The explosion of the NFTs space has been nothing short of remarkable. So, should your CPG brand consider jumping on this trend? While NFTs could represent a huge opportunity to tap into the growth of virtual worlds and connect with consumers, I don’t want CPG brand owners to get too excited and make silly decisions because a lot of the various valuable applications are longer term plays that go beyond digital art and collectibles. Jumping on a bandwagon because it's trending seems to be an often-used strategy today, but you have to ask yourself if NFTs will create any real value for your brand. If not, maybe wait and see how the bleeding edge space evolves over time. That being said, I'll share how some of the highest profile CPG brands are experimenting with NFTs (including Pringles, Dunkaroos, Charmin, and Dream Pops). Some might argue that NFTs are a fad and others might have no idea what NFTs were until this piece of content, but my prediction is CPG brands will find enough utility in the brand building and promotional areas that will create a long enough runway to reach the deeper long-term benefits.

I’ve always believed that Hip Hop and CPG entrepreneurship are linked together. Firstly, Hip Hop is seen as counterculture to other music genres, which is similar to CPG entrepreneurship in today’s “technology” filled founder landscape. Additionally, Hip Hop and CPG entrepreneurship are both centered around being salesmanship and the ability to hustle. Moreover, Hip Hop music is rooted in remixing (or sampling) previous music, and this iterative innovation process is also core to the CPG industry. Finally, Hip Hop is more than music, it's a cultural lifestyle...which anyone in the CPG industry knows it functions in the exact same way. This is probably why you see so many hip-hop artists that are involved with CPG entrepreneurship (or investing). 

While NAS has never been a CPG entrepreneur to my knowledge, he has invested in at least one known CPG brand “Walker & Company” in 2015. This was 3 years before the maker of men’s grooming products was acquired by Procter & Gamble. If you think that investment exit was a fluke, think again because NAS is actually a highly regarded investor. His QueensBridge Venture Partners venture capital firm that was started in 2013 and has invested in over 110 startups. One of the first investment NAS made was in the Series B round of Coinbase at around $1/share! Other notable investments have been in Dropbox, Ring (acquired by Amazon), Lyft, SeatGeek, Robinhood, Away, and ClassPass. Though many of NAS investments have been in technology, I believe lyrics from his extensive catalog of music that spans more than two and a half decades will show you that he could be a successful CPG entrepreneur. These lyrics provide keen lessons for any CPG entrepreneur. So, what can you learn from the hip-hop legend NAS?

Remember almost 2 years ago when I said that GNC was trying to pull off this magical feat where it could close 1000+ store locations, but actually grow its physical retail exposure? Well, it’s magician clout just got a major boost after it secured arguably the most important strategic retail partnership. On 6/7/21, GNC announced that it entered into an exclusive agreement with Walmart to sell a selection of its GNC private label product assortment including vitamins, nutritional products, sports nutrition, and weight management products. These will be available through more than 4,000 Walmart stores and online starting this month. It’s also not hard to understand why GNC would want to partner with Walmart; Walmart is the most powerful physical retailer in the U.S and Walmart also sells the most VMS supplements in the U.S. (even more than GNC itself). GNC is a very well-known brand to the collective American consumer, but many of these wellness category consumers might fall into distinct groups that would normally step into a GNC store. Wellness consumers aren’t static, so GNC hopes that when they are ready to take their wellness journeys to the next level, it will be in its stores for the full GNC experience. The ultimate goal of converting Walmart shoppers into GNC loyalty members could drive long-term growth, as the vast majority of GNC revenue comes from loyalty members. The biggest question is...will this strategic retail partnership push the needle for GNC?

