Peter Pham

In uncertain times, consumers gravitate towards reliable brands. In a recent Take On the Week podcast episode by The Wall Street Journal, Markus Hansen shared insights about how food brands historically fare well during recessions, partially because consumers will remain loyal to their comfort foods (like Coca-Cola and Oreos) in times of economic distress. That makes total sense. So if you're a F&B founder, this is my reminder to you that now is the time to show up for your customers and double down on building and maintaining your relationships. Now is the time when marketing matters most. https://lnkd.in/gaemkTED

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Huge news in the alcohol distribution world: RNDC is EXITING California. Here's the quick overview and what it means for the industry 👇 RNDC is one of America's biggest wine and spirits distributors. They have historically been a nationwide powerhouse and worked with some of the biggest brands in the country. But, in the last few months, they've been dealt several massive blows in the form of "break ups" with some of their largest partners. Tito's, Sazerac, and Brown Forman (amongst others) all announced plans to change distributors.   California is also one of the largest markets in the country for the broader alcohol market, so naturally it was a disproportionately valuable state for RNDC. But, on the heels of the aforementioned supplier losses, RNDC made the somewhat shocking announcement that they would fully exit California. It's left lots of brands scrambling to replace their distributors in CA and reverberated around the industry. What does it mean? Well, it symbolizes the reality that the alcohol industry is in the midst of a shakeup. A majority of players in the industry have been running the same playbooks for the last several decades. For a while, they could get away with the lack of innovative thinking. But now, companies are forced to either adapt and go on offense, or fall behind. The booze business had a rough few years due to the COVID reset. News stories like the RNDC shut down are symptoms of this challenging few years. But, the industry is slowly finding its way back to growth mode. But in this next cycle of growth, I think there will be a clear bifurcation between the companies that truly go on offense and those that continue to rely on the playbooks of decades past. For suppliers, this likely means skating to where the puck is going and getting aggressive with M&A strategies to ensure portfolios match the next generation of drinkers. For retailers, this means leaning into creating a stronger in-store experience for customers which includes everything from customer service, to merchandising, pricing, promotion, and basic store hygiene. And for distributors, this means leaning into much stronger partnerships with suppliers, focusing on world-class execution, and being a true collaborator in building brands. The alcohol industry will continue to grow and there will always be massive opportunity for the people and companies that are willing to be aggressive and zig while others zag. Interesting times in the business... but I remain excited and optimistic through it all. Don't bet against booze! CC Top Shelf Ventures

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Read Kim Severson’s piece in The New York Times on how nutrition is finally moving beyond calorie counting. We are excited to be investors in a new system, Samantha Alexander’s FoodHealth Score, that reframes food around quality, metabolic impact, and real outcomes—not 19th-century math. Calories had a good run. But if the goal is better health (not just smaller numbers), this shift feels overdue. RIP calories.

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Good article on the how and why emerging natural food and beverage companies are taking share from big CPG. Those of us in the industry have known this for 10-15 years, but it is nice to see the broad media picking up on it. Just look at the acquisitions made by Big Food during the last year and it is clear some upstarts put a Big Dent in their business. Pepsi acquired both Siete and Poppi, Flowers Industries acquired Simple Mills, KDP acquired Ghost and Hershey acquired LesserEvil. All of these companies had grown to $200mm to $500mm in revenue, largely taking share from the big guys. #foodandbeverage #cpg #brands

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PRODUCT–MARKET FIT IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IN CPG You can have: • Beautiful packaging • A $5M seed round • A strong team …and still be fuc*ed if you don’t have PMF. Here’s how you know you’ve actually found it 1) Reorders happen 2) New doors open 3) You can raise prices and velocity doesn’t plummet 4) You can pour gas on it and it scales How else do you know if you have product market fit?

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The supplement space really is the wild, wild west… but I loved chatting with Charlotte Cruze, co-founder of Alice Mushrooms, about how they develop products responsibly and strategically! Link to listen to the full episode of Charlotte on my podcast, Commerce is Chaos: https://lnkd.in/gbS_tnck

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Last week I wrote that the way forward for Beyond Meat (and honestly, for many struggling CPG brands) isn’t more SKUs, more flavors, or louder marketing. It’s one clean SKU. This week, Beyond Meat enters the beverage space. That’s not random. That’s strategy. When a category gets crowded, margins compress, and consumers get confused, the winning move isn’t expansion, it’s simplification. One product. Clear use case. Clean label. Easy adoption. Repeat purchase. Food to beverage is a smart pivot: • Lower friction than center-of-plate replacements • Higher frequency consumption • Easier integration into daily routines • Stronger pathway to functional positioning Beverages are where ingredients win. Where brand trust compounds. Where you can scale distribution without fighting the dinner table. This is the same pattern we’ve seen before: Brands don’t die because they lack innovation. They die because they overcomplicate before they earn the right to expand. One SKU done right can rebuild relevance, margins, and narrative. Then, and only then, you build the platform. Good move. Now execution matters. Chess, not checkers. Congratulations team Beyond Meat. I applaud the move!

