Goodles' Great Deal And Rahal's Big Week

Episode 190

Hosted by:

Sep. 10, 2026 at 12:00 pm

In this episode:

This week, the podcast tackles a series of M&A deals from Goodles’ recent acquisition by Barilla, a renewed partnership between Keurig Dr Pepper and Chobani, Nestlé’s divestments and Peter Rahal’s big news week.

Show Highlights:

1:00 - Brad and Lukas dive into Barilla’s acquisition of next-generation mac and cheese brand Goodles and why it’s a strong fit for the legacy pasta company.

4:30 - KDP has agreed to sell its minority stake in Chobani, along with a Pennsylvania production facility. The podcast duo discusses the implications for both companies.

9:00 - Brad provides context on Nestlé's recent divestitures, including the offloading of Nuun less than five years after acquiring the hydration tablet brand.

12:00 - The parent company of David Protein, Medici Brands, had a big week raising a $250 million Series B and launching new products. Brad hears what Lukas learned from his multiple conversations with founder and CEO Peter Rahal.

Episode Transcript

Note: Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain inaccuracies and spelling errors.

[00:00:05] Brad Avery: Welcome to the CPG Week podcast by BevNET and Nosh. I'm Brad Avery here with my co-host Lukas Southard. If you enjoy the show then please subscribe on your listening platform of choice. Lucas, good to see you again. Do you have a good long weekend?

[00:00:19] Lukas Southard: I did. Yeah. Nice to have a holiday weekend. We went to a local fair with the kids, which is always quite an experience with rides. And there was a rodeo and, uh, it was funny at, at one point I needed a little coffee, pick me up. And the only coffee stand I could find, uh, asked for just a cold black coffee. And they were like, we don't sell that. Nobody asked for it, so we just do the flavored stuff. So I got a mocha iced coffee that was probably more sugar than coffee, but it gave me the caffeine kick I needed. So, you know, I can't complain too much. Nobody asks for it. Nobody asked for it, which was a very telling of the kind of demographic at a county fair.

[00:01:03] Brad Avery: Well, it may have been a long weekend. It was still a long and busy week before Labor Day. One of the headline deals of last week, Better For You mac and cheese maker Goodall's has agreed to be acquired by Barilla Group. The company announced that on Wednesday. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Goodall's will continue to operate as a standalone brand, quote, free to make its own decisions about product, recipe, quality, ingredients, supplies, marketing, and more. They'll remain headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, and co-founder and CEO Jen Zesoot will continue to lead the company.

[00:01:39] Lukas Southard: Yeah, this was a big deal that was kind of unexpected from at least my perspective. Usually we hear some murmurings about these kind of deals before they happen. Good Olds was at least not on my bingo card. It seems like a good deal. It seems like a good fit with Barilla in terms of kind of the dried pasta. more kind of traditional Italian pasta that Barilla is known for. So well done to Goodall's and shout out to my people in Santa Cruz as a former banana slug. I always love to see Santa Cruz brands do well.

[00:02:12] Brad Avery: Barilla of course is one of the mainstays of the U.S. pasta aisle in the supermarket. It's a major company bringing on a brand that was founded only in 2020 and launched in 2021. So it's been a fast track for good old but it's hard to deny that that brand has seeded its image and made itself a face of next gen quick and easy Mac for the average consumer. So When you consider Barilla's portfolio, they've been doing more premium pastas lately on the dry set. They've been playing with whole wheat and other formats to bring it into better for you. But the brand is still legacy. Goodall's is next-gen branding. It's very Instagrammable. And it makes perfect sense to me why a company like Barilla would want this brand.

