The NPCA Update (2): Why More Brands Are Buying Their Co-Manufacturer
- NP Capital Advisors Team
- Jun 5
- 7 min read
We advise companies between $1M and $50M in revenue.
The NP Capital difference combines consulting with transactional advisory to elevate outcomes. We unite real-world business-building experience, deep sector knowledge, and transactional acumen to deliver superior results.
Why More Brands Are Buying Their Co-Manufacturer
Vertical integration is becoming a strategic imperative for growth-stage brands.
From Outsourcing to Ownership: The New CPG Playbook
In a challenging macro environment marked by inflation, supply chain volatility, and margin compression, a growing number of consumer brands are shifting their strategy: instead of relying on third-party co-manufacturers, they’re acquiring them.
“There’s a clear trend,” says Manoj, a food entrepreneur and advisor to NP Capital. “Brands are buying their co-mans to gain control over quality, IP, margins, and speed to market.”
Manoj experienced this firsthand as a founding operator of Banza, the popular chickpea pasta brand. By building their own facility, the team protected their IP and unlocked new efficiencies, expanding to nearly 25,000 stores and becoming a multimillion-dollar success story.
Today, more brands are following suit, and not just emerging players. The protein bar company David just announced that it's buying Epogee to gain more control over its supply chain. In late 2024, Celsius Holdings acquired Big Beverages Contract Manufacturing, its longtime co-packer, for $75 million to accelerate innovation and gain production control. And a few years earlier, Beyond Meat purchased its Pennsylvania co-man facility for $14.5 million, aiming to lower costs and improve R&D agility.
These moves reflect a broader industry realization: controlling the production line means controlling your future.
Why It Works: Margin, IP, and Strategic Value
The benefits of owning production are significant. First, there’s the margin lift. When brands outsource manufacturing, they’re buying on a profit-based model. Bringing production in-house shifts that to a cost-based structure, allowing for healthier gross margins and long-term scalability.
Then, there’s IP protection. “Our ability to shield Banza’s formulation from competitors gave us a huge competitive advantage,” says Manoj. “We never let suppliers or external parties into the facility. That secrecy bought us time and market leadership.”
Owning the supply chain also boosts appeal to private equity and strategic acquirers. “When evaluating an investment, one of the first questions is: how much control does the brand have over production?” explains Manoj. “Having that infrastructure signals maturity and makes a deal more compelling.”
With inflation pressuring COGS and consumers sensitive to pricing, in-house manufacturing also provides price stability and responsiveness, two traits critical for remaining competitive at scale.
What’s more, acquiring a distressed or underutilized facility can present a smart, capital-efficient entry point. “There are co-mans out there looking for anchor brands or exits,” Manoj notes. “You can retrofit a site rather than build from scratch.”
When to Make the Move, and Who Shouldn’t
Despite the advantages, vertical integration isn’t a fit for everyone. For early-stage brands still focused on product-market fit or those without operational expertise, the shift can be risky.
“You’re no longer just a brand or sales-led company, you’re running a factory,” says Manoj. “That takes serious regulatory, labor, and supply chain know-how.”
He recommends waiting until a brand is seeing consistent double-digit annual growth and has a proprietary product worth protecting. “That’s when it makes sense to consider owning production. Not just to meet demand, but to protect your moat.”
NP Capital Advisors helps brands navigate this transition – sourcing distressed opportunities, structuring acquisition financing, and connecting founders with strategic capital partners who understand the nuances of manufacturing.
As CPG companies mature and margins matter more than ever, brand-led growth is no longer enough. The real edge is controlling your product from the inside out.
Some of Our NP Capital Active Engagements
A brand owner with the acquisition of their co-man
A distressed CPG brand selling its assets and restructuring its liabilities
Acting as fractional finance and operations for a high-growth early-stage CPG brand
New Team Members
We’re thrilled to welcome Manoj Venugopal, Lindsay Cone, and Mike Vosogh as part of the NP Capital Advisors team!
Manoj Venugopal
Managing Director, Manufacturing and Co-Man
“The Opportunaut"
Manoj is a food industry entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience building clean-label, scalable manufacturing platforms across the U.S. and overseas. As Co-Founder of Virginia Park Foods, the U.S.'s leading gluten-free pasta manufacturer, he helped power the national retail growth of Banza, now stocked in 30,000+ stores. Previously, he served as COO at Caesar’s Pasta, where he led operations, supply chain, and innovation for one of North America’s top frozen Italian food brands.
His core strength lies in co-manufacturing (COMAN) strategy and execution. He has extensive experience identifying, negotiating with, and managing COMAN partners across categories – helping brands find the right operational fit based on product type, scale, certifications, technical capabilities, and long-term growth plans.
