Express Checkout #72 - the latest in CPG, Retail, and eComm

Hello hello!

Shark Tank this week featured some friends' brands! Congrats Flaus, Mosh (i love the lemon and peanut butter chocolate flavors, and Arber! Ever since coming into CPG it’s been wildly fun to watch Shark Tank now that I know so many people who’ve been on!!

There are some fun industry events on the horizon!

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Clean Beauty Summer School 
The Clean Beauty Summer School 2024 Brand Track program by Tower 28 Beauty, Inc. is now open for applications. 🎉 

10-week virtual professional development program created by Amy Liu

Selected brands will receive access to live sessions, 1:1 mentorship, industry education, $35,000 in cash grants, legal/retail support, and guaranteed buyer meetings with top retailers.

Applications are open until May 8th, 2024. - APPLY HERE

Now on to the news of the week!

(If you’re reading this email in gmail it might get clipped! You can always view full issues here.)

🔥 Big News - 10 items or less 🔥

• Private label brands, hotter than ever - Walmart has announced bettergoods, a new private brand. With over 300 items spanning various categories, including culinary experiences, plant-based options, and "Made Without" products, bettergoods offers a range of high-quality, chef-inspired food. source.

  • Clearly they’re feeling pressure from the massive private label portfolio that Target has!

• It’s exactly what they needed - The Simply Good Foods Company has announced its acquisition of Only What You Need (OWYN), a leading plant-based RTD protein shake brand, for $280 million in cash. Simply Good Foods already has brands like Quest Nutrition in its portfolio. Source

• Sweet living - SKITTLES is offering one lucky fan the opportunity to live in a rainbow-filled micro apartment in New York City, with rent paid for a year. The apartment, designed by interior decorator Dani Klarić, is a colorful haven packed into 353 square feet. source

• I’d like to be a billionaire - L'Occitane's billionaire owner, Reinold Geiger, plans to take the French skin-care firm private in a $1.8 billion deal. Geiger's investment holding company, L'Occitane Groupe, will pay HK$34 for each share not already owned. The deal comes after Geiger shelved a previous buyout attempt. source

• Okay so they definitely are the target of M&A then - Poppi, the healthy soda brand, denies being a target for acquisition by larger beverage companies. Co-founder Allison Ellsworth stated that their focus is on growth and not on selling the brand. With sales exceeding $100 million and a presence in major retailers, Poppi has attracted attention from the beverage industry. source

• You can get far is simple branding - Liquid I.V. has unveiled its first rebrand since launch. My favorite part of the rebrand is that they updated the front to have an image representing the flavor, it was near impossible to ID the flavor before! source

  • check out my TikTok breaking this all down!

🗞️ News from the week (4/29/24 - 5/5/24)

🛍 Retail

• Shein and Forever 21 have become the first brands to use UPS' Happy Returns cross-brand solution, allowing consumers to return online purchases in-store. source

• Instacart and The Save Mart Companies have announced an expanded partnership including the use of Instacart's Caper Carts, an AI-powered smart cart, FoodStorm, an order management system, and Instacart's Storefront Pro for advanced e-commerce capabilities. source

• Rue21 has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will be closing all of its stores. This is the 3rd time the company has filed for bankruptcy. Source

• Jimbo's, a natural grocer in Southern California, has pulled GT's Kombucha, their best-selling product, after the brand made a pivot towards using organic ingredients. source

• Rally House, sports and local apparel retailer in the nation, surpasses 200 store locations across the United States. Source

🛒 CPG & Consumer Goods

• Bella Hadid's beauty brand Orebella has launched three "shake-to-activate" essential oil-based scents. The fragrances, developed without alcohol, aim to achieve the "skinification of fragrance." Source

  • I got to go to the pop-up in NYC this weekend and picked up their Salted Muse scent

• Boscia, a clean beauty brand known for its plant-driven formulations is shutting down. source

