This year in beverage news had it all: raging Senators, warring energy drinks and even a sprinkle of Elk Blood. Here are the top 10 BevNET stories, as ranked by popularity.
10. Kill Cliff & Joe Rogan Want You To Drink Elk Blood
Energy drink Kill Cliff announced an expansion to its partnership with celebrity podcaster Joe Rogan in June that also saw the addition of endurance sport and bowhunting influencer Cameron Hanes. The new collaborator resulted in an exclusive CBD beverage, dubbed Elk Blood Spicy Cherry.
While the liquid does not contain any real animal blood (so the company claims) it does pack a punch of 125 mg of caffeine, B vitamins, 25 mg of broad spectrum CBD and electrolytes for hydration.
“I look at this Elk Blood as an anchor for that product line,” CEO John Timar told BevNET. “It’s bringing the athletes and usage occasions front and center. It will drive a lot of trial and a lot of adoption.”
9. Sazerac Files Lawsuit Against RNDC for $38.6M in Unpaid Invoices
Whether it’s in Hollywood or the beverage industry, a messy divorce always draws eyes.
Following the news of spirits giant Sazerac’s transition from wine and spirits wholesaler Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) to several beer wholesalers, the producer filed suit in January against its former distributor for nonpayment of $38.6 million.
And just like a backpage tabloid saga, the suit aired out much of the dirty details behind the fracture of Louisville, Kentucky-based Sazerac and RNDC, which sold its products for more than a decade.
These included allegations that RNDC had bad-mouthed Sazerac in the marketplace, ceased cooperation with Sazerac and otherwise attempted to harm the spirits maker by unfairly disrupting future sales and the transition to new distributors,” Sazerac asserted. The volleying has since continued: RNDC filed a countersuit later that spring.
8. Logan Paul’s PRIME Expands into Energy Drinks
It has nearly been a year since PRIME entered the energy drink market. After rapidly establishing itself as one of the fastest growing sports drink brands in 2022, it launched its third product line, PRIME Energy, in January 2023. (More on repercussions from the launch later).
PRIME Energy comes in five flavors, including three versions currently in the sports drink line – Blue Raspberry, Tropical Punch and Lemon Lime – alongside two new varieties, Orange Mango and Strawberry Watermelon. Each 12 oz. can contains 200 mg of caffeine, 300 mg of electrolytes, 10 calories and zero sugar. The drinks are made with coconut water from concentrate and are sweetened with sucralose and Ace-K.
7. White Claw Goes Dry For 0% Alcohol Sparkling Water
Here’s a novel idea: non-alcoholic sparkling water.
Of course, White Claw would argue that its new 4-SKU line, given the elegant name of White Claw 0% Alcohol, is something entirely more sophisticated. The drink, set to debut on New Year’s Day 2024, is being billed as a “premium seltzer for adults” with an added boost from electrolytes and just a touch of sugar (2 grams per 12 oz can).
The brand claims the new 0% Alcohol is a beverage with “all the taste and complexity” of an alcoholic drink, suggesting it’s being positioned to compete with innovative zero-proof sparkling RTDs and non-alc beers from HOP WTR, Hoplark HopTea, Brewbound’s 2023 Large Brewer of the Year Athletic Brewing and others.
6. Monster Reaches Agreement To Acquire Bang
In June, Monster Beverage Corp. was revealed as the winning bidder for Vital Pharmaceuticals, maker of Bang Energy.
A notice of auction cancellation viewed by BevNET showed that the bid from Blast Asset Acquisition LLC, an acquisition vehicle that is a subsidiary of Monster Beverage Corp., was the only offer that covered “substantially all of the Debtors’ assets.” The deal valued “all or substantially all” of the assets at $362 million, inclusive of cash purchase price, a $25 million deposit and assumption of assumed liabilities.
5. Sazerac Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Malt-Based Fireball Cinnamon Product
Safe to say it was a busy year for the Sazerac legal team.
