Another major figure in bevs has sadly passed away. David Gilmour, Canadian entrepreneur who sought to distract himself from grief over his daughter's murder by building a luxury resort on a Fiji island called Wakaya that inspired launch of Fiji Water brand, died of cardiac arrest on Jun 11 in Manhattan, NY Times reported. He was 91. Gilmour was born to affluent circumstances, growing up as son of investment banker in Toronto, but he spurned an offer to work for his father's company in favor of hoeing his own row, starting by selling pots & pans door to door, then experiencing success first as an importer of Scandinavian housewares, then as a purveyor of high-end stereo systems under Clairtone brand. It was his next venture, assembling a chain of hotels in the South Pacific, that made him familiar with Fiji. He sold that for $130 mil to a Singaporean banker but hung onto Wakaya. When his only child, Erin, was murdered in her Toronto apt in 1983, he channeled his grief into developing island into a modest collection of freestanding suites, mainly to put up visiting friends. He called the island "the last bastion of sanity in the world," his wife, Jillian (Sweeney) Gilmour, told Times. "He thought when everything went kerflooey, this is where he would go." However modest his ambitions, resort prospered as it was discovered by celebs like Tom Cruise, Bill Gates and Keith Richards (who injured his head falling out of a coconut tree there) but Gilmour found himself disturbed at the sight of visitors drinking Evian water that had been shipped thousands of miles from Europe. So he set out to find a local source. He began bottling Fiji Water in its distinctive square-footprint bottle in 1996 and sold it to POM Wonderful marketer Roll International in 2004. (Now the #2 US import, Fiji itself draws flak for the great distances it traverses to get to its core markets in N Amer and Europe.) He sold Wakaya to Seagram heir Clare Bronfman in 2016 after a hurricane devastated island.

Combo of retailers cuttin' back on craft and brewers slimming their portfolios to focus on core led to sizable 6% drop in total craft brands tracked in 2021 Nielsen data, according to Bump Williams Consulting Craft Review. There were 14,777 craft brands in 2021 vs 15,795 brands in calendar 2020, down 1,018 brands in total. That's likely the first calendar year of craft brand count decline at retail in the modern craft era. And 2021 total is lower than 2018 tally, when Nielsen tracked 15,024 craft brands in xAOC + liquor and convenience channels.

After over a half-century, Heineken plans to sell soft-drink subsidiary Vrumona in its home mkt of the Netherlands to Danish bev co Royal Unibrew, it announced this wk. Royal Unibrew will pick up the #2 Dutch soft drinks player for €300 mil (about $326 mil today) or 12x Vrumona's 2022 EBITDA of €25 mil ($27.2 mil), per release. The drinks co, with brands like Royal Club and Sisi, has been owned by Heineken since 1968 and has had a licensing agreement with Pepsi in the country since 1949.

AB is partnering with Cali-based tequila brand Los Sundays to test launch co-created line of RTD tequila seltzers in FL, NJ and CA. The 5% ABV Los Sundays Tequila Seltzer is now available in 12oz 4pks of Tropical and Grapefruit flavors, plus an 8-can variety pk featuring Mango, Pineapple, Tropical and Grapefruit flavors.

Spirits sold in 18 control states posted best trends in many mos in May, but lots of additional selling days likely a major contributor. Total volume up 6.4% in May, with $$ up 9.1%, NABCA reported. But this May had 11 more selling days than last May (7 in MI, 1 each in AL, MS, MT and NC), org counted. Gains look much more modest over longer periods, cases up roughly 0.1% for 6 and 12 mos, while $$ up around 3% for each period. Reported price/mix up 2.7% in control states in May, slightly below 12-mo avg of 2.9%, about where it's been for at least the last yr.

Monster Beverage announced its deal to acquire assets of Bang Energy marketer VPX Sports on Jul 3 amid rumblings that gov't regulators would reverse their request for additional info and greenlight deal on threat of liquidation as alternative, as our sibling pub Beverage Business Insights reported Jul 3. Federal Trade Commission officially ended its review of deal later that day, according to Bloomberg report citing a Monster spokesperson.

Top US spirits co is adding lotsa global nonalc beer capacity. Diageo expanded Guinness 0.0 production capacity by 300% at its St James' Gate Brewery, Irish Times reported, investing roughly $27 mil in a new 2-story building and 6 new tanks with total capacity of 500K hectoliters (~419K bbls). That facility is home to "all global Guinness 0.0 production," with main export markets including UK, Europe, US, Canada, Middle East and South Korea.

Another week of steep double-digit Bud Light declines registered in scans. Bud Light $$ dropped 28%, volume down 31% for 1 wk thru Jun 24 in Nielsen xAOC + liquor plus convenience channels, according to data distributed by Bump Williams Consulting. Mich Ultra, Busch Light, Budweiser and Natty Light remain soft in these channels as well. And Stella's declining at steeper rates in recent weeks.