Issue #20 | March 16, 2026
🥄 FIRST BITE
The appetizer before we dive in
Welcome back. This week, Coefficient Capital quietly raised over $500M to keep backing the brands reshaping consumer behavior. Henkel scooped up Not Your Mother’s for a reported $220M in revenue. George Clooney — the man who built Casamigos into a billion-dollar tequila exit — came back with a non-alcoholic beer brand. And Monster tried to sneak a female-focused energy drink onto shelves without anyone noticing.
Meanwhile, Hims & Hers settled with Novo Nordisk and will now sell actual Ozempic and Wegovy on its platform — stock jumped 40% in a day. Once Upon a Farm posted 30% revenue growth and got punished for it with a 20% stock drop, reminding every CPG founder that Wall Street plays a different game. And the creators of Surfside launched Super Lyte because apparently the fastest-growing alcohol brand in America wasn’t enough.
The theme this week is firepower. Half a billion in new fund capital. Legacy brands acquiring their way into relevance. And celebrity founders who already have billion-dollar exits on their resume coming back for round two. Let’s dig in.
🍊 THE MAIN COURSE
This week’s biggest CPG moves
Coefficient Capital Raises $530M — The Biggest Consumer Fund Story of the Year
New York-based growth equity firm Coefficient Capital secured $290M for Fund II and $240M for its Apex Fund, totaling over $530M in fresh capital aimed at transformational consumer shifts. Since its founding in 2018, Coefficient has backed more than 20 consumer brands. Their portfolio includes Lemme, Sincerely Yours, Magic Spoon, Gorgie, TRIP, Untamed, Sauz, and several others. Previous exits include Kate Farms, Nom Nom, Oatly (IPO), and Just Spices.
When a single firm raises over half a billion dollars to deploy into consumer brands, it tells you everything about where institutional capital sees the opportunity. Coefficient isn’t chasing trends — they’re backing structural shifts in how people eat, drink, and take care of themselves. The portfolio reads like a roadmap of every major consumer behavior change of the last five years: functional nutrition, better-for-you beverages, clean beauty, and premium snacking. Over $530M in dry powder means Coefficient will be writing some of the most consequential checks in CPG for the next several years. Founders should know who they are.
Henkel Acquires Not Your Mother’s — $220M in Revenue, Affordable Haircare’s Big Moment
German consumer goods giant Henkel acquired Not Your Mother’s for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2010 by Bethany and Rocky Pagliarulo, Not Your Mother’s built a modern haircare brand offering high-performance products at approachable prices. Main Post Partners invested in 2019 and the company is reportedly doing around $220M in annual sales.
Affordable haircare is having its moment. While luxury brands command the Instagram conversation, the mass market is where the volume lives — and Henkel knows mass market distribution better than almost anyone. Not Your Mother’s represents exactly the kind of acquisition that makes strategic sense: proven consumer demand, strong retail velocity, and a price point that works across every channel from Walmart to Target to grocery.
For founders in the haircare space, this exit validates that you don’t need to be a prestige brand to command serious acquisition interest. You need volume, velocity, and a consumer who comes back. Not Your Mother’s nailed all three.
Hims & Hers Settles with Novo Nordisk — Ozempic and Wegovy Are Now on the Platform
Hims & Hers ended its legal dispute with Novo Nordisk and will begin offering Ozempic and Wegovy directly on its platform. The stock jumped 40% on the news.
Two weeks ago, Hims & Hers dropped $1.15B on an Australian telehealth platform while their stock was getting hammered. Now they’ve resolved the Novo Nordisk lawsuit and immediately get access to the two most in-demand drugs on the planet. The strategic sequence is remarkable — acquire international infrastructure, settle the legal dispute, offer branded GLP-1 drugs, watch the stock recover.
This changes the competitive landscape for every telehealth and digital health company in the space. Hims & Hers went from being perceived as a GLP-1 risk to being a GLP-1 beneficiary in the span of 14 days. The compounding and generic play was always the bridge — branded Ozempic and Wegovy is the destination.
