Beer Marketer's Insights
ALC BEVS: Alc Purveyors Chase Latest NA Trends with PopSips Spiked Prebiotic, FitWine Protein Wine
Alc purveyors continue to ride in draft of non-alc trends, sometimes blurring lines with no-claims requirement of their category. Among recent entrants that we've spied are PopSips spiked prebiotic soda and Cainelli Fit Wine protein wine. There's long history of that sort of thing, as coupla decades ago when brand like Veev moved quickly to capture then-on-the-rise acai superfruit for spirit expression.
Recent move by Calif to phase out ultraprocessed food from state's schools in 2029 is being viewed by regulation experts as harbinger of where other states and the federal gov't may decide to go in coming years. As Venable LLC partner Claudia Lewis noted, it presages a battle over how to write these regs given definition of UPF that's currently so vague as to be "meaningless," as she told BBI in interview this week. Attention, bev marketers: the prohibited ingredients include sweetening go-to's like erythritol, sucralose and monk fruit.
Ghost Energy may be losing some key Mondelez licenses that helped brand on its explosive growth jag but that's just leaving space for "a bigger, better name," as one Ghost exec told us last week at NACS: Ghost itself. Now aligned with Keurig Dr Pepper after having been incubated with Anheuser-Busch, the co is offering a full slate of close-in innovation on product and packaging sides for its RTDs. As reported, move to KDP prompted Mondelez to revoke its licenses for brands like Sour Patch Kids, prompting debate on how vital the associations are for Ghost now that brand exceeds $600 mil at retail (BBI, May 22). Those licenses are being unwound over period of 12 mos.
Uptime Energy, busy integrating its Rise Brewing acquisition, has engaged Critical Mass Group to serve as national broker as it strives to rebuild momentum for twin brands. Both have undertaken substantial packaging changes: Uptime a year ago abandoned resealable aluminum bottle with which it had long been identified in favor of more conventional 12-oz slim can that cuts costs substantially and is more easily merchandisable, a direction LA-based co had taken after earlier move to shorten that pack proved not to be ideal either. Now Rise Brewing nitro cold-brewed coffee will be getting a key tweak, upsizing from 7-oz slim can that's an anomaly in coffee set to more conventional 12-oz slim can, we were advised. Pending change was given as explanation for why Rise was absent from NACS display, since new cans were not quite ready to roll. Uptime had picked up Rise early this year (BBI, Feb 5).
Keurig Dr Pepper seems ready to show some love to its neglected Snapple iced tea and juice brand, returning its once-iconic widemouth glass bottle to NY and maybe other parts of US while launching snarky-amusing campaign from Deutsch agency that positions line as "Snapsolutely refreshing." What exactly does that mean? At our NY base, it entails subway campaign that lately has been informing viewers, "Sea moss belongs in the sea not in your drink. Just sayin'" and "Your drink may have good intentions but ours has good taste." Or: "No offense, but spirulina is just algae with a PR team." (Good one, that!) Times Square electronic billboard shows drab 404 computer error message warning, "Flavor not found . . . in your kale smoothie. Please refresh billboard for something snapsolutely refreshing." When cursor hits refresh button, billboard explodes into riot of color to highlight bold fruit flavors of Kiwi Strawberry entry. In Instagram post, agency explains, "We blanketed NYC with cheeky reminders that when you just want real tea, real juice and real flavor, just grab a Snapple."
The Beer Insights Seminar is coming right up Nov 9-10 at the New York Athletic Club in New York City, and the meeting agenda is now available. So sign up today to reserve your spot! We have a stellar speaker lineup at the 2025 Beer Insights Seminar.
Alc bevs are the 3d largest category in the convenience channel, near 19 share, and beer/FMB/cider is the vast majority of that, NielsenIQ team presented at NACS last wk and shared with INSIGHTS today. Take out cider and beer/malt bevs dipped about 1.3% to $25.9 bil in sales for 52 wks to Sep 6 in NIQ-tracked c-stores. It's by far biggest bev segment, tho, close to 2x the $13.6 bil in energy drink sales in the channel. But energy drinks growing solidly, +7.2%. Soft drinks ticked up less than 1% to just below $10 bil, while sports drinks dipped 1.6% to $4.1 bil, NIQ deck shows. Spirits rounds out the top 5 drinks categories in c-stores, +7.9% to $3.6 bil for 52 wks. Wine lands below a pair of water segments at $1.8 bil, but up double digits, 11.2% (likely driven by likes of BuzzBallz, BeatBox and beyond).
Stateside Brands LLC, parent co of red-hot Surfside vodka RTDs, is taking on the largest brewer in the world in court. Co filed suit against AB InBev for "trade dress infringement and unfair competition" via its Skimmers vodka tea and lemonade brand in US District Court, Eastern District of PA. Story first broke in Philly Mag. AB's Skimmers "copies the SURFSIDE can design and mimics the overall look and feel (or trade dress) of Stateside's product," Stateside alleges, providing multiple images of the two products side-by-side in its complaint. AB "opted to mimic Stateside and freeride off its popular and successful SURFSIDE design, product, reputation, and goodwill to gain an unfair marketplace boost—at the expense of both Stateside and consumers alike," co summarized. "Stateside has been, and will continue to be, irreparably harmed" by the Skimmers trade dress, it added. So Stateside seeks to "enjoin Anheuser-Busch's unauthorized use" of Surfside's trade dress and "to recover actual damages, Anheuser Busch's profits, and other relief, including costs and attorneys' fees."
The Beer Insights Seminar is coming right up Nov 9-10 at the New York Athletic Club in New York City, and the meeting agenda is now available. So sign up today to reserve your spot! We have a stellar speaker lineup at the 2025 Beer Insights Seminar.
PA's Voodoo Brewing has a unique franchising model that's seen co expand to more than 20 locations, and it's adding another to the mix in Lexington, SC (suburb of Columbia in central SC), reports Columbia Rgl Biz Report. Owned by retired military veteran Dawu Bowman, Voodoo Brewing Co Lexington will open on Nov 7 and "aims to become the community's go-to gathering place for great food, live entertainment, and Gamecock football," per report. "We're not just opening a brewery - we're building a place where the community can connect," Dawu said in released statement. Voodoo reported 5K bbls produced in 2024 to the BA and announced the closure of its Plano and College Stn locations earlier this mo.