☕ Nestlé’s coffee climate crisis

…and Liquid Death’s thirst-quenching valuation (it’s water with a metal edge) [Disclosures](   A wheelbarrow of joe (Chaideer Mahyuddin/Getty Images)   Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 30,316 (+2.80%) S&P 500 3,791 (+3.06%) Nasdaq 11,176 (+3.34%) Bitcoin $20,301 (+3.40%) Dow Jones 30,316 (+2.80%) S&P 500 3,791 (+3.06%) Nasdaq 11,176 (+3.34%) Bitcoin $20,301 (+3.40%) Hey Snackers, The [Tesla]( bots are coming: Elon Musk [debuted]( “Optimus,” a humanoid robot that he says could eventually do household chores and “be like a friend.” For now, the coolest thing it can do is pick up a watering can. Yesterday was refreshingly green: the S&P 500 soared 3%, adding to Monday’s rally in its biggest two-day gain since March 2020 (up nearly 6% through Tuesday). [Twitter]( surged 22% on reports that Elon agreed to buy it at his original offer price. Nescrisis Nestlé commits $1B to saving coffee from the climate crisis as trouble brews for java crops Love the smell of Nesquik in the morning… more like Nescafé. [Nestlé]( (aka: the world’s largest food company) is famous for sweets like Kit Kats and Toll House cookies. But it’s also the world’s largest coffee company, with brands like Nescafé, Nespresso, and [Starbucks’]( at-home offerings (think: fridge Cold Brew). Now it wants to save the java beans: - Nestlé committed $1B by 2030 to [protect]( coffee from the climate crisis and extreme weather. The investment is meant to help its suppliers adopt more sustainable farming methods. - Think: Replacing coffee trees with climate-change-resistant varieties and offering financial incentives to farmers who responsibly source beans. Nescafé has 500K farmers. - Wild stat: 5.5K+ cups of Nescafé are sipped worldwide every second. Coffee and other non-milk bevs make up a third of Nestlé’s sales. The world’s favorite jitter juice… is in trouble. Global coffee revenue is over $400B/year, but the market could lose steam. Coffee crops are grown near the drought- and hurricane-prone equatorial belt. Rising temps could reduce coffee-growing land area by as much as half by 2050. Meanwhile, severe frosts in Brazil already slashed last year’s crop. - Caffeine crisis: The head of Nestlé’s coffee biz said, “We will not have viable coffee farms in 20 or 30 years if we don’t take action now.” - With its $1B investment, Nescafé aims to have half of its coffee farmed with regenerative methods by 2030. THE TAKEAWAY Coffee’s the tip of the iceberg… It isn’t the only crop facing climate threats. Corn-crop yields may decline by nearly 25% by this century, NASA [says](. Wine, almonds, peaches, and rice are also being affected. Companies may have to step in where governments have been slow to act to protect their products — and the world’s food supply. Quench Viral canned-water biz Liquid Death scores a $700M valuation as booze-less brands sparkle Sounds like a metal band… actually a water brand. Liquid Death is on pace for unicorn status after taking the agua industry by storm. The canned-water brand launched in 2019 with mountain water in skull-adorned metal cans (so edgy). Tagline: “Murder your thirst.” It started with a website and is now sold everywhere from Whole Foods to tattoo parlors. This year Liquid Death is on track to [triple]( its sales to $130M. Investors want a sip: - Big backers: Liquid Death hit a $700M valuation thanks to its latest $70M cash infusion from investors like Science Ventures, [Live Nation]( and… Swedish House Mafia. - H20-fluencer: Liquid Death is the most followed water brand on TikTok (nearly 3M followers) and the second most followed on Insta. Bubbly water > boozy brews… Alcohol-free drinks have sparkled as more Americans shift to a more health-conscious lifestyle. Non-alcoholic-spirit sales (think: boozeless beer) 7X’d from 2020 to 2021, and bottled water has outsold soft drinks since 2016. Fun fact: 74% of people say they’ll turn to other packaged drinks if bottled water isn’t available (read: shunning the tap). - Since Liquid Death launched flavored options like “Berry It Alive” in March, its online sales have grown 40%, helping it compete with La Croix and [Pepsi's]( Bubly. THE TAKEAWAY The brand is in the packaging… and sometimes that matters more than what’s in the package. Liquid Death took an extremely basic product (water) and made it cool. Similarly, Dollar Shave Club (also backed by Science Ventures) used viral videos and simple brown packaging to make razors trendy. Thanks to its novel strategy, it’s possible Liquid Death could even go public at a time when IPO thirst is dry. What else we're Snackin' - [Bitter]( Elon Musk reportedly told [Twitter]( late Monday that he'd buy the company at his original offer price of $54.20 per share. Musk had tried to get out of the deal — and was set to be deposed tomorrow. - [NYChip]( [Micron]( said it'll spend $100B (over 20 years) to build a computer-chip plant in upstate New York. The pledge comes after legislators passed the CHIPS Act, which aims to juice US chip making, in August. - [Fashun]( [Poshmark's]( on deep discount. The resale marketplace agreed to sell itself for less than half its IPO price. South Korean internet giant Naver is snapping up the biz, eyeing international expansion. - [Drive]( [Rivian's]( stock jumped yesterday after the electric-truck maker said it's on track to make 25K vehicles this year (as promised). The news calmed investor worries about industry-wide supply troubles. - [Finfluence]( Ray Dalio, whose Bridgewater hedge fund manages $150B in assets, is stepping down after planning the move a decade ago. He'll stay on the company's board, serving as a mentor. 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. Snack Fact Of the Day Trees are the longest-living organisms on Earth, with the oldest species living 5K+ years [Read more]( Wednesday - Earnings expected from Lamb Weston and Helen of Troy Authors of this Snacks own: shares of Tesla and Starbucks ID: 2459216 Robinhood Snacks newsletters reflect the opinions of only the authors who are associated persons of Robinhood Financial LLC (Member [SIPC]( and do not reflect the views of Robinhood Markets, Inc. or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. They are for informational purposes only, and are not a recommendation of an investment strategy or to buy or sell any security, digital asset (cryptocurrency, etc) in any account. They are also not research reports and are not intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision. Any third-party information provided therein does not reflect the views of Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates. 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