George Clooney Is Back — And This Time It’s Non-Alc Beer
The creators of Casamigos are back. George Clooney, Rande Gerber, and Mike Meldman launched Crazy Mountain, a premium non-alcoholic beer brand. Two lager-style brews — Original and Lime — debuted this week. DTC only for now with select U.S. retail markets coming soon.
These three sold Casamigos to Diageo for $1 billion. They understand premiumization, brand positioning, and the value of celebrity that feels authentic rather than transactional. Clooney doesn’t need the money — he needs the creative challenge. That’s a very different motivation than most celebrity CPG founders, and it tends to produce better brands.
The non-alc beer category is crowded but far from settled. Athletic Brewing dominates but hasn’t locked up the premium positioning that Crazy Mountain is targeting. The Casamigos playbook was simple: make the best product in the category, build cultural relevance, let the distribution machine find you. If they apply the same discipline to non-alc beer, this is a brand that gets very interesting very quickly.
Once Upon a Farm Goes Public — And Gets Punished for Growing
Once Upon a Farm posted Q4 net sales up 30% to $64M and the stock dropped as much as 20% on Thursday. Welcome to public markets, Jennifer Garner.
This is the brutal reality of taking a CPG brand public. Thirty percent revenue growth would be celebrated with champagne in a private company board room. On Wall Street, it gets you a 20% haircut because guidance wasn’t aggressive enough or margins weren’t expanding fast enough. The public market plays a completely different game than the private one.
Every CPG founder considering an IPO path should study what’s happening to OFRM right now. The scrutiny is relentless. The timeline is quarterly. And the investor base doesn’t have the patience that venture or private equity does. Once Upon a Farm is building a real business — the market just doesn’t care about your five-year plan when it can trade your stock every millisecond.
💰 THE FUNDING FRENZY
Big checks being written
Hurray’s GIRL BEER — $5M Seed Round
Hurray’s GIRL BEER closed a $5M seed funding round led by Lakehouse Ventures. Spice Capital and several angel investors also participated. Launched in Fall 2024 by Ray Biebuyck, Hurray specializes in flavored light beer and retails at Albertsons, Walmart, Kroger, and Whole Foods. Lakehouse is also an investor in Billie, Bobbie, Experiment, HOPWTR, and Kosterina.
Five million in seed capital with Albertsons, Walmart, Kroger, and Whole Foods already on the retail roster is a brand that proved product-market fit before raising significant money. The beer aisle has been losing women for years — U.S. beer shipments were down 5.9% in 2025 — and Hurray is betting that the problem isn’t women’s interest in beer but beer’s interest in women. Humor-led marketing with a product designed specifically for an underserved consumer. The distribution footprint at this stage is impressive.
Perfumer H — $4.5M From Former Aesop Leadership
London-based specialty fragrance brand Perfumer H secured $4.5M from Elixir 1 Investments and ILYOS Capital. Elixir 1 is led by former Aesop CEO Michael O’Keeffe. ILYOS is led by former Aesop GM Thomas Buisson. Founded in 2015 by Lyn Harris, Perfumer H specializes in unconventional fragrances with stores in London, Paris, Seoul, Hong Kong, and several other markets.
When two former Aesop executives put their own capital behind a fragrance brand, it’s the strongest possible signal about the brand’s potential. O’Keeffe and Buisson built Aesop into a global luxury icon before L’Oréal acquired it for $2.5B. They know exactly what premium brand building at scale looks like — and they’re betting Perfumer H has it.
Novos Labs — Unilever Ventures Backs Longevity Supplements
New York-based Novos Labs, a developer of clinically-backed longevity supplements, scored a minority investment from Unilever Ventures. Founded in 2019 by Chris Mirabile, Novos takes a biology-first approach to healthspan and longevity. Unilever’s other recent VMS investments include Create, Perelel, and Plant People.
