the Joshua Schall Audio Experience

Back in April 2023, you might remember that I uploaded a piece of content titled something like “The Clorox Company should divest its dietary supplement brand portfolio.” It aimed to increase recognition that a collection of supplement brands was buried within The Clorox Company, to clarify the holistic strategic reasoning behind why Clorox spent nearly $1 billion acquiring these dietary supplemen...

While beloved by children…did you know that the entire National Football League combined is estimated to consume about 100K Smucker’s Uncrustables annually? If you aren’t familiar with Uncrustables, it’s essentially a frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwich, minus the crust…and intended to be eaten after they have thawed. The J.M. Smucker Company launched Uncrustables in 1998, and annual net sales...

What’s developing isn’t a “high-protein convenient nutrition” categorical battle between wholesale club private label and branded products…but an evolving model of coexistence! The two largest warehouse clubs in the United States each offer shoppers unique features and their own style of bulk discounting…but more recently, the biggest commonality is the effort by Costco and Sam’s Club to expand pr...

Are we approaching a paradigm shift…where the conversation elevates from “quantity” to “quality” of weight loss? And if true…what could that mean for “muscle health” CPG products, which have benefitted greatly from the current GLP-1 market dynamics? The first wave of GLP-1 receptor agonists, which I’m dubbing the “quantity” paradigm, has been nothing short of revolutionary…with Wegovy Ozempic and...

Amidst booming demand for functional beverages…niche ingredients have found a catalyst to mainstream awareness and mass acceptance. Though, there’s a big difference when comparing (say) lion’s mane mushrooms, which meets the FDA definition of a dietary supplement…and kratom, even if plant-derived sources of the niche ingredient could align with natural wellness trends. And I get it…there’s obvious...

I’m having a tough time understanding the latest Liquid Death joke…does that mean I don’t have a sense of humor? For those unfamiliar, the original inspiration (that eventually became Liquid Death) occurred in 2009…when Founder (CEO) Mike Cessario went to watch some friends perform with their band at the Warped Tour. And because the festival was sponsored by Monster Beverage…musicians would be on...

While most Big CPG brand portfolios restructure, realign, and refocus…GHOST is making those strategic efforts by its parent company Keurig Dr Pepper a bit more complicated! After its recent M&A transition (involving JDE Peet’s) closes, KDP plans to separate into two independent public companies…currently given generic “Global Coffee Co.” and “Beverage Co.” placeholder names. And this corporate...

Wait, you’re telling me that a $100 million plus acquisition just occurred in the North American protein bar market…and I’ve never once mentioned the brand name throughout its almost decadelong existence? That simply cannot be TRU! Though, before anyone tries to ignorantly throw dirt on my name…I'll finally reveal why I’ve been publicly ignoring TRUBAR! However, it was just announced that TRUB...

Did you know that PepsiCo has approximately 70% more packaged beverage SKUs than The Coca-Cola Company…but is generating roughly 15% less retail sales? That was just one of numerous fascinating insights included within the 75-page presentation Elliott Investment Management recently sent to PepsiCo board of directors. After building a $4 billion stake in PepsiCo, the well-known activist investor is...

Has anyone else noticed that compared to a few of its peers…the Premier Protein growth story gets overlooked by pundits far too often? BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR) is a portfolio that owns a collection of convenient nutrition brands like Premier Protein and Dymatize Nutrition, which was previously wholly-owned by Post Holdings. A fast-paced and busy lifestyle is pushing consumers to switch to quic...

Even when everyone (including myself) thought it might be finished…could MusclePharm actually be showing signs of life again? But for those unfamiliar with the up-to-date FitLife Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: FTLF) portfolio configuration…due to the acquisition of Irwin Naturals, which officially closed on August 8, 2025, it now sells more than 500 SKUs across 16 supplement brands, each with a slightly dif...

Did you happen to notice that Tylenol recently launched a dietary supplement product range designed to promote joint comfort and mobility? When the best-selling pain relief brand in the U.S. market launches a drug-free product range…it not only speaks volumes about shifting consumer attitudes from treatment to prevention, but also about the increasing importance of supplements for the pharmaceutic...

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is without a doubt one of best two-way players in the beverage game, but it’s hard to argue another “best defender in the industry” award isn't warranted after it recently announcing a new female-focused energy drink called FLRT will launch in early 2026. Offense and defense are terms that we’re mostly familiar with when talking about sports, but the...

