Is Lifeway Foods a real-life CPG industry version of the hit television series Succession? About 16 years after the cultured dairy brand was founded, the daughter and son take over as CEO and COO respectively…when their father dies of a heart attack. But while Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ: LWAY) has generated years of growth, family members filed an SEC consent statement that argued “significant and repeated failures of corporate governance have harmed the business, its employees, and driven poor financial results for shareholders.” The brother, who left in 2022 and now serves as the president of a rival company…stated recently that leadership failures caused Lifeway Foods to fall behind other leading brands like Chobani. Additionally, claiming that “the company is running on autopilot and they’re woefully under investing in marketing.” And if that wasn’t enough…there’s a website detailing the daughter’s supposed deep and conflicting personal motives.

MusclePharm might seem the same to you…but it’s radically different from my POV! But for anyone new to these quarterly content pieces, FitLife Brands sells more than 250 SKUs across 13 supplement brands…each with a slightly different product portfolio and sales channel strategy. In total, the FitLife Brands portfolio is sold through more than 20K retail locations globally. But throughout this content, you’ll hear me categorize the FitLife Brands portfolio into three segments: Legacy FitLife Brands, Mimi’s Rock Corporation, and MusclePharm. In the first quarter of 2025, FitLife Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: FTLF) had revenues of $15.9 million...which was down 4% YoY. But while there's strategic initiatives going on that involve the legacy FitLife Brands and Mimi's Rock segments, the most intriguing activity within FitLife Brands is also currently its smallest segment (i.e. MusclePharm). In the first quarter of 2025, MusclePharm segment revenue was just under $2.0 million...which decreased 6% YoY. And maybe you’re hearing that result…thinking to yourself “that’s not too terrible,” but I'll explain just how terrible that internal thought actually is about these MusclePharm quarterly numbers. I was quite confident that FitLife Brands understood it’s a marathon (and not a sprint) with MusclePharm. Moreover, the last 5-7 years of MusclePharm brand mismanagement had provided a sizable amount of unlocked value that was just waiting to come out. Furthermore, doing the required “hard work” upfront to rebuild the foundation of MusclePharm for the long haul would inherently unlock enough short-term financial results to appease shareholders around the acquisition ROI. Yet…that’s not happening right now! Instead, FitLife Brands has surprised me (and not in a good way), believing it would be better served in reaching arbitrary segment-level financial goals by not learning from various past MusclePharm experiences (like what became major underlying drivers of its bankruptcy) or how FitLife Brands is chasing a ready-to-drink beverage mirage with zero “route-to-market” expertise. When product-based differentiation proves unable to provide a long-term defensible moat within low barriers-to-entry CPG categories like sports nutrition, distinctiveness can transform a product from commodity into a perfect experiential foundation for brand storytelling. It’s the strategic substance with signature style that sets your CPG brand apart from the landscape of lesser alternatives. And throughout the initial first-half of the “athletes’ company” existence, MusclePharm had a distinctive brand identity that absolutely defined and then delivered its authentic self. But when FitLife Brands acquired MusclePharm in late-2023, it wrongfully assumed MusclePharm still had ample distinctiveness in the marketplace…or at least a sufficient amount to trigger emotional responses with enough consumers to justify its current strategic gameplan. That was a miscalculation…one that I believe will require FitLife Brands to thoroughly contemplate its strategic decision to “sprint the race without knowing its distance.” Finally, I end on a more positive note...examining the Russell 2000 Index inclusion possibility and likely M&A announcements coming soon with FitLife Brands.

