The Coca-Cola Company recently did something frankly a bit odd, but could that strange product development be signaling a future strategic shift? Like its "captain obvious" marketing slogan from 1941 “Coca-Cola is Coke”, the the third largest (in terms of revenue) beverage company in the world (at least in the U.S. market) is singularly focused on packaged and foodservice beverages. The Coca-Cola Company is not its hated rival PepsiCo that has extensive food operations under its Frito Lay and Qu...
Aug 26, 2021•13 min
Just when MusclePharm had profitability on its mind, the sports nutrition company gets slammed back down to face its historical reality. In this episode, I'll provide you with various insights pulled from the MusclePharm (OTCMKTS: MSLP) 2021Q2 earnings report, earnings call, and additional publicly-disclosed information released by the company. They will collectively be used to update you on the sales performance and profitability plan of action at MusclePharm. I will also provide an extensive u...
Aug 24, 2021•17 min
Can Celsius Holdings eventually take the energy drinks "game of thrones"? At over $250 million ARR, with 117% YoY and 30% QoQ growth, Celsius Holdings is starting to fire on all cylinders. They just crossed 100K retail locations and showing 333% YoY in distributor revenues from an extensive overhaul of its DSD distribution network over the last few years. Celsius now has a ~1.6% market share in the energy drink category. In this episode, I'll take a deeper dive into four specific sales channels ...
Aug 22, 2021•12 min
I hope you weren’t caught headline reading when the impressive Glanbia Performance Nutrition 21H1 growth was reported because it might not tell you the whole story. Yes, Glanbia Performance Nutrition net revenues increased 28.1% YoY on a constant currency basis from both strong pricing and volume increases (at 22.2% and 5.6% respectively), but what about on a two-year stacked basis? Using the latest Glanbia Plc earnings report, conference, and publicly-disclosed information, I'll update you on h...
Aug 21, 2021•16 min
Is it crazy to think that Premier Protein, with its approximately $1 billion in trailing 12-month revenue, might actually be in the early innings of its growth story? Bellring Brands had a phenomenal FY21Q3 with net sales reaching $343 million, which was up 68% YoY and 21% QoQ! Premier Protein (83% of BellRing Brands revenue) grew 65% YoY off strong demand and pricing increases. Dymatize Nutrition was up an astounding 99% YoY stemming from both extremely strong volume and pricing. That being sai...
Aug 20, 2021•14 min
Does this science-driven wellness company have what it takes to improve your financial health in the public markets? On July 16th, Thorne HealthTech filed its S-1 document to the SEC with the intention of raising up to $100 million from the sale of shares through an initial public offering. While it’s unknown at recording when the IPO date will be, the company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol THRN. Thorne Research (as it was originally known as) was founded in July of 1984 by Al Czap...
Aug 13, 2021•14 min
Though the “algorithms rule us all” rhetoric is almost always viewed negatively, could machines help Americans overcome the obesity epidemic? News Flash! Americans are fat. I’m not just saying that as someone with an opinion, but because it’s a fact. The most recent CDC data says that 43% of American adults over the age of 20 are obese. If you pull that back a bit, 74% of American adults over the age of 20 are overweight or obese. It makes no sense if you think about…In America, we have highly t...
Aug 09, 2021•8 min
What could the GNC shopping experience of the future look like? Turn your TV dials to ABC because The Jetsons is about to start. On this episode, George Jetson heads to his local GNC. In October 2020, GNC had an open CEO position. I shared what I would do as the next CEO of the specialty retailer and some of that information covered would obviously be ingrained into the future of GNC. While I’ll certainly touch on the original proposed CEO strategic initiatives like; Defining Exactly Who GNC Is,...
Aug 08, 2021•15 min
Vitamin Shoppe just reported Texas-sized sales growth, but that isn’t the only Texas news the specialty supplement retailer recently shared! I'll utilize the 2021Q2 Franchise Group (NASDAQ: FRG) earnings report and conference call to provide segment-level financial details for The Vitamin Shoppe. More importantly, I'll supply you with a range of insights and updates surrounding The Vitamin Shoppe key topics such as, Franchising Strategy, International Expansion, Sponsorship Activity, Merchandisi...
Aug 05, 2021•16 min
How is Nestle progressing in its pursuit to become a health and nutrition powerhouse? In recent years, CPG giants have scrambled to add more health and nutrition brands into their portfolios, as consumers spend more on these categories. When CEO Mark Schneider joined Nestle in 2016, he brought a unique perspective because of his healthcare industry experience. In my opinion, this changed the long-term trajectory of Nestle. No longer would it be just another CPG portfolio that’s anchored to slowe...