Did Applied Nutrition report the type of annual performance that deserves a shot at the championship belt? Applied Nutrition Plc (LSE: APN) is a leading sports nutrition brand sold in over 80 countries worldwide. There are several product ranges, including the namesake Applied Nutrition, All Black Everything (ABE), Body Fuel, and Endurance. Additionally, because of a trademark issue, the U.S. divi...

About a quarter of the 152K+ convenience stores have spoken, and they shared some interesting opinions about the growing energy drinks category. And even if you aren’t familiar with every insight regarding this beverage category, I’m sure you intuitively recognize that convenience is the most important sales channel (by sales dollars) for energy drinks in the U.S. market. But here are my top “cate...

Can Celsius Holding navigate the hidden energy drinks market risks involving the Alani Nu and PepsiCo DSD distribution swap? Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH) had quarterly revenue of $725.1 million, which was up 173% YoY. Excluding the Alani Nu acquisition-related financial impact, CELSIUS brand revenue grew 44% YoY. And if you were wondering about Alani Nu, it’s second quarter revenue was $332 mil...

Public Company CEO Rule 1 - "When all else fails…just mention AI." Glanbia Plc (LON:GLB) is a multibillion-dollar global nutrition company that's currently comprised of three divisions that span across the B2B supply chain (i.e. Health & Nutrition and Dairy Nutrition) and branded products (Performance Nutrition). “Health & Nutrition” is a leading global ingredients solutions...

In the protein bars market, the rarity of what BUILT Brands hopes to achieve shouldn’t be overlooked, but that doesn’t mean it won’t have ample exit optionality. So, a few weeks ago…citing those elusive “sources familiar with the matter,” BUILT Brands (maker of BUILT bars) reportedly hired an investment brand to explore an exit that could potentially value the protein bar producer at more than $1...

Almost two decades after 50 Cent reportedly made around $100 million from the Coca-Cola and Vitaminwater M&A transaction, his “equity instead of traditional endorsement fees” deal structure has become commonplace within today’s influencer partnerships involving emerging CPG brands. But one of the greatest success stories in recent years involves the popular influencer Alix Earle and modern sod...

Show me the incentive…and I’ll show you the outcome! So, based on the timing…you might assume that introductory statement indicates something about how $7 billion in new private equity financing would sweeten the Keurig Dr Pepper business spilt, support the JDE Peet’s deal, or maybe even feed off an activist investor. Though, it’s important to recall I’m not an equity analyst or KDP individual inv...

The time is now QUEST Nutrition…or risk getting cooked! In this latest episode, I'll utilize the Q4 2025 Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ: SMPL) financial statements, earnings call, and supplemental presentations for my expanded strategic commentary around convenient nutrition market dynamics and trends. In fiscal Q4 2025, Atkins Nutritionals brand dragged down the overall portfolio performan...

Canadians are really upset at President Trump…maybe because of escalating trade tensions or his “Canada should become the 51st state” rhetoric. But either way, with the new Prime Minister of Canada winning his recent election utilizing an "elbows up" slogan, which is a defensive hockey term signaling you're ready to protect and fight back…it most likely didn’t help temper emotions. R...

The butterfly effect is crazy because what if soda companies never successfully used the “flavor enhancer” argument with the FDA almost a half-century ago...the almost $26 billion U.S. energy drinks market likely wouldn't exist today! Though, before we get into that FDA decision from 1980, you must first understand that the original recipes of both Coca-Cola and Pepsi included kola nuts, which...

MyProtein might be readying itself for a licensing mission “to [MARS], and beyond,” but don’t let that “mission” overshadow your appreciation for its more terrestrial growth strategies currently. THG (aka the company formerly known as The Hut Group) recently updated the public markets by releasing its trading statement for the third quarter of 2025. I’ll be utilizing that financial information, al...

I’m not going to lie…there’s been some weirdly interesting new players getting into the consumer packaged goods “game” lately! Several years ago, Netflix launched a “Stranger Things themed” frozen pizza…and more recently merged content with commerce by partnering with Meghan Markle on her “As Ever” CPG brand. Then, a few weeks ago…Pinterest partnered with Chamberlain Coffee to launch the first co-...