Beer Marketer's Insights
Continuing push into higher-value segments than unadorned spring water, Liquid Death has debuted its anticipated iced tea line on Amazon, with retail push coming. New line, offered in 8-packs of gulpable 19.2-oz cans, is being offered in Grim Leafer, Armless Palmer and Rest in Peach flavors, in keeping with ghoulish shtick of brand. The entries are fortified with yerba mate to tune of 30 mg of caffeine along with B-vitamins and 6 g of sugar from agave as sweetener. Given view that iced tea is your grandma's energy drink, launch is being supported by video in which "Grannies Go Wild, Jackass-Style," as Clio by Muse headlined, offering "crazed takes on MMA, punk rock, parkour . . . and an incendiary (probably NSFW) rooftop sequence that ends with a Jackass-style bang." It was directed by Jackass co-creator Jeff Tremaine, with actors (including ceo Mike Cesario) donning crazed-granny masks created by Tony Gardner, "the dude behind the Chucky doll and Daft Punks headgear."
Sometimes it's not just what you know but who you know. That seems to be behind announcement from fast-expanding Westrock Coffee that it's acquiring LA's Bixby Roasting, which has carved out a stake "in the emerging influencer-led brand space," per announcement yesterday afternoon. (Read that most notably as Chamberlain Coffee, from YouTube star Emma Chamberlain - BBI, Jan 13 2020.) Little Rock-based Westrock, which already is building a massive coffee plant in Conway, Ark, will acquire Bixby's roasting plant in LA but the main lure seems to be Bixby cofounders Miles Fisher and Remington Hotchkis themselves. They're joining mgmt team of publicly traded Westrock, in roles of svp sales and vp sales, respectively, with view of helping Westrock move beyond private-label base to include "the creation of products for specific customer segments and influencer-based brands," per statement from Fisher, a classically trained actor who's himself a viral video influencer. "With the resources and momentum that Westrock Coffee brings, we are ready to get to work and fuel the product development and e-commerce offerings of the company." (For an idea of the exuberance they bring to staid private-label biz, check out Fisher's take on Tom Cruise from a few years back.) Bixby was founded in 2018. Hotchkis, whose middle name is Bixby, brought the coffee expertise from stops at Volcano Red Coffee and other gigs. Terms of deal weren't disclosed.
Monster Beverage continued to break records with its topline in Q4 and full-year 2022 but took a hit to its operating income as it scrambled to overcome supply chain headwinds and keep its customers fully stocked. In Q4, net sales rose 6.2% to record $1.51 bil, +11.9% when foreign currency issues are excluded. Core Monster energy biz, including Reign performance brand and True North natural seltzers, edged up 2.6% to $1.39 bil, +8.3% excluding forex issues. Co's smaller Strategic Brands segment, which includes brands like NOS and Full Throttle that were picked up from minority investor and distribution partner Coca-Cola as well as global fighter brands like Relentless and Burn, surged 41.8% to $93 mil in Q4, +49.4% excluding forex factors. The increment added by Canarchy acquisition came to $26.9 mil in period. That unit is acting as a short-term drag on results but remember, it plays important strategic role in providing distribution path for MNST's push into alcohol, starting with now-launching Beast Unleashed. By geography, overseas sales rose 6.8% to $542.5 mil, +22.9% on forex-adjusted basis, but remained 36% of total net sales. Gross profit edged up to 51.8% from 51.3% in Q3 thanks to "our pricing actions as well as certain of our supply chain challenges moderating," per co-ceo Hilton Schlosberg.
Sign up now for the 2023 Beer Insights Spring Conference! This year's event will be held May 17-18 at the Four Seasons, Chicago, including an evening welcome reception on May 17 and a full day of programming May 18. So far, our program includes: a fireside chat with Mark Anthony Brands' recently appointed cco David Barnett; a data deep-dive with IRI executive veep of bev alc Scott Scanlon; the latest on distributor M&A with OMAC Beverage Advisors' managing partners John O'Connor and Sean McLaren; a craft brewer panel including Stone Brewing ceo Maria Stipp and Allagash director of sales Naomi Neville; a panel of alc bev legal experts with Lehrman Beverage Law's senior counsel Art Decelle, Hinman & Carmichael partner Rebecca Stamey-White, and Christopoulos Law Group principal Dimitri Christopoulos; and an up-to-the-minute presentation on all the latest trends and hot topics in beer from BMI prexy Benj Steinman.
