Despite a slowdown, a number of brands and retailers are confident there is still a “massive” opportunity in kombucha. From positioning as a non-alcoholic social beverage to selling at sporting events and music festivals, there are a variety of ways kombucha makers are attempting to reach a broader audience and lift the category’s HHP – which currently stands at roughly 15%.
BevNET's annual New Beverage Guide.
The approaching New Year’s Day can’t come soon enough for many in beverage-alcohol. The industry would be happy to forget 2025 and move onto a potentially stronger 2026. But within a sea of lackluster scans, rising supply costs and a swell of macroeconomic headwinds, one small, but mighty segment has found growth: Hard cider.
The market for A2/A2 dairy, an easier-to-digest iteration of cow’s milk, has been gaining momentum in the U.S. since 2018, when (aptly-named!) The A2 Milk Company put marketing behind the science. But the dairy format’s acceleration over the past year comes amid heightened demand for minimally-processed, high-protein functional products.
Big flavors, including those traditionally reserved for soft drinks, are in high demand, and if you can deliver, drinkers don’t seem to mind what you call it. Those conditions have opened the door for long-established sparkling water brands to expand, while also giving them more leeway to innovate and excite consumers with their core products.
The future of soda and proliferation of protein were two of the hot topics at this year’s National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) trade show in November, with major brands like Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) showcasing category innovation.
In craft beer news: Rhinegeist Enters THC Beverages with Fuzzy Bones; Molson Coors CEO Says Taking $3.6B Goodwill Impairment a Way to ‘Check Ourselves’; New Belgium to Test New RTDs, Add Bell’s Two Hearted Stubby Bottle, Take Oberon Light Year-Round; and Boston Beer Promotes Phil Hodges to Chief Operating Officer.
In beverage news: Keurig Dr Pepper Invests $7B Behind Coffee, Refreshment Bevs Revamp; Lucky Energy Closes $25M Round; Monster Touts Female-Focused Energy Innovation As Q3 Sales Pass $2B; and Recess Raises $30 Million in CAVU-led B Round.
There is no limit to the difficulties in taking a beverage to market. Yet, with all the ways and steps to launch a brand, there is no aspect more crucial than raising capital.
Beer-centric seltzer by sales and growth.
In food industry news: TreeHouse Foods Acquired in $2.9 Billion Deal; Oddball Lands $2M As It Enters Whole Foods; Mid-Day Squares to Triple Production Capacity, Preps Non-Chocolate Innovation; and Predicting Its Future Under Forward Consumer Partners.
Sugar or no sugar? Plastic or cans? Product developers can make their choices as to which mixture of these elements will deliver the targeted consumer, but there’s a certain je ne sais quoi that’s also an integral element of successful beverage launches.
Why did Mitch McConnell do it? Some say it was the bourbon companies, others a misunderstanding of the ramifications of the original bill. Maybe he did it because he was sick of Rand Paul. At this point, any explanation for the decision by the senior senator from Kentucky to torpedo the same industry he helped launch back in 2018 is moot.