The “COVID-19 Effect” has substantially increased the prioritization of wellness among global consumers, but is your own myopic view of the construct leaving opportunity on the table? Wellness is a modern word with ancient roots. As a modern concept, wellness gained popularity in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, when subject matter experts largely shaped the way we conceptualize and talk about wellness today. In a 1979 “60 Minutes” segment, Dan Rather stated, “Wellness, there’s a word you don’t hear everyday”, but today most Americans do hear that word every day. That being said, Americans aren’t the only ones paying attention to wellness, as the global wellness market is estimated to be $1.5 trillion and growing mid-to-high single-digits annually. A rise in both consumer interest and purchasing power presents tremendous opportunities for functional CPG brands. At the same time, the wellness market is getting increasingly crowded, creating the need to be strategic about where and how they should compete. So, how do you view wellness? Maybe you said improving your general health or working out more, but that’s only a few ways that today’s consumers view wellness. 

They tend to have a much broader and more sophisticated lens that now encompasses six dimensions...

With that knowledge, I'll share several strategies functional CPG brands could deploy to be best positioned in this growing wellness market.

For those that aren’t too familiar with who the publicly-traded (OTCMKTS: BILZF) Ignite International Brands is and maybe even who Dan Bilzerian is…check out my first piece of content about the subject matter that I published about 6 months ago [https://youtu.be/pqDvxbpeD5w]. My hope for this podcast episode is that it will be both entertaining to casual observers of the CPG industry, but also provide insightful information for those CPG professionals that are curious about how an influencer-led multi-category brand is performing in the current business landscape. I'll breakdown how Ignite International Brands could be profitable from a bottom-line perspective, but not operationally and how those underlying factors might influence its ability to sustain profitable growth and business operations throughout 2021 and beyond.

When Chinese businesses shut down last mid-to-late January for their 2020 New Year, it marked the end of “business as usual” for the functional CPG industry. Many shoppers still have a small hint of PTSD from seeing empty retail shelves caused by constant supply shortages of CPG essential goods in the early months of the pandemic. Despite being more than a year from those March and April 2020 pantry loading periods, another group of shoppers unfortunately could be facing an even worse (and potentially longer) period of supply shortages. This time it’s hitting really close to home, in the functional food, functional beverage, and nutritional supplement CPG categories.

The goal for this podcast episode is to:

MusclePharm announces it’s re-entering the energy beverage space in conjunction with its latest earnings and I’m still sitting here confused if I’m being completely honest. For those unaware, MusclePharm had energy drinks in the mid-2010s under the Energy Sport and Energy Sport Zero offerings. While I thought the product was decent at the time, it never took off likely due to outside factors that likely surrounded a poor sales/distribution strategy and team execution. This time around, MusclePharm is attempting to circumvent the previous issue by partnering with a energy beverage industry veteran. Assuming the sales/distribution strategy and team execution will be better this time, why am I still bearish on the idea? Additionally, why do I believe a clause in the new CFO's employment contract could mean that MusclePharm is positioning itself to be an acquisition target in the next two years?

Did a recent M&A transaction between a global fitness company and nutritional supplement brand signal more lookalike activity could be ahead? It seems this deal stayed mostly under the radar (at least in America), but F45 Training acquired True Protein for an undisclosed amount. Ten years ago, F45 Training started in Australia and became a 1750+ global fitness studio franchise that combines 45-minutes of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), functional training and circuit training. True Protein is a family-owned Australian nutritional supplements that was founded in 2014. Why did F45 Training make this M&A Move? Were there inspirations in the market already that combined fitness (media or equipment) with supplements? Could this lead to more fitness companies like Peloton, Mirror, or Tonal to make similar M&A moves or even internally create and launch their own supplement brands? How does this discussion fit into our personalized lifestyle future?

The largest distributor of nutritional and sports supplements was hit hard by the “COVID-19 Effect” and it could be on the verge of bankruptcy. This might confuse my community a bit because I’ve stated on many occasions (and gave supporting data on) how exceptionally well the overall nutritional supplements and ancillary functional CPG market has performed against the pandemic business environment over the last 12-15 months. So, how can the largest distributor of these various functional CPG product categories be struggling? In this podcast episode, I'll discuss some of my hypotheses on what went wrong at Europa Sports Products and what's could be next for the nutritional and sports supplements distributor.