Narragansett continues to post strong growth in 2023 thru a combination of flagship and core mkt strength, innovations, new mkts and more. Narragansett Lager "accelerated" to +10% over the past few mos, "led" by growth in core mkts like RI, MA, CT and NY, co announced. Relaunched Atlantic Light Lager (see May 5 issue) sales jumped 30%. After expanding to several new states in recent yrs, co's launching MI with flagship lager followed by Del's Lemon Shandy next spring, and expects to "begin accelerating expansion" in 2024. And co's adding new Gansett-branded bar and kitchen in T.F. Green International Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island by Q2 2024. So Naragansett biz keeps rollin' after returning to pre-pandemic levels and surpassing 100K bbls in 2022.

While the festival is not as large as it once was, GABF competition continues to garner big participation levels with 9,298 beer entries from over 2K brewers in all 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico, as well as 95 collaboration brews and 50 Pro-Am entries. Juicy/hazy IPA and west coast IPA styles had most entries with 365 and 301 respectively. But number of lager entries stood out to CBN as well, with light lager (284) and German-style pils (228) as #3 and #4 biggest categories. Then too, Allagash was awarded brewer of the year. Houston-based Saint Arnold was awarded brewer of the yr between 15-100K bbls/yr, CO's Wibbly Brewing was brewer of the yr between 5-15K bbls, CA's Liquid Gravity between 2-5K bbls, OH's Third Eye between 1-2K bbls and TN's Balter Beerworks between 500-1K bbls.

There's a lot of coverage of craft beer's challenges, asking if the industry's "in trouble" as it's "not really growing" and more cos are going out of business, Jim Koch pointed out in Boston Beer's annual GABF media brunch. But "I'm here to say, when this all started, getting to that place was our wildest dream. This is what success looks like," he stated. Jim reminisced about the early days with small numbers of an "odd collection of misfits" to 10K brewers in the US, one in in nearly every city or town giving consumers "almost immediate access to some of the best beers in the world." Craft beer has become an "unquestionably permanent figure on the American beer landscape" and it's "solid," "steady" and "permanent," Jim continued. This is "not going away." Rest of the world now looks to the US as "the standard" and "source of energy" and "creativity" in the beer biz. "That looks like success to me," sez Jim.

Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is still working its way back from pandemic shutdowns as attendance hasn't returned to zooey pre-Covid numbers, CBN observed and several news outlets commented separately. Number of breweries participating was down by 1/3 to ~500 vs over 800 pre-Covid, Porch Drinking noted. Over 90 booths were held by CO brewers (some cos had multiple booths), as far more cos outside of the local/regional CO area opted not to join, and there were notable absences among larger cos that used to show out for the fest, while many newer cos were on display thruout the festival. All of that and more is perhaps telling of the tuffer times in craftland these days.

As craft beer bottles continue to drive declines in tracked off-prem channels, craft cans have now reached 70 share of $$ and volume for latest 26 wks thru Sep 9 in NielsenIQ data. Craft can volume grew 2.4%, ~550K cases to 49.2 mil cases for 26 wks while craft bottles slid 14%, 1.7 mil cases to 12.5 mil total for period, driving total craft beer volume down 3%. Can $$ sales continue to offset bottle declines this yr amid heightened price increases with craft cans up 6.4%, bottles -10% and total craft eking out a 0.7% $$ gain for 26 wks in NielsenIQ. But for latest 4 wks, craft $$ slipped 0.2% as growth slowed to +5% and bottle declines steepened a bit to -11%. Lots of folks are talkin' about tuffer trends industry-wide in Sep. But with comps vs fall price increases fast approaching, another round of resets in chains, and more, could be more headwinds to come in tracked off-prem channels too. Can single-serve cans, canned variety pks and larger pack sizes continue to bolster craft cans to new heights as craft bottle declines weigh less on the industry going forward?

Ontario-based Element Nutritional Sciences, which has been seeding Rejuvenate functional line, said its founder Stuart Lowther has resigned as chmn/ceo "to address personal matters" and been succeeded by co's cmo, Vito Sanzone, a vet of sports and nutrition businesses. The change, which calls for cancellation of Lowther's 24 mil performance warrants at publicly traded concern, is effective immediately, the co said. Prior to joining Element, Sanzone served as ceo of Complete Nutrition chain of franchised sports and nutrition stores based in Omaha.

Body Armor Sports Nutrition has officially made its move into powder stick format with announcement today of Body Armor Flash IV Hydration Boosters. The new line is quick follow-on to launch of Flash IV RTDs, which themselves are reaction to surging popularity of brands like Electrolit. The zero-sugar powder sticks offer 2,200 mg of electrolytes plus zinc and vitamins B and C for immunity. They come in at 15 calories or less per single-serve packet. Sabrina Niland, vp for innovation & strategy and chief of staff at Coca-Cola-acquired brand, readily acknowledged that launch is a reaction to trending segment. "We've seen how prominent hydration boosters have become within the beverage space, so we couldn't be more excited to get our Body Armor Flash IV Hydration Boosters into market," she said in statement. New line will be offered in single packs, 6-packs and 15-packs, initially in Tropical Punch, Cucumber Lime, Grape, Strawberry Kiwi and Lemon Lime flavors. Under new org structure, recall, Niland has oversight over both Body Armor and sibling brand Powerade as KO tries to get them growing again . . . Slate canned adult-milk line has intro'd a high-protein version of that indulgent café mainstay, Caramel Latte, starting on its website and heading to stores soon. Lactose-free, ultrafiltered items bring 20 g of protein but just 100 calories . . . Here's an underserved bev consumption occasion: "It's 2 PM. Still sleeping, but who's banging on the door? 'Housekeeping!' This can't be right. Your eyes close. It's after 4 now and your head's pounding. You've got to meet everyone downstairs in an hour to do it all again." Enter Rehab Monster, and its newest flavor, Wild Berry Tea, with 160 mg of caffeine, coconut water, range of 4 key electrolytes, antioxidants like milk thistle and quercetin, and vitamins B3, B5, B6 and B12. New flavor joins likes of Watermelon, Tea & Lemonade and Strawberry Lemonade.

Natalie's Orchid Island Juice is reporting strong progress in building its presence in western as it motors toward $150 mil in annualized sales by year-end. In coming months it will be entering chains like Albertsons, Brookshire Grocery, Rouses, Stater Brothers and new Whole Foods divs, in all 500+ locations in Texas, Utah, Nevada and West Coast states. Based in Fort Pierce, Fla, Natalie's has long focused on eastern half of US but now claims 2,700 new points of distribution out west, spurring 230% sales rise YTD in region. For full year co anticipates growing by 25% . . . Guayaki Yerba Mate, which has been seeking to deepen its presence in Northeast, has onboarded Polar Beverage as DSD partner in New England, along with trio of Bud houses in Maine, execs at Expo booth told us. In upstate NY and Vermont they've gone with Molson Coors beer houses like Wright Wisner and McCraith. It still self-distributes in NYC. Among recently added retail partners have been Stop & Shop and Shoprite, with Price Chopper due aboard next month . . . Nixie Sparkling Water continues to broaden its presence, entering some Safeway and Kroger banners as well as coupla Costco regions, booth staffers informed us. Latest flavor, Black Cherry Lime, has surged into top handful of sku's along with Lime Ginger, Strawberry Hibiscus and Watermelon Mint. Organically certified line was created by Late July Snacks founder Nicole Dawes in Mass.