How Harry's Owner Is Taking On Procter & Gamble
Mammoth Brands, founded by the creators of Harry's razor company, is challenging legacy CPG giants like Procter & Gamble by using a direct-to-consumer first strategy before scaling to retail. The company has grown through acquisitions and new brand launches, including Flamingo, Lume, Mando, and Coterie Diapers. Mammoth's playbook centers on speed, deep customer knowledge, and premium product quality rather than traditional CPG scale.
Summary
The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is undergoing a significant shift as wellness trends rise and consumers become more label-conscious. Legacy brands face growing pressure from newer, more agile companies that prioritize quality, transparency, and direct relationships with end consumers. Mammoth Brands has emerged as a key challenger in this space, built on a unique playbook that starts with direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels to deeply understand customers before transitioning into major retail partnerships.
Mammoth was co-founded by Jeff Raider and Andy Katz-Mayfield, who first built Harry's, an online shaving brand launched in 2012 that expanded into Target stores in 2016. Harry's succeeded by tapping into consumer frustration over expensive razor blades and delivering a sharp value message through digital channels. This DTC-first model allowed the company to iterate quickly, build community, and achieve cultural relevance at a lower cost than traditional CPG marketing.
Building on Harry's success, the founders expanded their portfolio. They launched Flamingo, a women's shave care brand, in 2018. In 2021, they acquired Lume deodorant, which later launched the Mando brand. Coterie, a premium diaper brand, was acquired in 2022. In 2025, the company officially rebranded as Mammoth Brands, signaling its ambitions as a broader personal care and hygiene conglomerate. Coterie's CEO noted that Mammoth's retail relationships and commitment to quality were major draws for joining the company.
Mammoth's financial details remain private, and the company has not confirmed IPO plans, though a Bloomberg report from January suggested it may go public this year. Looking ahead, Mammoth is actively seeking new brand acquisitions — specifically those with the potential to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in value, not just small niche brands.
Meanwhile, legacy CPG conglomerates are also restructuring. Unilever, for example, sold most of its food business to McCormick for nearly $16 billion and is doubling down on health and beauty brands. Experts acknowledge that large CPG companies still hold advantages in R&D, science, and engineering, but Mammoth argues that its speed, consumer-first mindset, and ability to reach product-market fit faster give it a meaningful competitive edge.
Key Insights
- Jeff Raider argues that legacy CPG companies mistakenly treat retailers as their customers, whereas Mammoth treats the end consumer — 'the person on the street buying our products' — as the true customer, enabling deeper relationships and faster iteration.
- Raider claims that starting with DTC channels allows brands to reach product-market fit much faster than traditional CPG companies, because lower digital costs enable rapid testing, learning, and culturally relevant messaging.
- Harry's succeeded, according to the narrator and analysts, by tapping into a consumer zeitgeist — specifically frustration over the high cost of razor blades — and delivering a sharply focused value message through digital channels before entering retail.
- Coterie's CEO argues that legacy CPG companies are misaligned with modern discerning parents, who are prioritizing better, safer, and more efficacious products over cost-cutting, representing a values shift the incumbents have failed to address.
- An industry analyst concedes that large CPG companies likely retain a structural advantage in R&D, science, product efficacy, and engineering — meaning they have the capability to make the objectively best products if they choose to compete in premium categories.
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