Welltodo Today: Athleisure & Sustainability, Honest Co. Struggles To Grow, HK Gym Chain Pure Group Raises Investment

Today’s key global wellness news articles from around the world, impacting the industry and influencing the business of wellness.

Weight Watchers Shares Jump After DJ Khaled Endorses Program

New year, new celebrity endorser for Weight Watchers International Inc. The weight-loss company has enlisted DJ Khaled as a “social-media ambassador,” a move that helped send the shares up as much as 7.3 percent on Tuesday.

No Longer A Unicorn, Jessica Alba’s Honest Co. Struggles to Grow

Sales growth at the Honest Company stalled in 2017, as product woes continued and the consumer-goods startup co-founded by actress Jessica Alba lost its unicorn status, according to people familiar with the matter.

FountainVest, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan back HK gym chain Pure Group

Hong Kong-headquartered gym chain Pure Group on Tuesday announced new investments from private equity firm FountainVest Partners and theOntario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) . No financial details were disclosed. FountainVest had earlier been reported to be in talks to acquire control of the wellness brand, popular for its Pure Yoga studios and Pure Fitness centres, at a valuation of more than $400 million.

How Amazon’s new patent could make athleisure shopping feel like a video game

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who has the most high-tech reflective surface of all? Potentially, Amazon: The online marketplace just gained a patent for something that could totally change the way you shop online. Instead of scrolling through pictures of all the cute athleisure items on your wish list, the company’s “blended-reality mirror” could allow you to shop like you’re in a video game.

From psychoactive drugs to silent spas: 2018’s weirdest wellness trends

“Like Netflix, but for spin classes” might seem an obvious pitch, but it’s taken a while for the perfect storm of rapidly improving tech and outrageously priced real-life classes to kick in, making at-home training an increasingly preferable prospect.

Modern Baker to lead study on making healthier bread – British Baker

Modern Baker has pledged to ‘bring better baking to Britain’ by heading up a two-year research and development project into improving the nutritional quality of bread. The Oxford-based bakery business has been awarded funding of £763,000 by innovation agency Innovate UK to conduct the research by using fermented sourdough and producing healthier loaves on a mass-market scale.

Muscle Food receives £10m investment from BGF – FoodBev Media

High-protein food producer Muscle Food has received £10 million in funding from the Business Growth Fund (BGF), which the brand will use to establish a second base in Europe and develop its online presence. The Nottingham-based brand sells a range of lean meats, high-protein foods and supplements to fitness enthusiasts and other health-conscious consumers in the UK and Europe.