When alc bev atty Marc Sorini was asked by our sibling newsletter Insights Express late last yr how long it would take before plaintiffs' attys would sue cannabis companies over alleged health/safety consequences, given dearth of research in field amid growing revs, he pointed out that one had already been filed. But bigger issue right now is expansion of class action suits vs cannabizzes "driven by industry growth, stock price volatility, regulatory uncertainties and preventable mistakes by the companies themselves," reports MJ Biz Daily. Its article cited new report from Boston-based law firm Goodwin, which shows that 13 cases filed in 2019 alone, up from 6 in 2018. Most of these suits claim top execs misled investors in one way or another before a sudden stock drop and are seeking to recoup investors' losses.

"Drink your meditation." "Guaranteed zen." Those are some of promises of new canned brand called Moment laden with adaptogens, and they were enough to win over judging panels at BevNet's virtual New Beverage Showdown this week. Here's profile of Moment and 2 more finalists; we profiled the other 3 yesterday.

Given Monster Beverage's excellent track record on innovation in energy drinks, it may be surprising how little attention its potential move into other segments has received. We tried to illuminate that with deep dive late last month (BBI, May 29). Now Credit-Suisse's Kaumil Gajrawala is heralding milestone, noting that "from today, Monster Beverage Corp will be free to compete in soft drinks beyond energy drinks, anywhere in the world and including outside of the Coke system."

Bud wholesaler Saratoga Eagle, serving Albany, NY, metro area, is expanding its Red Bull distribution footprint as result of reported acquisition of most of McCadam in Plattsburgh by McCraith Bev, our sister publication Insights Express reported today. Deal will spin off Red Bull brand to Saratoga to tune of about 50K cases. Saratoga and its sibling operation Try-It in Buffalo together move Red Bull across wide swath of state's northern tier . . . Caskai Gmbh, which markets Caskai-branded bevs based on antioxidant-rich cascara coffee fruit, said it will inaugurate collaborative research regimen in China next month to tease out health and performance benefits, starting with creation of polyphenol profiles of different varieties of cascara sourced from various regions . . . Drawing on some of its subsidiary investors, JAB Holdings is selling 143 mil shares of Keurig Dr Pepper Shares, or 10.1% of total, as it continues working to increase share of publicly traded float. After sale it will

Coca-Cola will no longer be the official soft drink sponsor of Major League Baseball, Sports Business Journal reported earlier today. At a time when MLB still hasn't come to a decision as to if, when and what a season will look like if play resumes in 2020, "Coke did not renew its rights, more because of budgetary concerns than anything else," according to SBJ. "Following a review of all Coca-Cola North America marketing assets at the conclusion of 2019, we made the decision to end our national sponsorship with MLB," company rep Kate Hartman emailed Fox Business. Coca-Cola had started its MLB deal in Apr 2017. But it's by no means completely hanging up the spikes: KO "will continue to support 16 MLB teams at the local level," she added . . . In discussing controversy over "FLOYD-19" remarks by CrossFit founder Greg Glassman, we'd noted that he'd started from nuanced premise before back-&-forth got out of hand. But there's nothing nuanced about comments that have come to light from private Zoom call with gym owners in which ceo said, "We're not mourning for George Floyd - I don't think me or any of my staff are," as BuzzFeed reported. So now Glassman is stepping down from ceo post at CrossFit. As reported, the initial controversy caused Reebok to exit partnership and bev brand LifeAid to take a pause thru rest of year (BBI, Jun 8). LifeAid, which was built in that channel, has said it will continue to support owners of individual CrossFit boxes, as the gyms are called.

At meetings of Glucose Health board, members who've sampled enough of the co's own Glucodown diabetic drink most likely will be able to turn to fridge stocked with zero-sugar Celsius bevs. That's because 3 of the board's 4 members now have current or past ties to Celsius Holdings with addition of CELH ceo John Fieldly to that group. He joins his predecessor as Celsius ceo, Gerry David, as well as CELH board member Hal Kravitz, who earlier in career ran Glaceau and Aquahydrate and is currently involved with brands like Hoist hydration brand. The 4th member is GLUC ceo Murray Fleming. Glucose Health, based in Bentonville, Ark, offers soluble-fiber-rich tea mixes targeting those with diabetic and pre-diabetic conditions. Celsius, which has been on growth jag, is based in Boca Raton, Fla.

If Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting hosted by Warren Buffett is "Woodstock for capitalists," then BevNet Live might be regarded as "Lollapalooza for new-bev nerds." Sadly, spring edition scheduled for NY this week had to be canceled during pandemic lockdown, but BevNet rescued event's Showdown component as virtual competition yesterday, with a dozen startup brands vying for coveted 6 spots in finals being hosted this afternoon. We're offering quick takes on brands that made the cut, 5 of them voted on by judging panel and other via audience vote. We'll start with 3 today, then tomorrow profile the other 3 and identify the winner. Winner of the contest sponsored by Coca-Cola's VEB incubation unit get a $10K ad package.

Anheuser-Busch InBev yesterday formally announced Super Coffee investment and distribution alliance, as first reported in BBI, along with another foray outside core beer segment: an expansion of partnership with The Wine Group in booming canned-wine category. It's all part of broader effort to capture growth in "Beyond Beer" via internal development and alliances and acquisitions, per letter to wholesalers from Fabricio Zonzini, prexy of Beyond Beer unit, and his colleagues Bob Tallet, vp of biz & wholesaler development (BWD), and chief sales officer Brendan Whitworth. Throw in just-announced jv to create functional RTDs under Ghost Lifestyle brand and it seems we're witnessing acceleration of effort lately.

Is the number of so-called "sober curious" consumers about to jump? Updating its dietary guidelines for the first time since 2012, the American Cancer Society just adopted stricter alcohol advice, with flat conclusion that "It is best not to drink alcohol." Period. Previously, ACS guidelines were for men to limit drinking to 2 per day, women to 1 per day. That remains its advice for "people who do choose to drink alcohol." At same time, ACS adopted the mantra that "to reduce the risk of developing several types of cancer, there is no safe level of consumption," pointing out that "the risk of some cancers increases at even less than one drink a day." That's quite a shift and, while it's always hard to anticipate consumption effects of revised medical guidance, could portend a flight from alcohol by some users - possibly into glasses filled with growing legion of sophisticated alc alternatives that have come into market to serve already significant # of young people who abstain, not to mention cannabis. And remember, some of these recs do have impact, going back to "French paradox" discussion in 1980s that correlated moderate alc consumption with healthy lifestyle and made it more acceptable to indulge in daily tipple (even if more nuanced view of connection developed after further scientific scrutiny).