With research showing that Americans' vast inventory of countertop blenders mainly goes unused, Tropicana Brands Group's Naked Juice brand is soliciting consumers' blender breakup stories ahead of National Smoothie Day on Jun 21. Winners get $621 in cash and a year's supply of Naked Juice as a no muss, no fuss alternative. Initiative started after "we uncovered an interesting tension on social media where people were sharing how they rarely used their blender and experienced epic blender fails when they did," said cmo Anup Shah, a former Molson Coors exec who'd joined PepsiCo in 2020 and segued over to TBG after soft drink giant semi-divested its juice portfolio. So TBG commissioned Wakefield Research to undertake survey of 1,000 American adults in recent weeks that found that nearly 228 mil Americans say they don't use their blender because it's too messy, too difficult to clean or takes up too much space. In fact, 112 mil Americans suffer from buyers' remorse over having invested in a blender in the first place. Naked's smoothies in a bottle can resolve that issue. Tropicana Brands Group, of course, is the joint venture established earlier this year between former Naked owner PepsiCo and private-equity player PAI Partners that also includes brands like Trop, KeVita, Izze, Dole, Copella and Punica.

A coupla former AB execs are teaming up in food/protein industry venture. After leaving AB in late Mar, Azania Andrews was named ceo of 1440 Foods, "a newly formed entity that controls several protein bars, powders and shakes including the Pure Protein brand," Ad Age reported. Recall, Azania was Mich Ultra veep of mktg for several yrs, among other roles, before shifting to broader AB veep of consumer connection role in Mar 2020, and ultimately leaving co amid this yr's personnel shuffle. "I love AB and am so grateful for my time there and honestly every signal that was given to me was there were plenty of opportunities for growth," she told Ad Age. But "chance to become a ceo was 'an incredible opportunity to accelerate my career and something I always wanted to do and came more quickly than expected,'" she added. Notably, Azania had a connection to 1440 Foods parent co, 4X4 Capital PE firm, thru another ex-AB/ABI vet; Alex Medicis, former sales veep in US among other roles, is co-found

Pretty much everyone has a story about beer's ability to bring people together. So Beer Inst launched "Building Bridges With Beer," a new digital platform that encourages "beer lovers across the country to share their favorite beer-related memories, stories, and experiences," it said in press release this morn. Launch coincides with 160th anniversary of org's founding and is a "vital part of the BI's initiative to celebrate beer all year long." In addition to allowing users to share stories, website includes video testimonials from MC ceo Gavin Hattersley and AB ceo Brendan Whitworth, among other industry leaders.

Speaking at Bernstein conference, Tilray chairman & ceo Irwin Simon said he believes US cannabis market "could reach $100 bn net sales assuming legalization," wrote Bernstein's Nadine Sarwat. "Management strongly believes that consumer spending on cannabis is cannibalizing spirits and beer." Big mkt in 50+ cohort, "many of whom might have tried it illegally in college. These consumers are often substituting an evening glass of wine with cannabis." But "US legalization unlikely to happen for another four years," wrote Nadine, with "potential for tax revenue… likely" a "help to move it along."

Spirits may be starting to slow, but that's not evident in Brown Forman's fiscal Q4 results (thru Apr 30) reported this morn. Net sales jumped 23% to $1 bil. Oper income jumped 46% to nearly $250 mil. For full fiscal yr (May 2021 - Apr 2022), Brown Forman net sales jumped 14% to $3.9 bil and operating income jumped 3% to $1.2 bil (up 27% on organic basis). Brown Forman up 10% in US for full yr.

While Bud Light may be losing share of voice among NFL advertisers (see above), beer's biggest brand continues to get back into boxing. Ahead of big fight at MSG Jun 11, AB and "boxing promotional powerhouse" Top Rank joined forces to make Bud Light its official beer partner, co announced today. Top Rank is touted as global leader in boxing promotions, and "additional shows will be announced later this year," co promises. "We're excited to be getting back into boxing as the official beer sponsor of Top Rank," as "boxing has seen a tremendous increase in popularity over the past few years and it's vital that Bud Light is showing up for our consumers at these marquee boxing moments," stated Bud Light director of sports marketing, Joe Barnes. Indeed, Mexican import brands like Modelo and Tecate have more actively put mktg $$ behind boxing in recent years. But Bud Light is making a conscious effort to get back in the ring, including signing lightweight champ Teofimo Lopez to new sponsorship deal late last yr (see Nov 18, 2021 issue). Thru Top Rank partnership, expect to see "Bud Light branding in key locations in the ring," plus "the official walkout partner for fighters of the event, alongside in-venue integrations within highly trafficked touchpoints, social media points and much more." Of course, Bud Light branding spans the whole portfolio of Bud Lights at this point, including Bud Light Seltzer, Peels, Chelada, Platinum/Platinum Seltzer, press release reminds.

Top Molson Coors execs spoke at several financial firms' conferences (Evercore ISI, Bernstein, Morgan Stanley, etc) in last 2 weeks, telling their story and trying to increase investor interest/belief in the stock. But despite lotsa favorable info coming out of those conferences and some positive reports, stock declined 5% since May 16, while mkt up slightly in same timeframe. And TAP still less than half its peak. So mgt feels its progress underappreciated. "The one thing that management believes is underappreciated or misunderstood by investors," wrote Bernstein's Nadine Sarwat (after ceo Gavin Hattersley and cfo Tracey Joubert appeared at Bernstein's conference) is "the progress made under the Revitalization Plan over the last three years."

More than a decade after Nielsen's initial investment in 2009, and 4 yrs since Nielsen and CGA launched US on-prem dataset, NielsenIQ announced outright acquisition of CGA this morn. Together, they'll strive to deliver "the first complete view of on- and off-premise data in the expanding BevAl market," spokesperson shared with INSIGHTS. And with addition of CGA, combined cos aim to "accelerate coverage - closing client blind spots" to offer "the most innovative and granular" alc bev measurement solution.