Unpackaged Goods

Jonathan Deeter
  • 5.0 (4)
  • INVESTING

Spilling the real stories behind CPG brands. Host Jonathan Deeter unpacks founder journeys, industry news, and what it really takes to build consumer brands. Presented by Deet's Eats Media, a Pickle Advisors company. 

  1. 3D AGO

    The Co-Founder of Hims & Hers Is Back — And She's Reinventing Coffee Syrup | Interview with POCA Founders + CPG News

    She co-founded Hims & Hers in 2017 and helped build it into a $4 billion telehealth company. Now Hilary Coles is back — and she's coming for your morning coffee. This week on Unpackaged Goods, I sit down with Hilary Coles and Emily Boschwitz, the co-founders of POCA — portable, zero-sugar coffee and matcha syrups that are reinventing how we flavor our drinks. Hilary co-founded Hims & Hers and built out their physical products and brand. Emily was their first marketing hire. Together, they watched wellness overtake big pharma by 4x over the last decade and decided the next frontier was the one vice we're all still allowed to have: coffee. We talk about the Hims & Hers origin story and what they learned building a company that proved lowercase-h healthcare was real. Why coffee and matcha are the last sacred rituals in a world optimized to death. How they formulated zero-sugar syrups using rare sugars like monk fruit and allulose that actually dissolve in iced drinks — because 75% of Starbucks orders are iced and traditional syrup sinks to the bottom. The pistachio flavor that's giving people an emotional reaction. Building a second company as moms with young kids. Why the GLP-1 movement is creating unexpected demand for flavor in protein-heavy diets. And why they worked with the Glossier design team to make POCA feel like a beauty moment, not a food product. Plus the weekly CPG news breakdown: → Unilever x McCormick is official — $20B revenue, $60B combined value, $15.7B cash payment → KDP closes $18B JDE Peet's and splits into Beverage Co. and Global Coffee Co. → Chomps approaching $900M in revenue — 36% growth at massive scale → IM8 hits $100M ARR in 11 months — Beckham, Giannis on the cap table → Mars Men hits $100M in 18 months — $27.5M Series A from L Catterton → Create closes $20M — Mike Repole and Unilever Ventures invest → The Casamigos Alumni Effect — former CEO launches Por Qué No canned cocktails → Khloud Protein Chips debuting exclusively at Target → Cadence, Clean Simple Eats, and Boka all launching at 2,000+ Walmart doors → Cleanlogic at 6,000+ CVS stores → Something Sweet nationwide at Whole Foods → Bloom Sparkling Energy launching in Canada via KDP The mega deals are closing. The rockets are launching. And the co-founder of one of the most important consumer health companies of the last decade just told you where she thinks the next opportunity lives — in the cup you're holding right now. Subscribe to The Deeter Digest for the full weekly breakdown: https://deetseatsnyc.substack.com/p/the-deeter-digest-80e Follow @deetseatsnyc on Instagram & TikTok Learn more about Pickle Advisors: pickleadvisors.com Check out POCA: https://pickpoca.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooZl8fro92SgJTKY0ZLhh7Ah6p9CW8LMjQmxAHo1uVZofiKAGil #CPG #ConsumerGoods #POCA #HimsAndHers #Coffee #Matcha #Unilever #McCormick #Chomps #IM8 #MarsMen #LCatterton #Create #UnpackagedGoods #DeeterDigest #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #FunctionalBeverages #WomenFounders

