• 💰 Alliance Consumer Growth Closes $160M Fund
• 💡 NIQ: Non-Alc Bev Sees Soft Volumes
• 🏃 People: Pressed Juicery's New CFO/COO
• 🧑🏼‍⚖️ Owoc vs. The Court
• 📈 Nosh Trendlines Report

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Lower demand for both drinks and snacks in North America struck a blow to PepsiCo’s Q2 2024 quarterly earnings, the company reported this morning, even as it grew gross and operating margins and beat some analyst expectations.

• Net revenue grew just 0.8% year-over-year in Q2, up 1.5% year-to-date.
• Organic revenue growth was stronger, up 1.9% in the quarter and 2.3% year-to-date.
• Quarterly revenue for PepsiCo Beverages North America was up 1%, while Frito-Lay North America declined 1% and Quaker Oats North America, injured by product recalls, dropped 18%.
• Core gross margin expanded by 120 basis points and core operating margin grew 105 basis points.

In a statement, PepsiCo chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta also highlighted double-digit EPS growth (+13%). He noted the company is “remaining agile despite facing difficult net revenue growth” due to the Quaker Oats recall and shuttering of an Illinois production facility in April.

“For the balance of the year, we will further elevate and accelerate our productivity initiatives and make disciplined commercial investments in the marketplace to stimulate growth,” Laguarta said, highlight a “focus on surgically providing optimal value propositions” in the NA convenient foods portfolio and upping marketing for the latter half of the year.

It’s not just Quaker though. Years of price increases have led to resistance by consumers, the executive said on the earnings call, and private label sales have risen, becoming tougher competition for the conglomerate. It’s not just low-income shoppers, either: Laguarta said all income levels are reacting to prolonged grocery inflation as volume sales for Frito-Lay dropped 4% and PBNA fell 3%.

But the picture is brighter outside of the U.S. as the company said it expects international sales to “remain resilient,” while remaining optimistic on the outlook for North America. Laguarta said the company’s sales “should gradually improve” as it executes on commercialization plans for the second half of the year.

Catch Up Quick: PepsiCo: Quaker Foods Drags Q1 Amid Strong International Sales Growth

Growth equity investment firm Alliance Consumer Growth (ACG) this week closed a new $160 million fund, the company’s fifth, bringing its lifetime financing to over $1 billion in aggregate capital commitments.

🥡 ACG Fund V has already been used for two new investments by the consumer-focused firm, including leading Momofuku Goods’ $11.5 million funding round last fall, and an investment skincare company iNNBEAUTY Project.

🌝 ACG co-founder and managing partner Josh Goldin told Nosh the firm expects to ultimately invest in a total of seven to nine new brands with the fund, including the two aforementioned deals.

😋 Goldin said ACG is currently highly interested in the food and beverage sector, which he believes is seeing a resurgence in consumer and investor interest after a long inflationary period challenged entrepreneurial brands.

Read more about the new fund on Nosh.

Get ready for our July Community Calls! This month, dive into GNGR Labs’ hands-on growth strategies, find out how to dial in product market fit for a successful product launch, and join us as we reveal the 2024 Nosh Notables list. Our July calls are free and open to the public – just register in advance and mark your calendar.

BevNET’s annual Natural Beverage Guide is the beverage industry’s largest guide to beverages targeting the natural channel. The guide includes everything from kombucha to bottled waters and powders, plus companies that supply goods and services to those beverage manufacturers. The final deadline to list is today, Thursday, July 11.

The latest NielsenIQ report, analyzed by Goldman Sachs, is in and shows “healthy," but decelerating growth across non-alcoholic beverages as volume growth slows in the latest two-week period ending June 29. Here’s a run of the numbers:

• Overall sales growth was up 3.5% in the two-week period, while volume decelerated (+2.8%) and pricing was stable at +0.7%.
• CSD sales grew 3% as volume growth declines accelerated -2.9% in the two-weeks compared to -1.2% in the four-week period.
• Energy drink sales slumped 1.1% in the two-week period and the category’s overall volumes were down 2.3% in the same period. 

Stay tuned for the full recap on BevNET later today. 

Pressed Juicery has added expertise in cold-chain distributed beverages with the addition of Gary Cooperman to the executive team as the company’s new COO and CFO. 

• Cooperman comes to Pressed with expertise in CPG finance including over four years as Health-Ade CFO in addition to bringing an “operationally-oriented” perspective that he is using to expand the cold-pressed juice company’s retail footprint.

🧃 Another juice franchise, Main Squeeze Juice Co., has also appointed new leadership in Jennifer Dodd as its CEO. Dodd has over 30 years experience working in franchise restaurants. 

🥤 Mike Scavuzzo has joined prebiotic soda maker Olipop has its VP of category management and business insights. Scavuzzo most recently was sales director at Numerator.

🥛 Bottled water category executive Christopher Link was named the Oatly’s chief customer officer – a new role at the oat milk company. 

Jack Owoc, the former CEO of former Bang parent company Vital Pharmaceuticals, is fighting back against the judge overseeing his federal bankruptcy trial in Florida, calling for the dismissal of Judge Peter Russin in a complaint filed with the Eleventh Circuit.

👀 According to Law360, Owoc filed the complaint back on May 15 and is alleging Russin has denied him due process and is “weaponizing proceedings against him.” 

📄 Owoc told the publication that he believes the liquidating trustee of Vital Pharmaceuticals is refusing to turn over tax documents that, if obtained, would prevent him from facing a $100 million tax liability.

⚖️ Owoc also said his most recent attorney has withdrawn from the case – his ninth different attorney in the case to date – but alleged that Russin is refusing to grant a brief continuance to allow him to hire a new lawyer. Owoc is currently representing himself.

On the podcast this week, the team plays a quick game of Two Truths And A Lie: CPG Edition, testing our reporters’ knowledge of recent product launches. After the quiz, the group runs down the topics and premise of Nosh’s recently released Trendlines series. They go deep on three features from the five-part series, explaining developments in self-manufacturing, healthspan versus lifespan marketing campaigns and the roiling debate over seed oils in formulations.

Listen to the full episode on Nosh.

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