It took only a year, but it seems MusclePharm has again become a victim of product line extension creep. For those unaware, the supplement brands that are within the FitLife Brands portfolio are now categorized in three segments: Legacy FitLife Brands, which is broken into two sub-segments…NDS Products (which are a collection of brands mostly sold in the GNC franchise system), iSatori Products (which are a collection of brands sold through a diversified retail mix), and then Mimi’s Rock Corporat...
Nov 15, 2024•14 min
I’ve been fortunate enough to realize that my brain is hardwired to see consumer behaviors shifts early, model out those “drivers of demand,” understand what variables are moving categorical consumer markets, and match those up into actionable patterns and sequences with insane accuracy. If you haven’t picked up on it yet, my content creation acts as a sort of kaleidoscope-like artistic expression of that ability…providing underlying support for my conviction around non-consensus market-moving c...
Nov 13, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Has there been a more prolific NIL “bag getter” within functional CPG categories than college basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder? When college athletes began having the opportunity to receive financial compensation for their Name, Image and Likeness three years ago, the Cavinder twins secured a deal with Six Star Pro Nutrition on the first day. Then, they started working with the sports nutrition brand Bucked Up on an exclusive energy drink. And now…it was just announced Haley and Hanna...
Nov 11, 2024•57 sec
Hold up, wait a minute! Isn’t there a Newtonian law or something that says quarterly revenue can only go higher with Celsius energy drinks? Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH) had quarterly revenue of $265.7 million, which was down 31% YoY. Believe it or not…the last time Celsius Holdings had negative YoY revenue growth was in the first quarter of 2016 when the energy drink brand was generating around $4 million of quarterly revenue. According to Circana last 13-week data, CELSIUS accounted for 16% ...
Nov 08, 2024•16 min
Did a recent human capital move finally signal that Glanbia Performance Nutrition intends to transform into a “functional beverage powerhouse” long-term that I’ve been talking about for the last few years? Glanbia Performance Nutrition is one of two divisions of Glanbia plc (LON:GLB), a multibillion-dollar global nutrition company. The brands in the Glanbia Performance Nutrition portfolio include; Optimum Nutrition, BSN, think!, Isopure, Amazing Grass, and SlimFast. I'll use the recent earnings ...
Nov 07, 2024•13 min
THG Nutrition is currently on a five quarter “losing streak,” but will an upcoming corporate restructuring move change its outlook? THG (aka the company formerly known as The Hut Group) recently updated the public markets by releasing its 2024 Q3 trading statement. I’ll be utilizing that financial information, along with notes I took listening to the earnings conference call, and any relevant publicly disclosed information to obviously update you on the recent performance of THG Nutrition divisi...
Nov 06, 2024•13 min
Franchise Group Inc. just voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which maybe means something to The Vitamin Shoppe…but probably less than you initially assume. Last week, there were rumblings in the legacy financial media that Franchise Group Inc., the owner of specialty retail brands including The Vitamin Shoppe, was preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy within the next week. Then, this weekend, I get an email from a PR agency (representing The Vitamin Shoppe) providing m...
Nov 04, 2024•12 min
Who got rich during the Gold Rush? But can the popular business narrative that “more millionaires were created by those who sold mining supplies than the diggers themselves” also apply to the growing functional snack category? Well…it seems the multinational food conglomerate behind iconic snack brands like Oreo and Sour Patch Kids is testing that theory. In exchange for shutting down its startup brand accelerators, Mondelez International has launched SnackFutures Ventures…that will invest in “d...
Nov 04, 2024•59 sec
In the early portion of my strategic management consulting work, I’d over-empathize the importance (most of the time to myself) around this “framework” or that “systemic approach” when helping CPG companies achieve their goals. Maybe I can chalk that up as just younger me still being way too close to his business school academia mindset or maybe back then I just wasn’t able to “see the forest for the trees.” Because all those spreadsheets filled with data, all those metrics created, and all thos...
Oct 30, 2024•54 min
In an industry that’s full of followers, GHOST Lifestyle decided to pull inspiration from much different places and lead a new path to success. And that introductory statement probably didn’t sound familiar to almost anyone…well except for the co-founder (and CEO) of GHOST Dan Lourenco. And that's because it's a direct quote from my July 2016 article…where I proclaimed that GHOST Lifestyle (after launching just a few weeks prior) was the number one positioned brand to “win” in the sports nutriti...
