CPG Week: Keurig Dr Pepper’s Drink Mix Deal and Black Rifle’s Legal Combat

[00:00:05] Monica Watrous: Welcome to the CPG Week podcast by BevNET and Nosh. I'm Monica Watrous, here with my co-host, Lukas Southard. Now here is the latest in food and beverage industry news. Keurig Dr. Pepper has acquired drink mix manufacturer Dyla Brands, which produces stir and a growing portfolio of co-branded liquid and powder mixes. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Keurig Dr. Pepper was previously a minority stakeholder in Dyla Brands held a seat on its board of directors. The companies also have had a licensing agreement to produce drink mixes featuring such brands as Hawaiian Punch, Crush Orange Soda, 7-Up, A&W Root Beer, Snapple, and C4 Energy. The deal does not include Happy Viking Protein Powder, a brand developed in partnership with tennis icon Venus Williams. Happy Viking will be spun out and continue as an independent business. Under terms of the transaction, Dyla will continue to operate independently for the foreseeable future, and all staff are expected to remain in their current roles. Meanwhile, the new ownership provides opportunities for Dyla to expand in retail. The drink mix category is worth about $4 billion, and according to Cercana data, U.S. retail dollar sales of STER brand drink mixes accounted for $16.6 million in the past year. In addition to its branded line, Dyla produces licensed products for brands including Sparkling Ice, Dole, and Ocean Spray, and recently took over production of Liquid Death's Powdered Death Dust line.

[00:01:42] Lukas Southard: Veteran-owned Black Rifle Coffee is preparing for battle, at least the litigious kind. The coffee and energy beverage brand has faced a number of lawsuits since it went public in 2022. Currently, Black Rifle is still fighting a two-year-old lawsuit over unpaid royalties that was filed by former consulting company Strategy and Execution Inc., or SEI. The consulting group claims it has owed tens of millions in royalties from future Black Rifle coffee sales, despite previously reaching an agreement to receive $417,500 from Black Rifle. SEI, which helped the coffee brand establish its retail presence, has filed a review of the case this past spring. Black Rifle originally agreed to pay SEI $30,000 per month and a lifelong two cents of royalty from every product sold within the RTD portfolio that SEI focused on. In a separate shareholder case, initially filed in June 2023, Black Rifle is fighting against three plaintiffs who claim they suffered a major financial loss due to Black Rifle's mismanagement of the warrant process during its transition to a public company through a merger with SPAC Silverbox Engaged Merger Corp. The plaintiffs claim they suffered, quote, substantial financial loss as they were unable to sell their stock at the company's high point and were forced to liquidate their shares at a much lower valuation.

[00:03:11] Monica Watrous: Folks can read more about Black Rifle's various legal battles over at BevNET.com. Pop, Lesser Evil, Quinn and Evergreen are among better for you brands banding together to launch the Good Food Collective in order to advocate for more transparency and higher standards in the food industry during this quote pivotal decade in U.S. food policy. The collective's first order of business is advocacy around nutrition labeling on front of packs. The collective submitted a formal comment on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's front-of-pack nutrition labeling proposed rule ahead of the July 15 deadline, urging the agency to consider more consumer-friendly warning schemes that also integrate opportunities to educate shoppers about products high in added sugars, sodium, and saturated fats. Other members include Interact Brands, Actual Veggies, Sweet Nothings, Daily Crunch, Rudy's Bakery, and others, and the collective aims to secure 30 members total by the end of the year. The group's debut comes amidst heightened awareness and mainstream conversation around transparency and nutrition across the U.S. food system due to the Make America Healthy Again movement.

[00:04:25] Lukas Southard: Dehydrated fruit and veggie brand Branch Out Food recently shared details about the challenges it faced in the last few years, and how it recovered from adversity to build towards a more profitable future. The company, which uses its proprietary GentleDry technology to more efficiently dehydrate produce facedown an existential crisis in June 2023. After installing a piece of custom equipment in a manufacturing partner's production facility in Peru, BranchOut found out that the manufacturing partner abruptly had to cease operations, leaving its production plant and the equipment inside, including BranchOut's machinery, to creditors. BranchOut ended up taking out new investment and building out its own facility in a former asparagus processing plant, also in Peru, which became fully operational late last year. The new manufacturing partner has four full-scale production lines. lines, including the one it eventually got back from its failed partnership, and has increased its output significantly in the first half of 2025. BranchOut is producing private-label products for Walmart and consumer-facing dehydrated snacks for Costco. It has also partnered with ingredients supplier Microdryd as a third arm of BranchOut Foods' revenue stream. The now vertically integrated company is seeing a lot of upside in its processes as it looks towards expanding into new categories like confections and desserts, while also seeing inbound requests from retailers looking to replace freeze-dried options with BranchOut's dehydrated produce. BranchOut CEO Eric Healy told Nosh in an interview that a significant portion of the retail freeze-dried snack category is produced in China, where tariffs have made imports more expensive for grocery retailers. Healy said that Branch Out Foods' dehydrated products are 20 to 30 percent less expensive than many of the comparable freeze-dried options on the market.

[00:06:20] Monica Watrous: On a lighter note, Hormel Foods has teamed up with Dr. Seuss Enterprises to introduce Green Eggs and Spam, a special edition of the canned meat that celebrates the beloved book. Would you eat it on a train? Would you eat it on a plane?

[00:06:36] Lukas Southard: Speaking of strange collaborations, Baked by Melissa has partnered with PepsiCo to launch a SunChips-inspired cupcake line in three flavors, including Honey BBQ, Harvest Cheddar, and Garden Salsa, marking the latest in a series of partnerships with popular savory brands that have included Clausen's, Tabasco, and Cabot Creamery.

[00:06:58] Monica Watrous: We've seen several food brands drawing inspiration from the beauty aisle lately, and one of the latest to join the movement is flavored dessert topping brand Whipnotic, which is partnering with body care brand Maylees to launch a limited edition flavor based on its body mousse's scent. That includes vanilla, passion fruit, and coconut. That product will be available on Whipnotic's website this fall.

[00:07:21] Lukas Southard: Yeah. Is it for your body or it's just like, I don't understand. Is it a food product or not?

[00:07:29] Monica Watrous: I mean, I think some people might think it's for their body. Here are some other notable bits of news from the week. Bellring Brands, maker of Premier Protein and Dymatize, is facing down a swarm of suits as multiple law firms specializing in shareholders' rights have announced investigations into the publicly traded company over allegations it violated securities laws in its last earnings report. Cocoa-free chocolate maker Win-Win has landed a new $4 million Series A investment. And finally, private equity firm Warburg Pincus has agreed to acquire Flavorsome, a supplier of natural flavors and extracts from global investment firm The Riverside Company. For these stories and more, become an insider at Bevna & Nosh. And if you're enjoying the show, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice. That wraps up this edition of CPG Week by BevNET and Nosh. Thank you to our audio engineer, Joshua Pratt, our director is Mike Schneider, and our designer is Aaron Willette. If you enjoyed the podcast, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice, and we will see you next time.