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🎙️ New Podcast Announcement! 🎙️ Joel Palathinkal sits down with Noah Sanborn Friedman, Co-Founder of Top Shelf Ventures, to explore the data-driven, regulatory, and brand-building dynamics of investing in the beverage alcohol industry. Key Discussion Points: • From young beverage-tech CEO to sector-specific fund manager 🍹 • Top Shelf Ventures: A fund for the underserved beverage alcohol sector 💰 • Winning metrics: Velocity, reorder rates, and data-driven brand signals 📊 • Navigating the complex alcohol regulatory landscape ⚖️ • Storytelling and brand-building as critical success factors 🎙️ • Emerging trends: THC-infused beverages and the "sober curious" movement 🌿 • Advice for emerging fund managers: Building conviction and securing the first close 🚀 Perfect For: Beverage founders, CPG investors, emerging fund managers, and anyone navigating the intersection of regulation, brand, and consumer trends! 👉 Listen Now! 👈 Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eJ_GKxdd Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eNj7Q78i YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ev8mvWXt #VentureCapital #BeverageIndustry #CPG #RegulatoryLandscape #EmergingManagers

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Activist Investing in Stagnant Consumer Staples: Unlocking PepsiCo's Value Through Strategic Pressure Elliott Investment Management targets PepsiCo with a $4B activist campaign, arguing the company is undervalued despite its global scale and brand strength. - The proposal mirrors Coca-Cola's 2017 refranchising success, aiming to boost margins by selling low-margin bottling assets and reallocating capital to high-growth areas like plant-based snacks. - PepsiCo defends its "sustainable growth" strategy but faces pressure to accelerate efficiency measures after lagging margins and market share losses to rivals like Coca-Cola. - If implemented, the overhaul could unlock 50%+ shareholder value but requires bold moves like SKU rationalization and divesting non-core brands, contrasting with PepsiCo's broader food-snack exposure. - The case highlights rising activist influence in stagnant consumer staples, where margin discipline and operational agility now define competitive advantage amid shifting consumer trends. #Pepsico #activistinvesting #governancearbitrage #shareholdervalue #corporategovernance #boardofdirectors https://lnkd.in/gkvBpNTB

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Have a pet, vet start up? Pawsible Ventures: $10 Million Fund I Backs Pet Health Incubator Targeting $270 Billion Pet Economy. Pawsible Ventures announced the launch of a pet health incubator designed to support early-stage companies building across the animal health ecosystem, as the global pet care market surpasses $270 billion annually and is projected to approach $500 billion by 2034. The Vancouver-based venture platform, backed by Victory Square Technologies, is positioning itself as a specialized incubator and venture studio to help founders navigate the fragmented infrastructure surrounding veterinary innovation. The initiative is intended to address common challenges faced by early-stage startups in the sector, including regulatory hurdles, veterinary partnerships, capital access, and distribution. Pawsible Ventures launched in 2025 with a $10 million Fund I and focuses on several areas of the pet health ecosystem, including veterinary diagnostics, pet health technologies, digital veterinary care platforms, therapeutics and biologics, insurance and financial services for pet owners, and preventive wellness solutions. Unlike traditional accelerators, the company works closely with founders from early concept through commercialization. The platform provides support in validating demand, developing products, navigating regulatory pathways, and accelerating go-to-market strategies. Over the past year, Pawsible Ventures has engaged with more than 300 startups globally, identifying growing activity among founders developing veterinary diagnostics, AI-driven pet health tools, preventive care platforms, therapeutics, insurance offerings, and digital tools for veterinary practices. #PawsibleVentures #veterinary #pet #ventures #startup https://lnkd.in/e4aDsByf

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25% tariffs on all canned beer imports ($7.5B of beer last year, mostly from Mexico) about to shake up the beer market. For startups, it's a clear opportunity. Domestic brands, craft brewers, and innovative companies ready to step into the gap can win big. History suggests disruption like this opens doors, especially for those agile enough to pivot quickly and capitalize.