Oct 28, 2024•14 min
Weave together interesting data, eye-catching visuals, and a traditional story flow, and you have the ingredients for a narrative that finds historical truth and acts as a guide for the actions necessary to improve the future. Or that’s at least what a recent Council of Economic Advisors post distributed by the Biden White House hoped to accomplish ahead on the election cycle. Using CPI and BLS hourly pay data, the report shows hours of work needed to purchase a week’s worth of groceries have fa...
Oct 28, 2024•59 sec
Didn’t the famous philosopher Christopher Wallace (aka The Notorious B.I.G.) once say, “More Protein Chips…More Supply Problems?” Well…even if he didn’t say that, it has been a notorious problem for the Simply Good Foods leadership team that seems to be on repeat again. In this latest episode, I'll utilize the Q4 2024 Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ: SMPL) earnings report, earnings call, and supplemental presentations that were filed on 10/24/2024 as the backdrop to provide broad nutritional s...
Oct 25, 2024•13 min
What do you call someone that always seems to be in the right place at the right time? Is this just serendipity or is that person putting them in a position to take advantage of an opportunity? Since the old Roman empire days…philosophers have been proclaiming that “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” And I don’t want to sound like I’m stealing the final “luck or hard work” question Guy Raz famously asks guests on his “How I Built This” podcast, but it’s an interesting thou...
Oct 24, 2024•1 hr
What was once simply well-supported rumors has now turned into confirmation with an investment prospectus, official trading dates, and lots of legacy financial media hype. So, it’s probably best that I update my Applied Nutrition IPO content from earlier this year, right? About a week ago, Applied Nutrition officially turned those late-2024 IPO rumors into reality by filing the appropriate investment paperwork. But while the global IPO activity has certainly been stagnant over the last few years...
Oct 23, 2024•14 min
The primary challenge of licensing lies in maintaining brand consistency across different artistic mediums. For example, what best personifies an iconic Hip Hop artist, group, or even record label…in the form of a packaged beverage? It’s not the easiest design objective to flawlessly commercialize. Especially when you consider that mismatching the IP and the licensed product can pose a significant threat to the brand's reputation and image. We’ve seen a brand like Wu-Tang Clan seemingly pluck st...
Oct 21, 2024•59 sec
How society defines “being healthy” is evolving and becoming more holistic. And with more individuals viewing themselves as consumers in the healthcare market compared to solely being patients, it has created immense opportunities…with U.S. consumers spending billions annually seeking to improve their “health span.” Because at the end of the day, what people really want is “not just more years to their lives” but also “more life to their years.” So, it’s difficult not being fascinated by the evo...
Oct 18, 2024•50 min
What does the Terminator, artificial intelligence, and Bang Energy founder (and former CEO) Jack Owoc have in common? Well…if you hadn’t seen the recent energy drinks market news yet, it’s probably A LOT more than you imagined! For those that didn’t see the announcement yet, Bang Energy founder (and former CEO) Jack Owoc is launching a new energy drink called AI Energy. And if you were wondering…the AI in AI Energy does indeed pay homage to artificial intelligence technology. In fact, many aspec...
Oct 16, 2024•12 min
There’s a famous Wayne Gretzky quote that’s been repeated many times throughout my content over the years. You know the one…say it with me, “skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” And I’ve probably repeated it more times than I should because it’s one of those superb analogies that blend my love of sports and business strategy. But there’s a flipside to this mantra, one that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough throughout the CPG industry. And while my conversation with Carl...
Oct 15, 2024•50 min
47,000 convenience store owners have spoken, and they provided important insights on the growing energy drinks category. And even if you aren’t familiar with every insight regarding this beverage category, I’m sure you intuitively recognize that convenience is the most important sales channels for energy drinks in the U.S. market. But here are my top 3 biggest “categorical” takeaways from the recent Goldman Sachs Beverage Bytes survey. The first surrounds the Spring 2024 shelf/cooler reset seaso...
Oct 14, 2024•53 sec
After 35 years of dominating grade school cafeteria lunchtime, that yellow box filled with hyper-palatable foods is getting “remixed” by the creator packaged goods movement. For those that are living under a rock and didn’t see the product announcement from a few weeks ago, Lunchly is a kid-friendly meal kit that’s positioned as a better-for-you competitor to Lunchables. Now…there’s already several other better-for-you Lunchables competitors in market, but what makes this one noteworthy is that ...
