sports-focused category
Good Sport, a Chicago firm offering milk-based sports drinks, has raised $5.9M. Sports icons Ken Griffey Jr. and Ronnie Lot are prior investors in the brands (Source).
US-based biotech firm, Jellatech has raised $3.5M. The company plans to use the funding to further develop and market its plant-based collagen and gelatin products. If successful, these products could significantly alter the food & beverage industries, namely the vegetarian and vegan markets (Source).
MOSH, a protein bar company whose products support brain-health, has closed a $3M Series A funding round. The Company, founded by Maria Shriver and son Patrick Schwarzenegger, plans to use the capital to support national expansion (Source).
Infamous Whiskey, a Georgia-based bourbon and spirits distillery, has successfully raised 100k. The influx of capital will be used to fund the company’s crowdfunding campaign, go-to-market development and applications for local and federal licensing (Source).
Weekly Summary: No major strategic acquisitions, 1 PE-backed platform transaction
Torquoise Consulting has acquired Seltic Beverages, a canned cocktail company based in Scottsdale. The sale marks Torquoise’s entrance into growing ready-to-drink market (Source).
Roland Foods has acquired the ifiGOURMET, a Gurnee-based supplier of baking, pastry and confectionary- products. The parent company of Roland Foods, Vestar Capital, plans to combine the confectionary acquisition with AUI Fine Foods, a subsidiary of Roland Foods (Source).
US food tech firm Superlatus has acquired the Urgent Company. The acquisition includes the company’s consumer brands: Coolhaus, Brave Robot, Modern Kitchen and California Performance Company. The deal comes one month after The Urgent Company’s parent company, Perfect Day, laid off 15% of its workforce (Source).
Weekly Summary: New rollouts at Walmart and Costco, major expansion for Recess
Blender Bites, a frozen-functional drink company from Canada, is now available at 1.6k Walmart locations across the US. This rollout follows the Company’s June entry into Walmart Canada (Source).
Belgian Boys, an NYC-based snack company, has announced the release of its pancake cereal. The new product will be available for a limited time only, exclusively at Costco. The release follows a viral Tik Tok trend / recipe featuring pancake cereal (Source).
Recess, a sparkling water and mocktail company, has expanded into 5k more retail locations. The beverage is now available at major retailers, namely Target, CVS and Sprouts. Including this expansion, Recess is available at 14k stores nationwide (Source).
Brazi Bites, an American company that offers gluten-free snacks, has announced its rollout of frozen, gluten-free waffles. For the foreseeable future, the waffles, which comes in sweet and savory flavors, will be available only at Sprouts (Source).
WayFare Foods, a Montana-company offering plant-based products, has announced the release of its dairy-free pudding at Albertsons. The rollout comes only a few months after WayFare’s entry into Meijer and Hy-Vee earlier this year, and allows for further midwestern expansion (Source).
