Shitmaxxing and $300M Bagels

+ more thoughts on recent news

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Hi everyone,
I’ll be chatting at HBS and Wharton this week and I’m currently writing from the back of an Uber on my way to my hotel in Boston, catch me in Philly later this week, if you’re in town, HMU!

Last week Grüns sold for $1.2B to Unilever that’s long been looking to divest it’s food and beverage portfolio and is officially merging what’s left with McCormick, most likely already playing with the $17B in cash that came from it. What makes this deal so special is the fact that Chad and his team were able to exit in less than 3 years—and coming off the heals of Huel’s acquisition, supplements are hot in demand, and it comes to no surprise if you’ve checked out our supplements deep dive into the $40 Billion deficiency economy.

Convenient formats continue to be the name of the game, see the snackification of everything, what’s easier than mixing powder drinks? Gummies—from sleep to spermmaxxing, Millennials and GenZ will can’t unlearn convenience and yearn for instant gratification. Convenient formats lend themselves for increased ocassions, the key to churning out billion dollar businesses, actual consumer demand.

At a time where consumers have a major distrust around health institutions and taking their matters into their own hands, prevention in the form of supplements or “better for you” becomes a sort of wellness lipstick effect, compounded by the effects of Millennials (appex consumers) reaching middle age. Whether it’s affordable wearables or spluring on Whoop (now valued at $10B) you can now get blood tests that can report on over 100 biomarkers that can give you a clearer pitcure of health for under $400 thanks to startups like Function, the fountain of youth can be yours for a mere $99 thanks to Bryan Johnson’s longevity powder, and so on. Remember when I told you about the first supplement Gusher?

Supplements are the category that keeps on giving—we’ve even made supplements to help better absorb supplements. From powders, to gummies, to eventually RTDs and snacks (every supplement has their equivalent beverage now) and if you want to see what that looks like beyond greens and hydration, we got the exclusive look to the first colostrum snack launching in the US (rumor has it they just closed a round) and with creatine condiments launching, I’m expecting to see a colostrum ice cream pint hit Erewhon shelves by the end of next year.

• Is Ube really the next matcha?

  Starbuck’s getting into it will for sure help faciliate its mainstream appeal, but do we forget matcha became matcha 3 decades after its first introduction to the US as green tea latte? TLDR: this narrative is being shaped around the idea that Ube makes drinks look aesthetic and why it’s popularity has risen, either way it’s becoming a nightmare for Phillipines. I would say if anything Yuzu has had a more maintream appeal in terms of flavor across sectors from restaurants, to bars, CPG and beverages all around, see Yuzu Co.

• Are we under/over Popup Bagel’s valuation?

  They are popping up in locations like Dallas now, and I’m so curious to hear what we think about their latest valuation of $300M with Tiger Global backing them…I’m unsure if that’s even a good indicator considering TG’s reputation.

• Stop asking Blank Street to be the next Starbucks.

  First of all, it’s funny that news break about a company “seeking to raise $100M” if anything sounds like PR for whoever is leading that round before it even happens to drum up hype—second, Blank Street’s pivot to matcha saved it and helped it become the youth hubspot it is now, they are expanding into Los Angeles, and will be interested to see how it fares compared to Community Goods or Pantry in terms of “cool factor.” I’m assuming people are thinking that big cash injection they are seeking is to expland into more markets, but they’ve also gone through closures early on, wondering if that money will be put to use for something else they oversee.

• Shitmaxxing is easier than ever.

  Throne Science sent me their toile wearable, yes you heard that right. If you’ve been paying attention, you know we’ve talked about this before because China’s eons ahead here, they have public urinals that can report on your health (actually scary because like what if it’s used to your detriment, say higher insurance premiums?) —still it’s part of the Brave New World of wearables and visualization of health through tech which we’ve deeped dive on before here.

• Amazon peptides wen?!

  Amazon Pharmacy announced it will stock and deliver Eli Lilly's new once-daily oral weight-loss pill, Foundayo, offering same-day delivery in thousands of U.S. cities. I’m guessing this is going to be informing them enough on the space to eventually offer their own generic branded ones, wondering if Costco will come on next.