Portland, Ore-based entrepreneur is latest to offer a protein water under brand name Tatu, with a formulation assist from highly regarded program at Oregon State Univ run by Sarah Masoni. The entry is going out in 12-oz slim can containing 15 g of protein from grassfed whey isolate but no sugar, thanks to monk fruit and stevia sweetener blend. They come in at 60 calories. Cofounder Jacoba Gundle, who comes out of ecology field and serves as coo, told us she's taking it slow, seeding brand in Portland area over past year at groceries, gyms and yoga studios while gauging market response. The items are offered in Lemon & Ginger and Orange & Mango flavors and go out at $3.99 in single cans and $14.99 per 4-pk. They're being copacked at Newport shop in Anaheim, Calif. Gundle's partner in launch is climate finance specialist Sean Penrith, Tatu's ceo. They operate as Mindful Proteins Inc from Vancouver, Wash, just across river from PDX.

The NY-based merchandising & brand building firm Gotham Brands has quietly been acquired by fast-growing Trax in recent months, putting global resources of Singapore-based co behind 12-yr-old co founded by former Nestle Waters exec Trent Moffat a dozen years ago. As far as we can see, no announcement has been made yet but new allies jointly attended BevNet Live conference last month and hosted Wall Street event this past Wed featuring range of up & coming brands. Coupla clients of the two also have confirmed transaction occurred. Trax has been on acquisition tear in recent years, including pickup of Salesforce.com, as it builds out comprehensive suite of tools to support marketers. "We know how tough it is to get on the shelf, and keeping that momentum is an incredibly challenging thing," per website. "At Trax, we're here to help fast-growing brands like YOU seize every opportunity with actionable shelf data, on-demand merchandisers and full-funnel shopper engagement all in a single platform," backed by cutting-edge tech like computer vision and machine learning. As for Gotham, it's carved out key role, now on national basis, within emerging merchandising services segment, helping brands from startups to La Croix navigate nooks & crannies of retail, even without DSD in mix. It's not clear where Gotham has been installed within broad Trax org but one possibility would seem to be Trax Dynamic Merchandising, which "actively and intelligently flexes to your needs at speed . . . scales effortlessly, shelf issues are identified real time, and merchandisers are mobilized in days, not weeks." The new partners aren't ready to comment yet on deal.

Face 2023 with a confident understanding of the news and numbers that drove the US beer biz in 2022. Sign up today for the 2022 Year in Beer webinar, less than 2 weeks away on Wednesday, Feb 1 at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. Join Beer Marketer's INSIGHTS editors as we unpack the year that was and gear up for what's to come. We'll hit the highlights with a data-driven update in a fast-paced 90 minutes, including Q&A. Register now for $225 per participant or s

As Heineken extends its partnership with Major League Soccer's DC United, co will become official and exclusive beer sponsor of team. At club's new state-of-the-art Audi Field in downtown Wash DC, "Heineken will maintain the naming entitlement to the Heineken Rooftop," and to "Heineken Hall," a food, bev and entertainment area, per announcement. Also, Heineken will remain DC United's "presenting partner" for away games, hosting watch parties at a variety of local bars/restaurants.

"Almost 7 in 10 consumers" visited restaurants and/or bars in past 2 wks, per CGA by NielsenIQ's latest survey for its Consumer On Premise Impact Report. Survey of ~1,600 consumers (in FL, TX, CA, NY) found 2 in 5 consumers visited on premise for drinks-led occasions. Same levels as it's been in these survey results for much of 2022. On New Year's Eve, 1 in 3 consumers headed out to celebrate. CGA found plenty of drinks promos out there with consumers happy to oblige. Over half of consumers (56%) said they've seen some sort of promo activity over past few mos on premise, with discount prices most prominent, followed by free samples or use of QR codes for offers and prizes, wrote CGA. Among those consumers, 7 in 10 took part in promos, and even better for suppliers, 64% of those who bought a brand as part of promo, "have continued to buy it after the promotion." As for the topic du jour, Dry January, CGA reported 1 in 4 planned to take part when asked in Dec, with 79% reporting they are so far sticking to it when surveyed Jan 10-13.

Tho Constellation's pricing guidance has been +2-3% this fiscal yr, retailers in key mkts such as CA and TX took significantly more than that, beer division prexy Jim Sabia explained at recent investor meeting hosted by RBC. Co's pricing is +6-8% in IRI data from those 2 states, wrote analyst Nik Modi in follow-up report. Incentive to take more price "not surprising" given size of Modelo in those mkts. Yet retailers that opted to take additional price "ceded share (in local markets) to other retailers who priced in line." Many retailers now rolling back incremental price hikes "due to the importance of STZ's portfolio" to their books, per report.

All signs point to a 2nd straight annual decline in total US wine volume. So biz leaders are in troubleshoot mode, seeking ways to buoy the category and reach younger legal age consumers, panelists explained during Silicon Valley Bank's annual State of the Wine Industry presentation this week. Key challenge for wine may sound familiar to beer execs: there's serious "bifurcation" between large suppliers of mainstream wine and the mostly small, premium wineries who are SVB's primary clients, exec veep and founder Rob MacMillan showed.

How do you summarize the life and career of a remarkable man? Leo Kiely passed away in early Jan at 75. He joined Coors as chief operating officer in 1993 (the first non-family member to lead Coors) and then led the company through a series of stunning transformations. As Coors ceo, he grew the company, made Coors an international brewer with $1.7 bil deal to buy Carling in the UK in 2001, then merged with Molson in 2005 and Miller in 2008. That bare-bones recitation alone amounts to quite a resume.