Unilever Ventures is quietly building a portfolio thesis around functional wellness and longevity. Create in creatine gummies. Perelel in prenatal. Plant People in functional botanicals. Now Novos in longevity supplements. The pattern is clear — Unilever is placing bets across every life stage and every functional benefit through its venture arm. For Novos, Unilever validation means distribution conversations get a lot easier.
Good Girl Snacks — Nucleus Ventures Backs Hot Girl Pickles
Good Girl Snacks, the parent company of Hot Girl Pickles, scored an investment from Nucleus Ventures. Hot Girl Pickles is the number one brand in its category at Erewhon and will be in over 2,000 doors by end of year.
Number one at Erewhon is the ultimate proof of concept for a premium better-for-you snack brand. When you’re winning at the most curated retailer in America, every other buyer conversation starts with credibility. Two thousand doors by year-end is an aggressive expansion plan that suggests the velocity data is strong enough to support it.
Chilly Ones — NÜTRL Founders Invest in Low-ABV Beer
Canadian low-ABV and non-alc beer brand Chilly Ones scored an investment from Paul and Melissa Meehan, the founders of NÜTRL Vodka Seltzer. Longtime NHL player Tyson Barrie launched Chilly Ones last summer. The Meehans owned 100% of NÜTRL prior to selling it to Anheuser-Busch in 2020.
When the founders who built and sold NÜTRL to AB InBev put their own money behind a low-ABV beer brand, they’re seeing something in the category that most people are missing. The Meehans know exactly what it takes to build a beverage brand that catches Big Alcohol’s attention. Chilly Ones just made its U.S. debut in Colorado — with operators like the Meehans behind it, the expansion path just got a lot more credible.
Living Things — Spadel’s Venture Arm Backs UK Prebiotic Soda
UK-based prebiotic soda brand Living Things secured investment from The Source Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Belgian mineral water company Spadel. Founded two years ago by Jonathan Relph and Ben Vear, Living Things offers all-natural, lightly sparkling sodas approaching 25,000 points of distribution across Tesco, Waitrose, Boots, and over 600 Albert Heijn stores in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Twenty-five thousand doors in two years with Tesco and Waitrose on the roster. The European better-for-you soda market is following the same trajectory that Olipop and Poppi blazed in the U.S. — and Living Things is positioning itself as the brand that owns that movement across the UK and Northern Europe. Corporate venture backing from Spadel gives them bottling and distribution infrastructure that most startups can’t access.
Smearcase — $198K Albertsons Innovation Winner
High-protein ice cream brand Smearcase won the Innovation Launchpad Pitch Competition from Albertsons, walking away with a $198K check. Bezi came in second and Croots in third.
Winning Albertsons’ pitch competition isn’t just about the check — it’s about the relationship. Albertsons is telling you exactly which brands they want on shelf. Smearcase has been on a distribution tear lately — Sprouts, New Seasons Market, and now Albertsons’ direct endorsement. The cottage cheese innovation category continues to attract serious retail interest.
🆕 PRODUCT LAUNCHES & INNOVATION
This week’s innovation circus
Monster Quietly Launches FLRT — The Female Energy Drink Play
Monster Beverage quietly launched FLRT Energy at Hy-Vee in the Midwest with Walmart and Gopuff coming soon. FLRT is Monster’s female-focused energy drink brand — the latest entrant in a wave of brands like Unwell, Benny, and Joggy targeting women in the energy aisle after Alani Nu and Bloom proved the playbook.
Monster has watched Celsius acquire Alani Nu and generate a billion dollars in revenue from the demographic Monster was never going to reach organically. FLRT is their response — build it internally rather than acquire it. The quiet Hy-Vee launch suggests Monster is testing before scaling. Smart. The female energy drink consumer is sophisticated and brand-loyal. You don’t win her with distribution muscle alone. You win her with product, positioning, and authenticity. Whether Monster — the brand synonymous with extreme sports and skull graphics — can pull that off under a sub-brand is the open question.
