CPG Connect // Vol. 9: Newtopia Now Finds, 9-Figure Shakes & Billion-Dollar Brews
From Denver’s Newtopia Now to billion-dollar beverage shakeups, it’s been a week of both discovery and disruption in CPG.
On the ground, I’m sharing my favorite finds from the show floor, plus a closer look at Little Spoon x Siete’s cultural collab, Nurri’s nine-figure sprint, and Painterland Sisters’ fresh funding.
On the big-stage side, Liquid I.V. is rethinking energy, KDP is carving itself into two companies, and AG1 is making its first move beyond the morning routine.
Let’s dive in →
Events
RSVP - Nyc Commerce Mixer 9/9 (Nyc)
RSVP - Beanstalk Whiskey Tasting 9/10 (Nyc)
RSVP - End Of Summer Party 9/13 (Slc)
RSVP - Q4 Summit 9/16 (Nyc)
RSVP - Ultimate Casino Night 9/17 (Chi)
RSVP - Magic Show 9/17 (Chi)
RSVP - A Taste Of Chicago 9/18 (Chi)
RSVP - Pre-Grow Coffee + DJ 9/26 (Nyc)
Tech Shoutout: Wunderkind (Preparing for BFCM)
For most brands, Q4 isn’t just another quarter, it’s the quarter. In 2024, more than 60% of consumers held off on purchases until Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and with inflation and new tariffs shaping 2025, this behavior is only accelerating.
To help brands navigate the noise, Wunderkind has launched their BFCM Hub, a curated destination designed to turn peak shopping intent into long-term revenue.
The hub is an online BFCM treasure map, including a BFCM guide and checklist, SMS playbook, and consumer insights on tariffs.Yes, you heard me right. It's a creative, visual blueprint of the shopper journey that highlights key touchpoints, pitfalls, and opportunities for growth.
This year’s focus: identity resolution, agentic AI, and outcome-driven strategy. Three pillars shaping high-performance marketing in 2025.
Explore the full hub here → Wunderkind BFCM Hub
Brand Shoutout: Cotto - High protein, clean ingredient cottage cheese based dips.
Founder Clips w/ Cody & Alex from Joon
What inspired you to start this brand, and what were the first steps you took to bring it to life?
I (Alex) had been working in CPG for years, and pistachios were something deeply personal to me—my family has been farming them in Iran for nearly 300 years. I grew up eating what I felt were the best pistachios in the world, but when I looked at what was available here in the U.S., nothing matched that quality or flavor. So I started experimenting with our family recipe at home and realized it translated really well.
When I called Cody about the idea, he laughed at first—he was a tech consultant with a background in food distribution, not retail. But once he tried the pistachios and compared them to what was on shelves, he saw the opportunity. From there, our first steps were really about dividing and conquering. I leaned into branding and product development, while Cody focused on operations and project management. We invested early in finding the right R&D partner to refine the recipe, make it scalable, and help us launch. That was probably the best decision we made early on.
What sets your product apart in a crowded market?
The pistachio category is surprisingly consolidated—there aren’t many players. We saw real white space. What sets us apart is that we’re not cutting corners: we use real ingredients like cracked black pepper or fresh dill weed, which actually show up visibly on the nut. There are no seed oils, no artificial or “natural” flavors—just clean, bold recipes.
We also thought about the full sensory experience: the crunch, how the product looks, how it feels when you eat it. We wanted pistachios that didn’t leave a sticky mess, tasted incredible, and looked like something special. Then we layered branding on top of that—refreshing, modern packaging that resonates with younger consumers but also appeals to the older demographic who already love pistachios. That combination of authenticity, quality, and branding is what really makes us stand out.
What’s been the biggest challenge so far, and how did you overcome it?
The toughest part was taking a 300-year-old family recipe and figuring out how to make it work for modern consumers and scale in the U.S. The original recipe was heavy on salt, and ingredient panels here are strict—so we had to tweak it without losing authenticity. That meant endless iterations with food scientists, tastings, and surveys.
We sent samples to hundreds of people—friends, family, even strangers at events—to gather feedback. It wasn’t just about whether people liked the taste; we wanted to know what they cared about in food products overall: gluten-free, non-GMO, clean labels. Balancing what we loved with what the market wanted was a real challenge. The way we overcame it was through iteration, humility, and leaning on experts. Every tweak brought us closer to something we knew could win in the market.
