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After Joey Zwillinger stepped down as CEO of Allbirds in March 2024, he took three months offmainly because his wife Liz said shed divorce him if he jumped into another venture. He had run the sustainable shoe company for 10 years while the couple raised their three young children. It took a real toll on the family, Liz says. (I would say it developed character in our family, Zwillinger counters.) Before long, he was itching to start a new project, an ambition he shyly expressed to his wife. It was really hard to want to sign up for something like that all over again, Liz says. But this time, he cofounded the venture with Liz. Joey & Liz Zwillinger [Photo: Biologica] Its also a bold pivot from a sustainable shoe company to an entirely different industry: womens hormone health supplements. At a time when health and wellness is big business, it might also be a smart pivot. But its an undeniably different world, navigating health regulations and making bold investment choices when such bets didnt go so well at Allbirds. Revenue and share prices dipped drastically starting in 2022, and have hardly recovered. Launching December 9, Biologica is a set of new supplements for womens health, naturally flavored and powdered to fizz into water. Each single sachet, or separately sealed daily dose to be mixed with eight ounces of water, targets different body functions with ingredients including electrolytes, multivitamins, botanicals, and probiotics. Crucially to the value proposition, there are three products for different life stages: younger reproductive years, perimenopause, and post-menopause. While some share ingredients like Vitamin C and potassium, for different stages you may have dosages of broccoli extract (for detoxification and liver function), pomegranate extract (for skin hydration), or saffron (for mood balance and sleep quality). The idea came from Lizs own struggles; she would take different supplements daily for various issues, leading to seven separate pills plus extra vitamins, which became a super onerous supplement routine that didn’t feel like it was sustainable, she says. That was a common issue the couple found in their initial focus groups. Women could only find a one-size-fits-all pill or gummy that promised to do everything. Or, as in Lizs case, various targeted supplements, which became unsustainable as the cost of living rose. They also found that women of different ages had different concerns. So they set out to create a company with only one product per customerbut narrowed to their hormonal age. They believe thats their major selling point. [Photo: Biologica] MAHA movement and ‘changing winds’ The health and wellness sector is absolutely an attractive space for founders now, says Matthew Oster, head of health, beauty, and hygiene insights at Euromonitor International. He says lines are now blurrier than ever between pharma and food and beverage. A trend toward natural and food-based remedies has been churning in the background culturally over the last 10 or 15 years, he says, and increasingly linked with medical distrustand has now become branded as RFK Jr.s Make America Healthy Again movement. So at the same time that these companies are recognizing that consumers want healthier products, he says, there’s this whole movement codifying that. Supplements, whether fortified fibers, proteins, or biotics, are no longer just a hippie, natural, crunchy thing, Oster says. It’s a dead-right-in-the-middle mainstream proposition. But in the age of TikTokification, this wellness market is rife with changing winds, on a dime, Oster says. Some of these ingredients trends last months as opposed to years. Longevity is often hard to forecast: CBD was an example of a fleeting fad, but other trends, like protein, are only getting bigger. Womens health might be a better bet, especially around life stages. No one really even talked about perimenopause a few years ago from a product formulation perspective, Oster says. In a short amount of time, we had a proliferation of products in that space. There are others on the market, but not a tremendous amount, Oster says. Perelel is a supplements company that has seen strong growth since August 2024, where you can shop by stage, from trying to conceive, through perimenopause. Health & Her is a British company with capsule products for different life stages, which launched in the U.S. this summer with CVS. Now, he says, its just about seeing which products will stick, and which will fizzle out. The failure rate may be high, but at least its a relatively short lead time to get to market versus digital health or pharma products (the Zwillingers have gone from ideation to rollout in a year and a half), and a relatively minimal financial commitment (they raised a $7 million seed round). This is a low bet from an investment cost, Oster says, that if you lose your shirt, you lose your shirt. [Photo: Biologica] Learning lessons from Allbirds fall But its still a risk to navigate a new industry when Zwillingers previous venture took an unexpected plunge after its initial