The Chaco Taco Makes a Comeback
Taco Bell released their new menu and Poppi landed a Superbowl ad
Helloooooooo. It’s been a bit, so thanks for your patience on this one. Hoping everyone had a good love day celebrating a significant other, close friends, your dog, pasta or anything else you love. Alright, some news.
📺Poppi Invested in a Super Bowl Commercial
The prebiotic soda brand secured an ad in this year’s Super Bowl, a rare move for a start up of their size. In addition to the ad (which was loooooong), they had some pretty big names doing influencer marketing for them. Keleigh Teller, married to Miles Teller, who was seen next to Taylor Swift in her box, posted photos holding a can of Poppi.
This is coming right after their Poppi-mart pop-up they hosted in LA late January. The brand’s last funding round was $25MM and with ad slots running around $7mm plus production costs, they used between 30-50% of their last funding round on this ad alone. CAVU Consumer Partners, who was the sole investor in their last round, is the same firm that led Bai to a $1.7B exit in 2017. While this seems like wild spending, it seems to be working since it was announced yesterday that Coca-Cola is pursuing an acquisition of the brand.
🥤Coca-Cola’s Launching a New Flavor Called Spice
The soda giant is adding the first permanent addition to the Coke lineup in three years, and it’s spicy. The new flavor has hints of raspberry and an aromatic blend of spices and comes in both regular and zero sugar variations. Coca-Cola’s North American marketing chief Shakir Moin said that they hope the new flavor will help the brand reach the next generation of consumers. I’m just glad they’re not taking it as far as Sierra Mist did with their rebrand to Starry in order to reach Gen Z. The strength of the legacy soda brand is their longevity. Sure new flavors are fun, but the reason I reach for a Coke is the opposite of novelty. I want a Mexican Coke in a glass bottle with an old label because it’s stood the test of time and the flavor is the same no matter where you are in the world.
🍦Taco Bell and Salt and Straw Bring Back the Choco Taco
The original Choco Taco was sunsetted by Klondike back in 2022, but Portland-based Salt and Straw partnered with Taco Bell to revive the legendary dessert. Taco Bell’s CEO Sean Tresvant spent time in Portland, Oregon before taking on the his current role. That was where he became familiar with Salt & Straw which has been making a rendition of the Choco Taco called the “Chocolate Tacolate” for over a decade. As Tresvant began exploring the idea for Taco Bell, he knew who to contact. The dessert will also have sweet hot sauces available for dipping as a nod to the swicy (sweet and spicy) food trend.
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🌮Taco Bell Reveals 2024 Menu
And the name of the game is collabs. In addition to the Salt & Straw partnership we just covered, they’re teaming up with Cheez-It for their Crunch Wrap, Tajín for tacos, twists, and freezes, Portland-based hot sauce brand Secret Aardvark for it’s nacho fries, musician Omar Apollo’s hot sauce brand Disha Hot for signature sauce packets, and Beekeeper coffee for their Horchata Cold Brew Latte. Also, they’ve got some twists on some staples like Baja Blast Gelato and a new flavor of Cinnabon Delights. Hot.
🍒Cherry Bomb Closes First Fundraising Round via Wefunder
Kerry Diamond, founder of food media brand Cherry Bomb, announced the conclusion of their first funding round. Cherry Bomb raised $901,000 from 315 investors through a Wefunder community round. After bootstrapped the past decade, the brand decided to raise money from their community since women get less than 2% of venture capital funds. The majority of their investors are women and many are first-time investors. What a creative way to raise money in a time where VC money is hard to come by.
🍝Kendall Jenner’s 818 Partnered with Rao’s Pasta Sauce
The partnership was announced with a cooking show hosted by Kendall and Kylie, which is funny because if you watch The Kardashians you know Kendall struggles with cutting cucumbers. Jenner has also been touring college campuses again promoting 818 at sorority houses and local dives bars. She started this campaign last October and saw a ton of engagement so she has been visiting new colleges over the last month.
🥗Sweetgreen Launched Their Pilot Ambassador Program
The fast-casual salad brand just launched their new ambassador program which will take place in Austin, San Antonio, and Minneapolis. Basically, you post on social and get free stuff.
🍸Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre Launch Gin & Juice
The two rappers have teamed up to launch a line of RTD cocktails called Gin & Juice By Dre and Snoop. The drink is the first product from the new premium spirits company, with more products expected to be announced in the future. Investors in the brand include Jimmy Iovine, Main Street Advisors, and others. Who’s gonna make an espresso martini RTD? I feel like we’ve got every type now except for an espresso martini. You could make it nitro and have the little ball that Guinness Draught’s have to make it foam when you pour it. If anyone wants to make one with me, HMU.
That’s all for today, thanks for reading!
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