A maple syrup guy, a distiller, a cider maker, a kombucha brewer and a beer distributor walked into a bar . . . Odd lineup would seem to be setup to a joke, but instead quintet of bevcos from separate segments up in Vermont has teamed up to produce over 750K bottles of hand sanitizer by now, enough to for every resident of Green Mountain State. Farrell Distributing, which was sitting on too much kegged beer as result of pandemic lockdowns, has been disseminating this informative video describing unlikely alliance to make and distribute hand sanitizer via Farrell's surplus beer, Caledonia Spirits' distilling equipment, Runamok Maple's bottle inventory, Citizen Cider's excess hard cider and equipment at AquaViTea Kombucha that can separate the apple cider and beer from straight alcohol. Initiative has both sold and donated lifesaving tool with brand name A Spirited Response to healthcare facilities, homeless shelters and fire and police stations.

This past Sat - July 11 - came and went without what's become mainstay summertime tradition in US: free Slurpees at 7-Eleven chain that was riffing on 7/11 date long before cannabevs were riffing on Apr 20 date. With coronavirus spiking across US, "gathering 9 million of our closest friends in stores on one day just didn't feel right," said cmo Marissa Jarratt, per local media reports. Instead, the 33 mil people with 7-E's membership app installed on their phones as of Jul 1 are eligible for free medium Slurpee any time this month . . . In quick pandemic pivot, Coca-Cola technicians working mainly from home needed only a few weeks to come up with contactless workaround for their ubiquitous Freestyle machines. Consumers seeking touch-free service can use smartphone scan to select their preferred recipes, new process piloted at chains like Wendy's, Five Guys and Firehouse Subs, who haven't been charged for upgrade, KO indicated.

Legal cannabis sales continue to track well ahead of last yr in several key states, latest BDS Analytics report shows. May sales were up solid double-digits vs last yr in Calif (+15%), Colo (+32%), Oreg (+58%), Ariz (medical-only, +58%) and Maryland (+97%, also medical-only). Only Nevada down a bit vs last May among states shown, -6%, likely driven by missing Vegas visits, as our sibling newsletter Insights Express reported Fri. Sales are "reverting to norm" in several mkts as stockup syndrome faded, yet shopper count and sales growth continue to increase. And Jun sales pace picked up in Jun for Calif and Colo, with daily same-store sales up 30-40% on both first and last Fridays of Jun. Lastly, delivery mkt share nearly doubled in Calif since first 2 wks of March, improving from 6% to 11% of total sales during first 2 wks of Jun, snagging nearly same 2 share from pickup services (9% to 7%) as in-store sales (85% to 83%) in that time. But delivery share was closer to 20% in parts of Apr and May, and BDS raises question: "Will delivery maintain its market share as patterns normalize?"

Diageo has colaunched a firm called Pulpex to make paper bottles that will be employed by inaugural customers such as spirits marketer's own Johnnie Walker whisky brand - via trial next spring - and its development partners PepsiCo and Unilever, BBC reported. The packages are to be made from pressurized wood pulp that's cured in microwave ovens and mated with non-chemical linings that render them fully recyclable. That effort, in which Diageo is working with venture mgmt firm Pilot Lite, joins similar greenpacking efforts at Carlsberg, which is designing paper beer bottle, and Frugalpac, whose paper wine bottles are made from recycled paper to which has been added food-grade liner, per broadcaster. BBC said Unilever and Pepsi are anticipated to be using "their own branded Pulpex bottles for their products in 2021."

Austin-based entrepreneur behind Sway Sparkling Water is taking powdered water enhancers in more functional direction with natural brand called Tandem that incorporates beetroot, turmeric and ginger into its 3 initial flavors. Kate Sperling, whose Sway found itself vying not just vs La Croix but locally based juggernaut Waterloo and appears to have gone quiet a year ago, aims to add "fun, adult flavors" with modicum of functionality with the flavors Strawberry Lemon (with beetroot powder), Coconut Mango (with dried turmeric) and Lemon Lime (with ginger root). Items list the keto-friendly starch tapioca maltodextrin, derived from cassava, as lead ingredient, coming in at 10 calories per serving (zero added sugar). With launch Tandem joins other naturally formulated alternatives to category mainstays, notably Dyla Brands' Stur liquid water enhancer, from entrepreneur who's also behind Forto coffee shots. For now, DrinkTandem.com website is selling only variety packs containing 10 sticks of each flavor in compostable carton at $25, but single-flavor boxes are on way, per website. Also on to-do list is non-GMO certification, as well as move of plastic packets to 60% compostable status by next year. Co makes charitable donations to Central Texas Food Bank. We weren't able to immediately connect with Kate. We'd profiled Sway in early 2018 (BBI, Jan 5 2018).

