Gavin interviewing RFK Jr, ag M&A, & the backstory of betting on Poppi
I actually have no idea if Gavin Newsom plans to interview RFK but our California governor seems like he’s ready to get along really well with the head of MAHA. On his new podcast, This is Gavin Newsom, Gav’s trying really hard (he interviewed Steve Bannon! and Charlie Kirk!) to deflect from the mess made in CA, and if you can excuse some awk hand gestures, he’s pretty good on the pod (watch on YouTube).
He and RFK would really bond over their hate of ultra-processed foods, food dyes, chemicals in agriculture (regenerative!), and I can see Gav nodding along to RFK’s upending of FDA on GRAS. But he’s not a fan of tariffs and neither are many of you. I can see RFK hitting back on California’s poor water management policies — hampering ag and limiting production capacity. It would be fun!
Ag M&A is very active in California — for not the greatest reasons!
Adding to a list of high-profile defaults in leveraged farming operations in California is another grower-processor SunnyGem and landowner John Vidovich. This on the heels of last year’s Trinitas Partners/Pomona Farming and Fresno’s Assemi family operation failures.
What’s happening is these permanent crop biz models clash with short-term debt structures. Layer on water scarcity, increased labor costs, and falling prices (almonds, walnuts) and things become very unstable.
If you need to get out contact Harrison Co. I love their tag line —
My family finally takes what I do seriously
Press on CPG M&A are about the multiples and the products and categories but rarely about the people. Poppi exit is no different. I always say it’s team that wins. It starts with the founders and then all the people around them.
Consulting, advising, and investing in startups is betting on people. The earlier the better. And that’s what we do at The Angel Group. And that’s the Poppi backstory. It’s really that simple. But I know you’re not satisfied with that so I’ll tell you a little more.
It goes like this: prospective investors will taste your product, look at the potential in the category, then look at you. But the weight of future success lies with you. I run across tons of great products and great ideas, but very few founding teams that can make it happen. Execution is all about people.
To prove it’s not always the taste test winner that bests the exit game — survey results from the New Consumer show Olipop beat Poppi amongst those that tried the sodas.
Amazon hot tip! All words used in Ads should be in the product description of the listing
The terms you use in ads should be consistent with product listing words. Just because static headers are not clickable or searchable they should use the same phrases as search terms and product descriptions. Because, consistent terminology improves discoverability, relevance, and conversion rates.
The pace of avocado oil taking the place of seed oils is bananas
Primal Kitchen is the OG avocado oil based condiment company, and now we are seeing avo oil even in snacks. But a majority of domestic and imported avocado oil is either rancid before expiration or adulterated with other oils according to this UC Davis study. The Seed Oil Free Certification org will authenticate purity of your avo oil supplier product.
Snaxshot calls it LatiNostalgia 🌞🌊🦜🥘 check out this roundup
Goya was all we had for so long. My grandmother's pantry. While at Ruiz Foods I pitched becoming a modern Goya. Fell flat. It's now finally happening! (not pictured, Siete , Masa, Dozen Cousins, Tia Lupita, Nemi) I just ordered these chocolate chicharrones ¡Alabao! 🇨🇺🔥
All my best,
Jennifer