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156% higher conversion rate than web
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Now, let’s get into the news of the week →
News from the week
Joyride just became the #1 (non-chocolate) candy brand in Target. That’s insane. This means they’re beating out billion-dollar brands and products like Nerds Gummy Clusters, Sour Patch, Starbursts, and even Sour Strips (founded by YouTuber Maxx Chewning, now owned by Hershey’s).
For a brand that spent 14 years in near-obscurity as Project 7, this is nothing short of remarkable. And it’s all thanks to one crucial partnership: YouTuber Ryan Trahan.
Let’s back up… →
A success 10+ years in the making. Tyler Merrick launched Project 7 in 2008. Originally, it was known for gum and candy with a focus on giving back to seven global causes (hence the name). It was doing just… okay, gaining distribution and solid infrastructure, but certainly not disrupting the category.
So in 2022, Merrick pivoted. He rebranded to JOYRIDE Sweets and dialed into one product category: better-for-you (vegan, low-sugar, low-calorie, non-GMO) candy.
In 2023, everything changed. Merrick brought on Ryan Trahan, a YouTuber with a casual 14.6 million subscribers at the time (now up to 21.6 million), as a Co-Owner and Chief Creative Officer. And with his entry emerged a truly viral brand.
In a world drowning in celebrity tequilas, energy drinks, and beauty brands, Joyride stands out not for having a brand ambassador with millions of followers, but for how Ryan activates his audience:
1. Demand before retail. Ryan announced a 30-day voting period during which fans picked their favorite flavor. Only the winner would go to mass production and retail, giving the community a genuine sense of ownership.
2. Community as a sales force. When Joyride launched at 1,200 Target stores in June 2024 on the bottom shelf (boof), Ryan encouraged followers through an Instagram campaign called “the climb,” landing them in Target’s top-3 by January and #2 by March.
Side note: The average consumer probably doesn’t know that bottom shelf = poor visibility = poor velocity. Through this campaign, Ryan gave consumers an insider’s view into what it takes for a brand to win retail, making them feel bought into the brand’s success.
3. Doesn’t feel like an ad. Joyride is seamlessly incorporated into Ryan’s content. He built his personal brand on wild stunts—so it only makes sense that he would build Joyride on the same foundation:
During his wildly popular “50 States in 50 Days” YouTube series—which raised nearly $12M for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital—he hit up Target stores across the country and featured Joyride throughout nearly every video.
His latest “Joyride Hour” stunt asked followers to post with Joyride at Target within the same hour in an effort to break a Guinness World Record. Needless to say, he succeeded (…while conveniently driving foot traffic to Target).
Between Joyride, MrBeast’s Feastables, and Sour Strips, the candy aisle is becoming YouTuber territory—and it’s no accident. Candy is the perfect category for creator brands: it’s accessible (impulse-purchase friendly and relatively inexpensive—great for younger audiences who want to support creators with their single-digit allowance) and visual (photographs + unboxes well, creates natural UGC opportunities).
It’s also a category ready for disruption. Since Smartsweets (acquired by TPG Growth for ~$400M in 2020), plenty of better-for-you candy brands have arrived on the scene—but none have made a mark quite like Joyride.
With $30M raised, Ryan’s YouTube’s continual growth, and growing consumer demand for tasty low-sugar treats, Joyride is well-positioned to continue crushing this category.
But the bigger story? Joyride has proven that when you combine a great product with an engaged community who’ll storm Target on command, you don’t just compete… you become the #1 bestseller.
CPG & Consumer Goods
No Blue Steel flavor?! After teasing it for months, Ben Stiller’s soda brand aptly named Stiller’s, debuts with three flavors inspired by his childhood (Shirley Temple, Root beer, and Lemon Lime). The brand isn’t promising anything special (or functional), just a 30-calorie, low-sugar soda. The brand was co-founded by former AVEC beverage founder, Alex Doman.
Speaking of celebrity beverages…Charlie Sheen is back: he’s sober, he’s got a memoir, and launched a new non-alcoholic line of beer called Wild AF (great name).
It’s crunch time for popsicles. JonnyPops is launching freeze-dried popsicles, available in three flavors. Freeze dried sweets has been a trend rising the ranks so it was only a matter of time!
While freeze-dried treats are in no way new, I do think that JohnnyPop is well positioned to do pretty well with this product! And with the growing trend of sweet treat brands launching freeze dried products, I think JohnnyPop launched this at the right time. - Nate
A bit corny if you ask us. Maïzly, the world’s first plant-based corn milk just hit 600 shelves across the US.
This is shockingly excellent plant-based milk—it’s neutral yet slightly sweet and creamier than other alts. We’ve both been trying this at trade shows for a while now, and are super excited to see it come to the US market!!
Though the plant milk category may be losing popularity overall, Maizly has another trend on its side: it offers a whopping 8g of dietary fiber per serving. For context, regular milk has zero fiber, and oat milk—which has the highest fiber of other mlks—still only has around 2g. If fiber really is the “new protein” (as many have been saying), Maïzly could be the next big thing in alternative milk. - Jenna
More trick than treat. A federal judge tossed a class action lawsuit against Hershey’s claiming consumers were misled by the packaging of Reese’s Halloween candies, which depicted “carved designs” but actually were just… pumpkin-ish blobs. The judge ruled that customers still got their “delicious” treats. 🙃
Someone please introduce me to the angry parent who wanted $5 mil for some PB cups that couldn’t commit to the bit. I really want to attend their Halloween party. - Jenna
Utz Party Mix is going to start looking BORING. Add Utz Brands to the long list of Big CPG who plans to eliminate artificial colors from its product lineup by 2027, currently 80% of its offerings are already free from them.