Some seller's remorse may be setting in at Unilever. Bloomberg reported late last week that CPG giant is considering substantially scaling back disposal of its tea biz, with its share of longstanding jv with PepsiCo among parts it now may decide to keep. It's also eyeing retention of tea biz in India and Indonesia, wire service reported. Those assets are worth several bil euros and would leave remainder capturing in range of €4-5 bil, Bloomberg estimated. The biz had been reported to have received preliminary expressions of interest from range of financial players like KKR, Cinven, Advent Int'l, Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, Clayton Dubilier & Rice and Swiss firm Jacobs Holding, but no strategics like PepsiCo itself have surfaced as in the hunt. An update on process from Unilever could come later this month. Issue didn't come up on Pepsi call this morning.

Do you need to be a bit berserk to launch a new brand into cluttered category during this challenging time? Then maybe it's fitting that new coffee entry called Quokka Brew Jitter-less Coffee is coming from pair of recent UC Beserkeley grads, as school is sometimes derided by those not sympathetic to new ideas. After testing waters on Berkeley and other Calif campuses with help of cadre of 100 largely unpaid brand ambassadors, pair of youthful UC Berkeley grads are about to move ahead with Quokka Brew, transitioning their patent-pending elixir from refrigerated 4-oz glass bottle to shelf-stable 8.4-oz can, moving from almondmilk to oatmilk as creamer and commencing Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign this coming Tues. Brand is named for cute-looking mammal that's considered one of happiest animals on earth, thanks to limited array of natural predators.

Poland Spring is now an energy drink, too. New line trickling out to retail in recent weeks adds to its spring water base 75 mg of caffeine derived from green tea extract and electrolytes. Using agave as sweetener, it clocks in at 35 calories per 11.5-oz slim can. Inaugural flavor lineup is Berry, Meyer Lemon, Valencia Orange and White Peach . . . LA-based Neuro Brands has entered powdered drink biz with versions of its NeuroSleep and NeuroImmune bevs, breaking on Amazon and drinkneuro.com websites. NeuroImmune contains Vitamin D, the antioxidants selenium and zinc, and aloe vera, in Elderberry flavor. Each packet contains 3 g of cane sugar (15 calories) along with erythritol and stevia. Zero-sugar NeuroSleep contains 5-HTP, L-theanine, melatonin and magnesium, in Mellow Mango flavor with erythritol and stevia also in sweetener blend. Both contain superfruit blend of goji, pomegranate and blueberry. They're available for now on Neuro site at $19.99 per 10-unit box, 20% off SRP of $24.99 . . . Mitten Fruit Co of Kalamazoo, Mich, which harnesses essential oils of its fruit for its Nomi Sparkling Water brand, has added trio of citrus extensions for summer selling season: Grapefruit, Lemon and Lime . . . Oregon Fruit Products is offering another way to get your fruit juice: right with the canned fruit itself. Salem, Ore-based co has launched Blueberries in 100% Blueberry Juice, which, as name suggests, is packed in 100% unsweetened, not-from-concentrate blueberry juice, adding to antioxidant heft of item without need to disclose any added sugar on nutrition panel. It uses locally grown non-GMO fruit and is packed in BPA-free 14.5-oz cans, available on Amazon at $24.54 per 4-pack. "Even grandma added a little sugar when she used to can blueberries," said natl sales mgr Lisa Klarp. "But as Americans are cautioned to watch their sugar intake, we felt packing the fruit in unsweetened juice would be a delicious way of delivering a lower-sugar option, without compromising flavor."