Sitting in a WeWork office in NY 3 years ago, Anshuman Vohra declared that nothing could be more arduous than his last entrepreneurial venture - creating Bulldog Gin, which exited successfully to Campari for $58 mil in 2017. No business is tougher than spirits, he declared. With his new venture Halo Sport he was about to find out, as he freely admits now, that sports drinks are even tougher - daunting to begin with and adding an extra layer of grueling adversity when a global pandemic arrives just as your brand is getting onto retailers' shelves. The bottled entries were just edging into Southern Calif stores in late Feb 2020 ahead of their planned trade debut a coupla weeks later at Expo West in Anaheim before Covid-19 blew the test, and the natural foods show, and much of life as we knew it, out of the water. That was a severe "exogenous event," as the analytical former William & Mary tennis player and JP Morgan banker termed it earlier this week, ruefully shaking his head.

Since Prime Hydration co-creators Logan Paul and KSI teased to their fans that they're planning ad presence on Super Bowl nearly 3 weeks ago (BBI, Jan 23), they've been mum, as has brand's co-owner/operator Congo Brands. With TV spots on sold-out event commanding up to $7 mil, could they really be going thru with it? Or were they flagging another of their elaborate stunts? From what we're hearing from coupla sources, it's for real: given their massive base of social media followers, many of them not NFL fans, they were able to cut deal for deep discount for ad slot near kickoff that might draw some of those millions to watch the game. (Tho cofounder KSI is British-based, that of course is a key overseas expansion target for NFL.) "Right after national anthem," one Prime Hydration partner told us today. As for content of ad, it's not likely NFL will allow them to launch frontal assault vs longtime partner PepsiCo/Gatorade, as SodaStream learned years back. But slick, elaborately scripted effort may not be needed either: it could be enough to offer just casual cellphone footage of duo and their homies, visibly squandering big occasion in tradition that dates back to sock-puppet ads of Pet.com a generation ago or, more recently, Oatly's ad chronicling ceo banging out a ditty from keyboard dropped into middle of oat field. Prime Hydration, of course, already is in the annals as one of most explosively successful bev launches in first year, and a Bowl appearance would mark a milestone in the clout wielded by creator brands. Prime "is selling faster than anything I have ever seen in 35+ years," one distributor tells us.

Employees at Widmer Brothers Brewing are joining the Teamsters labor union. Some 54 workers voted "overwhelmingly to join Teamsters Local 162," with roles that span brewing, pkging, microbiology and quality assurance, per Teamsters announcement. Employees reportedly began organizing when Widmer Bros/CBA was bought by ABI (cleared by DOJ in late 2020). And they did so "in part because they are not being paid fairly in comparison to the parent company's union breweries," announcement adds, noting that "fair pay, better health care, safety on the job" will all be part of negotiations.

Bhramari Brewing "temporarily" closed its Asheville taproom, too. After unexpectedly announcing month-long closure of co's Charlotte taproom in Jan while opting to keep its Asheville taproom open, "circumstances beyond our control forced what we hope is a temporary shutdown" of both locations, co wrote on social media. So Bhramari currently has no outposts open, and it's unclear if either will reopen. "We deeply regret the impact this has had on our staff and our community," post added, and "we have been working around the clock to find solutions and hope to announce plans in the coming weeks to restore jobs lost due to this very unfortunate situation."

Chula Vista, CA's Novo Brazil Brewing Co now employs over 100 people, with at least 3 more expansions in planning. Recall, the brewer & hard kombucha player was already up to 4 CA locations as of late last yr, including HQ/brewery in Chula Vista, plus outposts in Imperial Beach, Otay Ranch and National City. But co's "getting ready to open another location in [CA's] Westfield Mission Valley Mall, one in San Antonio, Texas, and potentially a North San Diego County spot," Coronado Times Reports. It went from just 10 employees in 2018 to 100 and counting.

Beer, "right now, is going through a tough cycle," Summit founder Mark Stutrud commented frankly to CBN this wk. And his co felt its fair share of that in 2022. With persistent dearth of downtown traffic in home Twin Cities mkt as well as mid-yr distrib shift there, Summit shipments slumped 12%, Mark shared. Tho still over 100K bbls, the formerly draft-heavy brewery is back closer to where it was in the early 2010s. Eager to move on, Mark and co are confident they can get back to stronger growth with plans for 2023, including making most of Twins Pils and building around its lead IPA Sága while it plugs away on non-alc entries.

Join us for the 2023 Beer INSIGHTS Spring Conference at the Four Seasons, Chicago, including an evening welcome reception on May 17 and a full day program May 18. Just added: OMAC Beverage Advisers' managing partners John O'Connor and Sean McLaren who will provide a striking overview of fast-changing deal landscape. So far, our program also includes: Mark Anthony Brands new chief commercial officer David Barnett, IRI Worldwide exec veep Scott Scanlon, Stone Brewing ceo Maria Stipp, Allagash Brewing director of sales Naomi Neville. You'll also hear from Beer Marketer's INSIGHTS prexy Benj Steinman. More speakers to be announced soon. Join us for a jam-packed day of insight, candid conversations and plenty of networking opportunities. Sign up now for the early bird discount.

Tho distiller revs passed beer for the first time last yr, according to DISCUS, "beer remains America's number one choice in beverage alcohol and has had a special place in our nation's past, present, and future," said Beer Institute prexy and ceo Brian Crawford. "It's interesting to hear liquor companies boast about making money hand-over-fist while simultaneously going state-to-state hunting for more tax carveouts from state legislatures," he noted, adding that "it's important to consider the context of their claims. If the liquor industry is making more money simply because they are charging a higher premium for their products, it's not a true reflection of its market success." While spirits may have passed beer in $$, beer is at 41.9 share of alc bev volume vs spirits at 38.7, DISCUS estimates. But beer shed over 14 share since 1999.