More than 150 Starbucks stores and 3,500 workers in US were planning to strike next week to protest banning of Pride Month decorations at cafes, per reports in Reuters and other news services. Starbucks Workers United union is claiming that co took down decorations and flags at several stores, but SBUX derided those claims as "false information," saying store managers were welcome to celebrate Pride Month as long as store safety guidelines were followed. Of course, that's become fraught issue across many categories of biz in wake of controversy of Bud Light posting by influencer Dylan Mulvaney .

Pete Marino is still in the hunt for intriguing bev brands, just from a different office. After exiting broad role at Molson Coors that included diversifying mix of non-alc brands, apparently after internal power struggle (BBI, Feb 28), Pete has landed at Pritzker Private Capital where he aims "to help them deepen their expertise in the beverage world and scale their current beverage investments," as he posted yesterday on LinkedIn. Led by ceo Tony Pritzker, PPC describes itself as investor that takes long-term view in partnering with "middle-market companies based in North America with leading positions in the manufactured products and services sectors." Tho many of these are industrial properties like Plaskolite, NAI connectivity corp and Energy Distribution Partners, portfolio does include CPG players like Monogram Foods, a maker of private-label appetizers and snacks; CH Guenther & Son, a maker of frozen foods, and bourbon and rye distiller Bardstown Bourbon, per its website. Pete is no stranger to entrepreneurial world, having built and sold PR agency Dig Communications before going in-house at client Molson Coors and rising to prexy of emerging growth.

In highly unusual move, French gov't has approached 75 consumer goods players, including Coca-Cola and Danone, to cut their prices on threat of financial sanctions as it loses patience with their delayed reaction to subsiding input costs. Initiative was reported by Reuters, which said it's inspected list created by research group that govt has been using to secure price-cut pledges on hundreds of items. Unilever had acknowledged to Reuters on Jun 9 that it was one of the cos and French media recently identified Coca-Cola, Mondelez and Nestle as others, the news service said today. Ag giant Avril and spirits power Pernod Ricard also are on the list. "The move by the French government, if successful, could strong-arm some of the companies that have had price increases of 10% or more in recent months to reopen negotiations on prices with major retailers, and pressure their profit margins," per story.

For past coupla years, cannabis player Canopy Growth and its ally Constellation Brands have touted bright prospects for BioSteel hydration brand, in segment that Body Armor and then Prime had proved was ripe for disruption. Canada-based brand spent heavily on NHL activation and targeted US as key growth market, riding DSD network comprised in large part of Constellation-aligned beer houses into major large-format chains. For their part, rivals within segment were skeptical that brand was igniting outside of Canada, both in US and overseas, and there was rumor of extensive staff cutback a couple months ago that we were unable to confirm at time. Yesterday afternoon, tho, Canopy brass acknowledged that they'd overreached with brand in US, even as they said brand's sales had been overstated by $10 mil (Canadian) in fiscal 2022 and another $14 mil in first 9 mos of current fiscal year. Canopy ceo David Klein told shareholders that co has "exited several members of the BioSteel leadership team and are considering all legal remedies available to us, including litigation to recover damages and costs" uncovered in review undertaken earlier this spring. Brand has exited all overseas markets and has rethought US approach where Klein admitted it had tried to go too broad too fast. Going straight into major US retailers without first seeding the brand at grass roots "was a bit of an overreach for a company our size," he said. "And so, we just decided to retrench the business a little bit in the US." Co didn't identify which execs had been given the heave-ho.

WithCo Cocktails founder Josh Ellis decided to sit down today with his LinkedIn followers for "real talk," as he put it. And therein lay a tale of naïve overreach for fledgling mixer/mocktail brand whose crowdfunding effort we'd profiled a few months ago (BBI, Mar 30). Nashville-based entrepreneur got right to the point: "Growing WithCo Cocktails has been the hardest thing I have ever done. If any beverage people out there want to connect about growth, adversity, emotional rollercoasters, or route to market I would love to connect!"

Are we in a nuclear winter when it comes to capital raising? BevNet Live panel last week offered far more upbeat take on financing environment, tho bev bankers didn't disguise challenges that remain, or even the difficulty of understanding where exactly things stand right now. But deals are happening, tho sub-$5 mil brands have a tougher row to hoe these days.

Back in the days when boutique sodas were trying to build a broad base, they tended to tiptoe around notion that they might be targeting big CSD brands, restrained in their marketing and eschewing such mainstay segments as ginger ale and cola for years out of fear of awakening the big beasts. That's definitely not how gut-pop leaders Olipop and Poppi are going about their brand-building tasks these days, explicitly positioning themselves as upgrades for consumers that they're trying to poach directly from massive segment.