Body Armor has joined the rush into rapid hydation led by likes of Pedialyte and Electrolit with Body Armor Flash IV, which retains coconut water base of core line but includes heavier electrolyte payload of 2,200 g along with zinc and vitamins B and C. It's launching in 20-oz square-footprint bottles that have defined the category in Grape, Strawberry Kiwi, Orange and Tropical Punch flavors, starting regionally with broad rollout anticipated for next year, including listing on Amazon. Unusually for big-co exec, ceo Federico Muyshondt made no attempt to disguise that Coca-Cola-owned brand is late to the party, saying, "we may not be the first product in this rapidly growing space, but we plan to be the best - and that ultimately starts with taste. Consumers want products that not only work hard for them but actually taste good, too. We're confidently entering this category because we know that Flash IV tastes better than any other rapid hydration product out on the market today." In US, new generation of IV hydrators was pioneered by Pisa's Electrolit, which hit US in 2014 after sales in Mexico dating back to 1950. "IV," of course, stands for intravenous, referring to more rigorous formula employed in hospitals and disaster zones. Body Armor has been sagging severely in scanned sales lately, it's presumed in part at the hands of fast-growing Prime Hydration, but Coke team operating out of Whitestone, NY, has been trying hard to get their $8 bil acquisition back on track, including with dedicated campaign behind its zero-sugar Lyte extension that's dubbed "Choose More" and features brand endorser Jennifer Lopez.

By kickoff this Sep, Patriot fans will be able to purchase season-long access passes to the new "Celebration Beer Hall" at Gillette Stadium, per Boston.com. Venue featuring a 375 sq- ft oval bar just a couple of dozen yards beyond the endzone and is a collaboration between AB and Kraft Group. Venue will offer "AB products, preferred parking, giveaways and special guest appearances," per report. There is also a 2,000 sq foot outdoor patio to view the action from. Celebration Beer Hall will be available for private events when no games are scheduled.

"We believe that TAP will continue to benefit from the Bud Light controversy throughout the summer, leading to upside to both top- and bottom- line estimates and raised 2023 guidance," wrote Citi's Filippo Falorno. Guidance "currently does not reflect acceleration in sales growth since the beginning of April." TAP stock already up 28% since April 3, but Filippo raised target price from $65 to $72 on expectation of further upside. His current estimate is that EBITDA will jump from $2 bil in 2022 to $2.25 bil in 2023.

UK pub Marketing Week did deep dive into how Heineken is "now tracking its ability to deliver 'good times', a new metric that will be incorporated into its overall brand performance reports going forward." As part of light-hearted and sometimes "tongue-in-cheek" campaign celebrating brand's 150th anniversary, it worked with a professor and "a suite of academics" to "construct the new brand tracking metric" and "help identify what constitutes a 'good time.'" This metric "based on 5 key measures including "open-mindedness, experiencing elevated moments, quality socializing, balance and moderation, and a sense of purpose," wrote Marketing Week. These 5 are "underpinned by 15 drivers." They make up the "Heineken Good Times Index" and are "intrinsically linked to having a good time." So the Index pokes a little fun at the corporate impulse to measure everything, but it will also be included in Heineken's ongoing brand performance tracking, conducted by Kantar. The measure of good times is an "understudied human need," according to Prof Chris Brauer innovation director at Goldsmiths University of London's Institute of Mgt Studies. He said he was "surprised" that no framework to measure this previously existed. But Freddy Heineken (former ceo) understood the importance of this. Freddie said: "'I don't sell beer, I sell gezelligheid,' meaning good times," said Brauer.

Essentia Water finally is ready to bring its alkaline water to Canada. Nestle-owned brand will break in Ontario at chains such as Loblaws, Longo's, Metro and Circle K as well as on Amazon.ca and Well.ca. While riding tie to Millie Bobby Brown, Essentia will deploy Canadian talent like Canadian singer-songwriter Tate McRae to get message out . . . Ball Corp confirmed reports that it’s shopping its aerospace unit, with view to narrowing its focus on core bev can ops. It’s “considering options that could better position its aerospace business to provide value to shareholders and customers,” per corporate-speak it issued today. “There is no certainty that any formal decision will be made. If and when appropriate, a further announcement will be made” . . . Coffee, jam and pet food marketer JM Smucker has amassed 42% equity stake in Numi Tea, its just-released 10-K filing indicates. Recall that co had teamed up with Oakland-based co founded by Iraqi-born brother and sister on organic RTD line back in 2017 tho it doesn’t appear to have grown to great size.

