Your Consumer Bro

I break down the business behind the brands you see everyday

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

1/ kimberly clark just won eu approval to buy kenvue for $48.7B. big mergers pull a giant's focus inward, and that's usually the opening for challengers. this week's playbook: how i'd build a skincare brand to take share from neutrogena and aveeno.

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

@SMB_Attorney if you are an operator structuring a deal with an earnout make sure you have conviction in your growth targets.

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

@modernretail kohl's problem was never price. comps have fallen 18 straight quarters and even sephora, the one growth engine, is now declining. deeper discounts just train the same shrinking shopper base to wait for the next coupon

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

abbott is spinning off its entire nutrition business. similac, pedialyte, pediasure, glucerna and ensure become a standalone public company with $8.5b in sales. the biggest formula and adult nutrition brands no longer ride inside a medical device company

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

5/ ruka hair: london brand making lab grown synthetic hair for textured styles. raised $4.5m in may co-led by henkel ventures. strategics are betting on material science in hair. stocked at selfridges, us expansion underway.

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

5 consumer brands to keep your eye on

1. behave

2. roxberry

3. laurel's coffee

4. neutonic

5. ruka hair

thread below on what each one has been up to

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

4/ neutonic: uk nootropic energy drink. 7.5m cans sold since 2023, on pace to pass $25m revenue this year. raised $6m in april at a $60m valuation, with grenade's founder on the cap table. company reported.

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

philip morris just crossed 40% of revenue from smoke free products. record sales, record operating income, and the cigarette business still grew. the biggest name in cigarettes keeps winning by selling something else

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

@iiiitsandrea LOL

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

@modernretail this is the end of the small brand arbitrage on tiktok shop. last year the top food product was a seasoning bomb most people never heard of. when ulta and sephora arrive with creator budgets, attention gets more expensive and speed is the only edge left

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

@NRNonline the precedent is bigger than one bankruptcy. wendy's moved to terminate the agreements before the filing, picking a control fight over riding out a weak operator. if 314 stores can go into play, no franchisee is too big to replace

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

p&g reports thursday.

last quarter organic growth was zero, with volume and price both flat.

thursday answers the only question that matters in staples: what restarts growth, volume or price.

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

@DanReese21 these are far more superior to ketchup packets. when i go to eat and there are only ketchup packets i typically don’t even use them despite wanting ketchup. such a hassle!

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

crumbl's median store made $1,832 in profit in september, a year after a private equity deal at a $2b valuation. a franchise brand is only worth what its franchisees can earn

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

magic the gathering just passed $600m in a quarter, its first time, and hasbro raised full year revenue, margin and ebitda guidance. this is a trading card company with a toy division attached

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

gildan is being sued for allegedly channel stuffing its distributors, with claims of about $500m in excess product pushed beyond real demand.

sell in is not sell through. wholesale growth you force onto the shelf is not growth, and the bill always arrives.

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

@BraizorChris At the end of the day if you’re an operator and don’t believe you can hit the earnout milestones you’ll never see a dollar. Make sure they are achievable before you agree to them.

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

i think this post has villainized earnouts in M&A deals… while CASH is KING there are times where an earnout makes sense in the deal structure

[@levelsio @levelsio]

When you sell your business, never ever agree on an earn out

Always get it in cash!

I know lots of horror stories of earn outs and have always rejected them

[Your Consumer Bro @yourconsumerbro]

@BraizorChris Two that come to mind:

1. The business is about to hit a major inflection point that the seller actually believes in.

2. There is a gap between valuation. Rather than kill the deal the buyer and seller can agree to an upfront consideration + earnout.