    47 min

  2. MAR 26

    $4B Supplements, $1.15B Meal Shakes, and the Biggest Food Deal in Years

    Every major story this week is about deciding what you want to be when you grow up. McCormick and Unilever are in talks to merge food divisions — Hellmann's, Knorr, Cholula, Frank's Red Hot under one roof in a deal worth tens of billions. Danone paid $1.15 billion for Huel because meal replacement was a billion-dollar category all along. L Catterton is shopping Thorne for up to $4 billion after buying it for $680M three years ago — the most impressive PE flip in wellness history. Sazerac acquired Dirty Shirley after 934% sales growth. And Glossier is closing 9 of 12 stores to focus on hero products. In this episode, I break down: → Why the McCormick x Unilever deal signals the end of the diversified conglomerate era → What Danone's $1.15B Huel acquisition means for every founder in functional nutrition → The math behind L Catterton's potential 6x return on Thorne — and why vertical integration commands a $4B valuation → How Dirty Shirley turned childhood nostalgia into 934% growth and a Sazerac acquisition → Why Glossier closing stores is actually the most bullish signal for the brand in years → General Mills selling $350M in Brazilian food to go deeper into pet care → Ferrero buying another protein brand because the company behind Nutella decided protein bars are the future → The 15,000-brand beverage problem — and what separates winners from the graveyard → DryWater adding 41,000 doors approaching $100M — the next Liquid I.V.? → Tilray completing the BrewDog hat-trick across three continents → Funding rounds from Habiza, Good Girl Snacks, Laoban, Yough, JiYu, and Funny Water → Distribution wins at Target, Sprouts, H-E-B, Sam's Club, Kroger, and Erewhon The consolidation wave isn't coming. It's here. The big are getting bigger. The focused are getting smarter. And the window between emerging brand and acquisition target just got shorter. Subscribe to The Deeter Digest for the full weekly breakdown: https://substack.com/home/post/p-191864754 Follow @deetseatsnyc on Instagram and Tik Tok Learn more about Pickle Advisors: pickleadvisors.com Rate us five stars if this episode changes how you think about portfolio strategy. #CPG #ConsumerGoods #McCormick #Unilever #Danone #Huel #Thorne #LCatterton #DirtyShirley #Sazerac #Glossier #Ferrero #GeneralMills #PrivateEquity #MergersAndAcquisitions #UnpackagedGoods #DeeterDigest #BusinessStrategy #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital

    18 min

  3. MAR 18

    $530M in Firepower, PepsiCo Enters the Chat, and Clooney's Back | EP 019

    The firepower is real this week. David Protein gets hit with a class action lawsuit claiming 83% more calories than labeled — but the internet completely missed the science. Coefficient Capital closes $530M across two funds. PepsiCo launches meat sticks and proves they read the Bain insurgent brands report. Hims & Hers goes from GLP-1 victim to GLP-1 distributor in 14 days. George Clooney applies the Casamigos formula to non-alc beer. Monster quietly launches FLRT to chase the female energy consumer. And Once Upon a Farm posts 30% revenue growth — then watches the stock drop 20%. This is the episode that explains why your moat isn't distribution anymore. In this episode:  The David Protein lawsuit — what the lab got wrong and why EPG changes everythingCoefficient Capital's $530M — what it means if you're raising a Series A or BPepsiCo's Good Warrior meat sticks — Big Food just read the Bain reportHims & Hers' 14-day strategic pivot — the most impressive sequence in consumer health in yearsGeorge Clooney's Crazy Mountain — can the Casamigos formula work twice?Monster's FLRT — can a corporate brand win the female energy consumer on authenticity?Once Upon a Farm's public market reality check — 30% growth gets champagne in a boardroom. On Wall Street it gets a haircut.Rapid fire: Henkel acquires Not Your Mother's, Morinaga buys My/Mochi, Grüns at Costco, Poppi at Starbucks, and moreSubscribe to The Deeter Digest for the weekly newsletter that goes deeper than the podcast. Link below. Rate us 5 stars if this episode made you rethink who your real competitors are. ---  Unpackaged Goods is hosted by Jonathan Deeter, founder of Pickle Advisors and creator of Deet's Eats Media.   Newsletter: deetseatsnyc.substack.com Instagram/tik tok: @deetseatsnyc

    27 min
  4. This Couscous Has More Protein Than Chicken | Bar from BoostCous | Unpackaged Goods EP 018

    FEB 27

    This Couscous Has More Protein Than Chicken | Bar from BoostCous | Unpackaged Goods EP 018

