Don't miss the 2025 Beer Insights Seminar, on Monday, Nov 10 in NYC at the New York Athletic Club with opening reception Sunday evening at Le Jardin Rooftop. Learn how leaders of top growth brands are navigating market shifts, including:

• Bill Newlands, President & CEO, Constellation Brands
• Britt West, Chief Commercial Officer, Gallo
• Laura Merritt, President of Diageo Beer and Premix, Diageo North America
• Clement Pappas, Co-founder & CEO, Stateside Brands (Surfside)
• Andy Sauer, CEO, Garage Beer
• State of the Industry Overview: Benj, David and Jason Steinman, Beer Marketer's INSIGHTS

When Heineken announced it will buy rest of FIFCO's (Florida Ice & Farm Co's) beer/bev biz, except for US, for $3.2 bil, it cemented that FIFCO's grand plans for the US beer mkt wouldn't come to fruition. While FIFCO built a dominant beer/bev biz in Costa Rica, and expanded in other parts of Central America, FIFCO USA couldn't replicate that success. Co originally hoped to double the business in 3-5 yrs when FIFCO first came in 2012-13. It paid $388 mil for North American Breweries (NAB), which sold 2.7 mil bbls in 2012, including sizable Labatt and Genesee brands, a growing FMB brand in Seagram's Escapes, and a top craft beer portfolio with Magic Hat and Pyramid, among other brands. Instead of doubling, NAB portfolio volume nearly cut in half, shedding over 1 mil bbls since acquisition, on track to slip below 1.5 mil bbls this yr, INSIGHTS estimates, losing majority of that in the last 5 yrs.

Yesterday, fed prosecutors filed criminal charges against a 4th individual linked to a series of illegal bribes and a sprawling scheme to cover them up. Filed in a Northern California federal ct, they follow just a wk after feds charged a 3d individual in the case (a story broken by sibling pub INSIGHTS Express on Monday). Things are really starting to heat up in an historic, perhaps unprecedented investigation into alc bev industry practices. It's the first time in recent memory that industry members face criminal charges for alleged trade practice violations instead of civil penalties that largely result in fines or brief suspensions. New filings also point to massive scale of alleged misconduct, too.

A new era begins today for Molson Coors, as Rahul Goyal takes over as ceo from longtime leader Gavin Hattersley. "Now is the time to create the next phase of growth," Rahul said in an upbeat video message as MC announced he got the job. In video, Rahul also committed to "grow our core power brands, above-premium portfolio and scale our beyond beer business." He pledged to be as "transparent as possible in laying out my vision ahead while we continue on our journey to be a total beverage company." That journey is one key to how Rahul rose from relative obscurity to the top job at a huge public company.

In another sign that wine & spirits interests are throwing out more of a welcome mat than brewing interests, Kentucky-based THC bev marketer Cannabuzz has become an associate member of Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America WSWA. Acceptance by WSWA comes at time that its counterpart in beer, Natl Beer Wholesalers' Assn, remains wary of category, fearful that it might undermine assn's reputation for responsibility that's been carefully honed over decades. As Marijuana Moment outlet reminded, WSWA has been active in calling on Congress to dial back language in House spending bill that would ban most hemp edibles, advocating instead for carefully structured policies built on experience from alc regs.

Even as it deals with range of fundamental challenges, Hain Celestial learned from federal appeals court that it must continue to deal with 9-year-old allegations that publicly traded food/bev co engaged in channel stuffing as a way to fraudulently boost its short-term top line.

Little Spoon, the healthier baby/kids food play, is making its entry into bricks & mortar after 8 years in market, and it ain't thinkin' little: it's sending 2 dozen items spanning 7 categories including pouched smoothies into 1,800 Target stores. "We are honored to be the largest new F&B launch in Target's history!" co exulted on social media about food & bev milestone. Founder/CEO is Ben Lewis, who began his entrepreneurial career nearly 2 decades ago from his dorm room at Wharton with cause-marketed Give Water brand. (When preternaturally mature undergrad pitched BBI at age 19, he insisted on picking up beer tab and nobody on bar staff questioned his ability to do so.)

Pioneer Pastures, an A2 milk brand created by OWYN cofounders Jeff Mroz and Kathryn Moos, has cracked Sprouts chain on national basis, augmenting retail presence established in spring in Target. Its single-serve protein shakes also recently hit Amazon. Pioneer Pastures claims to be the only A2 milk made from ultrafiltered milk, slashing sugar by half or more while delivering bounty of protein.