On the latest episode of Behind the Buyouts, Steve Berg, partner at Stride Consumer Partners, dives into the firm’s investments in emerging brands with strong brand loyalty and a steady uptick in consumer deal volume in 2024.

Stride typically focuses on four subsectors: food and beverage, beauty and personal care, active and outdoor and multi-unit services.

It’s backed several popular consumer brands such as Patrick Ta, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams LLC, Chomps and Skinfix Inc. The firm in March made a $52 million minority investment in shelf-stable pouched baby food brand Serenity Kids Inc. In November, it invested in hair care brand Odele.

“We are investing in what we call passion brands, the brands that the consumer can’t live without,” Berg said. “We’re investing alongside the founders and management teams of those brands to help them grow, help them expand their reach, without diminishing any of the magic that made them so special to begin with.”

Check out the podcast with Steve Berg below:

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