Cpgconnect // Vol. 30: Fiber Goes Mainstream, Club Retail Heats Up, and Wellness Gets More Practical
Fiber is no longer a niche “gut health” ingredient, it’s becoming daily infrastructure across shakes, powders, kids products, and even soda. At the same time, club retail is heating up as a proving ground for velocity and scale, with brands treating Costco-style placement as both a volume channel and a credibility unlock. Layer on top the fact that modern “better-for-you” is moving away from clinical positioning and toward taste, convenience, and culture, and you get a pretty clear read on where the aisle is going next.
I also did a deep dive on what’s winning attention right now “State of the Aisle” with Grocery Girl, and an Unwrapped conversation with Todd from Whoa Dough on product-market fit, category reality, and why customers often show you the business you should be building.
But before we dive in, take a quick second to fill out this form. It helps me give back to the CPG community we’re building, connect the right people, and surface new opportunities for brands looking to grow.
Events:
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Brand Shoutout: hotgirlsoda.com
Hot Girl Soda is a better-for-you soda brand that blends function with culture. Made with aloe vera and prebiotic fiber, the lineup is low sugar, low calorie, and designed as an everyday soda, not a compromise. What really sets it apart is the brand. Bright flavors, playful confidence, and community-first energy turn functional soda into a lifestyle statement, signaling that the next wave of soda will be driven as much by vibe as by ingredients.
Tech Shoutout: goham.ai
HAM is an AI-powered analytics platform built for Shopify subscription brands. It unifies subscriber data across tools, surfaces churn and retention insights automatically, and highlights opportunities to grow LTV without digging through dashboards. In short, HAM helps teams understand what’s happening in their subscription business and act on it faster.
Unwrapped w/ Todd from Whoa Dough
Todd Goldstein’s path into CPG started long before Whoa Dough ever existed. He grew up in Cleveland in a family-owned restaurant his great-grandfather opened in the 1930s. As a kid, he spent his days in the kitchen, setting silverware, hanging with the baker, and eating plenty of baked goods and raw cookie dough.
What he didn’t know at the time was that gluten was making him sick. From childhood through adulthood, stomach pain was constant. It wasn’t until his early 30s that a doctor finally connected the dots. Once Todd went gluten-free, everything changed, but 15 years ago, good gluten-free options were almost nonexistent.
At the time, Todd was running an incubator and coworking space, working closely with early-stage founders across industries. Food became personal again in 2019 when two of his sons were born with gluten allergies. That was the moment he decided to build something he wished existed growing up.
Whoa Dough first launched as a shelf-stable cookie dough snack bar. It checked all the boxes: gluten-free, vegan, safe to eat raw. The bars gained traction and even landed in places like American Airlines first-class snack baskets. But Todd noticed something interesting. Customers were baking the bars or treating them like traditional cookie dough.
Instead of fighting that behavior, he leaned into it.
The insight was simple but important. People didn’t want a cookie dough bar. They wanted cookie dough.
That realization led to Whoa Dough’s ready-to-bake, safe-to-eat-raw refrigerated cookie dough. The product resonated immediately, earned validation through Mondelēz CoLab, and quickly outperformed the original bar. Todd eventually made the hard call to sunset the bars entirely and focus on what was clearly working.
Today, Whoa Dough is growing through retail, foodservice, and convenience channels with a lean, capital-efficient team. Todd’s advice to founders is grounded in experience: find real product-market fit, listen closely to customers, don’t force scale too early, and be willing to let go of ideas even if you were once attached to them.
Sometimes the best brands aren’t invented. They’re revealed by paying attention to how people actually behave.
If you zoom out from the noise for a second, something pretty clear is happening in grocery right now:
The aisle isn’t being rebuilt around health claims or price efficiency. It’s being rebuilt around attention, experience, and culture.
This segment is a snapshot of what’s actually gaining traction, why it’s working, and what it signals about where CPG is headed next.
Not trend-spotting for the sake of it. Pattern recognition.