    This week I sit down with Bar, the founder of BoostCous — a gluten-free couscous packed with protein and fiber that's rethinking one of the most overlooked staples in the grocery aisle. We talk about how he came up with the concept, the challenges of reformulating a centuries-old product, and what it takes to build a better-for-you brand in a category nobody's innovating in. This week in CPG news: 🔹 Hims & Hers drops $1.15B on Australian digital health platform Eucalyptus 🔹 Bain Capital shops a $3B dessert empire 🔹 Nestlé officially exits ice cream after decades of trying 🔹 Happy Dad dominates Dry January with 31% YoY growth 🔹 Patrick Mahomes' Throne Sport Coffee raises $10M 🔹 J.M. Smucker makes Uncrustables fridge-friendly Get the full breakdown in The Deeter Digest 👉 linktr.ee/deetseatnyc Follow along: @deetseatnyc | @unpackagedgoodspod | @pickleadvisors

    58 min

  5. FEB 18

    Jake Shane's C-Suite Takeover + Kraft Heinz's $600M Plot Twist

    This week the business world officially lost its mind. A TikTok creator became Chief Creative Officer of a German candy company, Kraft Heinz reversed a billion-dollar corporate split to invest $600M in growth, and someone created probiotics that flush forever chemicals from your body. In this episode: [0:00-2:00] Intro: Are We Living in a Simulation? When TikTok creators become C-suite executives and legacy giants reverse course on major restructuring, traditional business rules are officially dead. [2:00-8:00] The Creator Economy Takeover Jake Shane's appointment as Katjes CCO signals a seismic shift toward cultural relevance over traditional credentials. Why LinkedIn is officially a graveyard and what this means for business leadership. [8:00-15:00] Kraft Heinz's $600M Strategy Reversal Steve Cahillane perfected corporate splits at Kellogg, then decided NOT to split Kraft Heinz. Instead: $600M investment in growth. Why financial engineering is dead and brand building won. [15:00-19:00] Reliance's Australian Platform Play India's biggest conglomerate bought a portfolio of Australian better-for-you beverage brands. Strategic international expansion through premium brand acquisition. [19:00-23:00] Forever Chemical Probiotics & Environmental Health Danish startup Cambiotics raised €4M for probiotics targeting PFAS removal. When environmental contamination meets precision nutrition, new categories emerge. [23:00-26:00] Happy Dad's Dry January Masterclass How they grew 31% during the month people stop drinking while White Claw struggled and Truly declined. Having a cult vs. having a product. The Big Picture: Cultural relevance trumps corporate credentials. Growth investment beats financial engineering. Authentic problem-solving creates new categories. Community building outperforms traditional marketing. Subscribe: Apple, Spotify, YouTube | Newsletter: The Deeter Digest What shocked you most this week? Let us know in the comments.

    27 min

  6. FEB 12

    Willie Nelson's $80M Cannabis Empire + $400M Barbecue Sauce

    This week the CPG world officially lost its mind. Willie Nelson built an $80 million cannabis beverage empire in under 12 months, someone paid $400 million for barbecue sauce, and a baby food company is now trading on the NYSE next to Apple and Tesla. In this episode: [0:00-6:00] The Week CPG Broke Reality Once Upon a Farm's $198M NYSE debut proves baby food is Wall Street materialWillie Nelson's $80M cannabis run rate validates authentic celebrity brandsMarzetti's $400M Bachan's acquisition signals ethnic condiments are institutional assets[6:00-12:00] The Funding Frenzy Continues CAVU Consumer Partners raised $325M (exceeding target) for Fund VSEMCAP doubled down on Good Culture with $55M follow-on investmentProper Wild raised $10M after 550% energy shot growth[12:00-17:00] When Sunscreen Meets Soda Vacation x Pepsi Wild Cherry lip balm collaboration chaosLemme x Kylie Cosmetics gummy partnership strategyWhy unexpected brand collaborations actually work[17:00-23:00] The Creatine Explosion Koia launching creatine protein shakes exclusively at PublixMomentous expanding creatine chews with new flavorsHow strength training went mainstream and created category gold rush[23:00-29:00] Distribution Wins & Strategic Exits Hain Celestial's $115M snack division divestment strategyTony's Chocolonely defying chocolate industry trends with 20% growthWhy premium brands continue conquering mass retailThe Big Picture: Authenticity and execution beat innovation every time. When country music legends build cannabis empires, barbecue sauce commands $400M valuations, and baby food trades publicly, we've entered an era where solving real problems for specific populations creates institutional investment opportunities. Subscribe: Apple, Spotify, YouTube | Newsletter: The Deeter Digest What shocked you most this week? Let us know in the comments.