Aug 03, 2021•9 min
Have you ever wanted to own an important piece of supplement industry history? How about one that has category creating lineage to the most popular supplement among U.S. adults? If that has you intrigued, then the newest supplement brand portfolio to file its IPO paperwork is right up your alley! So, who is this historically significant supplement brand portfolio? The Better Being Company…huh? Who is that, right? Prior to the recent rebrand, The Better Being Company was known as Nutraceutical In...
Jul 21, 2021•12 min
The beverage industry is in the beginning of a new era. For the last several years, beverage brands have been “skating on ice” trying to meet the everchanging consumer demands for functional “better for you” packaged beverages that provide convenience. It’s really this “cat and mouse” game where consumers become more selective in their purchases, thus forcing beverage brands to make adjustments. With that said, what are four trends in the beverage industry that could have market share reshufflin...
Jul 19, 2021•12 min
In a beverage category controlled firmly by Gatorade for decades, will the massive marketing push of BioSteel be enough to make a material impact? With CBD regulation being stalled for the last few years in the U.S. market, the original strategic plan of Canopy Growth acquiring sports nutrition brand BioSteel to commercialize cannabis-focused supplements was also on the back burner. That being said, the companies decided to pivot and focus on bringing “the best kept secret in professional sports...
Jul 16, 2021•11 min
If the fitness content is good enough for Michelle Obama than the company that owns it should be good enough for the public markets, right? Are you confused? Don’t worry…the connection between the former first lady, her favorite workout program p90x, and the stock market will make sense after you consume this content. In mid-February 2021, Beachbody announced it would go public through a three-way merger agreement with Forest Road Acquisition Corp. (SPAC), which had ties to former NBA star Shaqu...
Jul 15, 2021•11 min
Celebrities continue to seek additional ways to monetize their personal brands, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they would look at one of the fastest growing sub-categories of the CPG industry, right? Along with the fact that dietary supplements has been one of the most exciting, fast-moving, and highest growth areas within the CPG industry…is that they’re relatable. Around 80% of today’s adult Americans take some form of vitamins, minerals and supplements and that obviously includes tons o...
Jul 12, 2021•10 min
Will a passionate and loyal consumer base be enough to push Zevia towards public market gains? On June 25, 2021, Zevia filed its S-1 document to the SEC with the intention of raising up to $100 million from the sale of common stock shares through an initial public offering. For those not aware, Zevia was founded in 2007 by Ian Eisenberg and husband/wife lawyers Derek and Jessica Newman. It was actually two years earlier when the three founders learned about stevia from a California friend who wa...
Jul 07, 2021•18 min
With the massive acceleration in growth from Quest Nutrition and the Atkins Nutritionals brand showing life again, will The Simply Good Foods Company become the next $1 billion active nutrition CPG portfolio? As usual, I’ll start by running through some high-level financial data to update you on how The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ: SMPL) performed recently, but more importantly provide context for expand strategic commentary on trends within the health and fitness snacking space. Instead o...
Jul 06, 2021•9 min
Before keynoting the IPA World Congress + Probiota Americas 2021 - Digital Summit, I sat down with Danielle Masterson (Senior Correspondent - NutraIngredients-USA) to talk about the growing WalMazon Effect within the supplement retail landscape. Additionally, we talked about how specialty supplement retailer GNC recently teamed up with Walmart and The Vitamin Shoppe started franchising for the first time in the company's history. Finally, I shared my expectations for GNC and The Vitamin Shoppe o...
Jun 29, 2021•12 min
The explosion of the NFTs space has been nothing short of remarkable. So, should your CPG brand consider jumping on this trend? While NFTs could represent a huge opportunity to tap into the growth of virtual worlds and connect with consumers, I don’t want CPG brand owners to get too excited and make silly decisions because a lot of the various valuable applications are longer term plays that go beyond digital art and collectibles. Jumping on a bandwagon because it's trending seems to be an often...
Jun 24, 2021•11 min
I’ve always believed that Hip Hop and CPG entrepreneurship are linked together. Firstly, Hip Hop is seen as counterculture to other music genres, which is similar to CPG entrepreneurship in today’s “technology” filled founder landscape. Additionally, Hip Hop and CPG entrepreneurship are both centered around being salesmanship and the ability to hustle. Moreover, Hip Hop music is rooted in remixing (or sampling) previous music, and this iterative innovation process is also core to the CPG industr...