PepsiCo Launches Good Warrior Meat Sticks
PepsiCo is entering the fast-growing meat sticks category with Good Warrior. Each stick delivers 10g of protein, 100 calories, and zero sugar. Launching with Original and Jalapeno Pepper, rolling out nationwide later this month.
When PepsiCo enters your category, two things are true simultaneously. First, the category is validated beyond any doubt. Second, you now compete with the largest snack distribution machine on the planet. Good Warrior’s macros are competitive, the branding is solid, and PepsiCo obviously has a distribution edge that no emerging brand can match. Chomps, Archer, and every other meat snack insurgent just got a new competitor with unlimited shelf space leverage. The Bain insurgent report said these brands drove 25% of food growth. PepsiCo read the same report.
Jarritos Goes Modern — Sana Sana Prebiotic Soda
Iconic Mexican beverage brand Jarritos launched Sana Sana, a prebiotic soda line in Guava, Strawberry, and Mandarin. Jarritos is competing with De La Calle and Xochi to become the modern Mexican soda brand. When an iconic legacy brand launches a functional line, it validates the entire prebiotic soda movement from a completely different angle — cultural heritage plus modern functional positioning.
Super Lyte — Surfside Creators Launch RTD Cocktails
Super Lyte, the new RTD cocktail brand from the creators of Surfside, officially launched in over 20 states. Uncarbonated vodka cocktails at 4.5% ABV inspired by sports drinks. Surfside is the fastest-growing alcohol brand in the U.S. by a significant margin. When you’ve already built the fastest-growing alcohol brand in America and you launch a second one, the playbook is clearly repeatable.
More Launches Worth Watching
Bachan’s x Top Ramen — three co-branded instant noodle bowls, Walmart exclusive. Bachan’s entering its licensing era after SPAM and now Top Ramen. When Marzetti acquires a brand that’s already embedded in other iconic products, the integration is already done.
Naani’s Authentic Chai — new beverage brand from Coca-Cola alum Rohit Dixit who spent 12 years at Coke as Senior Director of Corporate Development. Launched with Whole Milk and Oat Milk varieties. When a Coca-Cola corporate development exec launches his own brand, he knows exactly where the distribution conversations start.
POCA — pocket-sized plant-based sweetener for coffee and matcha. Zero calories, fiber boost, three flavors. A clever form factor play in a massive daily habit category.
Javvy Clear Protein Refreshers — the coffee brand’s first non-coffee product. 10g protein, 3g fiber, 45mg caffeine in powder drink mix format.
Lemme Relax — relaxation soft chew with magnesium, KSM-66, Tart Cherry, and L-Theanine. Blackberry Lemonade flavor, DTC exclusive.
Leisure Hydration — brand refresh retaining playful energy while cleaning up messaging and dialing up flavor focus.
Prima — reformulated protein bars with 21g protein, improved texture, solved the greasiness issue customers complained about.
It’s Skinny → It’s That Simple — the low-carb pasta brand repositioned away from diet messaging to focus on convenience. Smart move in a market that’s moving away from restriction-based branding.
Fishwife Albacore Tuna with Soy Ginger — new SKU, Whole Foods exclusive.
K18 TripleBright Purple Shampoo — Sephora online exclusive starting March 23rd. The Unilever-owned biomimetic haircare brand continues expanding its range.
KAYALI Eden Collection — two new scents from the Huda Beauty spinoff that reportedly hit $200M in sales.
Summer Fridays Sunlit Vanilla — the viral beauty brand’s debut fragrance, $82, launching at Sephora, Revolve, Cult Beauty, Space NK, and Mecca Beauty.
Snif x Mikayla Nogueira — Only Sunshine fragrance collab with one of beauty’s biggest influencers.