[00:02:56] Lukas Southard: What's been really fun to watch for Goodall's as a brand is how they've innovated. Obviously they started in the boxed set similar to Kraft Mac and Cheese, but they also launched more of a Velveeta type liquid cheese format. And then most recently they've been doing the instant cups like Easy Mac, but also Earlier this year, they expanded with a new format, a new noodle format called Twirly Mac, and they started kind of dipping their toe into some other flavor combinations, like a miso-flavored Alfredo and a chili garlic hot shot jackpot is what they called it. I actually tried that this weekend in honor of the acquisition. They had sent me some samples and I was like, you know what, I want some mac and cheese today. And I tried the hotshot jackpot and I was really impressed. It was just the right amount of spiciness for me. It had a kind of Asian element to it, but it was still mac and cheese. It was still very much within what they do. I think their innovation stream has been really impressive. It'll be really fun to see how that might be jacked up when they have the backing of Gorilla to fund those new innovations.

[00:04:12] Brad Avery: Hotshot jackpot sounds like something you'd get at a state fair.

[00:04:15] Lukas Southard: It's true, actually. I did have it the day before the state fair, so it was in anticipation of my time.

[00:04:21] Brad Avery: A pregame. Yeah, yeah. It was the pre— For state fair indulgent flavors. Well, speaking of M&A, Lucas, you were looking into a deal between Shabani and KDP. What's going on with the relationship between these two companies?

[00:04:36] Lukas Southard: Well, Chobani and Keurig, Dr. Pepper or KDP announced a deal last week that kind of continues their relationship. KDP sold back its full minority stake in Chobani for $800 million. Well, at the same time, the beverage strategic offloaded a Pennsylvania production facility to Chobani. This is significant for KDP because it is part of a larger restructuring that we've been keeping track of ever since the company announced it was acquiring J.D.E. Peet's and splitting its coffee portfolio. from its other beverages. Now, as you might imagine, acquiring a behemoth in coffee like J.D. Peet's did not come cheap, and to help fund this debt-financed $18 billion deal, KDP needed to free up some cash. But this deal between KDP and Chobani is also a continuation of what these two companies have done together. It plays to one of KDP's strengths over the last decade, which has been its ability to partner with fast growing companies and leverage its distribution network. This is parcel of this recent deal with Chobani because it updates and broadens the existing distribution agreement between the two companies. KDP will continue to distribute Chobani's La Cologne brand RTD lattes, as well as other Chobani owned beverage products and future RTD innovation. KDP also maintains its long-term licensing, manufacturing, and distribution agreement for the La Colombe-branded K-Cups in both the U.S. and Canada.

[00:06:16] Brad Avery: KDP, before Chobani bought La Colombe, had a stake in La Colombe, if I'm not mistaken.

[00:06:21] Lukas Southard: Yes, that's true. When you look at it from the Chobani side, this is also really interesting because it It kind of follows on some similar trends of what the company has been doing in its manufacturing structure. So the acquisition of this $1.5 million square foot facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania is just part of what the brand has been doing for the last year and a half basically. Chobani broke ground on an expansion in an Idaho dairy facility that will increase its capacity by 50% at that specific production center. It also announced a new $1.2 billion facility in upstate New York and a plan to expand its La Colombe coffee production plant in Michigan with a $567 million infrastructure project. So Chobani is not afraid to spend some money on growing its production footprint and really doubling down on being a producer as well as a big name in dairy and coffee.

[00:07:27] Brad Avery: And I think when you bring up coffee, Luckalume is one of the best growing brands in the market right now is when it comes to RTD. The coffee category, liquid coffee specifically, has been struggling. Unfortunately, a lot of the brands that have been carrying this space have been in decline or slow moving. Luck alone is a standout. And it's because Shabani has invested so much behind the distribution because of the product. They recently reformulated it, rebranded it. So I can totally see how KDP continuing to have a play in it, especially when you consider this big coffee focus with the JD Peet's deal. It's really fascinating to watch. It's the most interesting part of Giobanni's business, in my opinion. Of course, their core yogurt and dairy options are nothing to laugh off either. They are continuing to do quite well.

[00:08:25] Lukas Southard: Like you said, Brad, the La Cologne coffee business has done really well for Jobani. Cold coffee in retail has been something that we've been tracking a lot in terms of how many brands have gotten in there, but La Cologne has been one of the mainstays and continues to grow its footprint across channels. So they are kind of one of the biggest brands in terms of the RTD set for cold coffee. And I don't see that changing anytime soon.