Jun 16, 2021•10 min
Remember almost 2 years ago when I said that GNC was trying to pull off this magical feat where it could close 1000+ store locations, but actually grow its physical retail exposure? Well, it’s magician clout just got a major boost after it secured arguably the most important strategic retail partnership. On 6/7/21, GNC announced that it entered into an exclusive agreement with Walmart to sell a selection of its GNC private label product assortment including vitamins, nutritional products, sports...
Jun 11, 2021•10 min
The “COVID-19 Effect” has substantially increased the prioritization of wellness among global consumers, but is your own myopic view of the construct leaving opportunity on the table? Wellness is a modern word with ancient roots. As a modern concept, wellness gained popularity in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, when subject matter experts largely shaped the way we conceptualize and talk about wellness today. In a 1979 “60 Minutes” segment, Dan Rather stated, “Wellness, there’s a word you don’t hear ...
Jun 09, 2021•12 min
For those that aren’t too familiar with who the publicly-traded (OTCMKTS: BILZF) Ignite International Brands is and maybe even who Dan Bilzerian is…check out my first piece of content about the subject matter that I published about 6 months ago [https://youtu.be/pqDvxbpeD5w]. My hope for this podcast episode is that it will be both entertaining to casual observers of the CPG industry, but also provide insightful information for those CPG professionals that are curious about how an influencer-led...
Jun 08, 2021•12 min
When Chinese businesses shut down last mid-to-late January for their 2020 New Year, it marked the end of “business as usual” for the functional CPG industry. Many shoppers still have a small hint of PTSD from seeing empty retail shelves caused by constant supply shortages of CPG essential goods in the early months of the pandemic. Despite being more than a year from those March and April 2020 pantry loading periods, another group of shoppers unfortunately could be facing an even worse (and poten...
Jun 07, 2021•14 min
MusclePharm announces it’s re-entering the energy beverage space in conjunction with its latest earnings and I’m still sitting here confused if I’m being completely honest. For those unaware, MusclePharm had energy drinks in the mid-2010s under the Energy Sport and Energy Sport Zero offerings. While I thought the product was decent at the time, it never took off likely due to outside factors that likely surrounded a poor sales/distribution strategy and team execution. This time around, MusclePha...
May 28, 2021•19 min
Did a recent M&A transaction between a global fitness company and nutritional supplement brand signal more lookalike activity could be ahead? It seems this deal stayed mostly under the radar (at least in America), but F45 Training acquired True Protein for an undisclosed amount. Ten years ago, F45 Training started in Australia and became a 1750+ global fitness studio franchise that combines 45-minutes of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), functional training and circuit training. True ...
May 25, 2021•15 min
What does the two billion dollars plus investment from Japanese tech giant SoftBank in THG (formerly known as The Hut Group) mean to the company and the overall market? Last July, I called "THG a very very special company." I even gave them the highest compliment by comparing THG to the earlier days of Amazon when they built Amazon Web Services (AWS) for internal purposes, which was then turned into a commercialized licensed product that now does $10s of billions in revenue. So, what exactly did...
May 23, 2021•11 min
The largest distributor of nutritional and sports supplements was hit hard by the “COVID-19 Effect” and it could be on the verge of bankruptcy. This might confuse my community a bit because I’ve stated on many occasions (and gave supporting data on) how exceptionally well the overall nutritional supplements and ancillary functional CPG market has performed against the pandemic business environment over the last 12-15 months. So, how can the largest distributor of these various functional CPG pro...
May 18, 2021•19 min
During the last piece of Celsius Holdings content, I asked “what happens after you get to the moon”, which was a reference to passing the $100 million sales mark that’s elusive for energy drink brands that don't also have a national distribution contract or share a cap table with one of the five large beverage portfolios. At $50 million in 21Q1 net sales ($200 million run rate), I guess they have their sights set on reaching Mars to complete this space exploration analogy. Within the larger reta...
May 14, 2021•11 min
Did Glanbia Performance Nutrition benefit from pent-up global demand or is something else at play here? Glanbia Performance Nutrition 21Q1 net revenues increased 17.6% YoY on a like-for-like basis from both strong pricing and volume increases. While that growth is extremely strong, leadership did note on the earnings call that about one-third of the consumption growth can be attributed to inventory builds with retailers. As part of the Glanbia Performance Nutrition transformation program, the co...
May 11, 2021•12 min
