Beer Marketer's Insights
Eco-friendly carbonated bev system called Sprizzi Drink that uses recyclable flavor “bullets” is claiming to have landed 5-year, $100 mil investment from gov’t of Rugao, China, tho much of that seems to be in non-cash benefits like warehouse and office space, tax credits and letters of credit. Also in the mix are cash fund for innovation awards, equipment loans and gov’t cash grants, co announcement said. “Funds will also be used for building a bullet-filling factory in Rugao,” co said. Sprizzi also has “received funding from strategic partners for global licensings, angel investors and is currently in talks with several other partners and independent investors.”
Coca-Cola unveiled summer activation programs for core brand, including “Enjoy Coca-Cola” campaign and aggressive activation vs Women’s World Cup being played in France this summer. On packaging side, labels on key impulse pack, 20-oz PET bottles, of Coke and Coke Zero Sugar will sport peel-away wristbands that feature arty designs like Coke-bottle-shaped popsicle or hot dog, with 1 of 6 including “I Believe” slogan with crest of the US women’s soccer team. Scanning the wristband offers chances at limited-edition Coca-Cola Believe Wristband made from red goal nets of 2019 SheBelieves Cup tourney and tickets to sendoff series games. Packaging also will offer new look featuring word “Enjoy” written in familiar Coca-Cola Spencerian Script before “Coca-Cola” as KO continues to take experimental approach even with core trademark. TV ads breaking May 20 celebrate Coke’s role in summer love, grilling out and Women’s World Cup.
Tho Nutrabolt’s fast-growing C4 performance energy brand has been overshadowed by fireworks at Bang Energy, it’s by no means a brand that came out of nowhere. At Beverage Forum in Chicago this morning, Nutrabolt founder/ceo Doss Cunningham outlined surprising scale both C4 and its parent co have already attained and vision of energy innovation that segments it well beyond high-caffeine entries associated with Bang and C4.
Including bottled non-carb entry that went out a year before 16-oz carbonated entry in 2018, RTD lines should soar to $110 mil at retail this year, vs just $46 mil in 2018, as distribution broadens and awareness builds, Cunningham indicated. Latest major distributor to come aboard, signed just this week, is Polar Beverage in New England, Doss reported.
Cunningham was last-minute addition to agenda when Bang creator Jack Owoc, owner/ceo of VPX Sports, dropped out last week, apparently out of concerns over multiple litigation VPX is involved in with adversaries like Monster Energy, patent holder ThermoLife and class-action bar. “You’re going to have to settle for me,” Doss joked to crowd at Swissotel. But there’s no question brand has been capturing increasing share of trade buzz as it enlists major DSD distributors, fleshing out Calif network, enlisting Anheuser-Busch network for Florida, adding Big Geyser in NY and now Polar in New England. One key to winning distributor interest, Cunningham noted, is “we are a premium offering and I believe right now there is a deep desire to maintain premium.”
Cunningham founded Nutrabolt in 2002 and by now it’s grown to become largest indie sports nutrition co in world, selling in 125 countries and generating retail sales over $650 mil. In pre-workout segment it claims 40% share (biggest rival holds 10%), 67% share in food/drug/mass channel. Post-workout segment built around Mar 2017 acquisition of BCAA-based Xtend now comes to 30%. (Nutrabolt grew it from $45 mil in 2016 to $85 mil in 2017 and $110 mil last year, with $120 mil targeted for 2019, Nutrabolt exec tells us.) By now it numbers among its retail partners Walmart, Costco and Kroger.
The way Cunningham sees it, brands with sports nutrition heritage are best positioned to disrupt energy category because they understand what consumers are looking for and bring credibility on product efficacy. (Bang has been challenged over some of its product claims, but Doss didn’t allude to any of that in remarks today.) And there’s lots of crossover between sports nutrition and performance energy, with many consumers taking C4 on way to gym, then afterward picking up a Red Bull or Energy or Bang at the gas store. So “we see an opportunity to keep consumers in the brand” with extended suite of items. Crucially, in synch with where consumers are today, Nutrabolt offers only zero-sugar items among its branded products.
Also key is segmentation within line. C4 encompasses not just high-octane entries with 300 mg of caffeine, but entries under names like C4 Ultimate that can help meet other fitness goals beyond energy burst: losing weight, building muscle, improving performance in gym. Extension called C4 Smart Energy launches later this year tilting more toward mental and nootropic benefits.
Meanwhile, Cunningham views incumbent energy leaders as “relatively stagnant” on innovation front, creating opportunity for brands like Bang and C4 “to come into this space and bring energy-plus and bring a performance benefit and better-for-you position that can strengthen the category and drive growth,” he said. He cited internal research that 77% of energy drink consumers are working out at least twice a week, 47% consume energy drinks before they work out and 66% are interested in a brand known for health & fitness. Some 57% of energy consumers who work out are aware of C4, he said, so it's by no means starting from scratch.
Cunningham Family Office, LivWell, Has Stakes in Living Apothecary, Big Swig, Lemon Perfect, Yerbae Nutrabolt founder/ceo Doss Cunningham has his hand in range of earlier-stage bevs via $60 mil family office called LivWell that he cofounded with Seed Sumo accelerator cofounders DJ Monteilh and Bryan Bulte. Its investments are Austin-based La Croix alternative dubbed Big Swig launched by Austin wholesaler (BBI, Jan 5 2018), The Living Apothecary, Lemon Perfect hydration line that we recently profiled (BBI, Apr 11), Yerbae sparkling yerba mate line (which we’ve frequently covered) and Lola feminine care co.