Lindsay Cone
Fractional CFO (Finance, FP&A, and Cash Flow)
"The Panther"
Lindsay is a strategic finance leader and operator with over a decade of experience driving growth, financial discipline, and operational excellence across venture-backed and founder-led businesses. She brings deep expertise in FP&A; gross-to-net calculations (including dilution), gross margin enhancement, improving working capital and cash conversion cycles, cost controls and lean operations, cash flow and revenue forecasting, capital fundraising support (investor decks), covenant monitoring, and scaling infrastructure to enable rapid growth. She has a proven track record of building finance functions from the ground up.
Lindsay has held senior finance roles at AG1 and other high-growth companies, where she helped shape long-term financial strategy, optimize cost structures, and prepare businesses for scale. She has worked closely with CEOs, founders, and private equity stakeholders to guide decision-making at both strategic and operational levels — including multi-year financial modeling, scenario planning, and working capital forecasting.
Mike Vosogh
Fractional COO (Operations and Supply Chain)
"The Pitbull"
Mike Vosogh is an accomplished supply chain, operations, and manufacturing executive with over twenty years of experience. He is a master at helping brands set-up and optimize their supply chain, whether Co-Man or self-manufacturing is involved. Mike negotiates hard on behalf of his clients and is not afraid to confront the real challenges of scaling smaller businesses. He understands the intricate balance between flexibility and efficiency that is critical to the needs of smaller businesses. He is also well-versed in how much supply chain planning can impact working capital needs and understands cash flow dynamics, which are the lifeblood of a small business.
Mike began his career in sales at a mid-sized snack food manufacturer back in 2004, where he quickly advanced through roles in purchasing, operations, and quality control. His early exposure to supply chain management, lean manufacturing, and systems implementation laid the foundation for his operations expertise.
Industry Headlines
David Closes $75 Million Series A Funding Round
David, a brand that designs tools to increase muscle and decrease fat, today closed a $75 million Series A funding round, led by Greenoaks with the participation of Valor Equity Partners.
David launched and debuted its flagship product: a protein bar with 28 grams of protein, zero sugar, and just 150 calories, offering the highest protein-to-calorie ratio on the market. The brand has experienced explosive growth over its first eight months of commercial operations, expanding into over 3,000 retail locations across the United States, most recently entering Wegmans. The brand is on pace to surpass $100 million in revenue in its first year of operation.
David will use the investment to scale manufacturing, accelerate product development, and expand inventory to meet surging demand across retail and e-commerce. As part of this growth strategy, the company has acquired Epogee, the food technology firm behind EPG, a plant-based fat alternative that significantly reduces calories and fat without compromising taste or texture.
E.l.f. Beauty to Acquire Hailey Bieber Skincare Brand Rhode in Deal Valued up to $1 Billion
E.l.f. Beauty is acquiring Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand Rhode for $1 billion.
The deal will build on E.l.f’s efforts to expand further into skincare and reach a higher-income consumer.
“I’ve been in the consumer space 34 years, and I’ve been blown away by seeing this brand over time. In less than three years, they’ve gone from zero to $212 million in net sales, direct-to-consumer only, with only 10 products. I didn’t think that was possible,” CEO Tarang Amin told CNBC in an interview.
Dick’s Sporting Goods to Acquire Foot Locker for $2.4 Billion in Effort to Corner Nike Market
Dick’s Sporting Goods plans to acquire Foot Locker for $2.4 billion.
Foot Locker has been undertaking an ambitious turnaround, but its weak stock price has made it a takeover target.
The combined company will have a major competitive edge in the Nike sneaker market and will provide Dick’s access to international markets, plus a younger and urban consumer.
Hormel Foods Turns Up the Heat With AI-Driven Flavor Innovation
Hormel Foods is cranking up the intensity of its flavors, and behind the spicy kick is product development fueled by data and artificial intelligence.
As the leader of Hormel's hub for innovation, consumer and shopper insights, brand diagnostics, and technology, Selk finds that social listening is a great way to understand changes in consumer behavior. "And now with the AI-driven analytic capabilities most platforms have, identifying emerging trends has become even more efficient."
The company also looks to a dedicated cultural anthropologist who conducts research related to online or in-store shopping, as well as in-home consumption habits, to keep a pulse on changing trends. It then brings together these insights with its proprietary business data to gain a 360-view of consumer behavior.
About NP Capital Advisors
NP Capital Advisors is a next-generation investment bank and consulting firm founded by a team of experienced entrepreneurs, bankers, and attorneys who have built, operated, and sold successful businesses. The firm offers tailored solutions across M&A, restructuring and turnarounds, and strategy and growth consulting in a variety of sectors. With a performance-driven fee structure and a track record of delivering exceptional results, NP Capital Advisors is dedicated to helping founder-led and emerging growth businesses maximize value and overcome challenges.
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