Advent of creator brands – led in bevs by Prime Hydration – has served as big disruptor that’s surely caused entrepreneurs, CPGs, investors to rethink some of their premises, from entry barriers to what an exit might look like. But it hasn’t suspended all the rules of marketing, including the basic one about offering quality product consumers will want to buy more than once. That’s the obvious lesson on food side from desired exit of MrBeast from burger biz after influencer concluded that even his passionate following won’t put up with the mediocre quality emanating from some of the ghost kitchens he’s teamed up with.

As Restaurant Business reported, MrBeast tweeted on Sat that he’s “moving on” from MrBeast Burger, the delivery-only brand he helped create in partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts. “In the now-deleted tweet, MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, wrote that it had become impossible to guarantee the quality of the brand across the 2,000 different restaurants that are selling it. He also said he wanted to focus more on his snack brand, Feastables.” And in a 2d tweet that was also deleted, MrBeast wrote that he wanted to shut down MrBeast Burger, “but the company I partnered with won’t let me stop even though it’s terrible for my brand. Young Beast signed a bad deal.”

Development already has stimulated some soul-searching about creator brands. “Novelty purchasing of crap from your favorite YouTube celeb is the epitome of a non-repeat-purchase business, where most purchases will be one-off acts of ‘worship’ but with no real retention,” as marketing observer James Richardson, author of Ramping Your Brand, posted on LinkedIn, looking at both creator types and conventional celebs who do CPG. “Worship-trial does not create a business. Repeat purchase does.” (“No one cares what energy drink the Rock likes,” he couldn’t help adding.) There are warning signs across range of food/bev brands, as in Healthline.com article that outlined mixed reviews that Emma Chamberlain’s RTD coffees are generating in early stages of Walmart debut. “So far, the consensus seems to point to an A grade for Chamberlain’s can designs and a C to C+ average for overall taste,” as Healthline summarized video posts it collected. (It acknowledged that it couldn’t tell how many posters had followed directions of shaking the bevs and drinking them chilled. And in any case, we hear Chamberlain Coffee is well along on upgrade that will address flavor issues.)

In his post on broader phenomenon, Richardson concluded, “I wish people would stop talking about this ridiculous non-trend until they can show us a physical business line that grew annually for years and scaled. [Editor’s note: Alani?] Oh, wait. That takes too much time for the YouTube set. The media is so desperate for ‘trend’ content that they won't even wait for time to elapse at all.” It’s true, ink-stained wretches can be so impatient. Among this breed, BBI editor recently weighed in on purported trend in column penned for BevNet Magazine.

Avec Drinks, which has made a splash in specialty circles with its canned alc-alternatives, has undertaken crowdfunding raise on Republic platform that aims to raise as much as $1.24 mil in SAFE funding by Aug 2 at $8 mil valuation. The pitch offers glimpse into progress made by co founded by Dollar Shave Club vet Alex Doman and his Columbia Biz School colleague Denetrias Charlemagne early in pandemic that generated $620K in sales in 2021, $950K last year and is on track to do about $2 mil this year. Interestingly, deck suggests that former Diageo innovation exec Ila Byrne also is among cofounders; she just won BevNet Live Showdown last Thurs for a different alc-alternative play called Parch (BBI, Jun 16).

Per deck, Avec opened the year sold in 450 retail stores but anticipates that to grow to 1,200 by year-end with recent addition of Wegmans and BevMo and pending onboarding in Sprouts. Team is in talks with 2 other retailers with combined store total exceeding 1K. Brand claims over 100 menu placements at high-end eateries, several with Michelin stars. But half its sales derive from ecomm via DTC, Amazon and Faire.com. Backers to date have included Gather Ventures, XRC, Black Ambition, Seed Project and Gaingels. Pitch paints pic of ambitious startup that launched with 5 flavors, added Mango & Passionfruit last year and is planning a “classic range” that presumably would challenge Fever-Tree for core occasions, with first sku due this year. That’s to be followed by multiserve bottle and then a clean energy subline in 2025. “Our north star for what is possible is Fever-Tree with a market cap of $2 bil,” pitch states. We’d profiled Avec in early days (BBI, Jun 25 2020).

Among key members of the team, cofounder Charlemagne seems to have moved to advisory role after accepting job at Walmart as dir of cultural strategy. Green Spoon vet Sam Shisler serves as svp sales with Whole Foods vet Luis Camino running eastern sales and Shisler Sales vet Haley Walsh running western sales. Doman serves as ceo. Proceeds or raise will be used to recruit a sales & merchandising team, fund in-store promos and build inventory.