Lemonade category populated by brands from Calypso to Swoon seems to be having a moment, but one longtime participant has quietly closed its doors. Diabolo, the brand launched over a decade ago by businessman and artist Michel Langlais to reprise the fizzy refresher that enlivened his French childhood closed earlier this month, apparently after deal for new financing round fell thru. Langlais, whose other involvements have included things like coffee plantations in central America, had adopted experimental approach to the RTDs, trying varied approaches with packaging, formulation and messaging before settling a coupla years back on "sparkling French lemonade" as identifier (BBI, Apr 6 2021). We reached out to Michel but have not yet heard back. Smiths Food & Drug and Southern Wine vet Jon Pevehouse had long run the day-to-day there.

In highly unusual, and maybe unprecedented, deal, 6 equipment suppliers to craft bev biz have thrown in their lot together via $100 mil merger under new moniker of Lotus Beverage Alliance. Participating are Alpha Brewing Operations, GW Kent, Twin Monkeys, Stout Tanks & Kettles, Brewmation and Automated Extractions, spanning range of infrastructure need for diverse category involved in craft beer, wine, hard cider, spirits, cold-brewed coffee, RTD cocktails, kombucha, cannabevs and sake. Under one corporate roof will be 1,500+ products ranging from turnkey brewhouse production equipment, 304 stainless steel conical fermenters and brew kettles to IBC totes, multi-capacity tanks, mash tuns, brite tanks and canning systems. Running the merged operation as ceo is John Ansbro, who brings 30 years' experience from roles at Alfa Laval, Johnson Controls and GEA Group. Heads of all 6 cos will remain involved and employee stock ownership plan is being implemented . . . Germany-based Krones is adding to its vertical integration with agreement yesterday to acquire 90% of Wis-based Ampco Pumps, which makes sanitary pumps and mixing and blending equipment for food, bev, dairy, personal care and pharma segments. In biz over 70 years, Ampco employs over 130 and last year generated $50 mil in revenues. It will be folded into Krones' Process Technology div. Ampco current leaders are retaining 10% of shares, which Krones has option to buy in the future. It expects deal to close later this half once regulatory clearances have been obtained. It earlier acquired Evoguard Valve Technology.

Black Rifle Coffee Co said it's bringing on Kraft and Mars vet Chris Mondzelewski as cmo even as the ex-Starbucks exec recruited a year ago to oversee buildout of its retail stores, Heath Nielsen, is departing. Mondzelewski, who starts May 1 in newly created position, "will be responsible for developing and executing all aspects of BRCC's marketing strategy to drive business growth and market share across all channels including direct-to-consumer, wholesale, the bagged coffee and ready-to-drink product portfolio, and retail coffee shops," per announcement. He augments role of co-founder Mat Best, whose title is chief branding officer, bringing 20+ years of experience from running Mars' pet care biz and, before that, Kraft. Like all of senior leadership team he has military background, 5 years in Marines. As for Nielsen, he's leaving after just a year aboard co, with co-ceo Tom Davin assuming his responsibilities, alongside new cmo. Nielsen, who'd once led all Starbucks franchise café and foodservice operations in North America, had joined in Mar 2022 at time cofounder/ceo Evan Hafer said "we have identified far more than 1,300 Outposts" for development, tho co has considerably trimmed back those aspirations for now as it instead focuses on RTDs and pushing its bagged coffees into grocery.

Whole Foods is undertaking a restructuring that will reduce its 9 geographic regions to 6 and centralize its category-specific ops, at cost of hundreds of corporate jobs, per internal memo reported by Wall St Jnl, Grocery Dive and others. Over next two months, Amazon-owned natural grocer will centralize some units within its ops division, moving support for its category-specific store ops from regional structure to team within global ops. It will also shift supply chain management work from regional support structure to a new team within its global supply chain div, as Grocery Dive reported. Meanwhile, pace of store openings is accelerating. WF rep told Dive that about 50 stores are in development, with plan to eventually have pipeline of about 100 stores, with 30 or more locations opening annually. None of the layoffs will affect workers in stores or distribution centers.

Join us for a jam-packed day of intriguing conversations and top-notch networking at the Beer Insights Spring Conference in Chicago next month. The program includes a discussion of the legal and legislative consequences of category convergence and growing government activity in and around alcohol. Featuring Dimitri Christopoulos (principal, Christopoulos Law Group), Art DeCelle (sr counsel, Lehrman Beverage Law) and Rebecca Stamey-White (partner, Hinman & Carmichael) and moderated by AII editor Christopher Shepard, the panel will dig into hot legal topics and offer helpful takeaways for navigating this dynamic period. Check out the rest of the program and register now to join us at the Four Seasons in Chicago, May 17-18.

Consumer interest, fascination and (presumably) demand for "green" products have given way to legal claims that some labeling and advertising is misleading, a panel of attys at last mo's NABCA Legal Symposium explained. Words like "eco-friendly," "natural" and "green" can attract consumers but can also land a marketer in hot water, Megan Krebbeks of Constellation Brands commented. "Consumers see those statements" as implying "far-reaching environmental benefits," which can be tough to substantiate.

Be among the beer & beverage industry thought leaders, deal makers and top execs gathering next month at the Beer Insights Spring Conference in Chicago. Every year, attendees of Beer Marketer's Insights events benefit from both first-rate programming and excellent networking. At our Spring Conference in Chicago, coming right up May 17-18, you'll not only gain new insight into this dynamic biz, but you'll also have multiple opportunities to meet and reconnect with other industry movers and shakers.

Hard seltzer remains the single largest drag on total beer and beyond in tracked off-premise channels so far in 2023. Beer-centric hard seltzer segment, as Circana/IRI defines it, declined 14% by $$ and 19% by volume YTD thru Mar 26 in multi-outlet + convenience channels. That $116-mil drop was the largest $$ decline by far among beer segments in scans with craft as next steepest; -4%, $36 mil. Tho domestic premium segment still shed more volume, down 5% and 5.3 mil cases vs hard seltzer's 4.3-mil-case decline.