BevNET Live New York City 2026 Recap

BevNET’s annual summer conference returned to New York City this June, bringing together some of
the beverage industry’s brightest innovators and thought leaders. The event kicked off with several sit-down interviews with entrepreneurs, including several in the low ABV and non-alcoholic beverage categories who discussed the rapidly changing consumer landscape.

Bai and Crooked Pop founder Ben Weiss sat down with BevNET editor-in-chief Jeff Klineman to discuss just what keeps him coming back to the beverage game, despite his “love-pain relationship” with the industry, and why better-for-you drinks are his north star.

“Every time you do this, it takes a bit of your soul,” Weiss said. “You’re giving your soul, you’re giving you time, you’re giving you resources, you’re giving your ability to make more money elsewhere – and it’s sacrifice. But on the other side of that, [when you] find a Bai bottle in the garbage, you’re really reminded how special it is.”

With Crooked Pop, Weiss said he’s aiming to bring the same BFY ethos to a younger consumer that has grown up consuming less sugar, but also is sobercurious or otherwise not interested in alcohol. As a low ABV drink, Weiss says the brand is intended to “speak” to that consumer in the way that non-alcoholic modern sodas have reinvigorated the traditional CSD category.

In another sit-down exploring alcohol moderation trends, Athletic Brewing CEO Bill Shufelt shared how he believes the success of his non-alcoholic beer brand has been in part thanks to launching at the right time, when health and wellness are at the forefront of consumers’ minds.

“I think if we had launched like 10 years ago, that probably was too early,” he said. “We’ve set this up
really well with the health and wellness boom [and] the popularity of moderation – that I’m just feeling in my own life and seeking to have – out in the broader world.”

Shufelt said that taking care when formulating the product and imagining the beer category “where it was going,” rather than where it was at the time of the brand’s founding, helped set Athletic up for the growth it has since achieved.

For consumers who aren’t seeking beer, there’s no shortage of NA cocktails.

Day one of BevNET Live concluded with a sitdown conversation between Laura Taylor, founder of Mingle Mocktails and Samantha Fletcher, Senior Category Manager, Adult Non-Alcohol at Whole Foods Market. They covered the challenges and strategies for brands pitching to retailers – both non-alcoholic and otherwise.

Fletcher stressed the human component of working with buyers, noting that forming relationships before and after a brand is accepted into a retailer is significant, as is ensuring you can adapt to each individual retailer’s specific submission methods and requirements.

Day Two featured more insights from venture capital investors, entrepreneurs, embracing AI in branding strategies and deep dives into the relaxation and intoxicating hemp drink categories.

During a panel discussion, three industry stakeholders – Daizy’s Social Soda founding partner Jill Johnson, Southern Crown Partners chief administration officer Justin Ashby, and Diana Eberlein, chair of the Coalition For Adult Beverage Alternatives chair – discussed how the intoxicating hemp beverage category is strategizing its future amid various regulatory outcomes.

Eberlein kicked off the conversation by explaining a few of the proposed legislative solutions that have been proposed in Congress. She cautioned that the biggest obstacle facing any of these bills passing through Congress is the midterm elections.

“We know a change needs to happen,” she said, citing the White House’s push to keep therapeutics like CBD available. “The ‘how’ is the real question.” Offering a brand perspective, Johnson told the BevNET Live crowd that Daizy’s has just tried to be as nimble as possible to adapt to the changing category conditions.

“We don’t try to predict what’s going to happen,” she said. “We have to just make decisions in real-time. It’s not perfect, but flexibility is a requirement in this industry.”

Meanwhile, mood-boosting beverages have become one of the biggest opportunities in functional drinks. With help from a $40 million investment late last year, U.K.-based Trip has moved quickly to add more retailers in the U.S. to its footprint.

Co-founders and co-CEOs Olivia Ferdi and Daniel Khoury explained their journey of ideating and launching the “calming” beverage brand and how they have positioned Trip to grow further as a poster child of the relaxation beverage set.

“We see ‘calm’ [drinks] becoming as big as energy drinks,” Khoury said. “For a brand to really nail calm and make calm as big as energy, it really requires us to play outside those beverage lines. It is an aspirational brand that is taking all these elements into a mainstream proposition.”