Freida Maisel, a trailblazer for woman in beer distributing passed away on Sunday at age 95 and was laid to rest yesterday in Alabama. "A remarkable American life came to a peaceful close," is how her obituary encapsulated her passing. In 1973, Frieda purchased a small beverage wholesale operation in Mobile, she renamed that co Gulf Distributing, which now employs ~2,000 and handles Miller and Coors and many other brands over a 6-state footprint. As her obit recalls, Freida retired from the biz at age 70, handing reins over to her son Elliott, chmn and ceo of Gulf Dist, which also employs her granddaughter Rebecca, svp/general counsel and NBWA treasurer, and grandson Louis, svp. Last year NBWA created the Freida G. Maisel Trailblazer Award. Our condolences go out to the entire Maisel family and the Gulf Dist team.
More on Molson Coors Moves; "One Team," Sez Michelle; "Expand" on Growth, Sez Gavin; Analysis
In brief talk with INSIGHTS, newly-elevated chief commercial officer Michelle St Jacques touted "one team" and "one set of priorities" going forward under new commercial structure. That will enable MC to "scale at a faster pace" with "faster decision-making." And ceo Gavin Hattersley talked about coming to end of first phase of 3-yr revitalization plan with company's first yr of top and bottom line growth in over a decade. Primary objective of new structure is to "expand on" that growth and be consistent.
Blizzard of Filings Sets Stage for All-Star Modelo v Constellation Trial Kicking Off in NYC Today
Right up to start of trial in fed ct in NYC today, attys for ABI Mexican subsidiary Modelo and Constellation wrangled over relevance of various arguments, exhibits and expert testimony, filing hundreds of docs over last couple mos. They're preparing to duke it out in front of jury by calling an all-star cast of witnesses to argue over long-simmering contract dispute. Basic question is this: did Constellation's launches of Corona Hard Seltzer and Modelo Ranch Water violate the so-called "Sub-license" agreement with Modelo that sets bounds for Constellation's use of Modelo trademarks in US.
Are the Kids Alright? Part 1: Fears about "Big Soda" Get Splashy Press; "Crossover" Bills in VA
Are "4th category" RTDs and especially "crossover" hard drinks based on non-alcoholic brands substantially more appealing to or more dangerous for folks under 21 than existing alc bev options? A resounding "yes" in response to that question underpins an extensive look at the topic published by the NY Times last wk. "Big Soda's Alcohol Drinks Worry Health Experts," the paper headlined. But it breaks little new ground and the experts it cites provide few concrete concerns. Instead, it provides a platform to once more assert that no amount of alcohol is healthy, while playing up findings linking excessive drinking to a growing number of deaths in the US.
PepsiCo was hit with proposed class action Fri in Calif federal court accusing it of misbranding Gatorade Fit drinks as "healthy" and an "excellent" source of vitamins with no added sugar, even though complaint claims the drinks are basically water flavored with minimal watermelon juice concentrate and preservatives, Law360 reported .
Earlier this month, copacker Wildpack Beverage reported the departure from its board of the head of its acquired can brokerage business even as it was making efforts to unload what seemed like a significant quantity of surplus cans and ends (BBI, Feb 17). Now another shoe has dropped. Vancouver-based co, which is publicly traded, said its Wildpack Holdings US subsidiary filed a lawsuit in State of Michigan against Kim Murray and Tim Murray alleging misrepresentations in connection of Wildpack's acquisition of the brokerage they founded and ran, Michigan-based Land & Sea Packaging, in 2021 and their employment since then. Wildpack also filed suit in Vancouver vs Kim Murray, who'd been reported to have stepped down from the board without a reason given, for breach of fiduciary duties. For her part, Murray filed suit vs Wildpack over money she says she's owed under terms of the acquisition, the co indicated. Wildpack said it won't comment further on the matter while it's in legal process. Wildpack, recall, has aroused interest in biz for its plan to establish national network of copack and can decoration plants that are willing to serve small and mid-size bev producers.