Brands worth paying attention to (and why)
These brands aren’t just “hot.” Each one reflects a deeper shift in how modern CPG is being built and scaled.
Cpgconnect Take
David is a masterclass in engineered attention.
The bronze protein bar. Provocative PR boxes. Influencer seeding that feels more like a cultural drop than a product launch.
The point isn’t the stunt itself. The point is that PR moments are now replacing paid awareness at the top of the funnel.
David understands something many brands still don’t: if you win conversation early, distribution becomes easier later.
What it signals: Marketing that feels unnecessary often performs better than marketing that feels optimized.
Grocery Girl Take → Read Here
Cpgconnect Take
Sour Milk does not over-explain itself.
It leans into curiosity, taste, and aesthetic without leading with function or justification. You do not need a deck to understand it. You either get it or you do not.
And that is the point.
What it signals:
Flavor, identity, and vibe are replacing clinical positioning in food and beverage.
Grocery Girl Take → Read Here
Cpgconnect Take
Bloom feels like a brand that was designed with retail in mind long before it ever hit shelf.
Clean system. Clear SKUs. Packaging that works online and in aisle. It is DTC-native, but not DTC-limited.
What it signals:
The best DTC brands now treat direct-to-consumer as a proving ground, not the end goal.
Grocery Girl Take → Read Here
Cpgconnect Take
Grüns wins by simplifying the experience instead of complicating the formula.
Same category. Fewer steps. Better format. Easier habit formation.
It is not about more ingredients. It is about fewer friction points.
What it signals:
Convenience and experience are becoming bigger differentiators than marginal formulation improvements.
Grocery Girl Take → Read Here
Cpgconnect Take
Bam Jam brings indulgence back into protein.
It looks fun first, functional second. It does not apologize for tasting good.
What it signals:
Better-for-you no longer means joyless, minimal, or overly serious.
Grocery Girl Take → Read Here
Brands Grocery Girl Is Watching
Want to know which food brands are about to blow up?
It’s not starting on the shelf anymore. It’s starting on your phone.
The products people are excited about right now didn’t win because of placement or ad spend. They won because someone posted them, people cared, and demand showed up first.
Social media is the proving ground. Products get tested, hyped, ignored, or made relevant in public. You can watch it happen:
→ A creator posts a snack.
→ People ask where to buy it.
→ The brand sells out.
→ Retail starts paying attention.
That’s the new order of operations.
More brands are being built for the camera first, not the shelf. If it doesn’t read fast, look good on video, or spark a real reaction, it struggles to break through.
Below are the brands Grocery Girl is watching right now. Then we flip the lens and break down what their momentum signals from a Cpgconnect perspective.
Grocery Girl Take → Read Here
Cpgconnect Take
Strip is proof that founders building in public is no longer optional.
The product is strong, but the real engine is visibility into the process. Founder chaos. Testing. Wins and mistakes shared in real time.
That transparency builds trust faster than polished brand campaigns ever could.
What it signals:
People do not just follow products anymore. They follow the build.
Grocery Girl Take → Read Here
Cpgconnect Take
Cotto reframes protein by changing how it fits into daily life.
Instead of forcing another bar or shake, it transforms an existing food into a more usable format.
This is experience-led innovation, not ingredient flexing.
What it signals:
Winning brands reduce effort, not just calories.
Grocery Girl Take → Read Here
Cpgconnect Take
Rotten understands something critical. Memorability beats respectability.
By building a full visual universe, it escapes the sameness that kills most candy brands before they ever scale.
What it signals:
In crowded aisles, being polarizing is safer than being forgettable.
Grocery Girl Take → Read Here
Cpgconnect Take
She’s the Sauce upgrades an afterthought category.
It does not ask people to give anything up. Same meals, better inputs.
That is a much easier behavior shift than most wellness brands try to force.
What it signals:
Incremental upgrades beat lifestyle overhauls.
