Last month The Coca-Cola Company and Brown-Forman announced the launch of a new Jack & Coke ready-to-drink (RTD) product— but eager U.S. drinkers will have to wait. The new beverage will first launch in Mexico, sparking the question: as RTD growth spreads globally, where are major suppliers headed next, and what will they be looking for?
Last week, Pernod Ricard announced the launch of The American Whiskey Collective, a new business unit dedicated to the company’s American whiskey portfolio that will pursue growth by investing in the “new fashioned” brands’ innovation.
As the summer heat begins to stick around, ready-to-drink cocktail makers are rolling out new formats and flavors hoping to win a spot in beachgoers' coolers. Check out this gallery for sports-themed vodka cocktails, Joe Jonas’ line of Fizzy Sangrias and Skrewball’s new on-the-go format.
Sparkling tequila cocktail Onda has closed a $12.5 million funding round led by existing investor Aria Growth Partners, the company announced today. Aria originally backed the brand in its $5 million Series A round last May, and is reinvesting on the back of a strong performance over the past 12 months, during which it has surpassed 10,000 total doors across more than 30 states.
Brian Rosen doesn’t want to invest in your vodka flavored with sriracha or lemon peel and cumin. The lifelong beverage entrepreneur and advisor is channeling his experience into growing spirit brands that instead have wide appeal, and he’s adding strategic capital through InvestBev, an investment firm focused on adult-beverage brands, raw distillate, beverage technology and cannabis.
In his own words, Grisa Soba has “always been a contrarian and tried to do things differently.” That approach has taken Flaviar, the spirits enthusiast membership club Soba launched in 2012 from a simple tasting box format to one of the largest clubs of its kind serving the U.S. and EU.
With more drinkers reaching for tequila-based ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails, mezcal versions could seem like a natural next step considering the spirit’s recent rise. Madre Mezcal, a brand with a foothold in the mezcal market is the most recent to launch their version, a 5% ABV can called Desert Water that comes in four flavors. Meanwhile, Elenita, which launched as the first mezcal RTD in 2020, has been steadily growing their distribution. But unlike other agave spirit RTDs, they might not get much competition for a while – the supply chain challenges are just that big.
Speaking just a few weeks after the energy drink maker’s Q2 earnings report, Monster president and chairman Rodney Sacks said the price increase will kick in on September 1, coming on the heels of incremental hikes in late 2021 and early 2022. The move will put Monster in line with chief rival Red Bull, which communicated to retailers that it will raise pricing by 7.6% (about 10 cents per can) on the same date.
Last week, premium whiskey Uncle Nearest announced its third in a series of investments designed to create a tangible shift in the funding inequities for BIPOC-owned businesses. It comes at a time when other Black founders and business leaders are also making strides to celebrate Black people’s historical contributions to spirits and build more Black-owned legacy beverage businesses.
Spirit alternative maker Ritual Zero Proof this week announced it has hired craft non-alcoholic beer veteran Tom Halaska as its National Sales Director.
The pronghorn is the second-fastest land mammal in the world, second only to the cheetah. But the pronghorn can sustain its speed for longer than a cheetah, according to Dia Simms, a co-founder of Pronghorn, an initiative focused on cultivating the next generation of Black entrepreneurs, executive leaders, and founders within the spirits business. Simms, the CEO of Lobos 1707 Tequila & Mezcal, called the name Pronghorn symbolic of the race to correct inequity in the spirits industry, which she described as a marathon, not a sprint.
From actors to musicians to the world’s richest man, high profile figures have built their own category within the alcohol industry: celebrity spirits. But as celebrity-owned or endorsed brands become the norm, what makes them succeed or fail?
Although summer solstice is still a ways away, the season has unofficially arrived in the form of seven new ready-to-drink cocktails and mocktails. In this gallery, we highlight the first-ever canned cocktail lines from Kraken Rum and New Amsterdam Vodka and several modern twists on classic drinks from Uncle Tim’s.
Two of the biggest names in beverage-alcohol data are joining forces. Global data giant NielsenIQ announced today it has acquired on-premise data firm CGA, in which it initially invested in 2009. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