How are you approaching growth in these early stages—what channels or strategies are most important to you?
We’re only three months post-launch, but growth has been strong. We’ve leaned on multiple channels:
- C-Store distribution – leveraging Cody’s family background, we’re already in 800+ convenience stores in the Northeast.
- Natural independents & specialty stores – around 140 high-end retailers like Foxtrot and Pop Up Grocer through FAIR.
- E-commerce partnerships – we launched with Purple Carrot and Misfits Market, with more partners coming online soon.
- Regional distribution – we’ve onboarded with distributors like Good Stuff in San Francisco and are in talks with another major natural distributor in the Northeast.
For us, C-Stores have been an unexpected bright spot with strong reorders, and independents help with brand building because people tag us, share on social, and create organic buzz. It’s a balance right now between sales and operations—sometimes we’re worried about having too much product, other times not enough—but that tension keeps us sharp.
One year from now, what does success look like for you and the brand?
First and foremost, still being here—growing steadily, sustainably, and building momentum. Philosophically, success is operating the way we are now: staying lean, making the best decisions for today and six months out, and keeping our authenticity.
More specifically, we’d love to have at least one strong national retail partner that we can nurture and grow with—ideally a Whole Foods or a major grocery chain where we can really build brand presence. We also expect to raise funding by then, which will help us handle slotting fees, merchandising, and scale more confidently.
Ultimately, a year from now, success is having moved from “walking” to “running”—still growing, still learning, and building June into a household name in pistachios.
My take on Newtopia Now 2025
Just got back from Newtopia Now in Denver, and I have to say, it is one of my favorite industry events I've been to this year. Compared to Expo West, the format feels smaller, more approachable, and way more conducive to genuine conversations. Between Naturally Network’s pitch competition,and endless samples, it was an absolute blast.
I walked away energized by the innovation on display and wanted to share a few highlights.
My Top 3 Brands
- Hol — redefining functional bars with clean design and bold formulations.
- Motiv Matcha — bringing a modern, elevated take to matcha with impressive branding and execution.
- Liquid+ — hydration with a twist, standing out in a crowded category with taste and positioning.
And of course, big shoutouts to all the other brands I connected with: Smearcase, Leisure Project, Heaps, Flow, Heraclea, Candid, SportCoffee, EverGreen, Rootsy, Kloo, Frozen One, Huxley, Good Eat’n, Flavourit Snacks, Vinker, Peak Protein, Gobbi, Coaqua, Nowhere Bakery, Icalm, Strive Soda, and Slacka.
Little Spoon x Siete team up for Latino Heritage Month
Little Spoon, the fast-growing DTC baby and kids food brand, has partnered with Siete Foods on a limited-edition collaboration launching ahead of Latino Heritage Month. The two new meals—Chicken Taco Bites Biteable and Beef Taco Smash Plate—bring heritage-inspired flavors to the youngest eaters, pairing nutrient-dense ingredients with Siete’s Mild Taco Seasoning to create meals the whole family can share.
The collaboration is bigger than just mealtime. Both brands are spotlighting the cultural and developmental impact of early flavor exposure—helping kids connect with family, identity, and curiosity around food from their very first bites. To extend the celebration, Little Spoon and Siete are building a community recipe collection, inviting families to share their own cherished cultural dishes as part of a collective story of heritage and belonging.
As back-to-school season approaches, the campaign doubles as a call to fight “lunchbox shame” by encouraging kids to proudly bring and share meals that reflect their heritage. It’s a collaboration that celebrates culture, connection, and the power of food as a bridge across communities and generations.
Available now via subscription at LittleSpoon.com while supplies last.
Nurri unveils a new identity on its way to 9 figures
Nurri, the protein milkshake brand that’s been tearing through clubs and online channels, just rolled out a sleek new brand identity. The refresh sharpens its shelf presence with bold flavor cues and a clean highlight of macros, reinforcing the promise of 30g protein, 1g sugar, and 150 calories per can.
In less than a year on the market, Nurri has eclipsed nine figures in retail sales—an unheard-of growth clip in the functional beverage category. Distribution through Costco, Sam’s Club, and Amazon has fueled massive trial, while the design refresh signals a shift from challenger to established player.
