Show Notes
Why is Pepsi fighting a Supreme Court battle over an energy drink brand they already discontinued? Well, because this is no longer just about Mountain Dew Rise Energy. In 2021, a relatively small, canned nitro cold brew coffee brand (Rise Brewing) sued PepsiCo for copying their trademarked name. PepsiCo fought back, calling the word "Rise" too weak for protection. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court is stepping in…and their ruling could change the CPG landscape forever. Should a trademark's "inherent strength" be decided by a judge as a matter of law, or by a jury as a question of fact? If Rise Brewing wins, trademark lawsuits would automatically become much harder to dismiss early in the legal process. If PepsiCo wins, judges can dismiss trademark lawsuits early if a brand name uses a common or "suggestive" word. Essentially, Big CPG could more easily launch copycat names…knowing startups likely couldn’t afford to fight back. The case is scheduled for the October 2026 session.
More from the Joshua Schall Audio Experience
Why is healthcare giant Abbott Laboratories pulling off one of the biggest corporate breakups of the decade? In this episode, I'm breaking down the high-leverage "market engineering" behind Abbott’s decision to separate its global Nutrition business into an independent, publicly traded company by the end of 2027. While it’s easy to look at recent sluggish volumes and over a billion dollars in lawsuit settlements and think this is a panic move, the reality is far more strategic. By separating its $42 billion medical innovation powerhouse from its $8.5 billion consumer staples giant, Abbott is unlocking massive trapped shareholder value (echoing successful historical spinoffs). I'll dive deep into the strategic blueprint of incoming CEO Daniel Salvadori, including: Why Wall Street prefers pure-plays over a structural corporate identity crisis. How iconic brands like Ensure and Glucerna are uniquely positioned to become the ultimate companion therapies for the exploding GLP-1 (weight-loss drug) market. Transforming a legacy pediatric product like Pedialyte into a dominant, high-growth lifestyle hydration asset. Where the new standalone company will deploy its estimated billion-dollar capital allocation budget to acquire premium lifestyle brands and upstream proprietary science. The reality of ring-fencing billion-dollar infant formula liabilities away from Abbott’s high-flying medical device segments.
In this exclusive insider conversation, Brad Pyatt addresses the brutal realities behind building MusclePharm into “THE” preeminent most talked about global powerhouse brand of that era...and arguably pioneering A LOT of what’s now pervasive across the modern sports nutrition business landscape. Back then, MusclePharm rewrote the strategic playbook by treating the supplement brand like a media and entertainment property, capturing underpriced attention long before today’s extensive digital platform influencer era was even formalized. By now, most recognize (in hindsight) that MusclePharm’s hypergrowth was a double-edged sword…and admittedly, there’s a very public “good, bad, and ugly” storyline attached to Brad Pyatt (which he transparently doesn’t shy away from). However, we’re looking far beyond those early MusclePharm days together to map his evolution within the broader functional CPG space. We dive into the relatively unknown origin story of TRUBAR, which recently sold for $173 million, and how it birthed an “idea” he still can’t stop thinking about years later. Finally, we explored his current portfolio of functional CPG brands like IQ Pouch, VKTRY Protein Shots, and RITE Energy. Brad and I deconstructed his strategic flywheel…from selecting key functional ingredients and owning underserved consumer need-states, to navigating a hyper-mature creator economy and shifting from aggressive offense to sustainable business success. This was much more than just another “industry jam session” between two old colleagues, so I hope you enjoy and get value from it!
Hormel struggled to sell Applegate “Well Carved” hybrid burgers. Likewise, Tyson Foods couldn’t overcome the “middle ground paradox” with its “Raised & Rooted” blended meat burgers. Essentially, vegans wouldn’t touch them because of animal protein, and purists wouldn’t touch them because they felt "processed." So, the middle ground felt like a compromise to both sides. Although we can only hope that Big Dairy learned from those meat industry mistakes, especially with “blended dairy” products appearing on more grocery store shelves nationwide. But as someone that has occasionally shared on social media his enjoyment of blending whey and plant-based protein powders together, I believe the winning strategic narrative is treating the plant ingredient like an upgrade rather than a filler. Better frothiness. More depth of flavor. Lower sugar content. It’s about selling enhanced utility that you can’t get from milk or plants alone. Therefore, maybe it takes a terminology rebrand…moving from the implicitly compromising “blended” to the “balanced” premium consumption experience.