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🚨NEW EPISODE: Recorded live at FUTURE TITANS 2026 - Jeff Perry of Carta sat down with the iconic Seth Levine, co-founder of Foundry. Seth has been in venture for 25 years, built Foundry from scratch as an emerging manager himself, and has backed about 50 emerging manager funds through his fund of funds. He has genuinely seen every side of this table. They went deep on building Foundry, why VCs are in the influence business, not the decision business, and why the concentration problem in venture is not only bad for LPs, but also for the innovation ecosystem overall. And why Seth's new book, Capital Evolution, is so important for the future of America. 🎧 Links to listen... Apple: https://lnkd.in/ehQUQ2EM Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eU4FExpg

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Seed VC isn’t just in a downturn—it’s facing extinction unless it evolves fast. Great read from Rob Go & David Beisel at NextView Ventures... - YC and mega-funds now dominate the early-stage landscape, squeezing out traditional seed investors - Power law thinking has gone mainstream—everyone’s chasing trillion-dollar outliers - AI isn’t helping seed VCs—it’s raising the stakes, crowding the field, and disrupting VC itself - The middle of the market has collapsed, and excess profits are gone - Hope isn’t a strategy—seed needs a new model, now Link here... https://lnkd.in/ek2MZGhm And if you like this topic, I wrote a piece on venture bifurcating into inception funds and mega funds here: https://lnkd.in/eJz5DmX6 #ai #venturecapital #vc

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Last week, Kraft Heinz announced they would be removing all artificial dyes from their U.S. portfolio over the next two years. This is clear evidence that the "Better For You" movement is growing, and it’s not just a trend that will disappear after a few weeks. Consumers are increasingly concerned with reading the labels of their favorite products, my family included, and the food giants are listening. Thank you, Schwab Network, for inviting me to give my expert opinion on consumer trends. Check out the full segment link in the comments. #RogersOnTV #RogersHealy #Schwab #CPG #BetterForYou

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We are thrilled to announce that Western Smokehouse Partners, a Monogram Capital Partners portfolio company and a leader in the better-for-you meat snacks industry, has acquired Junior’s Smokehouse, a Texas-based manufacturer with over 40 years of hand-crafted jerky and premium meat products.   By bringing Junior’s into the Western family, we are continuing our approach of investing in specialized supply chain businesses operating in high-growth categories where scale, quality, and dependability matter. Good business is about backing great people and I couldn't believe more in this Western's team (Matt Bormann, Doug Hankes, Peter Sikorski, CPA, Brad Turasky and many more) and am excited to welcome Junior's to the family. As always, extremely grateful for the stellar Monogram team I had the pleasure to work alongside: Ryan Collins, Julia Barth, Sammy Tufeld, Matthew Adams and huge congrats to all! https://lnkd.in/gS2ZUSm5

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I agree, AI still needs data. It can’t make it up. And data being networked reduces the noise caused by the same operators within the network. When you read a thesis that’s easily describes the rationale that has been hard to define as clearly in your own startup ….. it’s awesome.

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Big news from the Manna Tree portfolio: Health-Ade has been acquired by Generous Brands — now creating a nearly $1 billion total sales platform transforming the refrigerated beverage aisle.   We partnered with Health-Ade in 2021, recognizing the growing demand for gut health and functional nutrition. Approaching $250M+ in retail sales annually and distribution in over 65,000 stores, Health-Ade exemplifies what it means to scale with integrity.   It’s been an honor to support this journey alongside FIRSTBEV LIMITED — and we can’t wait to see what Health-Ade and Generous Brands do next. Story via The Wall Street Journal: https://lnkd.in/dxvX8GD2   Press release here: https://lnkd.in/df2ZgEWg   #MannaTree #HealthAde #GutHealth #BetterForYou

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🚨 NYC — we’re trying something we’ve never done before on May 14th. We’re turning our next flagship Tech & CPG founder and VC event into a live pitch night inside a private speakeasy. Here’s the twist: 🎤 30 founders in the room will speed pitch their companies live. 💸 If the panel likes what they hear… they can write checks on the spot. 👇 Want to be one of them? Comment down below if you want an invite. No decks. No rehearsed demo day presentations. No long application process. Just founders stepping up, grabbing the mic, and pitching in front of a panel of investors and operators. The panel gives unfiltered, real-time feedback, and investments on the spot — the kind founders normally only hear behind closed doors during partner meetings. The goal isn’t another polished startup showcase. It’s to create a room where real founders get real feedback and real opportunities in front of people who actually invest. All happening inside a private NYC speakeasy with great food, cocktails, and a crowd that actually wants to meet each other. We’re keeping this intentionally small and curated so the room stays high signal. 📍 May 14th — NYC #NYCStartups #StartupEvents #VentureCapital #Founders #StartupPitch #TechStartups #StartupCommunity #CPGStartups #TechFounders

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