📊 THE DATA DIGEST
Numbers that matter
U.S. Beer Shipments Down 5.9% in 2025
U.S. beer shipments declined by over 8 million barrels in 2025. A handful of players managed to deliver growth — Busch Light, Garage Beer, and Athletic Brewing among them. When an entire category contracts nearly 6% and only a few brands grow, those brands are stealing share from everyone else simultaneously. The beer aisle is consolidating around winners and losers with very little middle ground.
Energy Drinks and Coconut Water Led February
Per NielsenIQ, the best-performing beverage sectors in February were energy drinks (no surprise) and coconut water (somewhat surprising). RTD coffee also delivered a small gain. Energy’s continued dominance validates the Celsius, Monster, and UPDATE expansion plays happening simultaneously. Coconut water’s resurgence suggests the functional hydration trend is lifting adjacent categories.
Once Upon a Farm: 30% Growth, 20% Stock Drop
OFRM posted Q4 net sales up 30% to $64M and watched shares drop as much as 20%. The public market reminder that growth without margin expansion gets punished. Every CPG founder eyeing an IPO should study this quarter closely.
Fruit Riot Goes International After Bain Insurgent List
After making Bain’s Insurgent Brands list earlier this month, Fruit Riot announced its UK launch at Tesco — its second international market after Canada. Backed by Humble Growth and VMG. When Bain puts you on the insurgent list and you immediately expand internationally, the capital and credibility flywheel is working exactly as intended.
🏪 DISTRIBUTION DOMINATION
Everyone’s everywhere
Walmart’s Energy Aisle Gets Louder
BUM Energy launched storewide at Walmart — another energy drink brand with massive momentum hitting the largest retailer in America. GORGIE also launched at Walmart this week. Two energy brands going storewide at Walmart in the same window. The energy aisle is the most competitive set in the store and it just got more crowded.
Target Keeps Stacking
Bizzy Cold Brew expanded to 1,300 Target stores. CauliPuffs launched nationwide at Target. SkyPop Protein Soda also went nationwide at Target. Hume Supernatural launched at Target. Target’s emerging brand pipeline is relentless — four brands expanding or launching in a single week across coffee, snacks, beverages, and personal care.
Costco’s Club Store Machine
Grüns launched chainwide at Costco in the U.S. Going chainwide at Costco is one of the most significant distribution events in CPG — the volume per door is unmatched. MUD\WTR launched at 81 Costco clubs in the Southeast. Low and Slow launched at Costco in the Northeast. Three brands hitting Costco in the same week across different regions.
Poppi’s Power Move
Poppi is now available at Starbucks. Prebiotic soda meeting the largest coffee chain in the world. This isn’t just distribution — it’s a consumption occasion expansion. Poppi at Starbucks means Poppi in front of consumers who might never walk down a grocery beverage aisle. The trial potential is enormous.
The Regional and Specialty Wins
Joyride launched storewide at Publix. Brinkley’s launched at select H-E-B stores in Texas. Smearcase landed at New Seasons Market. El Nacho launched at select Albertsons stores. Stimmie is now available at Fresh Thyme Market. L.A. Libations Water launched at Target in SoCal. Miracle Mama launched at Central Market. Cymbiotika is launching at Ulta Beauty — the supplement brand crossing into beauty retail.
International Expansion
Fruit Riot launched at Tesco in the UK — its second international market after Canada. Celsius is partnering with Suntory to launch in Spain. PHLUR is launching at Sephora in Europe and Mexico. The international push from American brands continues to accelerate.
👋 PEOPLE MOVES
Garage Beer added serious firepower — Patrick Brang, former SVP of Finance at BeatBox, joined as CFO. Andrew McGuire, former Chief Customer Officer for Molson Coors U.S., joined as CRO. When you hire BeatBox’s finance lead and Molson Coors’ top customer exec in the same week, you’re preparing to scale.
🔥 THE HOT TAKE
My unfiltered opinion on this week’s madness
This week’s story is about firepower — who has it, who’s deploying it, and what happens when the biggest players in CPG decide they want your category.
