the pedal-to-the-metal innovation and marketing operation, the veteran dealmaker is going to have to decide when to pull the trigger on an exit. The brand’s Essentials line – the true revenue escalator, as it’s aimed at conventional grocery – is growing exponentially, but it’s still tiny compared to Odwalla, Naked, or (see below) Bolthouse. Does he sell before the strategics make their own move into the category, or does he think there’s enough ammunition for a few more years of growth and a higher sales number? There are other influential members of the SUJA team, of course – investors like ACG and Boulder Brands will have their say – but so far under Church’s leadership there haven’t been many missteps at all, and as long as SUJA’s the Belle of the Ball, he’ll be the one calling the tune.
D is for Jeff Dunn of Bolthouse Farms Once President of Coca-Cola North America, Dunn is seven years into a run at Bolthouse that has evolved the leadership of an important division of parent company Campbell’s. From his new platform, leading the company’s fresh division, Dunn will be able to leverage Bolthouse’s reputation and quality into new opportunities for Campbell’s. There’s synergy here: Bolthouse is already a huge name brand in supermarkets, as successful a platform as Kashi or Annie’s, and it’s moving to fill adjacent channels like convenience, where Campbell’s has a foothold already. It will be a big step to raise the venerable soup-maker’s profile among new generations, but the ever-energetic Dunn is driven with the conviction that he is making the world healthier on a broad basis. The canvas is there, and he’s raring to fill it up.
G is for Gang Funding
E is for EMERGING STRATEGIC ENTITIES
– like White Wave, Hain, Boulder Brands Investment Group (BIG), General Mills’ 301 Inc., and the other companies that are forming a new wave of corporate venture capital and acquisition for entrepreneurial brands, creating a shift in the power of traditional beverage strategics. White Wave’s Earthbound Farms has invested in Daily Greens, while Hain has several beverage investments, shaking up the progress of categories like kombucha, tea, and juice. Meanwhile, Boulder Brands’ willingness to put its faith in products like Suja and, most recently, Temple Turmeric, validates bleeding-edge functional plays and combines it with the execution skill of its own team as well as close ally Presence Marketing. General Mills is using 301 Inc. like Coke’s VEB group, as a way to buy into entrepreneurial products before they scale up, but in the meantime it has taken its previous investment group, Small Planet Foods, and spread its acquisitions around, creating a new organizing principle among its verticals that is sure to attract growing brands. Interest from large-, mid- and small-cap strategics will be focused on entrepreneurs until they are able to recast themselves as armed for future consumer trends.
– also known as Hat Passing, it’s become a key term in the fundraising process for hot brands. No, we don’t mean CircleUp, although that kind of online crowdfunding certainly invites the kind of $1-$3 million rounds we’re seeing these days. It’s more like an “in-the-know” echo chamber of affiliated funds who band together to help companies raise their first significant round of growth capital. Examples of groups who enjoy this include Finn Capital Partners, the ArcView Group,TheSimplePitch.com, Clover Capital, New Ground, Midori Ventures and many others – part family office, part private equity, part experienced operator, they rarely invest on their own, and they bring different skills to the companies they back.
H is for Judy Hong and Bonnie Herzog This powerful pair of beverage industry analysts (Hong is a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, Herzog at Wells Fargo) are key voices when
F IS FOR FIRST BEVERAGE
– always connected to cash and capabilities under founder Bill Anderson and key executives Tom First and J.B. Shireman, this specialty firm came into its own in a big way last year, both investing in new brands and helping orchestrate the sale of or investment in several others. After a slow period where much of its energy seemed to be devoted to building a consulting practice, the pace finally picked up for this high-powered collective in late 2013. Since then, the firm has been first among dealmakers, with its investment banking operation orchestrating the sales of 10 Barrel Brewing to Anheuser Busch, Xyience to Big Red, and craft operation Boulevard to Duvel Moortgat, and orchestrating capital raises for Argo Tea, and Southern Tier. Meanwhile, after raising a fund – with the Coca-Cola Co. as one of its investors – the company started making a new round of bets on brands, letting First and recent hire Jason Camillos offer hands-on help. With recent investments in growing brands Essentia, Project Juice, Health Ade, and software firm Repsly joining Purity Organic in its stable of properties, First Beverage is red hot. BEVNET MAGAZINE JUNE 2015
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