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Just when CELSIUS was beginning to drown…Alani Nu had the ring-shaped flotation device ready to save the energy drink brand. Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH) had quarterly revenue of $329.3 million, which was down 7% YoY. And while that activity now marks the third straight quarter of falling YoY revenue…the addition of Alani Nu next quarter will guarantee positive YoY growth restarted (albeit mostly from the non-comparable acquisition-related aspect). According to Circana last 13-week data, CELSIUS decreased by 3% YoY...but sustained place as the third-largest energy drink brand in the category with a dollar share of 10.9%. And I don’t want gloss over this accomplishment…as CELSIUS became the first brand in over a decade not named Red Bull or Monster Energy that was able to capture more than a 10% share in the U.S. energy drinks market. Celsius energy drinks has seen massive growth in convenience stores, foodservice (e.g. fast food restaurants), mass retailers like Walmart, the club channel in retailers like Costco, and the Amazon marketplace. Additionally, the early international market development groundwork is starting to formalize with CELSIUS with performance continuing to exceed initial expectations in those recently expanded markets. It's my opinion that international expansion presents significant opportunity for incremental growth over the next three to five years. With Celsius at basically full distribution now…the TDP growth will have to come from increased items carried per store. Going forward, Celsius will increase items per store through a combination of product strategies like flavor, format, pack size, and variant expansion. Additionally, CELISUS will continue scaling up the new Essentials lineup that has exceeded the company’s expectations. Moreover, they will seek more store placements like leveraging cold display activity in Celsius-branded coolers. If you missed the massive news from February, CELSIUS Holdings announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Alani Nu for a net purchase price of $1.65 billion. And the big news was that CELSIUS announced that, according to Circana last 52-week data for the period ending April 13, 2025…Alani Nu surpassed $1 billion in retail sales. But heading into next quarter, the combined brand platform of CELSIUS Holdings will have just over 16% category share (trailing only the Monster Energy combined brand platform and Red Bull). Also, because of the insane 70%+ YoY growth rate of Alani Nu, the combined brand platform of CELSIUS Holdings would be considered the fastest growing energy drink brand portfolio of the top 10 categorical competitors. But with the Alani Nu acquisition now closed…CELSIUS Holdings becomes an even more dynamically interesting company positioned favorably long-term. Lastly, with a great balance sheet...Celsius Holdings keeps strategic optionality available within (what I believe is) this market volatility fueled opportunistic period.

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As the second fastest growing category within the entire grocery store surpasses 50% household penetration…have attractive fragmentation opportunities now been unlocked within RTD protein beverages? BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR) is a portfolio that owns a collection of convenient nutrition brands like Premier Protein and Dymatize Nutrition, which was previously wholly-owned by Post Holdings. A fast-paced and busy lifestyle is pushing consumers to switch to quick and healthy meal options. This has resulted in above average categorical growth rates and increased household penetration of RTD protein shakes that promote active lifestyles. Additionally, powders are becoming more mainstream, and category proliferation has created an environment where more consumers are purchasing both every day and performance nutrition positioned protein products at grocery stores and mass retailers. Bellring Brands had a strong 2025 Q2 with net sales reaching $588 million, which was up 18.9% YoY. Premier Protein (~90% of BellRing Brands total revenue) grew 22% YoY, which came from mostly volume increases. Dymatize Nutrition was up 3% YoY, stemming from volume increases within international markets and new product introductions. In response to these elevated sports nutrition competitive threats, BellRing Brands has attempted to invest further into Dymatize brand marketing and restarting product innovation. Though, I’d say neither effort has resulted in meaningful success yet. Moreover, I provide three deep dives into the functional CPG portfolio's "hero SKU families" of Premier Protein RTD protein shakes and Premier Protein and Dymatize protein powders. But my latest first principles thinking content will examine two emerging product innovation concepts that are becoming more popular (both in terms of product launches and customer demand). The first is around a richer and creamier RTD protein beverage…Premier Protein is calling its version “Indulgence” and BellRing Brands leadership noted on the earnings call that this new subline has demonstrated impressive incrementality, bringing in a considerable number of consumers new to the brand and category. Similarly, Quest Nutrition is also recently launched its “more indulgent” RTD protein beverages subline…calling it “Protein Milkshake.” But what you’ll also notice about the Quest Protein Milkshake is that the protein content is much higher than the “unwritten 30 grams of protein rule.” So, now you’re seeing competitors, that have brand equity will outside the performance nutrition buyer segment, start to push the upper limits of protein content. And finally, on the flipside…competitors are also testing the lower limits and seeking to attach protein with other beverage categories like carbonated soft drinks and water. So, what does this all mean? And I think there's still A LOT of opportunity to innovate within RTD protein beverages market, which will open up the category to more buyers, different use occasions, and more day parts.

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Coca-Cola and Oreo becoming “best friends” seemed like a lost episode of Golden Girls. We have powerhouse century-old brands…both embarking more intensely of late into limited-time product strategies that get people talking, create excitement, and ultimately generate FOMO. But when this type of collaboration happens…we typically see one brand leading with product and the other supporting and elevating with marketing communications. And that’s what made this collaboration special…as Coca-Cola and Oreo each played leading and supporting actor. The result was that customers got to experience two wild products…a creamy, cookie flavored can of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and a cola-flavored Oreo cookie (with popping candies). This may all seem absurd (and personally have no appeal to your life), but at the end of the day…I think it reflects a cool trend across pop culture where highly distinctive efforts can get mainstream commercialization.