Coefficient raising $530M is the most significant consumer fund story of the year. That’s half a billion dollars from a single firm that has already backed Magic Spoon, Lemme, Gorgie, and Oatly. When that kind of capital meets that kind of pattern recognition, the brands that get those checks have an unfair advantage over everyone else in their category.
But the scariest story for emerging brands isn’t a fund raise — it’s PepsiCo launching Good Warrior meat sticks. Two weeks ago, Bain told us insurgent brands drove 25% of food growth. This week, PepsiCo read the report and entered the chat. Good Warrior’s protein macros are competitive with Chomps and Archer. PepsiCo’s distribution makes it available everywhere overnight. The insurgent brands built the category. Big Food is now showing up with the checkbook and the shelf space to take share.
Monster launching FLRT tells the same story from a different angle. Celsius acquired Alani Nu and generated a billion in revenue from the female energy consumer. Monster’s response: build it internally. The quiet Hy-Vee launch is a test run before Walmart. Every female-focused energy brand — Unwell, Benny, Joggy — just got a Monster-backed competitor.
George Clooney launching non-alc beer after selling Casamigos for $1B is the most credible celebrity CPG play of the year. This isn’t an endorsement deal. This is the team that built the most successful celebrity spirits brand in history applying the same playbook to a new category. Athletic Brewing should be paying attention.
And then there’s Hims & Hers. Two weeks ago they spent $1.15B on Australian telehealth. This week they settled with Novo Nordisk and will sell branded Ozempic and Wegovy. Stock up 40%. The strategic sequencing is remarkable — they went from GLP-1 risk to GLP-1 beneficiary in 14 days. For every CPG brand positioning around the GLP-1 consumer, Hims & Hers just became the most important distribution channel you’re not thinking about.
Once Upon a Farm posting 30% growth and getting punished with a 20% stock drop is the public market reality check every founder needs to see. Wall Street doesn’t celebrate revenue growth without margin expansion. Private markets might give you five years. Public markets give you five quarters.
The firepower is real. The competition is escalating. And the window for emerging brands to build defensible positions before Big Food arrives in their category is getting smaller every week.
Build faster.
🎙️ COMING TUESDAY
Unpackaged Goods Episode
Breaking down Coefficient’s $530M and what it means for the next wave of consumer brand investing, why PepsiCo entering meat sticks should terrify and validate emerging brands simultaneously, and the strategic genius behind Hims & Hers’ 14-day transformation from GLP-1 risk to GLP-1 beneficiary. Plus: George Clooney’s non-alc beer playbook and whether the Casamigos formula works twice.
🥫 ONE MORE THING...
Before you close this tab
Ibraheem Basir, the founder of A Dozen Cousins, passed away this week. I never met Ibraheem, but the outpouring of love from every corner of the CPG community tells you everything about his impact. He built a brand rooted in cultural authenticity and representation at a time when the industry desperately needed both. The food industry lost a good one.
On a lighter note — Smash Kitchen landed on American Airlines. Your in-flight condiment game just got an upgrade. And Pop Up Grocer is opening a second NYC location because apparently one curated grocery store on Bleecker wasn’t enough for this city.
U.S. beer shipments dropped 5.9% in 2025. Eight million fewer barrels. And into that declining market, Hurray launched GIRL BEER and George Clooney launched non-alc lager. The brands betting on beer aren’t betting on beer going back to how it was. They’re betting on beer becoming something it hasn’t been yet.
Until next Sunday, Jonathan Deeter Your CPG-Obsessed Friend
P.S. — PepsiCo launched meat sticks. PEPSICO. MEAT STICKS. The company that makes Doritos now also makes jerky. Bain said insurgent brands drove 25% of food growth and PepsiCo said “thanks for the roadmap.” If you’re an emerging protein snack brand, the clock just started ticking louder.
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