Grocery Girl Take → Read Here
Cpgconnect Take
NO CAP! does not tell people to quit soda. It rebuilds the soda moment.
Same cold can. Same nostalgia. Different rules.
The ICEE collaboration is a perfect example of attention-first product strategy.
What it signals:
The next wave of beverages is rebuilding cravings, not fighting them.
The Bigger Takeaway
The aisle doesn’t start in the store anymore. It starts in the feed.
Creator-native brands are changing the order of operations. It’s no longer:
Product → Retail → Marketing → Community
It’s becoming:
Community → Culture → Product → Distribution
Build demand first. Build leverage second. Let doors come to you.
Across categories, shelves, and feeds, the same patterns keep showing up:
The aisle is being designed for the camera
If it doesn’t stop the scroll, it probably won’t stop the shopper either.Earned media is outperforming paid early on
PR boxes, drops, stunts, and creator seeding are doing what ads used to do.Taste and experience are back in charge
Health is table stakes. Enjoyment is the differentiator.DTC is a training ground, not a destination
The strongest brands use it to learn, iterate, and build audience before expanding retail.
Why this edition is different
This State of the Aisle is a two-sided reveal.
It’s a collaboration that shows the aisle from both angles. Grocery Girl covers the consumer side: what shoppers love, what’s trending, and what’s suddenly everywhere. Cpgconnect flips the lens to the business side: how these brands are scaling, where they’re landing, and what’s powering the momentum.
Same brands. Two different perspectives.
That contrast is intentional. She’s one of the best at spotting real products people are actually buying and talking about. I spend more time looking at how brands turn that momentum into distribution and scale. Blending those views felt like the most honest way to pressure-test what’s actually happening right now.
Read both and you’ll see where the aisle is going next. And by the time everyone else catches on, Grocery Girl is already onto what’s coming after that.
News:
Marzetti acquires Bachan’s for $400M.
The Marzetti Company is acquiring Bachan’s for approximately $400M, adding one of the fastest-growing modern sauce brands to its portfolio. The deal reflects strong retail velocity and demand for culturally rooted, clean-label pantry staples, signaling legacy food players are paying up for brands that already feel like modern defaults.
Dyson expands into scalp care with Amino.
Dyson launched Amino, a leave-in scalp treatment focused on supporting hair growth through improved scalp health. The move extends Dyson beyond tools into daily-use beauty, signaling growing interest from tech-led brands in scalp health as a core driver of long-term hair performance.
GoodVice launches fiber-first functional shake.
GoodVice is debuting as the first consumer product powered by one.bio’s clinically validated 01 oat fiber, delivering 10g of prebiotic fiber in an indulgent, milkshake-style format alongside protein and supportive nutrients. Rather than framing fiber as a fix or obligation, the brand leads with taste and experience, signaling a broader shift toward fiber as daily infrastructure in functional food, not a checkbox ingredient.
Hiya launches Kids Daily Fiber+.
Hiya introduced Kids Daily Fiber+, a zero-sugar fiber powder delivering 6g of fiber per serving from a four-fiber blend, positioned as a daily gut health habit rather than a reactive fix. Clean Label Project certified and third-party tested, the launch signals a broader shift toward fiber as foundational infrastructure in kids’ nutrition, emphasizing prevention, consistency, and trust.
Fly By Jing launches Hot Pot Bomb.
Fly By Jing unveiled Hot Pot Bomb, a concentrated hot pot base that dissolves directly into broth, making Sichuan hot pot easy to recreate at home. Bundled sets with a mini electric pot turn a single pantry item into a full at-home ritual, signaling a shift toward occasion-driven cooking experiences, not just condiments.
Happy Tooth Products rolls out to 500 Walmart stores.
Happy Tooth Products has launched in 500 Walmart locations nationwide, bringing its family-focused, cleaner oral care to mass retail at scale. The rollout reflects growing demand for approachable wellness brands in everyday categories and signals Walmart’s continued appetite for modern challengers that can earn trust while operating at national distribution levels.
