For first time since 1988, Super Bowl ad game is wide open for alcohol competitors after AB dropped its hold as exclusive sponsor. Multiple competing suppliers and alc bev products jumped at oppy to advertise in the big game, including Molson Coors with either (both?) Coors Light and/or Miller Lite, HUSA's Heineken 0.0, Diageo's Crown Royal and Rémy Cointreau's Rémy Martin.

2023 started off with groundbreaking moves in CA alc bev distribution, setting off shock waves and ripple effects. Breakthru will buy CA distrib Wine Warehouse, a top 10 US wine and spirits distrib. (Wine Warehouse also sells craft and imports.) So #3 wine and spirits distrib will enter #1 state, just after #2 wine and spirits distrib RNDC took big hit as Sazerac will leave RNDC for #1 beer distrib Reyes Beer Division.

You're not imagining it. Media coverage and consumer interest in Dry January ramped up significantly this yr. On-premise anecdotes support shifts picked up by consumer surveys and suggest sluggish early-yr biz, but off-premise trends counter any supposed pull back in alc bev purchasing. Meanwhile, advocates leverage all this trendiness and newfound, scaled-up resources to turn up the heat on alcohol and push more restrictive policies.

Another wild and wooly year in tracked scan data saw some familiar trends persist while several surprising twists and turns emerged among segments, top suppliers and top brands.

Among flock of alcohol-alternative brands on display at this week's Fancy Food Show was South African-derived line called Abstinence Spirts that heralds biodiversity of so-called Cape Floral Kingdom and broke in US this past Sep. Co was launched by sommelier and vintner who were collaborating on new spirit brand called Bloedlemoen Gin and found themselves intrigued by activity in burgeoning NA space. By now they've added a flock of NA entries to portfolio, starting in home country in 2020, and have teamed up with Oakland, Calif, entrepreneur Ranwei Chiang as ceo behind US launch. Packed in 750-ml bottles with bouquet of botanicals on front, core Abstinence line includes calorie-free white spirits-alternatives Cape Citrus, Cape Floral and Cape Spice that highlight South African botanicals like buchu, cassia and honeybush along with brown-liquid Epilogue X that mimics malty, smoky profile of a peated Scotch whisky. They go out at $35. Also in line are pair of aperitifs in Blood Orange and

Roar Organic has pulled in total of $6 mil in equity and debt from undisclosed investors, per SEC filing dated Jan 13. The company was founded by Roli Nesi and is controlled by Richard Thompson's The Factory incubation firm in Bethlehem, Penn. No immediate word back from recently installed prexy Bill Lange on round. Recall that Roar found itself in trouble after earlier overexpansion, with The Factory coming in as controlling shareholder and recruiting bev vet Lange to run co and refine marketing messaging this past fall (BBI, Sep 29).

Group Danone announced a new slew of promotions as it implements broad revamp dubbed Renew Danone, with former Coke exec Shane Grant among those getting an upward bump. He's among 3 group deputy ceo's who're being given "extended responsibilities, to better connect categories and regions and further elevate its ability to perform in the market," per announcement. All report ceo to Antoine de Saint-Affrique. Grant, currently ceo of North America region, now has responsibility for all Americas as ceo, including substantial Latin American biz, and he also serves as evp for dairy, plant-based & global sales. Véronique Penchienati-Bosetta, currently ceo for International, now adds evp role for specialized nutrition, waters, global marketing & digital. And Juergen Esser, currently chief financial, technology & data officer, maintains those responsibilities but with group deputy ceo title now. Squeezed out are Nigyar Makhmudova, evp & chief growth officer, and Floris Wesseling, Europe Zone prexy, both members of exec committee, who've "decided to leave Danone to pursue their professional interests outside of the company." Co also has recruited Barry Callebaut innovation chief Pablo Perversi as Europe Zone prexy, Wesseling's old role, reporting to Penchienati-Bosetta. He was former colleague of Saint-Affrique at Callebaut.

Congo Brands' Prime Energy has officially gone live, shipping into GNC nutrition chain with 200 mg of caffeine, 300 mg of electrolytes but just 10 calories per 12-oz slim can. It's debuting in Lemon Lime, Orange Mango, Tropical Punch, Blue Raspberry and Strawberry Watermelon flavors. GNC, recall, was launch partner a year ago for Prime Hydration line that's gone on to explosive popularity thanks to reach of its influencer-partners Logan Paul and KSI. "The demand we've seen with the original Prime Hydration beverages created an opportunity to expand their presence within GNC to satisfy consumer demand," per merchandising vp Kevin Maloberti . . . Coca-Cola's Simply juice brand is lookin' to further ride cocktail wave with trio of juice blends called Simply Mixology that are breaking next week in Lime Margarita, Peach Sour and Strawberry Guava Mojito recipes. They'll go out to grocers' juice coolers in brand's familiar 52-oz carafe-style PET bottle with 21-24 g of sugar (90-100 calories), pitched as items that work with or without spirits. To settle on flavors, co looked to data that indicated that margarita is top cocktail ordered at bars and restaurants, that online searches for whiskey sour recipes have doubled in recent years, and that consumption of bevs made with lime and mint rose nearly 50% in 2021. It was Simply's frequent use as a mixer, of course, that drove recent launch of Simply Spiked Lemonade RTD with Molson Coors last summer.