PROMIX Nutrition Acquired By Largest Private Equity Firm Dedicated to Sustainable Food Chain Investing

Though it certainly wouldn’t go down as the biggest acquisition, totally overlooking last week’s PROMIX Nutrition deal will prove detrimental for any founder building within the supplement industry. In 2011, Albert Matheny founded PROMIX after being unable to find products that matched his standards for ingredient quality, science-backed performance, and product safety. PROMIX lives by the simple mantra “no artificial anything.” To control the product (and ingredient) quality, PROMIX develops its formulas in-house, controls its own supply chain (with 94% of ingredients sourced from North America), and independent lab testing on finished products is available transparently online. Moreover, PROMIX made a packaging update several years ago that eliminated 97% of the plastic…becoming one of the earliest supplement brands to pioneer paperboard packaging. And that bold strategic narrative of “simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication” was a fundamental reason why PROMIX was just acquired. But if you haven’t noticed over the last probably year, there have been A LOT of Big CPG portfolio architecture shifts. And these actions have mostly centered around deploying a “growth by subtraction” M&A strategic approach that seeks to create a more streamlined, focused company. But for those Big CPG portfolios that already had clarity on “competitive strengths,” you are seeing prioritization of acquisitions that can (1) fit focused parameters but (2) move the needle from a revenue perspective. And if we’re talking Big CPG…that means “deal size” preference recently have been billion dollars (or more). So, with Big CPG currently M&A “whale hunting,” why would Paine Schwartz (the largest private equity firm dedicated to sustainable food chain investing) acquire a “smaller supplement brand?” Over the last decade, the performance nutrition segment of the supplement industry has undergone an enormous shift in marketplace dynamics. Imagine this huge pot that's melding together macro shifts in demand drivers and trending supplement industry dimensions like format/occasion expansion, brand strategy, consumer segmentation, and/or ingredients/benefits. The result has been this overall mainstreaming effect that disseminated the supplement subcategories across the entire retail landscape. Yet, it's that intense market expansion that has caused chaos...and opportunities for those that can put together this new puzzle. After Big CPG streamlines (and focuses) their portfolios around competitive strengths, the next logical step should be towards investing in smaller growth brands that have strategic alignment. Though this won’t happen overnight, even if mega nutrition trends like “Age of Ozempic,” the protein-ification of grocery, “Make America Healthy Again,” and gut wellness…are driving Big CPG crazy modeling out every strategic if/then gameplan right now. But that’s fine if you’re Paine Schwartz…because selecting PROMIX means the private equity firm already built conviction around “what/who they believe will win” within that shifting marketplace. Paine Schwartz sees PROMIX as that important puzzle piece. And now it must prioritize deliberate depth over breadth actions that create an even more distinct strategic narrative to fully take advantage of this opportunity…which is a lesson any founder building within the supplement industry should apply to their own business. FOLLOW ME ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LINKEDIN⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YOUTUBE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TWITTER⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FACEBOOK⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