BRANDED GROUP BUYS ITS FIFTH MENSCARE BRAND

Fresh Heritage, a personal care company for men of color, has been acquired by Branded Group, an operator of more than 40 digital-first consumer brands, for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition marks the fifth menscare brand owned by Branded, which aims to be a leader in the category. It intends distribute Fresh Heritage globally and amp up the brand’s existing marketing, supply chain and manufacturing infrastructure.

Fresh Heritage was founded in 2017 by Gamal and Jamil Codner, two brothers who were inspired during a trip to Northern Africa to create a high-quality, chemical-free personal care brand for men of color. While grounded in African roots, Fresh Heritage prides itself on building new personal grooming traditions.

“From our first sourcing trip to Northern Africa, we knew that the quality of our ingredients would be the key to the success of our brand, and our ability to grow a community,” said Gamal Codner, co-founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Fresh Heritage, in a statement. “The Fresh Heritage customer is a man who exudes confidence in other areas of his life but may not have total confidence in his grooming products and habits to match. He is seeking our products because they make him look the way he already feels.” Fresh Heritage products are safe for every type of hair and race, but work especially well for Black men with coarse, kinky hair.

“Branded aligns with our goals of expanding to a global community of men in need of quality products,” added Codner. “They have substantial experience scaling internationally and reaching consumers wherever they are. As a family operation, we truly wanted to reach more customers with a partner that shares our vision for the brand. We feel like Branded has both the technical expertise and brand philosophy to make things happen for us.”

Branded was founded in 2020 and has headquarters in New York and Paris.