If you’re going to come at the “king of the online sports nutrition market,” you better not miss! THG (aka the company formerly known as The Hut Group) recently updated the public markets by releasing its 2025 Q1 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 division that includes the world's largest online sports nutrition brand MyProtein, but also utilize everything to provide insights surrounding the global supplement markets. For those unaware, after the THG Ingenuity demerger...THG would now be described as a global, cash generative, health and wellness consumer brands group. During the first quarter of 2025, divisional revenue for THG Nutrition was approximately $196 million, which was basically flat YoY. And while those aren’t necessarily great results…THG leadership noted that the segment saw month-on-month sales improvement throughout the quarter. Moreover, momentum was said to be demonstrated in categories outside of the core protein range, especially in activewear, vitamins, bars, and snacks. But I'll dive into several strategic decisions impacting MyProtein including: its global digital sales channel strategy, retail partnerships in physical retail, global "in real life" community events (i.e. HYROX and MyProtein Move Club) and let’s just say A LOT is riding on the success of the MyProtein global rebrand. But basically 18 months after the start of its initial staggered market rollout, the transitionary impacts from the rebrand are now behind Myprotein. THG leadership reaffirmed that customer feedback continues to be promising, with unaided brand recognition for MyProtein now at its highest level to date. More importantly though…THG Nutrition leadership needs to pay close attention to key commercial metrics over the next year because to continue moving upstream in positioning (and unlocking sales channel diversification opportunities within the U.S. market) it needs to ensure this rebranding decision is well received by and generates brand affinity with those less price-sensitive customers. Interestingly, THG leadership noted that MyVitamins, which makes up around 9% of the total THG Nutrition online revenue, delivered record quarterly growth. But what’s maybe most intriguing is how different the customer demographics of MyVitamins are compared to MyProtein…and its possible synergistic value with the other THG branded products segment THG Beauty. Finally, about a week prior to this earnings release, the board of directors at THG rejected an unsolicited proposal to acquire Myprotein. According to reports, THG turned down the (upwards of $800 million) offer from Selkirk, an investment vehicle, saying it “fundamentally undervalued” the MyProtein business. Additionally, the deal structure carried significant execution complexity and risks...but maybe the most interesting element was that Selkirk is run by a former THG board member and backed by Kelso Group, an activist investor in THG.

Dear Glanbia board of directors…don't be afraid to give up what's good for what's great! Glanbia Plc (LON:GLB) is a multibillion-dollar global nutrition company that's currently comprised of three divisions that span across the B2B supply chain (i.e. Health & Nutrition and Dairy Nutrition) and branded products (Performance Nutrition). “Health & Nutrition” is a leading global ingredients solutions business, providing value added ingredient and flavor solutions to a range of attractive, high-growth end markets. In the first quarter of 2025, revenue increased by 24.9% YoY. “Dairy Nutrition” is the number one producer of American-style cheddar cheese in the U.S. market, but more importantly (for my audience) the number one producer of whey protein isolate…and provides a wide range of dairy and functional protein solutions. In the first quarter of 2025, revenue increased by 18.9%. The brands in the Glanbia Performance Nutrition portfolio include; Optimum Nutrition, BSN, think!, Isopure, Amazing Grass, and SlimFast. Glanbia Performance Nutrition had first quarter 2025 revenue that declined by 6.6% YoY, driven by a volume decrease of 5.8% and a price decrease of 0.8%. Additionally, I'll dive deeper into Glanbia Performance Nutrition geographical, sales channel, product format, and categorial performance. Optimum Nutrition, which was the initial M&A transaction in 2008 that created the GPN division, now represents 66% of the total revenue. In the last year, Optimum Nutrition generated revenue of approximately $1.2 billion. Moreover, Optimum Nutrition is the number one sports nutrition brand in the world and also the top sports nutrition brand in close to 20 different countries. As part of its group-wide transformation program announced last November, that seeks to generate annual cost savings of at least $50m by 2027, leadership noted that a GPN portfolio review to ensure focus can be placed on high-growth opportunities had determined the divesture decision on its Netherlands-based direct-to-consumer ecommerce business, Body & Fit (that was acquired in 2017), and its weight management brand SlimFast (that was acquired for $350 million in 2018). Also, if you don’t follow the Irish financial news cycle, you might have missed that the activist investor Clearway Capital is back again! But this time…Clearway Capital is hoping to get support from Tirlán Co-op, which is Ireland's largest, farmer-owned agri-food and nutrition business. Also, Tirlán is the largest shareholder in Glanbia. But while I couldn’t get access to the exact letter sent to Tirlán, urging it to support a plan to split up Glanbia…Clearway Capital did recently address the Glanbia board of directors at its annual general meeting, requesting the global nutrition company initiate a strategic review into potential disassembly. And just like three years ago, I’m still largely aligned with those Clearway Capital statements. But the major difference surrounds our motivation as to why we’ve been urging Glanbia to be split up into two (or three different businesses).

