Fortifying foundation in UK, Athletic Brewing has forged tie to London soccer power Arsenal that will make it official non-alc beer partner. Alliance of unspecified duration, commencing this month as Gunners' new season gets under way, will bring cans of Run Wild IPA to all men's and women's games at Emirates Stadium and draft offerings at club level. Also in the mix are marketing campaign featuring Arsenal players, in-stadium sampling, social media giveaways and VIP supporter experiences. Arsenal men's team is perennial contender both in domestic league and in European competition, tho it hasn't hoisted Premier League trophy since its undefeated season in 2003/04.

So far, at least in scanned retail channels, restage of Zoa Energy hasn't shown much pop. On earnings call this morning, tho, brewing giant Molson Coors Beverage betrayed no sign of a waning in faith, with CEO Gavin Hattersley citing it as a top-10 player on Amazon that's attracting "new drinkers into the energy space" and has a "right to win" in certain channels. His remarks, in context of broader discussion of innovation there, reminded that co has grown Zoa "from nothing" over past 3 years in what was new space for co. True, its course corrections generated "lots of learnings for us in the beginning." But he styled it a great brand with packaging that works well and a "powerful" spokesperson in frontman Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Recall, brand has segued from black 16-oz can to colorful 12-oz sleek can that offers more gender-neutral positioning that can broaden category's reach as Celsius and Alani have done to great success in recent years.

King Juice, the copacker that markets Calypso Lemonade, said former Heineken exec Bridget Lasda is moving on, to destination she hasn't disclosed yet. Filling the vacancy will be Kim Hickey, a Fiji Water vet who's been with King for over 4 years. Kim, who's been running western sales, brings close familiarity with key retail partner, Safeway/Albertsons, and should slide comfortably into role, said CEO David Klavsons. Lasda, former natl sales chief at Heineken, presided over sales effort that yielded 8% sales growth and 1.8 pts of share gain in IRI's MULO+C scans for 52 wks, David cited, with similar unit gains given Calypso's staying flat on price over past year. Lasda joined in early 2019 after private-equity buyout of King Juice owner Tim Kezman, bringing years in Coke system followed by 4 yrs as vp natl sales at Heineken.

Over the past year or so, the migration has been unmistakable: journalists' samples of Olipop gut pop that used to arrive slathered in insulation now were landing in naked cases without refrigeration instructions, just like samples from its shelf-stable rival Poppi. Does that mean that refrigerated brand had extended its shelf life? "Not yet mate, no," its British-born cofounder David Lester responded when we first gut-popped the question last fall.

Bill Juarez, former Red Bull distributor who played key role in Congo Brands' launch of its highly successful Alani Nu Energy brand, passed away on Saturday of pancreatic cancer, several contacts have sadly reported to us over past day. Bill had made initial mark as gm of Energized, Red Bull distributor in SoCal, and after that house was terminated by energy giant set up incubation co called Avanzar that assisted Congo Brands as it partnered with creators to incubate 3D Energy (via fitness influencer Christian Guzman), then Alani Nu (via fitness influencer Katy Hearn), along the way landing leadership role within co assisting Congo founders Trey Steiger and Max Clemons, whose earlier entrepreneurial successes had come from outside bevs. He likely also was involved in inception of Prime Hydration brand via influencers Logan Paul and KSI. But he departed in fall 2022 for reasons that were not publicly stated by either side and ended up in litigation with them over severance issue (BBI, Mar 11). Post-Congo, Bill moved on to prexy role at My Muse, functional line of sodas and other bevs created by Lance Collins (BBI, Mar 23 2023). Lance told us today that Bill had moved on a few months ago and he was now directly running the co as CEO after handing off that role at another venture, Clase Azul Tequila. Tho Collins has trimmed staff back from 30 under Juarez to 10 now, he said he retains his commitment to building that brand. We haven't yet learned further details of Bill's passing or survivors.

Continuing with strong momentum on its core Premier Protein shake line, BellRing Brands is ready to pivot from a focus on producing adequate inventory to driving demand, prexy/CEO Darcy Davenport informed shareholders on Q3 earnings call this morning. And there's a youth movement afoot, as she acknowledged to analyst who'd spotted ice cream pop-up effort in NYC. Meanwhile, other key brand, Dymatize, will break campaign this week featuring 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey in effort to establish brand's premium credentials and nudge it above its current 1% household share.

Bud Light, the official beer sponsor of NFL "is making it easier than ever to enjoy the NFL season with a new fan forward kickoff campaign," co shared this morning. That includes new "Easy to Sunday" spot "honoring all the hard work that goes into being a fan." Ad shows various fans going thru their rituals to be ready for the game, including Hall of Famer Peyton Manning. Bud Light also released its 2024 lineup of NFL team packaging with team colors and "prominent team logos," which are also featured in the TV ad. "Our new full-color team cans match the fierce passion each fanbase has for their team, making it easier than ever to rep your team no matter how hard you football," said Todd Allen, svp of mktg for Bud Light. Fans 21+ will also have chance to win NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV, NFL Shop Gift Cards towards team merchandise and Super Bowl tickets by scanning a QR code or visiting budlight.com/easytosunday.