The marine watch trend brand 'HappieWatch' has secured financing—what kind of brands do Gen Z consumers prefer?

2. Selling not only tea beverages but also complementary tea-related products. In TeaDrops’ product catalog, alongside its core tea tablets, the brand also sells items essential to the tea-drinking experience—such as metal straws and mugs. A subtle yet noteworthy detail: TeaDrops engraves its logo onto these ancillary products. Though seemingly minor, this thoughtful branding detail significantly reinforces brand recall among users. TeaDrops’ metal straws 3. Recommending products based on specific life scenarios. On TeaDrops’ official website, beverages are categorized into five distinct consumption scenarios aligned with different moods—e.g., celebrating, feeling energized, or seeking calm. This scenario-based classification helps consumers clarify their purchase intent—and even inspires new consumption occasions and motivations. While TeaDrops transforms tea into a trendy beverage, another food brand—fooodspring—reimagines nutritional supplements as delicious, youth-appealing products. Beyond staple fitness supplements like protein powder, creatine, and BCAAs, foodspring has launched high-protein, easy-to-prepare versions of indulgent ‘junk foods’—including pancakes, pizza, and cream—effectively resolving the common complaint among fitness enthusiasts that ‘healthy food just doesn’t taste good.’ Household goods category: Small innovations on ordinary everyday items can yield outstanding brands. Many functional household items remain largely invisible in daily life—not due to lack of utility, but because they typically lack distinctive brand identity. Yet some brands have successfully reimagined such mundane products to resonate with Gen Z. For instance, Welly—a U.S.-based brand—has transformed the humble bandage—traditionally unnoticed unless one is injured—into a self-expression badge for Gen Z. According to Brand Planet, Welly achieved $10 million in sales within its first year and was acquired by consumer goods giant Unilever in February this year. Why did Welly attract such strong commercial performance and corporate attention? We believe the following factors are key. First, Welly innovates precisely where functionality matters most—even if the innovation seems small, it directly addresses longstanding pain points unmet by competitors. As our research shows, the adhesive bandage was invented in 1920; visually, today’s mainstream bandages differ little from their original design—except for individual packaging. Though this classic design has endured for over a century, real-world usage reveals persistent flaws. For example, during a recent outdoor activity, I cut my fingertip and found traditional bandages nearly impossible to apply: the gauze pad couldn’t stay centered over the wound while maintaining secure adhesion to the curved surface of the finger. Welly’s extended-length bandage, however, solves exactly this problem. Moreover, Welly offers bandages in various shapes designed to protect wounds across different body areas—or accommodate diverse wound types.

Unilever’s health business expanded from an $8-billion acquisition of gummy vitamins to reportedly targeting dietary supplements: The CEO says it has evaluated 110 acquisition targets, aims for a $20-billion scale, and identifies China as its second-largest market—favoring niche categories.

Is Unilever completely abandoning ‘food’? That depends on how you define it. Although Unilever has recently reshaped its portfolio—divesting ice cream and other food businesses—it retains one ‘eating-related’ segment performing strongly internally: the Unilever Wellbeing division. From acquiring Grüns—the ‘gummy bear’ vitamin brand—for over $8 billion, to reportedly considering Thorne—a U.S. dietary supplement company valued up to $2.7 billion—what strategic logic underpins Unilever’s acquisition spree, and what are its plans—especially for the Chinese market? Snack Generation observed that Jostein Solheim, CEO of Unilever Wellbeing, addressed these questions during a recent Barclays Fireside Chat. Since its first acquisition eight years ago, Unilever Wellbeing’s business scale has grown to nearly $3 billion (approx. RMB 20.3 billion). Amid Unilever’s broader push to build higher-growth business pillars, Wellbeing has become a focal point. Let’s take a closer look. Internally driven growth According to public information, all Unilever Wellbeing brands were acquired—not organically developed—with the vast majority falling under VMS (vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements). These include OLLY, Liquid I.V., SmartyPants, Onnit, Nutrafol, Welly, and most recently Grüns. In India, Unilever took a stake in OZiva in 2022 and announced full ownership in February this year. Snack Generation notes that, per data disclosed by Jostein Solheim at the recent Barclays Fireside Chat, Unilever Wellbeing’s annual sales now exceed €2.5 billion (approx. $3 billion). The U.S. remains its largest market—accounting for 90% of sales—while China ranks second, though its exact share wasn’t disclosed. This means Unilever Wellbeing has more than doubled in size over just a few years—drawing ever closer to its previously stated target. As Snack Generation previously reported, Unilever revealed at its 2022 investor meeting that Wellbeing’s annual revenue had surpassed €1 billion, with a goal of reaching €3 billion. Notably, this rapid growth hasn’t been driven solely by acquisitions. Rather, much of it stems from post-acquisition scaling and operational integration led by Unilever. First, Unilever Wellbeing paused acquisitions for roughly four years. Public records show that—aside from Grüns, acquired just two months ago—all current Wellbeing brands were acquired in 2022 or earlier, with no further deals completed until this year. Second, multiple acquired brands have experienced dramatic scale-ups post-acquisition. For instance, Liquid I.V. and Nutrafol each generated approximately $1 billion in sales last year—up from $120 million and $220 million, respectively, at the time of acquisition. Another flagship brand, OLLY, has similarly surged. At the latest Barclays conference, Solheim confirmed OLLY’s sales have exceeded $500 million.

Unilever to Sell Welly Bandage Brand to Forward Consumer Partners

17 hours ago

Unilever has agreed to sell its Welly Health PBC brand to private-equity firm Forward Consumer Partners, with the transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter.

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Unilever to Sell Welly Bandage Brand to Forward Consumer Partners

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