Opinion
Mauzé: Big CPG cannot nurture small brands and must acquire them
“They're not very good at nurturing smaller entrepreneurial brands and really see the acquisition of these brands. As a real opportunity for them to generate top-line growth.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Mauzé: Cannabis and THC will take market share from alcohol
“I think CBD in terms of THC is a real unique product and one that's going to take away from the alcohol and spirits.”
Insight
Mauzé: There is no such thing as proprietary sourcing today
“I think in today's world, there's really no such thing as proprietary sourcing.”
Insight
Mauzé: Bankers Solve Assigned Problems; PE Principals Choose Which to Solve
“Moving from banking to private equity is a big challenge, because in banking, you're really kind of focused on solving problems. Whatever problem is thrown your way in terms of trying to meet this financing need or trying to put these two companies together. A…”
Disclosure
Mauzé: VMG avoided mega-fund creep to remain focused on lower-middle market
“We also believed that the lower middle market have been a very attractive place for people to invest ever since I've gotten out of college, but many firms decided to use that as a launching pad to create much larger funds, and we thought that we love this. Thi…”
Insight
Mauzé: Big CPG evaluates backwards while startup entrepreneurs look forward
“As we say, big CPG is always looking backwards. They're looking at categories and how they have performed. These entrepreneurs are really looking forward, and I think they're discovering these new niches in these very large categories that can be large over ti…”
Insight
Mauzé: Consumers Adopt Healthier Diets Incrementally Rather Than Abruptly
“When we look at this kind of modern consumer and where they're going, they're not making a huge leap from Highly processed food to raw vegetable. They're on a journey, and I think the entrepreneurs are meeting the needs of that consumer while they're on that j…”
Disclosure
Mauzé: VMG Prioritizes Brand Quality Over Category Diversification
“In general though, I think what we try to do is to go after the best opportunity And not get worried about the portfolio construction from a diversity of different categories. We're very much interested in finding the right brand with the right entrepreneur.”
Insight
Mauzé: Prioritizing Founder Energy and Resources Is an Investor's Best Value Add
“One thing about entrepreneurs is they have a ton of energy and they want to go a million miles and a million different ways. And I think what we can do is help them think about what is the best use of their time and the best use of their resources to build wha…”
Insight
Mauzé: Investors must avoid backing bad brands in great categories
“One thing we've always been conscious of is making sure that we're not investing in bad brands in great categories. So we don't want to talk ourselves into a category. We want to talk ourselves into a great entrepreneur and a great brand.”
Insight
Mauzé: Old CPG playbook of stripping acquired brands killed them
“So, 15 years ago, when they would buy a brand, they would basically strip out it from the company and pop it into their system, and the brand would probably go and die.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Mauzé: CBD will become an ingredient adopted across traditional brands
“My general view of it is that CBD is going to be an ingredient, and I think a lot of brands will have it over time. And if it's effective, you're going to see those traditional brands incorporated.”
Insight
Mauzé: The consumer shift toward healthy living is only at midpoint
“So I still think we're in the midpoint at best. One is, I think we're seeing more people get onto that journey than ever before, and I think that's what really scares CPG”
Insight
Mauzé: Sound investment decisions require repeated team discussions, not rapid IC votes
“I think we've made good decisions as a team because we talk about the deals many times. I'm always amazed by firms that can have, like, an investment committee meeting, and people are seeing it for the first or second time, and they are saying yes or no. It's …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mauzé: China Has Leapfrogged the US in Online Retail Distribution
“Now it's kind of leapfrogged. The United States in terms of their distribution with what they're doing online.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mauzé: US Brands Entering China Outperform Chinese Brands Entering the US
“So much more of the US brand going over there. I think there is a sense over there of the US quality of the brands and trying to have that kind of Western experience in certain categories.”
Assertion Supported
Mauzé: LMM Consumer Investing Faces Unprecedented Competition From Funds and Strategics
“I think we're seeing more firms that are dedicated to the lower middle market consumer space than ever before. We're seeing strategics set up their own investment arms to try to participate. I think we have international buyers coming into the market.”
Insight
Mauzé: Passionate niche consumer followings create strong opportunities for mainstream brand expansion
“What we're really looking for are for brands that have a real passionate consumer, because we think if a brand has a passionate consumer with a small group, there may be a very good opportunity to expand it to a larger group.”
Disclosure
Mauzé: VMG targets $5M to $10M in sales for investments
“So we do have a kind of a minimum size parameter we like to see. We like to see five to ten million dollars of sales building out there, strong gross margins, but it really comes from meeting with the entrepreneur.”
Disclosure
Mauzé: Half of VMG's recent transactions involved women founders or leaders
“Over the past year, half of our transactions have been with women founders and women leaders of businesses there.”
Assertion Supported
Mauzé: KIND Snacks Was a Sub-$20M Brand When VMG Invested
“No, I mean, it was a sub-twenty million dollar brand, it was a sub-twenty million dollar category, and I don't think any of us knew how large that category could be”
Disclosure
Mauzé: VMG's Lantana investment failed due to excessive operational changes
“A good example of that would be a brand like Lantana. We saw it was an alternative hummus business. We needed to rebrand it, come up with a new name, come up with a new packaging, come up with a new supply chain, and it had just too much complexity for us in d…”
Assertion Contradicted
Mauzé: VMG exited 20+ brands in 10 years, almost all strategic
“So we've exited 20 plus brands over the past 10 years, and all but one has been to the strategic buyers.”
Disclosure
Mauzé: VMG builds relationships for at least a year before investing
“Probably a year is probably the shortest. I can't think of a deal we've done where all of a sudden somebody walks in the door and we say, okay, great, we'll do it.”
