Issue #7 | December 15, 2025
Proudly seasoned by Trophy Wife - The Official Finishing Salt of The Deeter Digest. Because you are the prize, and so is this salt.
🥄 FIRST BITE
The appetizer before we dive in
Welcome to The Deeter Digest. This week, Campbell’s doubles down on Rao’s with a $286 million check, Church & Dwight dumps vitamins to focus on what matters, and someone finally disrupted water by... testing it?
Plus: Brother’s Bond defies whiskey winter, a former Loewe CEO resurrects dead fragrance, and protein bars meet raw honey. Let’s feast.
🍊 THE MAIN COURSE
This week’s biggest CPG moves
Campbell’s $286M Pasta Play
Campbell’s is acquiring 49% of La Regina, Rao’s manufacturing partner, for $286 million in two tranches. This isn’t M&A – it’s vertical integration disguised as partnership. Campbell’s bought Sovos Brands (Rao’s parent) for $2.7 billion in 2023. Now they’re buying half the factory that makes it.
The strategic logic is bulletproof. Rao’s is Campbell’s fastest-growing brand. Owning manufacturing secures supply, controls quality, and captures margin. When your $40 pasta sauce flies off shelves, you don’t want production bottlenecks. This is Campbell’s admitting Rao’s isn’t just a brand – it’s the future of their company. Smart money securing the supply chain.
Church & Dwight’s Vitamin Dump
Church & Dwight is selling VitaFusion and Lil Critters gummy vitamins to Piping Rock Health Products for undisclosed terms. The brands represent less than 5% of 2025 sales. Translation: They’re dumping distractions to focus on Hero Cosmetics, Touchland, and TheraBreath.
This is portfolio discipline in action. Gummy vitamins are commodity products with shrinking margins. Meanwhile, Hero’s pimple patches print money and Touchland owns hand sanitizer luxury. When you have to choose between fighting in vitamin aisles or dominating beauty shelves, the decision makes itself. Church & Dwight choosing margin over mass.
Righteous Felon’s Growth Spree
GroundForce Capital (formerly PowerPlant Partners) invested in Righteous Felon Craft Jerky after the brand delivered 100% year-to-date growth. Founded by Brendan Crawley in 2013, the West Chester brand secured Costco, Sam’s Club, and Tractor Supply distribution.
Jerky is having a moment. Epic Provisions proved premium works. Country Archer showed scale is possible. Now Righteous Felon is combining craft positioning with club store volume. The 100% growth isn’t shocking when you land Costco – that’s instant velocity. GroundForce betting protein snacks have room to run. With Americans eating more meat than ever, they’re probably right.
💰 THE FUNDING FRENZY
Big checks being written
Science Meets Wellness
Biologica launched with $7 million seed funding led by Addition, with Greycroft, True Beauty Ventures, and others participating. Co-founded by Joey Zwillinger (Allbirds co-founder) and Liz Zwillinger, the hormonal health company brings Silicon Valley discipline to women’s wellness. The packaging alone justifies the valuation.
Loonen raised $6 million from Brand Foundry Ventures for transparent bottled water. Co-founded by Clara Sieg (Revolution Ventures) and David Kimmell (former Lemon Perfect/Spindrift exec), they’re betting consumers want water that’s actually tested. Spring sourced, glass bottled, third-party verified. When water needs a COA, we’ve reached peak wellness anxiety.
Strategic Moves
FirstLook Ventures invested in Halfday Iced Tea, bringing their 2025 deployment to $1.5 million across three brands. Paige Bueckers (WNBA star) joined Chris Paul’s Good Eat’n as equity partner. Two Drifters UK rum secured £250K from British Business Bank.
When basketball stars back snacks and VCs chase iced tea, consumer remains hot despite the headlines.
🏪 DISTRIBUTION DOMINATION
Everyone’s everywhere
Mass Market Moves
Drumroll Snacks landed 1,200 Kroger stores. Elavi added 250+ H-E-B locations. TRIP went chainwide at Harris Teeter. Smood Sweets hit Target. When donuts, collagen bars, and CBD drinks all scale simultaneously, retail’s appetite remains infinite.
Club Store Wins
Nello secured chainwide Costco authorization. Righteous Felon expanded at both Costco and Sam’s Club. Club stores picking winners early – massive volume commitments that make or break brands. One Costco roadshow can change your entire trajectory.
Specialty Selections
Pan’s Mushroom Jerky at Wegmans. Rhinestone launching at Sprouts. Superb Bakehouse at Roche Bros. Outlaw Light Beer at Sheetz. Regional retailers continue curating tomorrow’s national brands today.
🆕 PRODUCT LAUNCHES & PIVOTS
This week’s innovation (or lack thereof)
Heritage Meets Modern
Former Loewe President Ridgely Cinquegrana revived Satinine, a Milanese fragrance brand dormant for 50 years. First flagship opened in Milan with Andrea Galletti as CEO. Resurrecting dead luxury brands is the new launching from scratch. Heritage without the baggage.
