Laird Activates M&A-Driven Platform Strategy With Nexus Backing
Backed by a new investment partner, Laird Superfood has big plans for expansion. The Colorado-based brand is working with Nexus Capital to build a superfood platform.
News
BodyArmor CEO Set To Exit After Four Years
As the year ends, BodyArmor is preparing for new leadership.
Inside Agrowgate’s 2026 COGS Playbook
Buying smarter can be just as important as selling more. Strategic sourcing – selecting long-term partners for packaging, ingredients and manufacturing – sets the foundation for operational resilience.
Alcohol Alternatives: The Rise of Adaptogenic and THC Drinks – Spate Q4 2025
Alcohol Alternatives: The Rise of Adaptogenic and THC Drinks explores how functional adaptogen beverages and THC-infused drinks are emerging from different corners of wellness and cannabis culture - but converging around a shared consumer desire for controlled, purpose-driven effects.
Non-Alc Pioneer Spirited Away Acquired By Denizen Rum Founder as Category Matures
After five years in operation, Spirited Away, the first non-alcoholic bottle shop in the U.S., has a new owner.
Laird Superfood to Acquire Navitas Organics
Laird Superfood is powering up its food and beverage platform with plans to acquire all outstanding equity of Navitas LLC in an all-cash transaction valued at $38.5 million.
Beyond the Shelf, Farmers Fear Hemp Regulations
The uncertainty surrounding the future cannabis regulations could impact the amount of hemp farmers plant in the coming year.
What We Learned from the Hemp THC Drinks Boom – Brightfield Group December 2025
Brightfield Group unpacks how a category that barely registered a few years ago is now reshaping how consumers think about relaxation, socializing, and alcohol itself.
GoodBelly, Cheribundi Parent NextFoods Closes $10M Funding Round
NextFoods Inc., the parent company of better-for-you beverage brands Cheribundi and GoodBelly, has raised $10 million in a funding round led by investment firm ECP Growth. ECP (Emil Capital Partners) has long been the largest investor in NextFoods and helped steer the 2023 merger with Cheribundi.
Clean Alcohol Collective Launches to Push Bev-Alc Transparency
You’ve likely heard of clean beauty, but clean alcohol? A new trade group is aiming to do what many in the bev-alc industry have historically avoided: define what “clean” means when imbibing.
New Products: Louie Louie’s High Class Partnership and Playboy’s Energy Play
This week’s new products are offering up some holiday highs for consumers. We take a look at several new THC beverage launches from High Rise, Uncle Arnie’s and Louie Louie, as well as some non-infused innovations in coffee and creamers courtesy of MUD\WTR and Laird, and new energy drinks from C4, BUM and Playboy.
How Beverage Investors Find The Next Big Thing
Three beverage industry investors discussed the metrics they use to guide their decisions in backing new drink brands.
Taste Radio: Candy Dates & ‘Noise Canceling’ Tonics. Is Niche The New Norm?
Candy-coated dates, cocktails in pouches, collagen-infused beauty drinks and “noise-canceling” tonics. The latest wave of launches begs the question: is niche now the norm in food and beverage?
How Generous Brands is Working to Become the ‘Goldilocks of Strategics’
At BevNET Live Winter 2025, Generous Brands Chief Transformation Officer Todd Putman dove into the company’s unique position as an early-stage strategic acquirer and how the company strives to be the “Goldilocks of strategics” that can target brands that are “not too big and not too small” and grow mature brands into its existing platform.