Everything is now in gummy form. Bloom Nutrition teamed up with better-for-you candy brand Tandy to launch Energy Blooms gummies at Target, gummies with 50mg of natural caffeine and just 110 calories per bag.
This is Bloom’s second foray into gummies, with its creatine gummies debuting on TikTok shop last month. This bev brand is betting big on chewables, and it makes sense: it’s a familiar format for supplements, far cheaper to ship than liquid, and expands their presence into another aisle.
...and in more gummy news: Grüns launched Immün, an immunity gummy that packs 13 ingredients like MCT oil, black pepper, elderberry, and ginger root into 1 small gummy.
This comes just off the back of the launch of Lemme’s own immunity gummy product. Grüns is catching up fast to the Kardashian brand 👀
We’re admittedly still a little confused by this product. Grüns’ OG product already claims to do just about everything, including boosting immunity…so why the additional SKU? According to their team, immün is “more targeted,” for immune benefits—but they still suggest taking it daily.
To us, that suggests either 1) OG Grüns doesn’t actually do much for immunity or 2) this is a redundant product and you really don’t need both (we’re all supplement suckers out here, right?). 🤷♂️ Whatever the answer may be, Grüns does make a tasty gummy.
Sweetener is the next frontier. The FDA has given Oobli its third approval for the sweet protein brazzein-54, a protein made using precision fermentation which is 550 times sweeter than sugar. It’s intended to be a sweetener option for manufacturers seeking better-for-you, sugar-free product formulation.
We interviewed Ali Wing, the CEO of Oobli, earlier this year. Check that out here!
We demand the brine to-go. Freestyle Snacks, known for their snacking olives, is expanding their salty lineup to include pickles! They’ll be launching these briny snack bags at Whole Foods soon.
Pickles have been all the rage recently, with brands like Grillo’s and Good Girl Snacks blowing up on social.
Another tween skincare brand?! Thirteen-year-old Coco Granderson—and her parents, including her entertainment lawyer father—are teaming up with the chemist behind Rhode to launch Yes Day, a skincare line designed for younger skin.
This comes off of 15-year-old creator Salish Matter’s Sincerely Yours skincare brand launch, which came with much fanfare.
Magnum scoops up AI for innovation. Unilever’s The Magnum Ice Cream Company (which owns brands like Talenti, Klondike, and Breyer’s) is partnering with NotCo to leverage AI for new product development.
NotCo is a really interesting company to watch out for—it’s a vertical-specific AI platform specifically designed to simplify R&D for CPG.
eCommerce
Amazon’s big oops. The eCommerce giant is shelling out $2.5 billion to settle claims it tricked users into Prime subscriptions with deceptive designs.
The FTC is also trying to tackle tricky eCommerce subscriptions with it’s “Click to Cancel” rule which requires businesses to make it as easy as possible to cancel subscriptions and memberships online.
Retail
Target makes moves to bring back customers:
The retailer is rolling out the first accessible self-checkout in U.S. retail, designed with input from the blind community, making it easier for more guests to shop independently and confidently this holiday season.
It’s also revamping its SoHo store to highlight fashion over convenience, hoping to emphasize its position as a style destination.
Aldi finally puts its name on it. As they expand into the US, Aldi is launching its first-ever namesake brand, revamping over 90% of its packaging to feature the Aldi name for the first time.
It’s wild to us that Aldi didn’t yet have its name on its in-house brand, which takes up most of the store. It may have something to do with its track record of lawsuits surrounding its private-label dupes—Aldi has faced at least one trademark infringement lawsuit per year since 2018.
This strategic move also coincides with Aldi’s aggressive U.S. expansion—the retailer is opening a flagship 25,000-square-foot store in NYC’s Times Square in 2026 and adding over 225 new locations in 2025 alone.
In other Aldi news… the retailer is officially on Uber Eats, part of a slew of new retailers onboarded to the platform.
What’s especially exciting, though, is that Aldi will be the first retailer on Uber Eats to accept SNAP benefits nationwide.
Funding news
Tito’s welcomes LALO to the family. Tito’s Handmade Vodka just snagged a majority stake in LALO Tequila, blending two iconic brands and expanding the tequila’s reach.
We need more CPG champions. Beckett Industries launched a $50 million venture fund to target early-stage food and beverage businesses, signaling a strategic shift into consumer packaged goods that could reshape its investment landscape.
And they’ve already made some bets! They participated in a $1.5 million round into Waku Tea, a prebiotic drink brand.
From football to fruit. Star quarterback Caleb Williams’ investment firm, 888 Midas, has invested in Fruitist, a unicorn berry company exceeding $1B in sales and valuation. Fruitist products available in over 12,500 retail locations across North America.
Contextual shopping just got a boost. Curated For You snagged $8.3 million in seed funding, led by Florida Funders, to enhance its lifestyle-driven e-commerce platform.
We just released our third podcast episode on the most anticipated (and contentious) topic yet: protein, baby. This is just part one of our two-part protein series, so make sure you tune in and subscribe for our next protein (knowledge) drop!
If you haven’t yet, please subscribe! It helps us out a lot.