Not ‘Deez Nuts’ (HSY)
A judge recently ruled in favor of ‘Dee’s Nuts’ and granted a permanent injunction against Feastables. YouTube celebrity Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, launched a chocolate bar brand called Feastables in 2022. In February, the brand added a peanut butter-flavored chocolate bar named ‘Deez Nuts.’
In August, a company called ‘Dee’s Nuts’, selling tins of flavored peanuts sued Feastables for copyright infringement. The judge ruled that the ‘Deez Nuts’ was confusingly similar. ‘Deez Nuts’ are still available on the company’s websites and in various retailers.
A month ago, Feastables chocolate was voluntarily recalled in Australia and New Zealand due to reports of allergic reactions to peanut contamination. Manufacturing peanut products is complicated by the allergen concern, but Hershey’s best-selling chocolate brand Reese’s, proves the consumers’ demand. MrBeast has encountered numerous growing pains in his brand's efforts to grow a food business. For the replay CLICK HERE.
Getting into hard tea (SAM, 2503.JP)
New Belgium is expanding its Voodoo Ranger Hardcharged Tea nationally in 2024. In the last 52 weeks that ended December 3 RTD sales grew 566M or 6.1% YOY. The category’s growth was driven by hard tea and hard lemonade’s sales growth of 26.4%.
Twisted Tea sales grew 34% in Q3 for Boston Beer and have been the bright spot in the company’s portfolio in recent years. There have been several new entrants into the hard tea category, but none have been able to effectively compete against Twisted Tea. Despite the Voodoo Ranger’s success in craft beer, especially in the C-store channel, it lacks brand credibility in tea.
Higher prices again (AVO)
Nationally, avocado sales decreased 0.4% YOY in the four-week period that ended November 5 as volumes decreased by 2.3%. ASP increased by 2.0%. Avocado sales lagged the overall fresh produce category’s 1% growth. Year-to-date units are up 7.4%, while dollars have decreased by 11.5% with ASP declining 17.6%.
In the fiscal year that ended in October, Mission Produce’s average sale price per avocado decreased by 24% as it lapped the prior year’s 28% increase in average prices. Mission Produce expects the harvest in Mexico to lead to a double-digit increase in prices in 2024, driven by smaller fruit sizes. Management will be presenting at the ICR conference in January.