For operators, the Nurri playbook is clear: nail the product fundamentals, make your packaging a billboard, and use club velocity as a launchpad for scale. The brand’s bet is that protein beverages aren’t just about macros—they’re about showing up as both functional and fun in the everyday fridge.
Painterland Sisters secures fresh funding to fuel growth
Painterland Sisters, the mission-driven skyr brand founded by sisters and fourth-generation dairy farmers, just closed a seven-figure seed round co-led by The Angel Group, its partner fund Supernatural Ventures, and Spacestation Investments, alongside Scoop Ventures and a roster of notable angel investors.
The brand has quickly become one of dairy’s breakout stories, selling more than 5.7 million cups in 2024 and ranking as the fastest-growing yogurt brand in dollar growth among the top 15 in the category. Following a national launch into Whole Foods, this raise is set to accelerate innovation and distribution while doubling down on its regenerative, farmer-owned mission.
From a CPG lens, Painterland Sisters is a case study in authenticity meeting velocity—deep family roots, better-for-you positioning, and strong early sales traction converging into a growth narrative investors want to back.
Liquid I.V. ditches the can for a Sugar-Free Energy Multiplier
Liquid I.V. is shaking up the energy aisle with a new Sugar-Free Energy Multiplier—not a canned drink, but a stick pack built for hydration-first energy. The line is already on Amazon and Costco shelves and will expand to all major U.S. retailers this fall. Flavors like Strawberry Kiwi and Blackberry Lemonade combine natural caffeine, L-Theanine, electrolytes, and vitamins, promising steady focus without the crash.
It’s also a packaging play: the stick format uses over 90% less material than a traditional energy drink can, tapping into the sustainability story alongside function.
Fun fact: since Unilever acquired Liquid I.V. in 2020, the brand has quadrupled in size, now sitting as the largest brand in Unilever’s Health & Well-Being portfolio. This launch shows how the hydration giant is expanding into adjacent categories while keeping its powder-stick DNA intact.
KDP brews up a $18B split play
Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) just announced an $18 billion cash acquisition of Dutch coffee giant JDE Peet’s—and an even bigger structural shakeup. Once the deal closes in 2026, KDP will split into two separate publicly traded companies. Beverage Co. will hold the North American refreshment beverage portfolio—Dr Pepper, 7UP, Snapple, A&W, energy, water—with more than $11 billion in annual net sales. Global Coffee Co. will bring together Keurig, Peet’s, Jacobs, L’OR, and more, creating the world’s largest pure-play coffee company at roughly $16 billion in combined net sales.
KDP expects $400 million in synergies within three years, but investors are cautious: the stock fell double digits on announcement over concerns about debt load and execution risk. Still, the move positions Beverage Co. as a scaled challenger in the $300 billion U.S. refreshment market, while Global Coffee Co. bets on consolidating a fragmented $400 billion coffee industry.
From a CPG lens, it’s a bold two-track strategy: one entity doubling down on soda and energy share in North America, the other aiming for global dominance in coffee. The question is whether Wall Street will buy the split as value-unlocking—or view it as brewing more complexity than clarity.
AG1 expands beyond mornings with AGZ
AG1 just launched its first new product in 15 years—AGZ, a melatonin-free nighttime mix designed to support rest and recovery. The powder comes in Mixed Berry, Chocolate, and Chocolate Mint, featuring ingredients like Magtein® magnesium L-threonate, saffron, and L-theanine to guide users through winding down, quality sleep, and waking refreshed.
The move marks AG1’s leap from being a one-product morning ritual to a full day-to-night wellness brand. With NSF for Sport certification and a clean label—no sugar, artificial colors, or fillers—AGZ positions the company to capture a share of the booming sleep-support category while keeping its premium, ritual-driven identity intact.
From a CPG perspective, this is AG1 staking a claim beyond greens, betting that the same trust it built in morning nutrition can translate into the evening routine.
That’s it for this week.
Whether you're launching your first SKU, scaling into Whole Foods, or trying to stay ahead of what’s breaking through, CPG Connect is here to help you keep pace.
See you next week✌️
— Zach
P.S. If this was helpful, feel free to pass it along to a friend, teammate, or founder in your orbit. And hit reply anytime, I read every note.