There has been A LOT of change at the convenient nutrition brand HUEL. But on the other hand, A LOT has stayed the same…which is maybe at the heart as to why HUEL has been so successful. But you might remember that almost exactly two years ago, I made my last piece of dedicated content about HUEL (https://youtu.be/UOiTExb1fk0). In that previous content, I was primarily focused on breaking down the predicted huge discussion that HUEL leadership was internally partaking in…about exit event optionality. Either HUEL would look to go through an IPO process, or it would opt to sell the business likely to a strategy buyer. And this is the same crossroads they are technically still at today. Just to update you on the financial picture at HUEL for fiscal year 2023, the CPG brand generated net revenues of about $233 million...which was a 28% YoY growth from the previous year. HUEL grew active customers by 22% YoY to over 900K and passed the 300 million (what they call “complete food”) meals mark sold in over 80 countries since inception. HUEL also increased its physical retail presence by 51% YoY, and their products are now offered in over 11K store locations. In the last year, HUEL has also expanded its product portfolio by launching its first ever non-protein supplement called HUEL Daily Greens and reimagining the energy drinks market with Huel Daily A-Z Vitamins. Both products are still a smaller part of HUEL’s overall revenue, but they align with the product development innovation strategy that has made the company successful. In the functional CPG industry, most successful products do not arrive out of nowhere; they’re remixes of existing ones. That’s the essence of what the core HUEL “complete food” meal products are…flipping the historical messaging around meal replacements from this negative “restriction diet” focus into this positive, proactive convenient food focus. It seems so simple, but the skill of those like HUEL…who are winning in this category is nothing short of exceptional. According to recent interviews with HUEL leadership, the brand (with healthy margins and manageable sales growth) is in a position of being self-sufficient from funding. That being said, HUEL has long-term investors that would like to get a liquidity event soon. Moreover, HUEL leadership has ambitious long-term goals that could be accelerated with a major investment from a strategic buyer for majority share or a full M&A process…and similar could be said if they chose to go public through an IPO process. Which I guess brings us back full circle to the decision ahead...should HUEL IPO or get acquired by a large strategic buyer. I run through both paths in this content...plus provide my thoughts on two potential buyers: Unilever and Glanbia.

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