Just added to the program for our 30th annual Beer Insights Seminar: Clement Pappas, ceo of Surfside parent co Stateside Vodka. Surfside smashed through the clutter and is aiming to surpass 4 mil cases in 2024, with sights set on becoming the #2 spirits RTD. It already hit #3 in recent scans after a rapid national distribution buildout.

Small distrib deal in Eastern PA. Shangy's headquartered in Emmaus, PA, is an "authorized distributor" for 110 specialty & craft brewers in 41 counties across big swath of Eastern PA, Ippolito Christon pointed out in note on deal (it has worked with Shangy's for almost 20 yrs). Shangy's sold distribution rights in 9 counties for 31 craft brewers to L.T. Verrastro, Inc. Brands include Sierra Nevada, Southern Tier, Bell's, F.X. Matt, CANarchy. So several larger craft brands make move from hi-spotting distrib ("a mile wide and an inch deep," as sources said) to a full-service distrib. Full service L.T. Verrastro is unconsolidated Coors distrib, so any vertical consolidation likely desirable. And Shangy's takes some chips off the table, but still has distribution and its well-known retail biz.

With English Premier League (EPL) soccer officially underway, Guinness is looking to make its mark. The brand is launching its largest global campaign to date, co announced and Adweek reported, coinciding with last week's kick off and its debut as league's official beer and non-alc beer partner. Recall, Diageo struck 4-yr deal with the EPL in June for Guinness' first-ever global soccer sponsorship.

Just one segment and one major supplier grew volume for 4 wks thru Aug 10 in NIQ off-premise scans as the beer category softened further. Domestic superpremium segment grew cases a slight 0.3% on back of Mich Ultra's 2.7% gain. Both imports and FMBs turned negative by volume, -0.5% and -1.9%, respectively. Imports still held onto a little growth by $$, +1.5%, as Modelo Especial $$ up 5.1% and Pacifico +20% for 4 wks. But that only barely offset other major import/international brand fams: Corona -2.4%, Heineken -3.2%, Stella -4.8% and Dos Equis -9%. In FMBs, Twisted Tea up just 5.3% by $$ for 4 wks, still slightly ahead of the turnaround for Ritas, +4.9%. But Mike's down double-digits. White Claw sales slipped 0.7% and total seltzer fell 12%.

Dunkin' and Coca-Cola are among latest marketers trying to navigate fraught political time where social-media-fueled boycotts can spring up instantaneously over perceived missteps . . . "America runs on dumbness," punned the leftist outlet Daily Kos as MAGA crowd initiated a boycott of Dunkin' following Inspire-owned brand's refusal to advertise on Rumble Video site because of its purported "rightwing culture." As Arizona Republic summarized, Rumble CEO Chris Pavloski posted his response on X platform, "No, we don't discriminate.

At time Truss Bev plant opened in 2020 in former Sears warehouse in Belleville, Ontario, it was lauded as uncommonly versatile, state-of-art plant, suited to making broad range of cannabis-infused bevs. But sector hasn't much developed, Truss split with strategic partner Molson Coors and ended up in hands of Tilray Brands, which now is hiving off 186K-sq-ft facility as surplus to requirements after assembling array of craft breweries under its roof. The buyer: Chicago-based private-equity player Entrepreneurial Equity Partners (E2P), which acquired aseptic production player Ya Ya Foods in 2021, various media outlets have been reporting. So Ya Ya adds Truss plant's stated capacity of 250K hectoliters (6.6 mil gals) to pair of other plants it operates, including nearby 800K-sq-ft plant in Toronto area and another in Ogden, Utah. The Belleville plant had been shuttered a year ago (BBI, Aug 18 2023).

On heels of sweeping revamp of its single-serve lines, Austin-based Super Coffee has made bold play in multiserve coffee segment, too. It's debuting revamped Super Cold Brew, 50-oz bottled entry that, true to Super Coffee premise, augments Colombian cold-brew with functional elements too. New line offered in Medium Roast and Dark Roast versions, both "black and unsweet," per label, contain ginseng, L-theanine and EGCG sourced from green tea extract as well as 100% daily value of vitamins B3, B6 and B12 per 12-oz serving. Caffeine comes in at 150 mg. "Boosts metabolism and enhances focus," as on-pack slogan promises. It will be on view at upcoming Newtopia Now event in Denver on Aug 26-27.

Ex-Coke and Bang exec Joey Nickell, who unleashed a flock of new and revamped brands while running Cincinnati-based Clear Cut Brands, said he's moving on, with management reverting to unidentified original founders. He doesn't seem to have specific destination in mind yet. "So what's next . . . we'll see," he posted on LinkedIn. Joey, recall, had recruited flock of his old Bang colleagues, most of whom seem to have moved on by now, to restage Phocus focus/energy brand and incubate new entries like Levo shots and Clear Cut Hero sports drink, with locally based Kroger chain usually a receptive launch partner. It's not clear how much traction the various entries have garnered so far. No word back to us from Joey yet on what the transition entails either at Clear Cut or in his own career . . . David Klein, whom Constellation Brands appointed to protect its investment in Canopy Growth as cannabis segment failed to develop as earlier hoped, will be "retiring" at end of fiscal year on Mar 31. Co's 10-K report issued this past spring listed him as being age 60 at the time. Canopy indicated that it's recruiting search firm to initiate comprehensive CEO search. A 15-yr Constellation vet, most recently CFO, Klein had been involved in Corona brewer's 2017 investment in Canopy and was installed as CEO there in 2020 as cannabis biz moved beyond euphoric early stage to greater emphasis on cutting cash burn and picking growth spots carefully . . . Many in our circle were stunned by word of demise of bev vet Bill Juarez, who'd made his mark on energy side as Red Bull distributor and as key member of team that launched Alani Nu at Congo. Post by his sister Sunnie Mills on LinkedIn informs Bill's network that his passing on Aug 3 was "a result of a very late cancer diagnosis. He was surrounded by his closest family as he made his transition." His passing, coming a year to the day after that of his wife, Cherie, has prompted Mills to launch a crowdfunding effort on behalf of Bill's recently laid-off adult daughter Alex. GoFundMe site contains more details on Bill's final days as pancreatic cancer diagnosis came in. Contributors so far include, somewhat ironically, Alani Nu owner Congo Brands, with whom Juarez had been ensnared in court over severance payments he claimed he'd been denied.