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Coors wasn't always just in beer/alc bev biz. This week in 1971, INSIGHTS reported Coors was testing a dog food with Coors name on the package in Colo and surrounding markets. "This is the first important mistake Coors has made in beer marketing," one ad exec told INSIGHTS. Coors responded that they decided to use Coors name to brand its dog food after much soul searching and research. "We concluded that its high quality would be in keeping with the Coors image," said a spokesman. While Coors dog food is no longer produced, Dog Brew by Busch is currently available.

It's the first salvo of the year in the battle against spirits RTD tax equivalence. BI, BA and NBWA penned joint letter to North Dakota finance & tax committee, opposing bill HB 1303 that'd reclassify liquor products under 12.5% ABV as wine. Representing "brewers, beer importers, and wholesalers of all sizes" in ND, orgs noted that the bill would "arbitrarily reclassify" group of liquor products as wine to reduce tax rates, blurring lines between "distinctly different alcohol categories" and "confusing" consumers. It's "vital to maintain" regulatory distinctions between liquor, wine & beer due to differences in how they're consumed, letter argues, pointing out that "proposals like this were rejected in more than a dozen states during the 2021 and 2022 legislative sessions around the country."

While Advent Beers and Craft Collective brand families were listed as top-10 craft growth brands in 2022 Nielsen data, per Bump Williams Consulting report (see last issue), turns out these are new packages from Minhas and AB. Minhas produced its Advent Calendar holiday 24pk sold primarily in club stores, and Craft Collective is a variety 24pk including AB's various Brewers Collective brands, BWC's Dave Williams shared with CBN. The fact that these two "brands" ranked among top-10 growth families in craft scans last year "says a LOT about the Craft segment right now," Dave posited. Consumers have "thirst for Variety…and at the same time VALUE." Craft 24pks "popping" is newer to segment, but "who's to say if they will stick around…or if it's just a flash in the pan," he wondered.

New Belgium is officially launching its rebranded and "reimagin[ed]" flagship, Fat Tire, co announced publicly yesterday after sharing with distribs last fall, as CBN previously reported (see Sep 30 issue). This includes changing the beer itself to make "a crisper, brighter, and even better Fat Tire" and debuting a bold new look designed to highlight our deep ongoing investments in climate solutions," sez NBB. "All designed to inspire the next generation of beer drinkers to join us in a growing movement around climate action."

Craft brewers continued to snag lotsa share of the small but bustling non-alc beer segment in 2022 scans, driving lotsa category growth. While total non-alc beer grew 21% to $363.7 mil, NA craft sales jumped 79% to $84.5 mil, according to Nielsen xAOC + liquor plus convenience data shared by Bump Williams Consulting. (Editor's note: that's even as some sizable craft NA brands like Deschutes NA Black Butte Porter and BrewDog USA's NA variety pk are counted in separate segments by Nielsen currently. Tho Nielsen also includes several beer-adjacent NAs like hoppy sparkling waters in its NA craft category.)

Monster Energy Corp is about to start ramping up activity in alc bevs and beyond, including some notable tweaks to existing CANarchy portfolio and new non-alc subsidiary of CANarchy dubbed Monarchy, co detailed during Investor Day program yesterday (and sibling pub INSIGHTS Express reported).

Grocery giant Albertsons Cos - which is seeking to get even bigger via Kroger deal - is getting into game of fostering competition among emerging food, bev and pet brands, with lure of garnering a place on shelves of banners like Safeway, Jewel-Osco and Balducci's. It's hosting inaugural Innovation Launchpad bakeoff at upcoming Natural Products Expo West on Mar 8, with judging panel evaluating 60 applicants that hit hot buttons like low-sugar or carb, all-natural, plant-based products, functional bevs, global flavors, healthy prepared meals and premium pet items. Top 3 winners will receive prizes valued at $170K in cash, services and "industry recognition," per announcement today. "Through this process, we are hoping to discover unique items that can be considered for distribution in any one of our banner stores," said evp/chief merchandising officer Jen Saenz.