Oct 09, 2024•12 min
Allulose is a naturally occurring sugar found in fruits like figs and raisins. According to a recent batch of SPINS innovation index data, Allulose was absurdly out indexing all other sweeteners across the entire grocery store. So, why is allulose banned by Whole Foods Market…and not approved yet for use in Canada and Europe? Maybe because most Allulose is synthesized in a lab, most likely from corn…processed with a genetically modified enzyme. Is Allulose natural…Artificial…GMO or not GMO, heck...
Oct 07, 2024•52 sec
A few days ago, images started popping up on social media platforms that showed Starbucks in-store signage giving customers the option of ordering “nutritional blends” that includes AG1 greens powder. And while that partnership didn’t seem far-fetched at all to me…it did have many people in the comments questioning if the images were AI-generated. Maybe that's just a “sign of the times” where you can’t trust anything you see on the internet, but also likely because it’s a small test currently in...
Oct 04, 2024•14 min
Longevity has become a cultural phenomenon…and that should be making functional CPG entrepreneurs salivate more than all those customers providing samples for DNA test kits. Did you know that more than half of Americans say it’s their goal to live to 100? But becoming a centenarian wasn’t always a goal sought by most Americans…partly because of what I’ve dubbed the “Mrs. Fletcher Effect.” You might be too young to remember these famous early-90s "I've fallen and I can't get up" TV commercials, b...
Oct 02, 2024•12 min
Broadly speaking, these last 2.5 years have been tough on CPG brands relying on investment to turbocharge their growth. But for those that developed fiscal discipline, adapted to the new operational reality, and proved their business model again…the ongoing stillness and fog for investment and M&A is starting to clear. A handful of recent deals reaffirm that strategics are reliant on CPG entrepreneurs to provide innovation and growth that they can’t necessarily create internally. Moreover, v...
Sep 30, 2024•59 sec
With the balance sheet in a great place, I think it’s the perfect time for General Mills (NYSE: GIS) to “reshape the brand portfolio” in hopes of staying relevant in today’s high protein grocery world. Over a very recent period of seven days…General Mills signaled twice (quite loudly in fact) that the 168-year-old multinational CPG company is ready to reshape its brand portfolio for growth. The first signal happened on September 12th, when General Mills announced that it has entered into definit...
Sep 25, 2024•12 min
In today’s big data world, sage advice like “follow your intuition” too often gets criticized within business settings. Yet, having deep domain expertise can improve your intuition breadth and depth…allowing your brain to unlock the powers of pattern-matching…and the ability to more consistently predict what will happen next. And as you’ll hear in this episode, I didn’t need to question how I came to a particular conclusion the first time seeing the early concept for SALUD…I just knew the hydrat...
Sep 23, 2024•51 min
AI is the heartbeat of CRISPR gene-editing, precision fermentation, and cellular agricultural when it comes to unlocking boundless consumer-centric food advancements. These deep-learning platforms can design ingredients from billions of edible sequences and apply parameters for producing them. And I know A LOT of you are probably saying, “that’s not natural and probably dangerous,” which I totally understand…but also consider the positive product development aspects of being able to pack more nu...
Sep 23, 2024•59 sec
It’s my belief that business strategy is at its highest impact when you also consider timing and cadence of decisions. So, what major strategic decision left me questioning if THG leadership is aligned with that principle? THG (aka the company formerly known as The Hut Group) recently updated the public markets by releasing its 2024 H1 trading statement. I’ll be utilizing that financial information, along with notes I took listening to the earnings conference call, and any relevant publicly disc...
Sep 19, 2024•17 min
Because I cut my teeth in what most call the “Barnum & Baily Circus” side of ingestible CPG (aka the sports nutrition niche of the supplement industry), I’m very used to founders making “big things coming” proclamations. But that being said, I’m struggling to remember the last time I’ve felt this much pre-launch wonder/intrigue around a functional CPG product…with many competitors, retailers, and industry colleagues, reaching out to get my thoughts on David protein bars. Some of this could b...
Sep 16, 2024•41 min
Most CPG companies are largely unready to handle the ingredient shortages, price hikes, and supply issues caused by climate change (and/or population growth) over the next decade. From staple crops to cash crops like cocoa and coffee, disruption from these factors won’t happen everywhere at once…but the impact severity will only increase over time. Food technology innovations like precision fermentation and cellular agriculture present hopeful aid…that is if they survive the upcoming predicated ...
Sep 16, 2024•59 sec
