Ready Nutrition, the Pittsburgh-based co launched by former college hoops player Pat Cavanaugh and backed by Bucks' star Giannis Antetekounmpo, has extended its Ready Sport superfruit-based hydrator into low-cal segment with Ready Light Sports Drink that clocks in at 20 calories per half-liter bottle, with fruit juice and stevia the sweeteners. Initial flavor lineup is Classic Lemonade, Mango Lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade and Watermelon Lemonade. Extension is launching in regional retailers of core line like Publix, Food Lion and Giant Eagle before embarking on 100-event sampling tour at colleges and retailers in eastern states Penn, Ohio, Virginia, NC, SC, Georgia and Florida, where Ready Light has signed on as sponsor of Miami Open tennis tourney running Mar 19 to Apr 2, where its endorser Jessica Pegula will be playing. Among other retailers who currently carry year-old brand are Walmart and Dollar Tree. Ready, recall, started with protein water but has since branched into bars and other snacks and protein powder.

Two giant cos built by Brazilian 3G investors are teaming up in a predictable fashion to get synergistic growth in new mkts. Kraft Heinz and ABI's e-comm platform, BEES, announced "an expanded partnership to propel the B2B marketplace, with the ambition to unlock 1 million potential new points of sales across LATAM for the company," especially in Mexico, Colombia and Peru. Those are all ABI strongholds and this move fits as "catalyst to help Kraft Heinz realize its Emerging Markets strategy by increasing points of distribution and expanding the number of items available to retailers in the region."

Launched over the weekend by frequent 3-tier critic and exec director or Natl Assn of Wine Retailers Tom Wark, new Fermenting Change website proclaims intent to "dismantle the three-tier system." Full of familiar rhetoric, the site also promotes self-published book of the same name, coming early next mo. As Wark paints it, "nearly every other alcohol law and regulation can exist without" mandating wholesalers. States should end that "archaic and harmful" system that restricts and "harms" producers, retailers and consumers alike, in his view, because the Prohibition-era problems it was created to solve "no longer exist." Wark envisions a replacement system built on 4 priorities: 1) encouraging responsible consumption, 2) ensuring efficient tax collection, 3) encouraging competitive markets, and 4) allowing broad consumer access. That means self-distribution, optional exclusive territories, direct shipments from producers and retailers, and even tied houses.

AB will debut first run of its evolving Stella Artois campaign today, marking "a new era of modernization," and "the most fully integrated 360-campaign" for brand in over 5 yrs, co announced and Stella marketing veep Marcela Garcia shared with INSIGHTS.

For years, refrigerated coconut water segment has been owned by Harmless Harvest. But new challengers still arrive on occasion, including Mexican-sourced entry called KoKoMio ("my coconut") that's offering a range of juice- and milk-based items, several of them certified as organic. At Expo West, the co founded by longtime Mexico City entrepreneur Alan Cohen and his dad, who operate Jus Lab and Bev Lab, was sampling line that's picked and packed in Mexico's Guerrero state, eliminating long supply lines to Asia or Brazil of other brands.

PepsiCo may be erecting national alc distribution arm under Blue Cloud moniker, but its bottling operations are staying in their lane. That was clear with PEP's purchase of Corwin Beverage in southwest Wash State, which will bring dissolution of that co's 2 craft beer arms: Kendall's Pioneer and Browar Polska. Kendall's covered SW Wash, including Vancouver, essentially a northern suburb of Portland, Ore, and stretched as far east as Yakima, while Browar stretched across Greater Seattle and eastern Wash. Both sold mainly small, local craft brands, which now find themselves without a distributor in some territories, per local reports. Kendall's and Browar "will be completely shuttered," reports The New School, calling it a "major blow to small craft brewers who are going to be left out in the cold." Some will likely get scooped by other wholesalers but some may not find a home, while Corwin's lack of advance notice "already led to layoffs at the individual breweries and will most definitely lead to more in the future," per Northbank Brewers Alliance.

Green Zebra Grocery, among new breed of c-stores aiming to move beyond cigs and Icees, is closing its 3 Portland-area stores at end of this month, citing skyrocketing costs. "Since being founded in 2013, Green Zebra has sought to redefine what it means to be a convenience store in America," per statement posted by co on its website, which flags 25%-off sale. "Instead of selling cigarettes, lottery tickets and jumbo-sized sugary drinks like most convenience stores, Green Zebra offered customers made-from-scratch grab-and-go meals, a full-service coffee bar, kombucha Zlurpees, locally sourced meat, produce and groceries along with the best local beer selection in Oregon. In addition, Green Zebra supported its staff with fair wage jobs, increasing their internal minimum wage 7 times in their 10-year history and offering affordable health insurance for all staff and their dependents." Founder/ceo Lisa Sedlar said co had been "holding on by a thread" since arrival of pandemic juggling surging costs and supply chain and staffing shortages. Named for tomato variety, Green Zebra was among flock of cos trying to reinvent the c-store, from Loop in Bay Area to Foxtrot in Chicago and beyond.

Reporting Q4 results this week, Westrock Coffee said its massive new plant in Conway, Ark, remains generally on schedule and on budget, despite snag in receiving main line from European producer, and it offered some insight on how it views recent Bixby Coffee Roasters acquisition as a gateway to influencer-created brands that can overnight catapult into mass availability, as Bixby client Chamberlain Coffee is about to do with chainwide rollout of its first RTDs thru major retailer that we hear is Walmart. Bagged coffees were launched just a coupla years ago by then-teenaged influencer Emma Chamberlain.