It appears that Hot Pockets and I now live by the same mantra, “suns out guns out." And that’s because if you purchased a package of those glorious frozen meat-filled hand pies lately, you noticed that Hot Pockets decided after 41 years to ditch its crisping sleeve. When Hot Pockets launched in 1983, that susceptor sleeve was a key part of the original packaging design that allowed for microwave cooking while maintaining a crispy texture. It was honestly a futuristic feature during a time when only about one in four American homes even had a microwave. But it appears Nestle made product changes that speed up the cooking process and enhance the overall Hot Pockets experience all without needing that microwave susceptor sleeve. I’m left wondering though…was this ultimately a low-hanging sustainability initiative or easy shrinkflation financial decision?

Mike Lindell was able to previously leverage the entrepreneurship 101 playbook…reaching levels of commercial success that most founders can only dream about. But does the “MyPillow Guy” really think revisiting that familiar strategy will be effective once again? Most successful entrepreneurs share a common thread…they solve personal pain points, seize opportunities others overlook, and remain committed to refining that idea into something impactful. And while you might dislike Mike Lindell for a variety of personal reasons, including the outwardness of his political affiliation, can we agree to temporarily separate “the man” from “businessman” and respect his journey? The idea for MyPillow, a pillow that would hold its shape through its foam design, supposedly originated from a random dream in 2004. But after diving headfirst into the project, spending hours cutting up foam, testing configurations, and eventually landing on a design that would allow the pillow to successfully hold its shape...he began selling what he claimed was “the best pillow in the world” at a mall kiosk. And while he experienced marginal success and media attention...everything changed when Mike Lindell started creating infomercials for MyPillow in 2011. By 2018, MyPillow had spent $100 million on infomercials…and at its peak, employing close to 1500 people, selling 30 million pillows, and reaching annual revenue levels of nearly $300 million. But that doesn’t mean Mike Lindell’s business dream didn’t include its fair share nightmares (especially more recently), as numerous settled (or still ongoing) lawsuits have gotten progressively more negatively impactful. And there are a million information sources that can be found on the Google machine…detailing his passionate political support, various (mostly personal) legal matters relating to those political beliefs, and linked business struggles, but my content is only focused on the initial successful growth portion of the Mike Lindell business journey. And that’s simply because it’s maybe the most applicable portion when examining his newest venture Rev7 energy drink. Though with me revealing that…are you having the same WTF moment that I had when learning about Mike Lindell shifting from non-ingestible sleep products to ingestible energy drinks? And while I’ve “seen my share of mismatched things” over the last 15 years working deeply within the energy beverages space (across the various product formats), I’ll fully admit that the Mike Lindell, MyPillow, and Rev7 energy drink strategic decision still has me a bit puzzled! But my latest first principles thinking content piece will attempt to hopefully make at least some sense of it…

The options for dietary supplements are virtually limitless at this point and whatever ingredients you want to ingest can undoubtedly be found in gummy form. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that we are living in the “golden age” of gummy supplements. But while gummies have become a staple within the supplement industry, format growth rate has normalized after the “Great Shutdown” spike. However, for you “gummy supplement haters,” don’t misinterpret that slowdown as some type of leading indicator for a near-term market correction. Yes, more consumers are realizing that gummies aren’t perfect…but they’re also uninterested in totally abandoning the flavorful format that inherently promotes usage consistency. And that changing consumer behavior undoubtedly creates a market opportunity…one that I’m confident supplement brands will fully embrace unlocking through product innovation.