As summer Olympics returns to Paris for first time in a century, media coverage is amping up and highlighting again that ABI's using non-alc Corona Cero as the official global beer sponsor. Time and Bloomberg both noted increase in sports sponsorship doors that non-alc beers open, tho non-alc sports sponsorships "isn't a new thing," reminded Bloomberg. Heineken 0.0 has teamed with Formula 1; Diageo's Guinness 0.0 with Six Nations rugby tournament and last yr Carlsberg handed out 400K cans of French non-alc Tourtel Twist at Tour de France. Still, "alcohol and sport has always had an odd relationship," wrote Bloomberg. While beer brands are long-time sponsors in US pro sports leagues, "alcohol has long been banned inside UK football stadiums over fears of acting as catalyst for violence." Just last week, rowdy drinking spectators at the usually quiet French Open forced organizers to stop serving alcohol in the stands. So as non-alc beers garner more interest from younger drinkers, opportunities could open in venues where soda and water suppliers were only game in town.

Many retailers "believe there is an undercurrent of trouble ahead" for beer, Bump Williams Consulting wrote bluntly in its latest monthly letter. Retailers "hope" category $$ will be flat this yr but believe "reality" will be another yr of struggles to break even. Perhaps fueling concerns, Memorial Day sales "were lackluster despite some deep discounting in an attempt to draw the Beer shopper back into the store," Bump noted based off feedback from 132 retailers. Plus, loyalty card data points to fewer shopping trips for beer, smaller pkgs purchased and a "loss of consumers who used to buy Beer now going to other categories." Coming off "ongoing, and accelerating, sales declines" in May, co's cautionary June letter offers a "category/segment health check" heading into summer.

The back-and-forth coverage and analysis of Boston Beer and Suntory continues apace after WSJ wrote about "early talks" of a potential deal and Suntory reportedly refuted those talks over the weekend. Indeed, "there is no fact that we are in any negotiations with Boston Beer," Suntory Holdings shared with INSIGHTS as its "official statement." Suntory also sent an internal letter to senior leaders acknowledging the WSJ story, commenting that "as we all know, speculation is common in this industry," and "in the past we've seen plenty of rumors about our brands and those of our competitors, which have not come to pass. So stories like this are not necessarily surprising." Suntory letter encouraged leaders to "stay focused" on "our brands, business, and culture and not be distracted by rumors and speculation."

Precision fermented altdairy brand Bored Cow said it's hit all 50 states now, with recent addition of 2,000 new doors at banners like Vons/Pavilions, Tom Thumb, Safeway, Randalls, Shaw's and Acme . . . Mayawell has been picked up by entire Wegmans chain on East Coast. Retailer is selling 4-pks of its Strawberry Ginger, Pineapple Mango and Pear Lime flavors . . . Congo Brands has landed its Prime Hydration and Alani Nu powder sticks in Meijer chain. Posted pic shows Alani boxes shelved alongside Celsius stick packs at $9.99 vs Celsius' $11.99 (on sale at $10.99) .

The storied Anchor Brewing will indeed live to see another day. But it will be under stewardship of a rather unexpected acquirer. Hamdi Ulukaya, the billionaire behind the Chobani and La Colombe Coffee brands, announced today that his family office, Shepherd Futures, is buying all of Anchor's assets for an undisclosed price. That includes the brands, the brewery and the valuable downtown San Francisco real estate, marking the start of a new chapter for the beloved but beleaguered brand.

Fast-delivery service Gopuff has doubled down on its 2-year-old Basically private-label line, adding Basically Premium tier that will include aluminum-bottle spring water and coconut water. Meanwhile, it's done graphics refresh and expansion of core line, which will be adding such bevs as canned and bottled sparkling waters and shelf-stable teas, including organic iced tea/lemonade mix, per announcement yesterday.

News media were awash this afternoon with stories about Fiji Water recall that actually began quietly on Mar 4, with Wonderful Co saying there was no need to issue alarming announcement because items had all been sold on Amazon and buyers were easy to track down. Some 79,000 cases of import sold between Feb 1 and Mar 3 were recalled over elevated levels of manganese and bacteria, tho FDA rated it at lowest level of seriousness, with affected items unlikely to cause adverse health consequences, as USA Today reported this afternoon. The supplier was identified as Natural Wates of Viti Ltd in Tavua, Fiji. A Wonderful rep told paper it skipped public announcement so as not to cause "unnecessary public concern," adding, "The affected products were immediately and voluntarily recalled, with 99% of affected bottles reclaimed from warehouses and the remainder in warehouses to be returned." FDA issued enforcement report on May 23 but burst of coverage only occurred past coupla days.