Cape May ended 2022 with shipments down around 7%, landing at roughly 42.5K bbls, prexy Frank Stempin and mktg director Alicia Grasso shared with CBN. That's not exactly where it hoped to finish, following freight train growth from ~9K bbls in 2017 to nearly 46K in 2021. But it's still up almost 20K bbls since Covid and by far the largest craft brewer in NJ, with a few new moves to debut in 2023.

Yale prof and Honest Tea cofounder Barry Nalebuff has been in the news lately for his efforts to launch Just Ice Tea, the successor brand that he, his Honest Tea cofounder Seth Goldman and restaurateur Spike Mendelsohn have devised to replace the Coke-sunsetted organic tea brand. Tapping into network of allies who launched Honest Tea a coupla decades back, they got Just Ice Tea to market in record time. But, as NY Times Dealbook feature outlines, it's been more of a struggle for Nalebuff on another front: effort to disrupt nutritional shake market dominated by Boost and Ensure. As story outlines, he's teamed up with Yale connection James Murphy and David Perlmutter, a neurologist who's an expert on links between diet and chronic disease, to develop longevity-enhancing shake brand called Choose Health that "was to be organic,

Juice segment out of fashion? Maybe among big bevcos but sector is seeing continued flow of expansion and investment at grass roots end. Lately it's been Newport Beach, Calif-based Perricone Juices that's reported a new investment, of undisclosed magnitude, from Miami-based PE shop Trivest Partners, we presume for controlling stake. New partners said co founded in 1994 will continue to be led by ceo Bob Rovzar with continuing involvement from Perricone family, whose roots in citrus biz go back to the 1930s. "In choosing a partner, we were looking for a firm who would preserve and build upon the strength of the Perricone brand and the legacy our family has built in the industry for over 80 years," per statement from founder/chmn emeritus Joe Perricone. "Trivest's decades of working with founders and families made them the perfect partner for us." Drawing on produce from both Calif and Florida, Perricone offers citrus items to foodservice and retail channels under Perricone Farms while also serving as supplier of juices and essential oils to branded CPG players. It was advised by B Riley Securities in landing Trivest investment.

After 4 years of shepherding CSD makers toward more visible efforts to promote recycling and broaden their lower-sugar offerings, American Beverage Assn prexy/ceo Katherine Lugar has decided to head back to hospitality biz from whence she came. Former head of American Hotel & Lodging Assn is next heading to role as evp for global corporate affairs at hospitality giant Hilton. ABA said it will announce interim structure in coming days while seeking her successor. On Lugar's watch ABA undertook first joint sustainability leadership effort dubbed Every Bottle Back and pushed soda giants to broaden range of low- and zero-sugar options. She also came thru for bev biz during Covid crisis, successfully lobbying for industry frontline workers to be considered essential workers.

Protein player BellRing Brands reported further progress in its fiscal first qtr in laboriously adding outside production capacity that will enable it to finally exit triage situation that's taken 3 out of its 5 Premier Protein RTD flavors out of the mix. It's also working to add capability in more c-store- and ecomm-friendly PET format to augment core cartons. And it passed a key milestone in period: former parent Post Holdings unloaded its last shares, leaving BRBR completely untethered from cereal maker, tho Post prexy Rob Vitale remains BellRing's exec chmn.

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 of programming May 18. So far, our program will include: 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 an up-to-the minute presentation chock full of data and analysis from Beer Marketer's INSIGHTS prexy Benj Steinman. Many more speakers will be joining the program. Join us for a jam-packed day of insightful presentations, candid conversations and plenty of networking opportunities. Sign up now for the early bird discount!

Constellation put its media planning & buying account up for review. Longtime incumbent agency Horizon Media won that biz back in 2009 (when it was still Crown Imports), notes AdAge. But Constellation is in the hunt for other potential partners, with global ad expenses totaling $826.4 mil for fiscal yr ended Feb 2022. Recall, STZ also put Modelo Especial creative up for review in 2021. "We are engaging in a review for our media business to ensure we're optimizing the value of our marketing investments based on our requirements today, and in the future," co wrote in statement to AdAge.

A group of over 2 dozen consumers from 12 states ratcheted up scrutiny of proposed Kroger-Albertsons deal, filing a class action lawsuit under federal antitrust law early this mo. A combined co would "increase prices for groceries, decrease the quality of food, eliminate jobs, close stores and offer less choice for consumers," complaint alleges. It uses fiery language to make big claims about expected impact on competition, most of which have been alleged elsewhere by others aiming to block the deal. Suit also names PE firm Cerberus Capital, major Albertsons shareholder, claiming conspiracy related to $4-bil dividend payment also targeted by other lawsuits.