Maeva launches GLP-1–adjacent metabolic wellness platform.
Maeva has launched as a metabolic wellness brand built to support consumers using GLP-1 medications, focusing on nutrient gaps, energy, and long-term metabolic health rather than weight loss alone. The brand reflects a growing wave of medication-adjacent wellness, where CPG isn’t competing with pharma, but building the support layer around it as GLP-1 adoption scales.
Good Bacteria raises $3.2M seed round.
Oral wellness brand Good Bacteria secured $3.2M in seed funding led by BrandProject, BAM Ventures, RiverPark Ventures, and Listen, according to Beauty Independent. The brand is taking a microbiome-first approach to oral care, signaling growing investor confidence that the category is shifting from antiseptic hygiene toward preventative, biology-driven health.
Stiller’s Soda raises $3.5M in new funding.
Better-for-you beverage brand Stiller’s Soda raised $3.5M, according to a recent SEC filing. The fundraise underscores continued investor interest in low-sugar, modern soda brands as consumers move away from traditional soft drinks, favoring nostalgic formats paired with cleaner ingredients and differentiated positioning.
Wizard Wellness modernizes allergy care.
Wizard Wellness is reimagining allergy relief as a daily wellness habit, not a reactive drug-aisle solution. With clean-label, non-drowsy formulas and design-forward packaging, the brand positions allergy care alongside supplements and functional health rather than traditional medicine. The broader signal: allergy is shifting from clinical to lifestyle, and emerging brands are winning by pairing trust, transparency, and routine-friendly use with modern branding.
Hain Celestial sells North American snack division for $115M.
Hain Celestial has agreed to sell its North American snack business for $115M in cash as it continues to streamline its portfolio and double down on higher-margin, faster-growing categories. The move reflects a broader trend among legacy better-for-you players: pruning crowded, slower-growth snack assets to sharpen focus and redeploy capital. The bigger signal is strategic narrowing. As center-aisle growth tightens, large CPGs are prioritizing clarity over sprawl—fewer brands, stronger narratives, and capital aimed where velocity and loyalty are clearest.
More/Less launches protein gummies.
More/Less is a new protein gummy brand founded by bestselling author and NBA coach David Nurse, bringing protein into a more approachable, candy-like format. Instead of shakes or bars, the brand focuses on consistency and everyday habits, using gummies to lower the barrier to functional nutrition. The broader signal: protein is continuing to diversify by format, with gummies emerging as a way to drive compliance, frequency, and mass appeal beyond traditional fitness culture.
Astō Consumer Partners invests $45M in Oats Overnight.
Astō Consumer Partners has made a $45M growth equity investment in Oats Overnight to support its next phase of expansion. The brand has turned overnight oats into a high-frequency, protein-forward breakfast ritual by pairing convenience with strong flavor and nutrition. The broader signal: investors are backing functional pantry staples that drive daily repeat behavior, with breakfast emerging as one of the most defensible routines in better-for-you food.
Encore Consumer Capital closes $350M Fund V.
Encore Consumer Capital has closed its fifth fund with $350M in LP commitments, underscoring continued confidence in established, founder-led consumer brands. With investments spanning beauty, wellness, and food, Encore is known for backing brands at proven inflection points. The broader signal: while early-stage capital has tightened, growth equity remains available for brands with real traction, durable demand, and clear paths to profitable scale.
Ritual launches at Costco with premium in-store placement.
Ritual’s Costco rollout is starting with two weeks of endcap placement before moving to a permanent spot in the vitamin aisle, according to Modern Retail. Endcaps at Costco are reserved for brands expected to drive immediate velocity, signaling strong retailer confidence. The broader takeaway: modern, DTC-native wellness brands are crossing into true mass scale, with membership retail becoming a key proving ground for trust, education, and volume.
Salty Sweet Crispy Puffs expand into Costco across Southern California.