[00:08:55] Brad Avery: Well, we've got even more M&A news from last week to report on. In this case, Nestle divested its vitamins, minerals, and supplements business, or its holistic health platform, as it refers to it, to Yellowwood Partners for $1 billion. Yellowwood Partners is a Boston-based private equity firm. And as part of this deal, it will be gaining control of electrolyte tablet brand Noon. Now, with Noon, you have a brand that Nestle acquired just in May 2021. It was not too long ago that this company was interested in growing out this hydration tablet business, and it's curious to see it now go so quickly. This is not the first time that Nestle has done something like this, though. They, of course, bought and flipped Chameleon after not quite seeing the growth that they wanted on that business. I don't know if you can call it their MO, but it's perhaps not unusual for Nestle to acquire a rising brand and then divest it only a few years later.

[00:09:57] Lukas Southard: With respect to Nestle's beverage strategy, this reminds me of another deal that the Swiss multinational did in July with another private equity firm.

[00:10:09] Brad Avery: Yes they entered a joint venture with private equity firm Platinum Equity to co-own Nestle's water and premium beverage portfolio which they've renamed Paranel. That portfolio includes San Pellegrino, Source Perrier, Aquapana and Nestle Pure Life as well as premium and functional hydration beverages. It's also not the only recent divestiture from Nestle moving a brand entirely. They recently sold off Blue Bottle Coffee to Centurion Capital, which is the majority stakeholder in Luckin Coffee. after months of speculation that they were ready to move past the Blue Bottle brand.

[00:10:47] Lukas Southard: It's still taking shape, but I guess we're trying to figure out what Nestle's strategy is in packaged food and beverage moving forward. All these deals seem like there are some restructuring of their portfolio, kind of reevaluating where they can really make an impact. But in terms of this holistic health platform that they offloaded to yellow wood partners, they did keep a couple of their vitamin supplement brands. So it wasn't their whole portfolio in that kind of wellness set. And at the same time, Nestle unveiled a new at home condiment line called miners kitchen. which is the first brand it's launched in the U.S. in over two years, which does seem like a strange zag when all the other deals they've been doing seem to be offloading things and trimming down their portfolio as opposed to adding on.

[00:11:44] Brad Avery: Well, as always, you can keep up to date with our coverage of Nestle on BevNET and Nosh. Now, Lucas, you recently spoke to someone who has been innovating nonstop, in effect. You interviewed Peter Rahal.

[00:11:59] Lukas Southard: The empire that Peter Rahal built is apparently expanding. The founder of David Protein made news a couple times last week. Not only did his protein bar, David, quietly launch a two-variety line of ready-to-drink protein shakes, or milkshakes, as he's calling them, but the parent company of David Bar, Medici brands raised $250 million in a Series B on a $2.25 billion valuation. So in total, Rahal has raised about $350 million for his various brands in less than two years. Rahal also launched his anticipated move into low-calorie, low-sugar chocolate with Hall Pass, which is also nested under the Medici brands.

[00:12:47] Brad Avery: And Ray Hall, he was also linked to a different low-sugar chocolate brand called Hornbill's Chornbills, but I believe he was only an investor in that. Is that right, Lucas?

[00:12:57] Lukas Southard: Yeah, he was listed when it was first announced as a co-founder, but I did ask Peter about this last week when we talked. It was a high-protein, low-calorie and low-sugar chocolate brand. Ray Hall confirmed that he's no longer with the brand, even though he started it with his fellow RxBar founder, Jared Smith. It seems like there was a little bit of a disagreement if Hornbill's Churnbills would be incorporated within the Medici brands, and it is not. I don't believe that Hall Pass is necessarily a response to Ray Hall not being part of Hornbill's Churnbills anymore, because they are slightly different in terms of One is a high-protein chocolate bar, and the other is just kind of a better-for-you candy brand.

