BeyondBrands

We feel so honored to have Cynthia Tice as mentor for Track 5 starting this Fall! Learn more about Cynthia below and if you are interested in joining her as a mentor, please email [email protected]. Welcome Cynthia to BeyondSKU Track 5!   Cynthia’s entrepreneurial journey led her to create Lily's Sweets, a line of delicious, no sugar added treats that has disrupted the confection and baking categories since its introduction in 2012. Following the successful national Whole Foods launch of four bars, she launched Lily’s No Sugar Added Baking Chips, in Sept 2014, which quickly became the #1 item in Natural Channel Grocery category. In 2018, she partnered with private equity firm, VMG, to capitalize on Lily’s explosive growth. In June 2021, Lily’s was acquired by The Hershey Co., making it one of the largest snack food brand deals of the year. In joining the Hershey’s family of brands, Lily’s has become a brand that makes BFY options more easily accessible to all consumers.

Proud + loud has always been bigger than us – we’re excited to announce that Omsom has been acquired by DayDayCook, a leader in Asian food brands + a fellow Asian woman-run business 🎉 As the daughters of Vietnamese refugees, we (Vanessa + Kim) launched Omsom 4 years ago with a mission – to reclaim + celebrate the multitudes in Asian flavors and stories. We are so proud of what our small + mighty team has accomplished: ⚡️ 10+ damn delicious Asian pantry staples 👋🏽 4.6M+ products sold 🙌🏽 200k+ strong in our community 🗞️ 20B+ press impressions 💰 $100k+ paid in royalties to our Asian chef partners 📺 10+ national TV appearances Despite this, it is no secret that startups are facing tons of challenges right now - and as we always do, we centered in our values when we made the decision on best to take agency over our future. As we considered what our team needed – a faster product innovation process + ability to scale into retail – we knew that an acquisition by DDC would give us the resources to keep growing as a household name 🙏🏽 We’re not going anywhere – Omsom will operate independently within DDC (alongside fellow Asian-owned grocery store faves Yai's Thai + Nona Lim!). You can expect more damn delicious products in more doors + stores 🛒 Thanks for rockin’ with us – here’s to a proud + loud future together 🔥 Love, Vanessa + Kim Pham Sisters + co-founders of Omsom

Personally... I have questioned if Personalization of Supplements was ready for prime time and the mass market. The recent news of Bayer ceasing operations of their Care/of acquisition may be the first of many authoritative answers to this question. To say this decision, and this specific circumstance is complicated, is an understatement. Care/of was an early disruptor of the nutraceutical space offering a questionnaire based protocol to support a personalized supplement protocol for your wellness... Like many global strategics, Bayer wanted in on this fast growing segment. Some essential questions are... 1. Are the added complexity of personalization, risks with shared data, and frequently the premium cost, supported by superior results in the users of personalized protocols versus reasonably smart decisions at the store shelf. Specific to Care/of, did this concept really have legs for Mass market or were these decision makers out over their skis??? 2. Can global strategics maintain the entrepreneurial agility inherent in category changing disruptors? Does the risk appetite of an established company and the slow decision processes inherent in a large organization stifle growth in an edgy disruptor? 3. Are Bayer's other significant problems motivating this decision and the relative complexity of the Care/of business simply not worth the organizational attention? Us old-timers in the nutraceutical space have seen a veritable tidal wave of private equity, venture capital, global strategics, family offices, and high growth investors flood money into "our garden" inflating asset prices and dramatically changing expectations. The business has matured. The likelihood is that not all of these investments will do well, and not all of these ideas that have been purchased are scalable. Maintaining the excitement and innovation of the startups is difficult in a big organization and keeping the "fire in the belly" hot and the "light in the eyes" bright is an existential management challenge. Keeping the passion, purpose, people, planet, and prosperity (the #5P's of #beyondbrands) alive and well is the new stewards job! This is a complex case and an "N of 1" example. Let's hope it's not the beginning of a trend, but just a cautionary tale https://lnkd.in/eYQ-eJSs #ConsciousProducts #innovation #supplysidewest #Vitafoods #innovationnutritionconsulting #NaturalProductsAssociation #WIN #Bayer #CareOf

RSVP now to Naturally Network's ConsciousCPG Summit, June 17 - 18, presented by NielsenIQ, in partnership with BeyondBrands and New Hope Network. Curious about conscious business practices? Naturally board member Eric Schnell shared thoughts from his career-long work in this space. Read more below and RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/grcBTHiv

The future of the natural products industry is conscious! Get inspired and learn more by registering for Naturally Network's ConsciousCPG Summit, a free two-day virtual event June 17 - 18, presented NielsenIQ, in partnership with BeyondBrands and New Hope Network. Dive into conscious values and innovative practices, focusing on passion, purpose, people, planet, and prosperity. Stay tuned for more information on our expert speakers! REGISTER HERE: https://lnkd.in/grcBTHiv Naturally Austin Naturally Boulder Naturally Chicago Naturally Bay Area Naturally North Bay Naturally LA Naturally MN Naturally New York Naturally New England Naturally San Diego