success. In the late 2010s, Allbirds was a phenomenon. Its minimalist running sneakers, made from merino wool and a foam sole of sugar cane, were named the worlds most comfortable shoes by Time in 2017. They became almost the official dress code of Silicon Valley, part of the tech bro starter pack meme (along with the Patagonia zipper vest, Yeti bottle, and Lime scooter). They were like a cultural snapshot of the era; even Obama was spotted wearing them. But in March 2024, Zwillinger resigned and handed over the CEO reins after repeated cycles of declining revenue. Even by 2022, The Wall Street Journal assessed, the tech bros had moved on. The medias Allbirds postmortems blamed overly ambitious expansion beyond their core bestsellers, and too rashly opening numerous brick-and-mortar stores. Today, revenue is still declining, and half its stores are closed. Zwillinger, still an active board member, says when COVID-19 hit during the companys peakeclipsing $200 million in revenuehe and his cofounder, Tim Brown, responded too dramatically to shifting consumer trends, including pivoting too hard from lifestyle to running and hiking. We were too immature of a company to parse out what was signal and what was noise, he says, and we made some really big bets based on that. They were forced to discount the product to move the inventory. Allbirds was also known for its eco-friendliness: its a certified B Corp, with a core polymer material thats carbon-negative. Zwillinger says hes learned you cant build a business around sustainability alone. [Consumers] want to make sure that the innovation actually does something that meets their needs, he says. In a way, navigating health in the new business is similar to navigating sustainability. Once competing with some rivals that were greenwashing, they now face some wellness brands that make unsubstantiated claims. Companies feel free to say whatever to make a sale, Zwillinger says. It’s a little scary starting a business in a space like that. Theres enough leniency from the FDA for some bold claims, and a lack of budget for the agency to do much even when theres blatant overstepping. You cant say a supplement cures or prevents a disease, but you can make a claim about the role of an ingredient, like calcium builds strong bones. But some of the gray areas can lead to a freewheeling, cowboy approach to what they claim, Zwillinger says. Thats concerning to many medical experts, who have publicly noted their skepticism around supplements, some recommending not to spend money on something that most people can obtain from a healthy diet alone. An independent panel of national experts in 2022 reviewed 84 supplements studies and concluded there was insufficient evidence of their efficacy. The Zwillingers say they have tried to do things right via focus groups, clinical research, and a 1,000-woman study; they have a medical advisory board with two ob-gyns and a breast cancer surgeon specialist (as well as a more Eastern-focused herbalist). Oster says its good to get everything right with the science. But in this social media era, it might not even be science that drives sales for some consumers. Vibes and feelings are pretty influential, he says. [Photo: Biologica] DTC as the initial test Still, from a business strategy perspective, the reliance on data has been helpful, allowing them to be less subjective, and not cater to their own tastes, as Zwillinger and Brown did at Allbirds. In this situation, I have zero lived experience and no subjectivity, he says. Looking back, everyone should do that with every business they runtake themselves out of it. Consumer trends have also changed dramatically, as pandemic patterns faded and social media proliferated. Allbirds, along with fellow unicorns Warby Parker and Casper, was a direct-to-consumer (DTC) pioneer. Though assessments that DTC is dead are highly exaggerated, Oster says, companies have to get social media marketing right, as people now just buy directly from those platforms. TikTok Shop has really taken over from a supplements perspective, Oster says. Zwillinger knows they will ultimately have to be predominantly retail-oriented to be successful, but they have to start with DTC, probably for a year or two (products will be ready to ship to consumers December 9). I have learned deeply and with some scars, he says, that you need a robust and popular product before entering wholesale relationships. The DTC launch will be a way to test the product, and iron out issues. Those could be things like flavors, which theyve formulated without sugar. Or the price, which is $59 a month, for 30 sachets in a tin, to finance some expensive ingredients like saffron. Or, the branding of the product, which theyve tried to give a premium feel, with elegant-looking tins to be displayed on a counter or desk, not shoved away in the pantry, and to speak to a sophisticated customer base. But of course, all remains to be seen as it rolls out. We think we’re brilliant, [that] we’ve done everything right, Zwillinger says. But when we start selling, we’re going to find out we were idiots about lots of things.