As owner, chairman, and CEO of Nutrabolt, Cunningham has led the organization over the last 12 years from an early stage startup to the largest independently owned sports nutrition platform in the world, with retail sales exceeding $650 million. In the broader nutrition space, Cunningham is also the co-founder of FitJoy Nutrition, a recently launched brand positioned for explosive growth in the rapidly expanding better-for-you active nutrition category.
Stay up to date on the latest trends and forces shaping the fast-changing US beer biz at the 2023 Beer Insights Spring Conference, coming to Chicago this May. Recent additions to our program include deep dive into key drivers of distrib M&A and a panel of industry attys exploring the consequences of convergence and increasing govt activity.
ABI vs STZ Day 8: Both Sides Claim "Smoking Gun" in Closing Arguments; Headed to Jury Today
Lawyers from both sides packed into the courtroom yesterday afternoon as ABI and STZ's 2-wk trial wound down to closing arguments. Both sides claimed to show a "smoking gun" with respect to the others' handling of the disputed sublicense agreement (SLA). ABI's lead lawyer Sean O'Shea took center stage first, promising to prove to the jury "what you already know," that Corona Hard Seltzer is "not a beer" in actuality or in the SLA.
PEOPLE: ABA Recruits Brink for External Affairs Job; Ball CEO Fisher Gets Nods as Chmn, Too
Kevin Keane, who stepped into interim ceo role at American Beverage Assn after Katherine Lugar decided to return to the hospitality sector, has named Amy Brink to fill his prior role as svp for external affairs. Brink joins the lobbying group after playing similar role at Alliance for Automotive Innovation. Before then she'd served at National Retail Federation. It's not clear whether Kevin, a 17-yr ABA vet, is in running to get top job on permanent basis (BBI, Feb 7 and 22) .
Spurned Celsius Endorser Flo Rida Says He's Planning His Own Energy Entry, JettSet1, for Early '24
Onetime Celsius endorser Flo Rida, who just won $82.6 mil judgment vs brand, is planning his own energy drink now under JettSet1 moniker. It will emerge from new venture called JettSet1 Enterprises that rapper has set up with Florida doctor named George Tabi and Erik Hicks of LA flavor house Dolce Foglia that seems to have broad ambitions, given description in announcement last week that it has "vast interests and partnerships across various industries spanning from biotech, health & wellness, and beverage to real estate development, film and television, just to name a few." Tabi and Flo Rida had previously teamed up on venture called Jetsetter Nutrition that works with JustCBD to offer hemp-derived CBD multivitamin vitamin. JettSet1's first venture seems to be partnership with Sanare Bioscience, which has devised patented drug to relieve patients from cannabis intoxication.
Monster Energy's distinctive green claw isn't an emblem that's likely to have ever been seen at Expo West in past, since the drinks aren't natural and by no means carry the crunchy-granola vibe of typical Expo exhibitor. But there it was turning heads at this year's show via debut of Monster Tour Water, which is seeking to steal a march on Liquid Death by styling itself "the original punk rock water since 2003," referring to entry's inception as a pretend-Monster drink for performers at Monster-sponsored music fests like Warped Tour who could only hoist so much of the actual energy drink. The brand is described on-pack as "deep well water" in still and sparkling versions, packed in 19.2-oz tallboy cans clad with brilliant graphics heralding 2003 edition of Warped Tour, in still and sparkling versions.
Zico Rising, the vehicle for resuscitated Zico Coconut Water that was discontinued by its acquirer Coca-Cola, formally debuted Tetra Pak extension called Hydrate that execs staffing Expo booth said will break in Kroger chain nationally next month. The addition comes as co fortified its coffers earlier this year with equity raise in $14-15 mil range after it spent first year strengthening supply chain and reclaiming shelf space abandoned by Coke. Hydrate extension aims to convert what co likes to call "coco-nots" among consumers who're resistant to category's allure on flavor grounds by offering flavored entry that's just 30% coconut water but contains added electrolytes beyond those from the coconuts themselves. It's in half-liter resealable Tetras in Tropical, Fruit Punch and Coconut Lime flavors priced at $2.99-3.49 but not for long: booth staffers said it will soon transition to half-liter PET bottles. It had popped up on Amazon last fall, tho Zico execs weren't ready to talk about it yet (BBI, Sep 23). Its rival Vita Coco, which holds half the market, has taken other tacks to win over those so-called coconots - via Pressed extension that includes some coconut milk and via bottled protein-infused water called PWR Lift.
Eat the Change showcased its expanded Just Ice Tea line while reporting a couple of new additions to its fledgling DSD distributor network. Just Ice Tea, of course, is successor brand to Honest Tea from its cofounders Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff after Honest Tea acquirer Coca-Cola decided to sunset the brand. Based in Bethesda, Md, the brand launched last fall via DSD shops Big Geyser in NY and Morris in Bay Area, both former Honest Tea houses that welcomed the founders back, along with their partner, the restaurateur Spike Mendelsohn, and now the co has added Norman Distributing, a former Honest Tea house in Chicago, and Heidelberg in Kentucky/Ohio, said sales dir Rick Tidrow, a former Honest Tea exec.