Brewbound Insiders are diving into Bump Williams Consulting’s first report of 2025, and reading which beer, wine and spirits brand families recorded the most growth in 2024, including existing brands and new innovations. 

Insiders are also:

• Getting details on the sale of Sprindrift, including a familiar face taking over as CEO;
• Looking ahead at the biggest legal issues for bev-alc in 2025;
• Reading news From the Wire, including layoffs at Brown-Forman, an update on a noncompete lawsuit against Boston Beer and a partnership between Vermont Hard Cider and U.S. Beverage;
• And diving into 2024 average case price increases across beer segments and top vendors.

Insiders also have access to the Brewbound Newsletter Archive, including previous newsletter-exclusive Insider content.

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Bump Williams Consulting's (BWC) theme for 2024: “Crossover canned flavor.” 

The firm analyzed the top 100 brand families across beer, wine and spirits based on YTD dollar sales in NIQ off-premise scans (ending December 21), and identified the top performers in three categories: momentum, magnitude and innovation.

Williams wrote: “That [crossover canned flavor] summation is somewhat tongue-in-cheek because in reality, the real learning here is that whether it comes to momentum, growth or innovation, 2024 has shown that consumers are looking well beyond the ‘classics’ when it comes to satisfying their beverage-alcohol occasions and those new choices now run the spectrum from flavor-centric to spirits-based to alcohol-free and/or of foreign-origin.”

Insiders can read more, including which beer suppliers launched top innovations in beer, wine and spirits, and who topped the charts for growth momentum and magnitude in 2024.

San Francisco-based private investment group Gryphon Investors has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in sparkling water maker Spindrift Beverage Company, and is tapping former Boston Beer CEO Dave Burwick as its new CEO.

The deal is expected to close sometime in Q1. A Wall Street Journal story in December indicated that a deal with Gryphon Investors could be valued above $650 million.

Brewbound readers can read the full story for FREE courtesy of our sibling publication BevNET. 

Bev-alc lawyers are holding their breath as they await the federal government’s standpoint on alcohol-related policy under a new presidential administration. 

Tariff talks are among the top concerns, as well as a turn in health policies, such as new dietary guidelines and possible labeling requirements. In the meantime, there are other regulatory updates and areas of increased enforcement that legal minds are keeping an eye on.

From social media advertising to shipping regulations, BevNET spirits editor Ferron Salniker spoke with leading bev-alc attorneys about key topics for suppliers to watch.

Insiders can read more.

Leaders of the newly former Barrel One Collective shared their vision for the new platform, which was formed from the merger of Harpoon Brewery’s parent company Mass. Bay Brewing and Smuttynose’s home of FinestKind Brewing. 

Harpoon co-founder and CEO Dan Kenary and FinestKind CEO Steve Kierstead explained how the platform came together, how open they are to adding to the collective and the types of partners they’d welcome, and how they’re approaching innovation with a portfolio that now boasts 14 brands. 

Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.