MyProtein is undoing their global rebrand and attempting a dangerous strategic pivot. THG (aka the company formerly known as The Hut Group) recently updated the public markets by releasing its Q3 2026 results. I’ll be utilizing all available publicly disclosed information to obviously update you on the recent performance of THG Nutrition division, which includes the world's largest online sports nutrition brand MyProtein. Additionally, due to the THG Ingenuity demerger action occurring at the end of 2024, the up-to-date THG portfolio configuration now would be described as a global, cash generative, health and wellness consumer brands group. During the third quarter of 2026, THG Nutrition revenue was approximately $202 million, which increased 5.3% YoY. THG Nutrition delivered its seventh consecutive quarter of revenue growth. Moreover, momentum was said to be broad-based across sales channels and categories (especially outside of the core protein range like creatine). But I'll dive into several strategic decisions impacting MyProtein including its global digital sales channel strategy, offline retail expansion efforts, product licensing strategy, and let’s just say A LOT is riding on the success of the MyProtein global rebrand that delivered across 2023 and 2024. But within the previous earnings presentation deck there was this picture of MyProtein products that had a very different visual identity, which are an 180-degree turnback in the other direction. THG Nutrition still mainly deploys a global digital-first commerce strategy, with around 84% of its total revenue coming from direct-to-consumer, online marketplaces, and social commerce…but MyProtein has continued to invest in offline retail partnerships where it places a limited (or exclusive) SKU range as part of a bigger demand generation strategy. Although the most highlighted commercial strategy (utilized for offline retail expansion) continues to surround the development of MyProtein products that are sold under licensing arrangements. When done correctly, these types of retail partnerships boost customer touchpoints and broaden brand appeal. Nonetheless, this ambitious level of offline retail expansion globally will undoubtedly help drive a more diversified retail mix over the next few years. Equally, MyProtein continues to lean heavily into international product collaborations. THG Nutrition recently expanded the successful partnership with global confectionary giant Mars Incorporated but recently announced a global partnership with Krispy Kreme. However, since those MyProtein and Mars co-branded products are whey protein, I'll examine how THG Nutrition is attempting to mitigate elevated whey protein input prices.
Is any CPG brand truly "untouchable" anymore? In this episode, I'm breaking down the explosive, high-stakes corporate war between Kroger and Red Bull. Red Bull is a beverage brand commanding over a third of the U.S. energy drink market and generating $10 billion in annual retail sales, yet it has been completely pulled from 2,700+ Kroger stores and fuel centers. If a category captain this massive can have its wings clipped, it’s a stark warning to the entire CPG industry: no brand is safe. I'll dive deep into the exact catalysts that pushed Kroger over the edge, including Red Bull slashing its second-half 2026 trade spend by nearly half, raising prices by up to 10%, and reportedly offering a much more favorable deal to a rival retailer. I'm also examining at the driving force behind Kroger's ruthless strategy: newly appointed CEO Greg Foran. Bringing his uncompromising Walmart "Everyday Low Price" playbook to Kroger, Foran is leveraging the grocer's massive scale to force margin compression right back up the supply chain to save an estimated $1 billion in lost annual sales from inflation-weary households. What you’ll learn in this video: Anatomy of the Standoff: How a standard contract dispute turned into a nuclear "systemic brand shedding" campaign. Greg Foran Factor: Why Kroger's new leadership is entirely willing to cancel massive accounts and de-authorize dominant SKUs. Energy Drink Anomaly: Why Kroger can’t easily execute a private label "Big K Energy" backfill, and how they are playing "kingmaker" for hungry challenger brands like Monster, Celsius, and Alani Nu instead. 3-Part CPG Survival Playbook: How emerging and established functional brands can insulate their businesses from a retail margin squeeze by enforcing strict pricing discipline, building unclonable product architecture, and cultivating irreplaceable consumer pull.