Heineken already distributed Coors Light in the Irish mkt, but it'll soon take on more Molson Coors brands including fast-growing Madri. Heineken Ireland "agreed to take on the Irish rights to distribute Molson Coors' beer brands," the Irish Independent reported over the weekend, tho move will have to be cleared by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

There's M&A chatter in the air and a couple big names more frequently involved these days. Diageo "takeover talk builds," wrote UK-based financial website This is Money last week. With stock price at its "lowest since October 2020, analysts believe it is a sitting duck," according to the article. Other international papers like Grocery Gazette and European Supermarket Magazine picked up on the notion of a potential takeover too. All were seemingly speculating amid tuffer trends. A takeover's much easier said than done: Diageo's mkt cap is currently listed at £55.7 bil (over $71 bil USD) on the London Stock Exchange.

Midwestern grocery chain Hy-Vee, which has shown an increasingly hospitable face to early-stage food/bev brands in recent years, will offer incubation assistance this Sep in Kansas City via free confab dubbed Hy-Vee OpportUNITY Inclusive Business Summit. Among its features will be live pitch competition that's open to minority- and women-owned businesses, with 15 finalists to be selected to compete for up to $50K in cash prizes to be deployed in their businesses. Among activities planned for event are business expo with networking events, breakout sessions and mentoring opportunities, per grocer.

Longtime CPG exec and his wife have launched CBD-infused coffee line out of Portland, Ore, under All Day Coffee brand that's being offered in full-caf, half-caf and no-caf versions. Encountered over holiday weekend sampling at Portland Brewers Fest, Phil Smith said co is just a few months old, doing its own roasting at local facility and slowly building it out. Concept honed after extensive consulting stint for Starbucks by Nespresso is to unlock more afternoon opportunities for coffee consumption by moderating the caffeine hit with varying amounts of CBD. "Portland represents a microcosm for a future All Day Coffee segment and we will have an economically feasible model ready when FDA approvals clear," as brand's website informs, hopefully.

Doug Yu, a former journalist who's become a familiar figure to those in innovative food/bev space via his role as sr contributor to Forbes mag, has taken leap to operating role. Chicago-based writer and entrepreneur has set up shop as founder/CEO of Diamond Brew, styled as "America's first brewless coffee," which offers coffee packed in aluminum pods that require no machines to use. Instead, the crystals produced via proprietary Lock Aroma freeze-dried tech are poured into a coffee cup and hot water added. Co initially is offering highly caffeinated (165 mg) Craft Espresso packed in square 12-unit boxes that resemble those of high-end chocolates and are priced at $29.88, or about $2.50 per pod. It's promising additional versions.

Its distinctive bottle "is not going anywhere," Clearly Canadian sales chief Jaron Friedman was careful to say. But cans inevitably have entered the mix, as was clear at recent Fancy Food Show in NY. Co has added 12-oz sleek cans in both its Original and Zero sublines, priced at retail at $7.99-8.49 per 6-pk, about half the price per ounce of the glass bottles. In Originals line, the Mountain Blackberry, Country Raspberry, Wild Cherry and Orchard Peach flavors are available in cans, while in the Zero line, it's Citrus Medley, Forest Blackberry, Tropical Splash and Fresh Cherry. They've entered all Kroger stores, along with Raley's, Southeast Grocers and Meijer, with Central Market and Giant on the way. As noted, tho, the twist-cap glass bottles remain core to maintaining brand's premium status. At show Jaron noted to us, too, that co is giving its zero-sugar entries serious focus these days, a contrast with earlier management teams that refused to sanction any compromise to the brand's bold flavor. In retailers where both the Original and Zero lines are available, the zero-sugar entries comprise about 30% of the total, similarly to Diet Coke vs Coke, he noted. So there's undeniable demand for those versions.

Tho it's been sold in US for a dozen years by now, the much-awarded Italian spring water Acqua Smeraldina has retreated from retail in order to focus fully on foodservice opportunities. Bottled from source at Monti di Deu (Mountain of God) on isolated Mediterranean island of Sardina, the artesian water recently beat out 100+ other entries to win nod as best tasting water in the world at Berkeley Springs International Water Competition. Operating out of a warehouse in NY, it's playing on designations like that to win a spot in prestige accounts via foodservice distributors like Sysco and European Imports, as well as wine & spirits house Mexcor Int'l in Florida. It's offered in still and sparkling versions in glass and PET bottles, and a coupla years ago co inaugurated half-liter Tetra Pak cartons for the still water with an eye on cruise lines.

Freshbell has been building out its collagen portfolio to include gummies and jelly sticks, both using marine-derived ingredient, and plant-derived collagen peptide powders. Lately the Asia-based co has added a plant-based collagen water containing 1,000 mg of the core ingredient derived from hibiscus. The water is offered in half-liter plastic bottle in a single sku, tho more diverse flavor array is on the way. It's priced at $3. A sparkling version is in beta test. So far line is available at retail on West Coast as well as via Walmart.com, Amazon and Costco but presence at NY show signaled intent to build base on East Coast too. He said co has been in business 7 years, pursuing collagen mission for past 4, mainly going direct to retailers so far.