• Plus, the sustainable personal care brand from the founders of Starface, has shut down. Despite its innovative dissolvable body wash packets and focus on sustainability. Source

• Olay has launched water-activated cleansing melts (sounds like Plus 👀). The dissolving squares come in three ingredient varieties. This comes after P&G has been testing the format with cleaning brand EC30 for the past couple years. source

• Skura Style has expanded its kitchen cleaning line with a new collection of sponges created by co-owner Eva Mendes. Mendes joined Skura Style as a co-owner in 2022. Source

• Lemon Perfect has expanded nationwide into Whole Foods Market. source

• Celebrity makeup artist Quinn Murphy is launching a beauty brand called Spatch, featuring a new spot-concealing product called Invisible Spot Fix. source

• Thayers Natural Remedies has partnered with DJ Pauly D for a digital brand campaign highlighting their Blemish Clearing Toner. source

• Naples Soap Company is set to launch a new line of skincare products called Grow Beautii, specifically formulated for users with sensitive skin. source

• Ace Hardware, yes the retailer, has launched its first exclusive food product line called Loud Mouth Barbeque, featuring BBQ sauce and seasonings. Source

💻 eCommerce

• Skullcandy has replatformed back to Shopify in just 3 months time. source

• TikTok's eComm platform has reached over 500,000 US sellers, more than double the number from three months earlier. Source

• Williams Sonoma has launched a new mobile app that offers shopping, registry services, and access to thousands of recipes. Source

🏭 Supply Chain

• Dollar Tree’s distribution center in Marietta, Oklahoma has suffered significant damage from the recent tornado, but fortunately, none of the associates were injured. Source

💸 Funding news

• Swap, an eComm operating system, has secured $9 million in funding to launch Swap Global, a product offering that enables new markets through DDP shipping, automated tax remittance, and express customs clearance. The funding will also support the company's expansion in the UK, Europe, and the US. Funding was led by QED Investors, with participation from Cherry Ventures, 9900 Capital, 2100 Ventures, and Ed Hallen, co-Founder of Klaviyo. Source

• ButcherBox has made its first acquisition by acquiring Truffle Shuffle, a startup featured on Shark Tank, in an all cash offer. Source

• Our Home, a family of brands, has acquired Sonoma Creamery. This strategic acquisition enables Our Home to enter the cheese snack category. Source

• Mother Science has launched Retinol Synergist, a new product that combines their Malassezin and retinol. The brand has also secured $3.5 million in funding from Greycroft. Source

• Sow Good, a freeze-dried candy maker, has priced its Nasdaq uplisting at $10, raising $12 million through the offering. source

• Oishii, a vertical farming company specializing in Japanese strawberries and cherry tomatoes, has secured a $15 million loan to convert a vacant building in Phillipsburg into an energy-efficient production facility. source

• Underground delivery startup Pipedream Labs has raised $13 million in funding, led by Starship Ventures, to enhance its "Instant Pickup" service and build a middle-mile network for more efficient urban deliveries. source

🧐 Interesting reads

• For Elizabeth Banks, Entrepreneurship Is Like Acting: Unconventional Is The Only Way - Taste Radio

• What the Old Dogs of the Pet Industry Can Do to Fend Off the Third Wave of Pet - Interact brands

• Erewhon: The Social Club That Sells Groceries - The Physicality

• Retail Accelerator Programs for Emerging CPG Brands - Lunr

• How Public Goods Became the Unofficial Supplier of Airbnb Host - Chris Breen

💡 Data, reports, and trends

• The Link Between Credible Advice and Purchasing Decisions - ExpertVoice

• Profits in focus (eBook) - Wayflyer

😋 Brands and things I’ve tried this week

Soft Services is one of my favorite skincare brand, and I’ve been trying their latest version of their buffing bar - Green Banana" Buffing Bar Microcrystal Exfoliant

Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions, feedback, or stories I missed, let me know!

Nate :)

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