[00:13:43] Brad Avery: And there's been no shortage of innovation from Ray Hall's David Protein brand either. They've done ice cream or frozen desserts rather. They've got the bars. They've been moving into all these different categories at a pretty rapid clip and to be launching a second brand at the same time. Does he. I don't I don't mean to make it sound too big but does he ever stop. Does he ever take a break.

[00:14:09] Lukas Southard: It doesn't appear so because they are planning to launch another brand by the end of the year. Hopefully it's going to be called Rowdy. Details still are a little murky and he wouldn't lift the curtain completely for me, but he did say that it will be a high protein chip brand and yeah, that they're, they're hoping to get it out before the end of the year. So it, it will also be nestled under the Medici brand. So that will be three brands plus Epigee, their ingredient provider.

[00:14:39] Brad Avery: Well, I hope our listeners will forgive us if between us recording this episode and it going out if Peter announces yet another brand. But in the meantime, it seems like he's got his hands full. Lucas, anything you've tried recently other than what we've been talking about that jumps out to you? Any brands that have excited you?

[00:15:01] Lukas Southard: Yeah, actually, speaking of all the RTD coffee conversations we've had, I'm actually drinking today a new brand called Thundermilk coffee milk.

[00:15:12] Brad Avery: Was that the one from Australia?

[00:15:13] Lukas Southard: It is Australian. I didn't actually know this was a thing, but I guess Australians brew their coffee with milk or can brew their coffee with milk. And so this is a, uh, what they call an Aussie style lactose free coffee milk comes in three varieties. I'm drinking mocha. There's also vanilla, and then there's a double espresso, which is 150 milligrams of caffeine. The other two flavored kinds are 75 milligrams caffeine. Nine grams of protein. I will say I like them a lot. They're sweeter. Uh, not quite as sweet as my Columbia County fair, uh, mocha coffee that I had, but they definitely have some sweetness, but they're also a little. They have more body because they're brewed with milk instead of water. So I really like, I'm looking forward to talking to this brand in the future. How about yourself, Brad? What have you been tasting this week?

[00:16:06] Brad Avery: I'm enjoying a nice non-alcoholic lime tonic from Cheeky, their recent tonic launch. I saw the brand back at Summer Fancy Food Show in June, sampled it there, and recently saw it showed up in our fridge in the office here at Newton. And it's quite a good afternoon refresher. Good for recording the podcast with.

[00:16:30] Lukas Southard: So I'm getting caffeinated, but you're just having a nice summertime refresher.

[00:16:34] Brad Avery: I'm relaxing. Relaxing with some quinine flavor. Ooh, dried lemongrass.

[00:16:39] Lukas Southard: Sounds pretty good. I got to try that next time I'm in the office. Save me a couple.

[00:16:43] Brad Avery: And some other more notable bits of news from the week. Liquid Death founder Mike Cesario is partnering with Sazerac to launch Mr. Fancy, a new ready-to-drink canned sparkling wine. The hemp beverage industry has received a one-month reprieve from Congress after a bill passed to push the federal ban deadline back to December. And Unilever and Groons are two of the latest companies to be hit with class action lawsuits taking aim at their labeling of allulose. We spoke about that last week and I've continued to cover it on BevNET and Nosh. You can read about all of these stories and more on the websites. Thank you for joining us. And remember, if you enjoyed the show, please like and subscribe.

About CPG Week

CPG Week is the podcast that explores the latest happenings in the consumer packaged goods industry. Join our seasoned reporting team as they dish out the week’s stories in quick, easy-to-digest episodes. Catch up on the top headlines of the week, dive into exclusive insights with the BevNET and Nosh teams, and set yourself up to make more informed business decisions. Tune in to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in the dynamic world of packaged food and beverage.

New episodes are released every week. Send us comments and suggestions anytime to [email protected].

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Stay Informed, Stay Competitive

Unlock the articles, expert interviews, and data reports that power the food and beverage industry. Join our community and stay ahead with exclusive insights from BevNET and Nosh.