After a soft Oct, control state spirits sales grew 3.7% in Nov, NABCA reported this morn. Tequila returned to double-digit growth, +14.5%. And 4 key categories all got back to growth after recent declines: vodka, domestic whiskey, Canadian whiskey and cordials. Cocktails "slowed" to +24.4%. Those 6 categories contributed all of spirits growth and then some in control states in Nov. Seven additional selling days in MI also boosted results.

Boston Beer switched ad agencies for its struggling Truly brand "after a competitive pitch," reported Ad Age. Moved from Goodby Silverstein to Ogilvy. "We aim to bring fresh thinking to how Truly shows up in the world and are excited to kick things off with our new partners at Ogilvy," cmo Lesya Lysyj told Ad Age. Goodby got the account in late 2019, when seltzer growth was explosive. Recent Truly campaigns included "Do It for the Flavor" and "Our Best Flavor," neither of which stemmed Truly's steep decline. Truly volume down 23% yr-to-date thru Dec 25 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience, including steeper drops recently. Tough trends. Goodby co-chair Jeff Goodby said: "The scope of the account had gotten very small for us," noting shop didn't have to make any layoffs after losing account. "I look forward to seeing what they do next," Jeff added. Meanwhile, Goodby keeps Sam Adams brand, with its popular "Your Cousin from Boston" campaign.

Total alc bev $$ sales jumped 3.7% to $1.74 bil for 1 week thru Dec 25 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience. That's an all-time high as spirits $$ sales jumped 7.6% to $356 mil. Beer lost share in Christmas week as $$ up just 2.2% to $905 mil. And wine temporarily reversed its negative #s, with $$ sales up 3.6% to $480 mil, compared to prior 5 weeks each down from 0.6% to 4.7%. For last 12 weeks, total bev alc sales up 2.6%, beer up 3.7% (gaining share), spirits up 4.5%. Wine $$ dropped 0.9%.

With the new year comes our annual ritual of reprising our resolutions for entrepreneurs who're lookin' to navigate the waters of this perilous but rewarding biz. These are the chestnuts we've gleaned over the years from you, our readers, who've communicated your hard-won knowledge to us over bad cell connections and great cocktail concoctions.

Essays published late in year in non-specialist media offered glimpse at key issues that have dominated the headlines over past coupla years, including rapid rise of DTC, fast-delivery business' spike and crash, and controversy over plastic packaging. Whether you buy the arguments of the writers or not, they're issues that seem sure to remain front & center entering the new year.

Flow Beverage has lined up an asset-based 36-month term loan that, together with recent sale of its plant in Virginia, should sustain maker of boxed water as it moves toward operating on more profitable footing. The loan of up to $20.3 mil (Canadian), from NFS Leasing Canada, isn't coming cheap: it carries 14% annual interest rate plus warrant coverage of 10% of the amounts drawn on loan - initially, $15.3 mil. Together with the $17 mil proceeds in Nov from the sale of its Tetra Pak processing plant in Verona, Va, to BioSteel (BBI, Nov 9), the loan "further enables our progress toward profitable growth," per founder/ceo Nicholas Reichenbach. Cannacord Genuity acted as Flow's advisor in transaction. Flow retains is plant in Ontario, presumably providing security for NFS' term loan . . . NY-based Liberation Labs, which is embarked on ambitious plan to build global network of precision protein fermentation plants, raised $20 mil seed round led by Agronomics and Siddhi Capital with participation from CPT Capital, Thia Ventures, 8090 Industries, and Echo, FinSMEs blog reported. The proceeds will go establishing first plant with 600K-liter capacity, including site selection, engineering and ordering of long-lead equipment. It hopes to be operational by end of 2024 . . . Acquisitive global copacker Refresco has strengthened its hand on alcohol side with completion of acquisition of Dutch co Avandis from Lucas Bols and De Kuyper Royal Distillers following regulatory and worker council approvals. On NA side, it recently acquired Tru Blu of Australia (BBI, Dec 22), establishing its first presence on that continent . . .

Several major non-alc bev suppliers managed to grow stock price quite handily for shareholders over past year when Dow Jones (-8.8%), S&P 500 (-19.4%) and Nasdaq composite (-33%) took downward turns following double-digit growth in 2021. Coca-Cola (KO) stock price up a solid 10.6% in 2022, ahead of 8% increase in prior year. PepsiCo (PEP) stock price grew 6.8% in 2022. That followed gains of 17% for PEP in 2021 and +8.5% in 2020. Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) share price dipped 1.2% for yr after double-digit gains for previous 3 years, including a 15.2% increase in 2021.

Coming off 3 years of pandemic-influenced and political chaos, what does 2023 portend in bev biz? We reached out to some of our most respected contacts to hear their best guess as to what the new year will bring.

Congo Brands may have quietly shelved a new iced tea entry called Down South, at least for now, but it's moving ahead with another ambitious launch: much-anticipated energy extension for Prime Hydration brand launched in partnership with MMA fighter Logan Paul and UK rapper KSI. New entry goes live on drinkprime.com tomorrow at 1 PM ET, Louisville, Ky-based co announced, with military-style precision that seems warranted given scramble by consumers to obtain scarce quantities of the core bottled hydration line. Energy extension is packed in 12-oz slim can containing 200 mg of caffeine, in keeping with founders' stated preference to allow for consumption of a couple a day without health risk to users, as well as 300 mg of electrolytes. (That puts it in general arena of entries like Monster Rehab, noncarb line with 125 mg of caffeine and range of electrolytes.) Zero-sugar line using sucralose/ace-K sweetener blend comes in at just 10 calories. Ingredient panel displayed on website indicates formula includes coconut water and L-theanine. It debuts in 3 popular Prime Hydration flavors - Blue Raspberry, Tropical Punch and Lemon Lime - and 2 original flavors, Orange Mango and Strawberry Watermelon. Online it will be priced at $29.99 per 12-pk. At retail, Congo claims that Prime Energy will enter Walmart, Target, GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, CVS and Kroger banners, with launch in UK and other overseas markets due later in year. We had reported the line to be in the works last summer (BBI, Aug 18).