Spirits Industry News
Zero Proof Playbook: Soft Bar On What Sustains A Non-Alc Third Space
We spoke with the team from Soft Bar + Cafe about how the third space gets cocktails to resonate with guests, what's selling, and where the category still has room to grow.
M&A Activity For Scaled RTD Brands Expected to Ramp Up
"It's going to be an M&A musical chair game," Arlington Capital Advisors managing director Townsend Ziebold said earlier this month at Beer Marketer's Insights conference, as too many strategic buyers are chasing too few scaled ready-to-drink (RTD) brands.
Hugo’s Cocktails Takes Its Bartender-Crafted RTDs To New Markets
Cristian Molina built Hugo’s Cocktails on the premise that his nearly two decades behind the bar is a better source for flavor research than any focus group
Adam Kost on How Dirty Shirley Cleaned Up
Most founders build to scale, but Adam Kost, founder of ready-to-drink (RTD) brand Dirty Shirley, built to prove.
NÜTRL Founders Back Los Sundays Expansion
The founders who built NÜTRL into Canada's top vodka soda are putting that playbook to use again, this time with tequila.
The Zero Proof Acquires The New Bar For On-Premise Reach
The Zero Proof, a leading ANA beverage platform, today announced the acquisition of The New Bar, a West Coast-based non-alc hospitality and discovery program. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Brown-Forman, Sazerac Bet on New RTDs as Category Buoys Spirits Growth
Brown-Forman and Sazerac are doubling down on ready-to-drink (RTD) with new releases launching today.
Tentative Settlement Reached in FTC’s Price Discrimination Lawsuit Against Southern Glazer’s
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits (SGWS) have reached a tentative settlement agreement in the federal agency’s price discrimination lawsuit against the nation’s largest wine and spirits distributor.
Republic National Distributing Company Expects to Cease Operations in Illinois, Shutter Facilities
Republic National Distributing Company’s (RNDC) Illinois operation – one of its remaining markets – is headed toward a shut down, as the distributor’s territory fire sale continues across the country.
“Operator Energy”: Inside 44° North Vodka’s Lean Strategy for Regional Growth
After spending 40 years combined at William Grant, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Remy, Ken Wyatt and Ron Zier have taken their Idaho spirits company, 44° North Vodka, in the opposite direction of the global brands they’ve stewarded in the past.
Prepared Cocktails Regain Traction to Start June, per NIQ Weekly Scans
Bev-alc declines persisted through the first week of June as the industry falls into a consistent pattern ahead of this summer’s major events, according to the latest weekly report from market research firm NIQ.
Campari Builds On The Aperol Playbook, Without The Booze
After a decade of building Aperol into one of the world's most recognizable cocktail ingredients by anchoring it to a ritual – the Aperol spritz – the Italian spirits giant is now applying the same playbook to Crodino, its zero-proof bitter aperitif.
Spec’s Expands West, Acquires Nevada’s Lee’s Discount Liquor
Spec's Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods is expanding out of Texas with the acquisition of Lee’s Discount Liquor, Nevada’s largest independent liquor chain, the companies announced today.
Reyes CEO Tom Day On RNDC Deal, Scaling Spirits and Wine Business
After 50 years in business, Reyes Beverage Group’s dealmaking ambitions aren't close to done – in and out of beer.