    29 min

  7. FEB 4

    From Poker Player Oats to Artisan Challah: 5 Humans Behind the Hustle

    This week I took over The Shelf NYC for a special edition of "The Humans Behind the Hustle" - diving deep into the stories of five incredible food founders who are building authentic brands through relentless execution and genuine passion. In this episode: [0:00-29:00] This Week's CPG Chaos Former poker player Brian Tate raises $45M for Oats Overnight after hitting $200M revenueBen Stiller's distribution-first soda strategy proves celebrity brands can workOnce Upon a Farm kicks off $200M+ IPO roadshow for premium kids' nutritionAmazon abandons all grocery stores except Whole Foods in massive retreatTHC beverages officially hit Chicago Bulls gamesGood Bacteria raises $3.2M to "rewild" the American microbiomeWhy 2026 is the year every business rule got thrown out the window[29:00-31:00] Bous Cous - Authentic Middle Eastern Heritage The founder's mission to bring real couscous to American tables, navigating cultural positioning, and building trust around heritage ingredients. [31:00-33:00] Challah Hallah - Artisanal Bread at Scale From neighborhood bakery to retail distribution while maintaining traditional quality, building community around heritage bread, and the operational nightmares of scaling fresh products. [33:00-34:30] Livis Dates - Premium Date Revolution Transforming dates from basic snacking to gourmet experiences, managing complex supply chains, and creating luxury in commodity categories. [34:30-35:30] G's Cheese - Specialty Dairy Innovation Taking on established cottage cheese giants, perfecting the artisanal-to-mainstream transition, and why authentic cottage cheese innovation matters in an oversaturated market. [35:30-37:30] Eza Chia Cups - Superfoods Made Simple Making nutrient-dense foods convenient for busy lives, cracking the grab-and-go healthy snack code, and the manufacturing challenges of chia-based products. The Bigger Story: While CPG giants chase trends and venture-backed brands burn cash, these founders prove that authenticity, quality, and solving real problems still create lasting value. The Shelf represents the future of food discovery - where genuine innovation meets real consumers. Subscribe wherever you listen: Apple, Spotify, YouTube Newsletter: The Deeter Digest (link in bio) What founder story resonated most? Let us know in the comments.

    37 min

  8. JAN 22

    $10M for Alcoholic Gatorade + Michael Zabar's Coffee Shop Revolution

    This week in CPG was absolute chaos. Tom Brady's selling protein powder, Beyond Meat launched beverages, and someone raised $10 million for alcoholic sports drinks that taste like Gatorade. Categories officially don't exist anymore. In this episode: [0:00-25:00] This Week's CPG Madness SpikedAde's brilliant $10M sports drink cocktail thesisTom Brady and Mike Repole's NOBULL nutrition expansionBeyond Meat's desperate beverage pivot$110M+ in M&A deals including Kroger's strategic acquisitionsAG1's Vitamin Shoppe conquest and Target's premium food accelerationWhy category convergence is accelerating exponentially[25:00-60:00] Michael Zabar Interview - Building Motif From Zabar family legacy to coffee innovationWhy coffee shops are stuck with terrible syrup optionsThe strategic four-flavor launch (Pistachio, Cinnamon Babka, Vanilla, Chocolate)Competing against International Delight and Torani giantsPlans for retail expansion beyond the coffee shop channelBuilding naturally flavored products in an artificial worldKey Takeaway: Whether you're making coffee syrups or sports drink cocktails, follow customer behavior, not category definitions. Subscribe: Apple, Spotify, YouTube | Newsletter: Substack - The Deeter Digest

    59 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Spilling the real stories behind CPG brands. Host Jonathan Deeter unpacks founder journeys, industry news, and what it really takes to build consumer brands. Presented by Deet's Eats Media, a Pickle Advisors company. 

Information

  • Creator
    Jonathan Deeter
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Unpackaged Goods
  • Show Website
    Unpackaged Goods