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E-Commerce
If you’re searching for a new snack that’s heavy on flavor but manages to skip the unhealthy additives, you’re in luck. There’s a new one called Ragerz from Good Eat’n, NBA star Chris Paul’s snack brand, in partnership with the WNBA’s Paige Bueckers. And it sounds like a slam dunk. For starters, the snackwhich is a bit like a healthier take on Takisis focused on delivering a fierce flavor without the junk. It comes in Chili Lime and Sweet Chili Crunch flavors that, Bueckers tells Fast Company, do not miss the mark (hoop?). The snack “isn’t asking people to give up flavor to feel better about what they’re eating,” she says, adding that with Ragerz, “you can have both.” Chris Paul agrees, and says that now is the right time for better snacking options. “Families want snacks that taste amazing but dont come with all the artificial colors and additives,” he tells Fast Company. “Youre seeing that shift in retail data: U.S. snacking is a $46 billion industry, most of it controlled by one big company thats now experiencing decline.” [Photo: Bobby Metelus] According to Paul, Good Eat’n snacks have only organic ingredients and no artificial flavors, or dyes like Red 40. “People want bold flavors, but they also want to feel good about whats in the bag,” Paul says. “Ragerz hits that sweet spot: big flavor, organic corn, no artificial colors, and ingredient integrity.” The taste certainly sounds epic. However, the brand is shooting for more than a new crunchy and delicious snack. Good Eat’n’s mission, fighting childhood hunger, is what seems to matter most to the brand. Good Eat’n says it is donating a portion of all Ragerz sales to charity, as well as partnering with the Paige Bueckers Foundation, which works to create opportunities and promote justice in sports and elsewhere, to donate Ragerz and other Good Eatn snacks to Feed the Children. “[Being] able to support Feed the Children and their resources centers inside of schools in the Dallas School District means a lot,” Bueckers explains. “I’m trying to find ways to engage and support the Dallas community, which has shown me so much love in my first season there.” For the Dallas Wings point guard, the partnership is a big responsibility, and it’s one she takes seriously, calling it an opportunity to learn “how to be a leader from Chris.” Bueckers says that, in addition to Paul’s success on the court, he has been able to “break barriers and do amazing things off the court,” adding that “for him to want to invest in me and in womens sport makes it a special moment.” The partnership marks the first time that a WNBA star has taken an equity stake in a food brand founded by an NBA player, which isn’t lost on Bueckers, who says that “being the first at something means there will be a second and a third.” According to the company, Good Eatn snacks are available nationwide at Walmart, and Ragerz are now available for pre-order at GoodEatn.com. The snack will be available at H-E-B stores across Texas, as well as via DoorDash in Texas and Gopuff nationwide.
Category:
E-Commerce
Its a historic day for both Walmart and the Nasdaq. Today, Americas largest brick-and-mortar retailer begins trading on the Nasdaq after its shares spent over half a century on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Heres what you need to know about Walmarts move to the Nasdaq. Whats happened? A week before Thanksgiving, Walmart announced that it would transfer its common stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The move is historic for a few reasons. The first is that Walmart (Nasdaq: WMT) shares have traded on the NYSE since 1972the last 53 years. Walmart went public in 1970, but traded on over-the-counter markets for the first two years before joining the NYSE. That ends today. And Walmarts time on the NYSE was a good one. Over the last 53 years, Walmarts stock on the NYSE has grown more than 536,000% as of yesterdays market close. By moving to the Nasdaq, Walmart is beginning a new chapter of its financial life. But the second reason Walmarts move to the Nasdaq is historic is because of Walmarts current valuation. As of its last trading day on the NYSE yesterday, Walmart had a market cap of more than $905 billion. Its transfer from the NYSE to the Nasdaq represents the largest stock exchange transfer in history. Other companies have moved stock exchanges in the past, but the total value of their shares was nowhere near Walmarts. Why is Walmart moving to the Nasdaq? Walmart cited several reasons for its decision to move from the NYSE to the Nasdaq. But a lot of it has to do with image. Over the past few decades, the Nasdaq has become home for the most technologically progressive, forward-thinking companies on the planet. The Nasdaq is where all of the so-called Magnificent 7 tech companies are