If there is anything to be learned from energy drink deals in recent history, it’s that the need for caffeine is gender-agnostic. Amid a slew of distribution partnerships, investments and acquisitions, the biggest successes in this past year have come to energy drink brands reaching toward female consumers.
BevNET's annual Alcohol & Alternatives Guide.
Refreshers are like opinions – no one's the same, but everyone’s got one. Numerous fruity and colorful hard beverages have hit the shelves in the past two years, labeled as “refreshers,” but that is about where their similarities end.
Be it from wellness influencers, the nutritional needs of Ozempic users, or the pseudomedical approach to wellness infiltrating the political sphere, of late, the push for high protein products has supercharged the CPG business.
The Specialty Food Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show, the largest U.S. food show devoted exclusively to specialty foods and beverages, is set to return to New York City in late June.
In craft beer news: Rhinegeist Enters NA Beer Space with Ghost Haze & Pils, Adds Cincy Light Lime; Beer Serves America Study: Industry Generated $471B in Economic Output; Rabobank: Cell Phones, Less Disposable Income and Demographic Shifts to Blame for Gen Z Drinking Less; and Ball CEO Pushes for Beer Price Cuts, Discusses Tariffs Impact and Recession Resilience.
In beverage news: Guayakí Becomes Yerba Madre; Tractor Lands $15M As Marketing Tour Brings Brand ‘Out in the Wild’; Gorgie Nets Glamorous $24.5M Round, Target Rollout Up Next; and Culture Pop Lands $15M To ‘Close The Gap’ In Modern Soda.
Aside from an occasional Propel commercial - actually not on the sports coverage channels - I couldn’t believe that the beverage industry seemed to have deserted the big ticket sporting events.
Oat milk by sales and growth.
In food industry news: Conagra To Sell Chef Boyardee For $600 Million; Chobani ‘Entering a New Dimension’ With $1.2 Billion New York Facility; Sunday Supper Taps Former Good Planet Exec As CEO; and A Dozen Cousins Locks In ‘Manufacturing and Manpower’ Via Verde Valle.
Sometimes nomenclature can matter in framing things in a new way that opens minds and makes progress possible. Which brings me to “modern soda.” It’s been kind of remarkable how quickly the trade has embraced this term conjured up by Walmart merchandisers.
The best interviews require research, and in the case of some founders, I’ve found that they supply their own best research materials in the form of memoirs, and I’ve really developed a weakness for the founder story format.
