Beer Marketer's Insights
The CMO whom Lucky Energy recruited from Liquid Death has made his ad debut with effort that takes expectedly unconventional tack, in this case by nesting regular guy who clunks rather than dunks the ball within soaring, aspirational framework typical of major sports and energy drinks.
A mushroom elixir that herbalist and integrative medicine specialist Giulietta Octavio initially devised to help her patients grapple with Covid anxiety has evolved into a lushly packaged alc-free aperitif under brand name Ceybon AF. (Get it? "C'est bon." By now the "AF" play on words is likely to be very familiar to you.) Showcased at Fancy Food Show's CPG Startup pavilion, line has evolved into trio of aperitif-style entries under the names Chill AF, Bright AF and Happy AF that are packed in elegantly tapered 750-ml glass bottles and go out at elevated price of $39.99. By now they're in 50 bars and restaurants along the West Coast, distributed by Revel Wine, and brand's presence at Fancy Food Show signaled its intentions to build East Coast base now too. Next up: 4-pks of 12-oz sleek cans, due in about 3 months. No further details are available yet on those.
Simply Good Foods delivered about the results that were expected in Q3 but said it will get more disciplined on spending behind its struggling Atkins brand even as Quest keeps on a-rollin' and OWYN plant-based protein shake brand now enters the fold. On investor call this morning, Simply CEO Geoff Tanner suggested that some of the marketing savings will be steered to high-momentum Quest platform and eventually to OWYN. With deal closing on Jun 13, OWYN will focus for next year on continuing to build out distribution under its current team while riding momentum of formula upgrades that's made brand even more appealing to mainstream consumers, before getting marketing injection. OWYN CEO Mark Olivieri joins Simply as svp/gm of OWYN and a member of parent's executive leadership team, collaborating with Tanner to "unlock the value of our combined business and deliver shareholder value through both revenue growth, margin expansion and cost synergies." OWYN addition expands share of sales in protein shakes by about 4 pts to 23% of total sales. Brand should add $25-30 mil to top line in Q4, tho its adjusted EBITDA impact will be negligible, CFO Shaun Mara indicated. In other words, brand is doing well over $100 mil in annual sales and seems to be operating somewhere close to breakeven. Recall it was founded just 7 years ago by wife & husband team of ex-athletes as plant-based, allergen-free protein alternative, offering "only what you need" (OWYN).
Throwback Thursday
This week in 1975, a federal circuit court in New Orleans ruled a brewer had right to dictate selling price of a distributorship. "Sure, breweries generally let buyer and seller work out their terms, but this ruling affirms that brewery can call the tune in certain situations," wrote INSIGHTS. In this case, a Falstaff distrib in Tex decided he wanted out after brewery kept taking 50% of all his price hikes. So, he sold biz to 3 distribs and sued Falstaff for damages, arguing that when Falstaff dictated sales prices of his biz, it violated antitrust laws. While a Fed court agreed with distrib, circuit court overruled, saying it was not a per se violation. Court felt Falstaff had right to restrict sales price of one its franchisees to a reasonable value to ensure that purchaser will have a chance to realize a reasonable return, it summarized.
Small FMB brand Bravazzi hard Italian soda is "back from the brink and growing triple-digits," co shared with INSIGHTS. Recall, Constellation Brands Ventures investments in Vivify's Bravazzi and Austin Cocktails in late 2018 were its first two minority stake investments amid plan to invest $100 mil in female-led cos over the next 10 yrs. Bravazzi was founded and led by ex-MC distrib owner of Heart of America in MO, Bob Walkenhorst, alongside ex MC vets Sarah Ross and Anne Ellis, looking to find "a sweet spot between seltzer and Mike's."
Ardagh Closes Houston Facility Citing "Beer Market Conditions"; Stopping Seattle Wine Production Too
Ardagh Glass is again rightsizing its production footprint, possibly still impacted by Bud Light fallout. The manufacturer announced it'll close its Houston, TX glass production facility next month - one that was oriented to beer and Ardagh coincidentally acquired from AB in 2021 - affecting 220 workers at the plant, Packaging Dive reported. Decision came "after reviewing current beer market conditions," tho the affected customer base will continue to be supplied by co's remaining facilities across the US, per statement from Ardagh spokesperson Gina Behrman.
Another growth standout among RTDs in 2024 is AB's Nutrl. It's up 68% to $45.4 mil yr-to-date in NIQ data. That's right behind #3 spirits RTD Monaco at $45.8 mil. But Monaco up just 6% YTD. So Nutrl likely to pass it soon. Nutrl gained 1.6 share of spirits RTDs yr-to-date to 5.6. So Surfside and Nutrl gained a combined 3.5 share to 7.7 of spirits RTDs.
As Surfside expanded to lotsa new states this spring and now nearly natl, mostly thru the beer network, its rapid growth is suddenly showing up in a much bigger way in scan data. For instance, Surfside variety pk became a top-10 growth brand among all spirits in natl NIQ data. Surfside variety pk gained nearly all-incremental 0.1 share of spirits $$ YTD thru Jun 15 in NIQ channels; up 0.2 share for the latest 4 wks.
Our scanner report yesterday overlooked one key brand of broad interest to BBI readers: Liquid Death. We missed it because it's listed in Goldman Sachs compilation under corporate moniker Supplying Demand. (So we guess the marketing whizzes there didn't play a role in corporate branding effort.) So how's LD faring? Still water entry seems to have moved into decline lately, -4.5% in $$ on 8.9% volume decline for latest 4-wk period, leaving 52-wk tally up 14.5% to $51 mil. But sparkling line continues to rack up big gains, +20.6% in $$ for 4 wks on 13.1% volume gain: it's up 51.5% for 52 wks to $139.3 mil.
Youthful tennis star Coco Gauff has signed on to newly created post of chief smoothie officer at Tropicana Brands Group's Naked marque where she purportedly will "co-create real fruit juice smoothies alongside the innovation team and help shape the future of Naked." Co claims it's her first-ever bev partnership.