traded: Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Meta (Nasdaq: META) Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG) Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) All those companies have experienced tremendous growth on the Nasdaq, and they are seen as engines of Americas economic innovation. On the other hand, the New York Stock Exchange, while a respected institution and storied marketplace, is sometimes seen as the exchange for legacy companies, such as big banks in the financial sector and other industrial stocks like automakers and agricultural companies, not to mention brick-and-mortar retailers like Target (NYSE: TGT) and Gap (NYSE: GAP). It seems that Walmart no longer wants to be grouped with those legacy companies (and, in some cases, competitors) and instead wants to be seen as being in the same league with the country’s innovative tech giants. (To be sure, NYSE still gets its share of high-profile tech listings, including companies like Figma and Circle Internet Group, which went public just this year.) Moving to Nasdaq aligns with the people-led, tech-powered approach to our long-term strategy,” Walmarts chief financial officer, John David Rainey, said when announcing the move last month. “Walmart is setting a new standard for omnichannel retail by integrating automation and AI to build smarter, faster, and more connected experiences for customers, while enabling our associates to deliver even greater value at scale. In other words, the move underscores Walmarts desire to be seen more as a tech-focused, AI-first company rather than the worlds largest legacy retailer. As the company said in its announcement: The move to Nasdaq underscores the strong alignment between Walmart and Nasdaq’s shared values: a technology-forward approach, delivering exceptional client value, and redefining their respective industries through innovation. When is Walmart moving to the Nasdaq? Walmart moves to the Nasdaq today, Tuesday, December 9. Walmarts last trading day on the New York Stock Exchange was yesterday. As of the time of this writing, its shares are already trading in premarket trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market Is Walmart getting a new ticker symbol? No. Walmart will continue to retain its historic ticker symbol of WMT. Are stock exchange transfers common? They arent frequent events, but they arent uncommon. As Reuters notes, earlier this year, Shopify (Nasdaq: SHOP) and Kimberly-Clark (Nasdaq: KMB) transferred to the Nasdaq. Other companies, including CSW Industrials (NYSE: CSW) and Virtu Financial (NYSE: VIRT) transferred to the NYSE. But what is uncommon about Walmarts move to the Nasdaq is the sheer size of the company doing so. As The Motley Fool points out, Walmarts current market cap makes it the largest company to ever transfer stock exchanges. Walmart is currently worth around $905 billion. That value dwarfs the value of the next-largest company ever to switch exchanges: chemicals and gas giant Linde (Nasdaq: LIN), which moved to the Nasdaq in 2023 with a then-market value of $180 billion. Before Lindes move, soda maker PepsiCo (Nasdaq: PEP) was the previous largest company to switch exchanges, moving to the Nasdaq in 2017 when it had a market value of around $166 billion. So while stock exchange transfers aren’t rare, Walmarts stock exchange transfer is notable given the size of the company. Could this boost Walmart’s stock price? Thats hard to say. The most significant factor in Walmarts future share performance will continue to be the companys fundamentals. If Walmart continues to perform well, its stock is likely to keep rising. If it starts performing badly, the stock is likely to fall. However, Walmarts move to the Nasdaq could have a psychological effect on some investors, who may see the company now more as a tech-focused growth stock than a legacy retailer. That type of psychological impact could lead to greater interest in the stock, which could push up its share price. Walmart shares could also get a boost if they are included in index funds that are compiled with stocks that mimic the makeup of the largest companies on the Nasdaq. As of today, Walmart is the ninth largest company by market cap on the Nasdaq. How have WMT shares performed in 2025? Walmart shares have performed well so far this year. As of yesterdays close, WMT shares were up more than 25% for the year. At around $113.50 per share, they are near an all-time high. And another potential milestone is also within reach. As of yesterdays close, Walmarts market cap was just over $905 billion. That means the company is only about $95 billion away from becoming a trillion-dollar giant. The companys stock price now needs to rise only about 10.5% more to cross that milestone. Walmart is clearly hoping it can do that on the Nasdaq.
Category:
E-Commerce
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