In addition to its aforementioned battle with distributor RNDC, that same month in Janauary consumers filed a class action lawsuit against Sazerac claiming the company’s malt-based Fireball Cinnamon has misled them because it lacks the whisky base of its parent brand, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky.
The product in question, Fireball Cinnamon, is a flavored malt beverage (FMB) that contains “natural whisky and other flavors and caramel color,” according to its label. The FMB is 16.5% ABV, half the strength of spirits-based Fireball (33% ABV).
Why the fuss? Namely because as an FMB, Fireball Cinnamon has greater market access than traditional Fireball Cinnamon Whisky and can be sold in grocery, convenience, mass retail stores and gas stations in much of the country. Last year, the product’s dollar sales at multioutlet grocery and convenience stores reached $90.9 million, a 151.4% increase over the previous year, according to market research firm IRI. In fact, Sazerac has sold so much Fireball Cinnamon that it has become the 21st largest beer category vendor in IRI-tracked off-premise channels.
4. PRIME Responds After Sen. Schumer Calls for FDA Investigation
Pro fighter Logan Paul went up against Senator Chuck Schumer from New York in July after the senior legislator called for the FDA to investigate PRIME’s “eye popping level of caffeine for a young kid’s body.”
Schumer claimed there’s been little difference in the online marketing between PRIME’s caffeine free hydration line and its energy drink, arguing that the brand “feverishly targets” kids. But PRIME claims it is very important to distinguish between the two lines and followed up by affirming that the energy variety is “not made for anyone under the age of 18.”
For better or worse, it’s hard to imagine a CEO/founder that put more of themselves into their brand than Bang’s Jack Owoc.
That’s why the report in March that Owoc had been finally ousted from his role as Bang CEO felt something akin to an obituary. His brash personality and management style had been a core element of the brand’s identity during its prodigious rise over the past decade, eventually becoming the third-largest energy drink behind Red Bull and Monster, as well as inspiring a new wave of workout-oriented, high-caffeine beverages.
But there was another side, too. His belligerent approach snared VPX in multiple litigation cases, including ones in which he has been accused of misleading consumers about the ingredients and functional benefits in Bang drinks. Those conflicts ultimately doomed Owoc, as the company declared bankruptcy shortly after a jury sided with Monster Energy Co. in its false advertising lawsuit against VPX in California federal court in September, awarding the company nearly $293 million in damages.
Despite claims that the company was on track to complete “the greatest comeback in beverage history” by rallying around new products, formats and independent distribution partners, Owoc reign came to an end as part of a protracted battle that ended with Bang in the hands of its former archrival, Monster.
2. Bang Initiates Mass Layoffs in Florida
It was the summer of energy drink news. Following the announcement of its pending sale to Monster, Bang Energy’s parent company Vital Pharmaceuticals’ Florida facility underwent mass layoffs in May with all employees receiving a 60-day notice of permanent termination.
The layoffs notably did not extend to VPX’s production facility in Phoenix, which was included as an asset in Monster’s purchase agreement for Bang. The letters were sent just a few hours after an all-hands VPX company meeting via Zoom attended by multiple executives of Monster Beverage Corp., including co-CEOs Hilton Schlosberg and Rodney Sacks, who congratulated employees for their work in building the brand.
1. Shot Down: Feds Seize $3M Worth of Kratom Products from Botanic Tonics
This year’s top story had it all: hot trending ingredients (kratom), feds kicking down doors, and, of course, lawsuits.
Brad Avery’s report in May detailed how U.S. Marshals, operating at the request of the FDA seized around $3 million worth of kratom-containing functional shots and bulk kratom powder from theBroken Arrow, Oklahoma offices of Botanic Tonics, the maker of Feel Free Plant Based Herbal Supplement.
Per the FDA, all dietary supplements containing kratom are considered adulterated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as there is “inadequate information to provide reasonable assurance that [kratom] does not present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury.” Still, that hasn’t stopped it from gaining traction as a trending functional ingredient in beverages and supplements, despite worrying reports of its addictive properties. Hence, the promised lawsuit.