Kirin-Lion's New Belgium and Bell's laid off 7 employees, 6 in sales and 1 in marketing, as co "implemented some important organizational changes" meant to simplify structure and streamline processes to help "carry the momentum of our growing business into the future," co shared with INSIGHTS yesterday evening after internal announcement. "We have simplified our structure from four divisions to two," which "aligns leadership across the teams and streamlines current communications and processes to better serve & support distributors and national retailers moving forward," wrote NBB head of comms Sterling Riethman.

Protein is hot ingredient among health-conscious consumers these days. But how much sugar can you put alongside it before the health bennies go away? That's at issue in case involving consumer action vs PepsiCo over its Gatorade protein bars that Calif judge just allowed to proceed on grounds the fortifiers have more sugar than protein - more sugar, in fact, than in typical candy bars.

One thing's clear now: Starbucks really, really wanted Brian Niccol to take its CEO job. To make up for his lost stock options when Niccol abruptly agreed to leave top post at Chipotle Mexican Grill, SBUX will be paying him a $10 mil signing bonus, along with a replacement equity grant with target value of $75 mil to be paid out over 3 yrs, per New York Post and other media outlets that combed thru co's SEC filing. Niccol will be paid an annual salary of $1.6 mil, with annual cash incentives that could bring in another $7.2 mil. He'll also be eligible to receive stock awards of up to $23 mil beginning next yr. In what must be a first, co also agreed to let Niccol handle CEO duties out of Newport Beach, Calif, over 1K miles from SBUX' Seattle hq. That leap of faith is quite a contrast to case with now-ousted CEO Laxman Narasimhan, who relocated to Emerald City and navigated 5-mo immersion in Starbucks that took him to 30+ stores, plants and support centers around the world, earning his barista certification along way, to insure he was in synch with corporate culture. Obviously, given result, that elaborate onboarding process wasn't foolproof. Niccol can learn how to pull a double ristretto on his own time.

Anheuser-Busch is gradually selling off a number of its captive AB One operations, which have long had a rep for being inhospitable to outside brands. Today it announced agreements to "transition" 2 more to indie operators. Boston arm to Quality Dist (Martignetti family) and Canton, Ohio, arm to Erik Jenkins, prexy of Columbus Dist (owned by Jenkins family). This marks 2d big beer distribution acquisition by Martignetti family in 2023-24. Recall, Martignetti is also a large indie wine & spirits house in New England. And now it clearly is on the march in beer too and already a significant player. Deals mark another chapter in relentless consolidation of distribution tier but it doesn't necessarily represent a setback for NA brands seeking partners given the AB One houses' decades-long prohibition on carrying any brands not formally aligned with A-B, even at strategic cost of seeing promising new brands enter crosstown rivals. That changed in recent years but most of the AB One houses haven't distinguished themselves operating with outside brands in emerging categories.

It's official now: if you fake it, they will break you. Federal Trade Commission yesterday issued final rule on banning fake product and brand endorsements, with agency saying it's determined to pursue civil penalties vs violators. In sign of the times, AI endorsements from non-existent people are specifically included among no-go ploys.

For years Jones Soda kept a tite rein on innovation in interest of narrowing its continuing losses and eking out growth for its core altsoda brand. That never quite worked, and disheartened investors bid shares down to valuation below a 1X sales multiple. That's all out the window now as CEO of past year, David Knight, embarks on innovation spree that will see no fewer than 5 new platforms hit the market in balance of this year, among 8 or 9 in development. On quarterly earnings call a coupla days ago the former PepsiCo and eBay exec offered platform-by-platform update on co, reminding listeners that the resulting widening of quarterly loss is temporary sacrifice on way to generating meaningful future growth as a "high-growth beverage company" rather than just a craft soda co. Knight had revealed the new strategy on last call in May (BBI, May 15). So far, investors seem to be buying in: shares have doubled in the year David's been at the helm, as he pointed out, and at conclusion of his presentation there was only a single investor question: how listener could get his hands one of the free sample packs of the new stuff that Knight was offering to some listeners.

Another week, another deepening of the controversy swirling around the ongoing US govt review of alcohol's impact on health, leading toward next year's edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). And unfortunately, the combative nature of that debate obscured the release of major surveys showing ongoing reductions in drinking by teens and college-aged young adults, including record lows for binge drinking, both good news. The controversy also heavily colored coverage of new research that both confirmed a lower risk of cardiovascular disease among light and moderate drinkers and found that other health risks and socioeconomic status significantly increase health risks associated with alcohol consumption, especially cancer.