Dive Brief:
-
REBBL, a maker of coconut milk-based herbal beverages, and High Brew Coffee, which produces canned coffee products, have received $20 million apiece from funding rounds, according to BevNET. High Brew's funding round was led by Charles Street Partners, an earlier investor in the coffee company. The cash infusion for REBBL came from CAVU Venture Partners.
-
High Brew intends to use funds for marketing — particularly digital — Chief Marketing Officer Mari Johnson told BevNet. The company set up a distribution deal with Dr Pepper Snapple Group in 2016. It said it sold more than 24 million cans last year, and posted a 55% growth rate for the past eight weeks.
-
REBBL also plans to increase marketing — plus add employees, bolster R&D and enhance sales, CEO Sheryl O’Loughlin said in a release. The company will also continue working against human trafficking with its non-profit partner and co-founder, Not For Sale. REBBL said it has had triple-digit growth since first starting up in 2011, and its products are on shelves at more than 7,000 retailers across the country.
Dive Insight:
REBBL attributes its growth to being on the forefront of several ongoing beverage trends: organic, plant-based and functional products made with coconut milk; socially responsible and sustainable sourcing; and what it calls a "fanatical focus on creating exceptional tasting products."
The company doesn't use GMOs, flavor chemicals, gums, thickeners or carrageenan. Its products contain super herbs or adaptogens such as matcha, turmeric, ashwagandha, maca and schizandra — and also powder made from reishi mushrooms, which are said to boost immune functions and fight inflammation, fatigue and liver problems, among other benefits.
Clayton Christopher, CAVU Venture Partners' co-founder and managing partner, said in a release his company has long admired REBBL for its products and its management team — and also for its mission to make a real difference.
REBBL — which stands for roots, extracts, berries, bark and leaves — certainly has earned that admiration. For a long time, it held a niche position when it started out in the adaptogen elixir market. As other companies take note of its success, competitors have joined it.
Although other food and beverage companies — particularly B Corporations — have mission-driven values, REBBL differentiates itself by contributing 2.5% of its net sales to efforts by Not For Sale to end human trafficking in areas where it sources ingredients. CEO Sheryl O’Loughlin told Food Navigator REBBL is leveraging its supply chain to work on the problem. The company will debut a new Banana Nut Protein flavor in July containing Brazil nuts, which it hopes to source from Madre de Dios in the Peruvian rainforest. Not For Sale donated a boat to help get the growers get the nuts to processors in Lima and avoid middlemen, she said, and the group helped the community become certified organic and fair trade to brings premium prices.
High Brew Coffee doesn't have the uniqueness of product or humanitarian mission of REBBL, but it does have strong local ties to its hometown of Austin, Texas. Transparency and honesty in ingredients also got Houston Street of Charles Street Partners excited.
“As an Austin-native and University of Texas alumni, I discovered High Brew shortly after it launched in 2014 and immediately fell in love,” Street said in a written statement reported in the Austin American-Statesman. “When the opportunity arose to be more deeply involved with a brand I already loved, I knew I had to jump at the chance.”
High Brew's ingredients, which don't have the exciting backstory of REBBL's, are simple and genuine. They were another reason Street wanted to make the investment in the cold brew maker, according to the statement.
Demand for traceability, accountability and transparency is not only working on investors. According to a report from The Hartman Group, shoppers are looking for both ethical and environmental sustainability behind the products they buy — and they're willing to pay more for them. If REBBL talks about why it sources those Brazil nuts, and High Brew plays up its simple and genuine ingredients, consumers may also find themselves investing in the manufacturers' future.