Salty Sweet Crispy Puffs have landed in select Costco locations across Los Angeles and Orange County, marking a key regional club rollout. Costco placement signals confidence in velocity, value, and mass appeal, while the limited regional launch creates urgency and real-world scale testing. The broader takeaway: regional Costco tests remain one of the fastest ways for emerging snack brands to prove readiness for national club expansion.
Nekter Pop lands Sprouts rollout for 2026.
Nekter Pop announced it will launch at Sprouts Farmers Market in April 2026, following momentum from the Sprouts Beverage Pitch Slam in December. The placement highlights how Sprouts is increasingly using Pitch Slam as a real pipeline for discovering and scaling emerging beverage brands, and reinforces growing retail demand for functional soda alternatives that balance better-for-you ingredients with everyday refreshment.
Thread® launches nationwide at Target.
Thread® has officially rolled out to 1,000+ Target locations nationwide, marking a major scale milestone for the brand. The launch underscores Target’s continued appetite for modern, design-forward wellness and personal care brands that can translate strong DTC storytelling into mass retail velocity.
For emerging CPG brands, Thread’s expansion is another signal that clean positioning plus clear brand identity can unlock national big-box distribution faster than ever.
Tubby Todd Bath Co. launches at Target.
Tubby Todd Bath Co. has officially rolled out at Target, marking a major retail milestone for the family-first skincare brand. The launch was supported by a thoughtful, community-driven social strategy, from early teasers to launch-day storytelling and a full brand journey timeline.
It’s a strong example of how modern CPG brands are pairing retail expansion with intentional content to bring their audience along for the ride, turning shelf space into a moment, not just a placement.
Nude by Nature launches at Walmart.
VidaCorp has brought its clean beauty brand Nude by Nature to Walmart as part of a new U.S. rollout, with most products priced under $14. Known for mineral-based, cruelty-free formulations, the brand’s expansion signals how clean beauty is continuing to move down-market, making “better-for-you” beauty more accessible at mass retail.
Banagua expands into national retail.
Coconut water brand Banagua is rolling out across multiple national retailers including Albertsons, Kroger, Sprouts Farmers Market, Fresh Thyme Market, and INFRA, marking a major step up in distribution. The expansion follows Banagua being named Beverage Digest’s “Best New Brand,” reinforcing growing momentum behind premium hydration brands that pair clean sourcing with modern positioning.
Three Wishes expands Cocoa cereal at Walmart
Better-for-you cereal brand Three Wishes has landed its chocolate Cocoa flavor in Walmart stores, continuing the brand’s push to modernize the cereal aisle with higher-protein, lower-sugar classics. The move deepens mass retail penetration and reinforces that “better cereal” is becoming a default, not a niche.
Roxii Supercube goes nationwide at Sprouts
Frozen beverage cube brand Roxii Supercube has officially rolled out nationwide across Sprouts Farmers Market freezer aisles. What began as a kitchen-made solution is now scaled into a national retail footprint, upgrading the “make-at-home beverage” category with clean, convenient, freezer-friendly formats.
The expansion highlights growing demand for functional, customizable drinks that live outside the traditional bottle or can.
Whether you’re launching your first SKU, pushing into retail, or just trying to stay ahead of where CPG is headed, that’s what Cpgconnect is here for. This community exists to connect the right people, surface real opportunities, and share what’s actually working as brands scale.
If you haven’t yet, take a minute to fill out the form so I can keep tailoring this to what’s most useful for you. And for daily updates, brand finds, and behind-the-scenes CPG moments, make sure to follow along on Instagram.
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Catch you next week ✌️
- Zach
P.S. If this was helpful, pass it along to a founder or teammate who’d get value out of it. And as always, hit reply anytime. I read every message.
Fantastic take on the club retail shift. That Tubby Todd placement at Target shows how brands can leverage community storyteling to turn distribution into real demand instead of just shelf space. I've noticed similar patterns with smaller brands using founder-led content to drive momentum befor they even land in a big box retailer, kinda makes the traditional launch sequence feel outdated.