Canned tequila-seltzer brand Onda just cracked open a fresh round of funding. The company secured $12.5 million, led by Aria Growth Partners, with 25Madison, Sweet Leaf Tea and Deep Eddy Vodka founder Clayton Christopher, and Revolve’s CEO Michael Mente and Chief Brand Officer Raissa Gerona also participating.

• Onda, which has raised $18.75 million to date, is partnering with Revolve to be its exclusive tequila seltzer, CEO and co-founder Noah Gray told Retail Brew, so expect to see the brand all over Insta—especially during NYFW this fall.

The brand was co-founded by Gray, COO Max Dworin, Chief Creative Officer Kelli Adams, and actress Shay Mitchell, who serves as chief brand officer, in the summer of 2020, when RTD (and on-the-go) cocktails rose in popularity. Onda offers a premium ($2.49 per can, or $19.99 per eight-pack), spirits-based alternative to malt liquor-based bevs like White Claw or Truly, Gray said.

“We were collectively really interested in this growth in a better-for-you drinking culture that combines high-quality, healthier ingredients in a really convenient package,” he said.

• Onda declined to disclose sales figures, but Gray said it’s seen “well over 100% YoY growth” in 2022 thus far.
• The RTD cocktail market saw $875 million in sales for the 52 weeks ending February 21, per IRI, up ~41% YoY.

Cocktail hour: Onda will use the $$ to grow its nearly 30-person team with a handful of sales hires, Gray said, plus start work on new product development for 2023. It’ll also double down on marketing, split between content creation—leveraging Mitchell’s 33.6 million Instagram followers and the Revolve partnership—and field marketing through in-store tastings and demos, an opportunity it didn’t have when it debuted during the pandemic’s peak.

“With early-stage companies like ours, while you’re still building national awareness, you really have the most opportunity to convert someone into a customer at point-of-purchase,” Gray said.

That’s the spirit: Onda achieved 700% distribution growth last year, according to the company, expanding to 10,000 retail locations including Publix, Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and Total Wine across 31 states.

• Its strongest markets are California, Florida, and Illinois, Gray said, and it hopes to go deeper into the Northeast and Texas this year.

Onda wants to make a stronger push, particularly in grocery, Gray said, but has some tricky regulations to navigate. Spirits-based RTD cocktails face different tax rates and varying state laws on grocery sales, which he admitted can be “awkward and clunky” for brands, buyers, and retailers. As popularity for this category grows, “you’ll probably see, further ahead, regulatory change catching up with where the consumer is,” Gray said.—EC

Racial inequity in beauty continues to be a pressing issue impacting Black consumers’ shopping experiences, a recent report from the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility found—and addressing it represents a $2.6 billion opportunity.

Room for more: The report included a survey of 7,400 Black beauty consumers (conducted in September 2021), plus interviews with 20+ industry execs, such as Tracee Ellis Ross, who started her own natural hair-care line, Pattern, and Lisa Price, founder of Carol’s Daughter, a natural hair-care and beauty brand.

• Black consumers spent $6.6 billion on beauty products in 2021, accounting for ~11% of total US beauty spending.

Yet, their needs haven’t been adequately met. “What I discovered working in person and one-on-one with a chemist is that the efficacy of products is actually based on what straight, blond hair does,” Ellis Ross said. “The clumping, slip, and hydration your hair gets—those three terms were something these chemists have never heard of—and so if they didn’t know what those things were, there was no way to translate the information I needed.”

Stumbling blocks: The report also highlighted the challenges faced by Black founders, execs, and employees within the industry: In 2021, Black-owned beauty brands only made up 2.5% of the revenue within the US beauty industry, which McKinsey valued at $60 billion.

• A disparity in private-equity funding and lack of diversity among industry workers and ads were some of the top concerns raised by the beauty insiders McKinsey spoke to for the report.

It also found that Black-owned beauty brands that receive VC investment raise an average of $13 million in VC funding. By contrast, non-Black-founded beauty labels raise an average of $20 million.—JS

Today’s top retail reads.

Out of stock: A 72-year-old man who spent more than nine years stocking shelves at Whole Foods is hoping for a severance payout after the store shut its doors. (the Boston Globe)

In action: Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, here’s what retailers are saying. (Retail Dive)

Getting tough: Former and current employees at Getir have described the grocery-delivery startup as a “tense and often dangerous environment”—plus they’re not confident about the company’s chances to be profitable. (Insider)

Elevate your app in a snap: 1 in 3 US consumers prefer mobile shopping apps to all other channels, and 15% use ’em daily. So, what drives app adoption? A safe and simple UX. Learn more here.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

What happened in the world of retail this week in…1936 and beyond? Retail Brew takes you way, way, way back.

This week we return to a time when someone walking around with headphones on was “the latest fad.”

• On June 27, 1949, fashion designer Vera Wang was born in New York City.
• On July 1, 1953, Kraft Foods debuted Cheez Whiz in the US, a year after it was introduced to simplify making Welsh rarebit in the UK, with its breakaway role in the Philly cheesesteak soon to follow.
• Also on July 1, but in 1979, the first Sony Walkman, a novelty at the time for enabling listening to recorded music on headphones while walking around (without the bulk of a boom box), went on sale in Japan.
• And on July 2, 1962, Sam Walton opened the first Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas.

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• What consumers think about retailers weighing in on abortion
• Sweetgreen wants to challenge (and reward) its loyal customers
• “When I see brands get Gen Z wrong, we’re trying to put them in a box”: Understanding Zoomers’ purchasing behavior

Introducing Retail Brew’s newest debut ::drumroll:: The Sku: A Retail Brew Summit. FOMO is real, friends.

Here’s what’s on the agenda:

• Meeting demand and maximizing profit
• Managing your organization across channels
• Creating omni-channel engagement with customer journeys
• Sustainability: who is doing what and how?
• Using technology to drive sales

Early-bird pricing ends soon! Register now to save your seat (and some $$). Only $499 for a limited time!