• Twisted Tea became a top-10 brand family, bigger than Truly in 1 wk IRI data ended Sep 18. Up 34% to $18.7 mil in sales, $1 mil bigger than Truly brand family in same timeframe.
• Constellation passed Molson Coors as #2 player in off-prem IRI scans for 12 wks thru Sep 4 (Sunday of Labor Day). STZ $$ sales up 13% and gained 1.8 share to 17.2, ahead of MC’s 16.9 share even as it gained 0.2 with $$ sales up 2.5%.
• Yuengling isn’t cycling big Texas launch numbers. Volume down 24.6% in 1 wk thru 9/4 and down 28.7% for the wk thru 8/28 in nationwide IRI MULC data.
• Domestic taxpaid shipments were up 2.4% in Aug. Still down 4.2%, 4.9 mil bbls for the yr, BI estimates. Aug marked just the 2d mo of domestic shipment gains this yr.
• Total imports slipped 3% in July, marking 3d straight month of drops, per report from Beer Inst citing US Dept of Commerce data. Imports still up 1%, 254K bbls YTD.

Ho hum, just another federal district court upholding state 3-tier laws in familiar challenge aimed at allowing out-of-state retailers to ship wine to in-state consumers. At this point, rulings in these cases are reading a bit rote but still significant. This suit brought by same plaintiffs attys (led by James Tanford) making same argument that the state's prohibition of direct shipments by out-of-state retailers violates dormant Commerce Clause, this time on behalf of 2 in-state consumers rather than the retailers themselves. And ct came to same conclusion: state law can stand because "the Twenty-First Amendment gave states greater leeway under the dormant Commerce Clause to regulate alcohol within their borders," the Supreme Ct ruled that the 3-tier systems is "unquestionably legitimate" and RI's system "is grounded in its pursuit of public health and safety."

Monster Beverage won nearly $293 mil in damages from jury as it prevailed in suit it brought 4 years ago challenging Bang Energy's "super creatine" marketing. That figure could be tripled as jury concluded Bang creator Jack Owoc "willfully and deliberately" put out false advertising claims. Law360 described verdict by 9-member jury as "potentially record-breaking verdict." And recall it comes a few months after Monster and co-plaintiff Orange Bang won $175 mil plus legal fees in trademark arbitration vs Bang marketer VPX Sports. That's almost a half bil in 2 big legal victories by Monster vs VPX in 2 court cases so far. (More in our sibling newsletter Beverage Business INSIGHTS).

Southern Crown Partners will buy 4+-mil-case Better Brands in Myrtle Beach, in deal first reported in local newspaper, Myrtle Beach SC News. Deal announced to employees and expected to close in Q4. Southern Crown (Dorminy family) will sell over 20 mil cases in GA and SC, in large territory up and down the Atlantic coast. Better Brands is currently owned by Brenda Bethune and her partner Mike Riley, who is the ceo. Brenda is the daughter of longtime owner "Spud" Spadoni. In unusual twist, Brenda is also the Mayor of Myrtle Beach. Better Brands sells Constellation Brands, Boston Beer and many other suppliers in addition to AB. AB still at 50 share in SC and STZ at 8 share in 2021 (shares may be different in Myrtle Beach). AB sold 26.6 mil cases in state last yr. With this deal, Southern Crown will be around half of AB biz in state. Tho local paper gets credit for breaking story, it got several facts wrong, including reported offer of $300 mil. Whatever purchase price, that's far too high.

Team of ag and bev innovators has taken seemingly novel tack in launching oat-based RTD: using regeneratively grown oats from Maine as basis for canned sports drink called Smootch Oat Powered Hydration that's laden with sea salt, potassium, immunity-building zinc and with organic honey as a sweetener. At core of efforts are founder/ceo Matt Peterson, youthful sustainable-ag expert, and Ian Pasquarelli, who's operated food consultancy in Boston called The Kitchen Network. Rather than entering crowded oatmilk space, they sought value-added space, using oats grown in Maine area where Pasquarelli grew up, reaching out to Nobl Coffee in NH as copacker and trickling out to handful of stores in NJ and Penn ahead of debut at Expo East in Philadelphia today. Line currently is offered in Black Currant Elderberry, Blood Orange Grapefruit, Guava Hibiscus and Lemon Lime, priced at $2.99. Team is aiming to build DTC presence while seeking retail distribution selectively in New England and Mid-Atlanti

Bill Lange, the Zico and Bolthouse Farms vet installed as prexy of Roar Organic just a few weeks ago (BBI, Sep 7), said he can't take credit for the newfound momentum being enjoyed by functional brand that, since its reformulation by owner The Factory, has been positioning itself as "complete hydration," thanks to recipe's contingent of B-vitamins, electrolytes and antioxidants. After rebuilding national presence in Whole Foods, brand just launched in Kroger nationally as well as in Sprouts natural food chain. At Safeway/Albertsons, it's adding cold-box presence to its existing perch on warm shelf. Wegmans is in mix too out east. With sales team humming, Lange has set as a key priority for 2023 to figure out the marketing messaging, given the plethora of benefits the brand offers - a "benefit soup," as he called it. Marketing vet said that rather than enlist high-powered agencies, as under past management teams, Roar team will be working closely with in-house creative team at The Factory to suss out the right themes to strike with shoppers. The Factory is Bethlehem, Penn-based investor in food, bev & pet brands that's amassed seasoned exec team to support holdings that include Honey Stinger, Mikey's, Pipcorn and Partake cookies. It moved in as controlling shareholder last year, dropping heavy emphasis on electrolyte content in favor of "complete hydration" message targeting women that was developed under leadership of Red Bull and Hain vet Alex Galindez as ceo (BBI, Apr 9 2021). She moved on earlier this year and Lange was recruited to take helm.

Molson Coors and Coca-Cola are jointly entering spirits-based RTD space with Topo Chico Spirited this upcoming spring 2023, MC shared at its distrib meeting last week, per report in sister publication INSIGHTS Express. Topo Chico Spirited is a lineup of RTD cocktails, "not hard seltzer," sold in 4pk 12oz standard cans with cocktail "packaging cues," innovation veep Jamie Wideman underscored. "We think this will be absolutely huge" as "a premium way to complement the portfolio," added MC hard seltzer veep Matt Escalante.