Ballerina Farm launched Farmer Jerky – 100% grass-fed, five ingredients, zero sugar. When influencer homesteaders make beef jerky, the aestheticization of everything continues. Beautiful packaging selling pioneer nostalgia.
Functional Everything
Anomaly Health: Jim Murray (former Feastables CEO) launching family immunity supplements. The pitch: stop one sick family member from infecting everyone. Smart positioning for paranoid parents.
BrewDog Mello: “Functional” NA beer with magnesium. Even non-alcoholic beer needs benefits now. C4 Energy Shots: 200mg caffeine in tiny bottles. B.Wild: Whole food multivitamins with actual vegetables.
Beauty & Wellness Expansion
Fel Beauty launched kiss-shaped lip/cheek balms at Sephora (founder: ex-Goop/Too Faced exec). Polite Society expanding from color cosmetics to skincare. Hunter & Gather UK dropped grass-fed beef protein powder. All Things Butter became All Things Dairy, adding cottage cheese.
Everyone’s extending categories. Butter brands make cottage cheese. Beer brands make wellness drinks. Nothing stays in its lane.
📊 THE DATA DIGEST
Numbers that matter
Winners in Tough Markets
Brother’s Bond Bourbon grew 40% while American whiskey struggled. Their formula:
Global expansion (UK, Germany, Japan)
Travel retail dominance
Product innovation (regenerative grains)
When tariffs, oversupply, and slow demand crush whiskey, growing 40% is heroic. Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley proving celebrity spirits work with actual strategy.
Salt & Stone approaching $140 million revenue. Started as sunscreen in 2017, pivoted to deodorant in 2018. Sometimes the second act is the real business.
The Week’s Metrics
Campbell’s La Regina stake: $286M for 49%
Biologica seed round: $7M
Loonen funding: $6M
Brother’s Bond growth: 40% YoY
Righteous Felon growth: 100% YTD
Salt & Stone revenue: $140M expected
Drumroll doors: 1,200 Kroger stores
Elavi expansion: 250+ H-E-B stores
🔥 THE HOT TAKE
My unfiltered opinion on this week’s madness
Campbell’s paying $286 million for half a pasta sauce factory tells you everything about CPG’s future. They already own Rao’s. Now they’re buying the machines that make it. This isn’t diversification – it’s doubling down on the only thing that works. Rao’s probably generates more profit than the rest of Campbell’s soup portfolio combined.
Church & Dwight dumping vitamins to focus on Hero and Touchland shows similar clarity. Why fight in commoditized gummy vitamins when you own the TikTok-famous pimple patches? Portfolio discipline beats portfolio sprawl.
But Loonen raising $6 million to disrupt water with... transparency? We’ve reached peak Silicon Valley when water needs blockchain-level verification. The founders are legit (Lemon Perfect and Spindrift alumni), but $6 million to tell people what’s in their water feels like solving a problem only Erewhon shoppers have.
Meanwhile, Brother’s Bond growing 40% while whiskey burns proves celebrity spirits can work with actual business fundamentals. Global expansion, travel retail, product innovation – aka the boring stuff that builds brands.
The week’s lesson: Focus beats diversification. Campbell’s focusing on Rao’s. Church & Dwight focusing on beauty. Brother’s Bond focusing on execution. Even Righteous Felon focused on club stores.
Pick your battle. Win it. Stop trying to be everything.
🎙️ FROM THE PODCAST
Unpackaged Goods with Jonathan Deeter
Coming Tuesday - Episode 11: Campbell’s pasta factory purchase, Church & Dwight’s vitamin dump, and why Brother’s Bond grew 40% while whiskey tanked. Plus: Is transparent water worth $6 million?
Last Week’s Episode:
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
📺 COMING MONDAY
The Deeter Digest: Week in Review
Breaking down Campbell’s vertical integration masterclass and whether water really needs third-party testing.
🥫 ONE MORE THING...
Before you close this tab
AB InBev is restructuring U.S. production, selling a Newark facility to Goodman Group and closing plants in California and New Hampshire. Empress 1908 Gin launched a non-alc version. Byte’m Brownie Bites unveiled new branding. Celo protein bars combine grass-fed whey with raw honey.
But here’s what matters: Every brand making moves this week picked a lane. Campbell’s picked Rao’s. Church & Dwight picked beauty. Brother’s Bond picked global expansion. Even Ballerina Farm picked aesthetic jerky.
The scattered brands die. The focused brands thrive. Choose accordingly.
Until next Sunday, Jonathan Deeter Your CPG-Obsessed Friend
P.S.
Coca-Cola named COO Henrique Braun as next CEO, replacing James Quincey in March. When the world’s largest beverage company changes leaders, expect strategic shifts. Watch for more Beyond Soda moves.
TikTok | Podcast | Instagram | Pickle Advisors | YouTube
This newsletter is finished with Trophy Wife Finishing Salts - elevating every bite since 2025
Fantastic roundup. Had fun reading it! I love the packaging of the Farmer Jerky!