Nanotech startup ALTR is taking on the “hard problem” of developing a more efficient dealcoholization process that leaves more of the flavor in the bottle with less or none of the buzz. Starting with wine, the B2B company recently closed an undisclosed amount of pre-seed round funding led by FTW Ventures with additional investments from Bluestein Ventures, Tet Ventures, Joyance Partners, winetech investment firm Xinomavro Ventures and Dutch accelerator Rockstart.

“We don't want a binary world of drinking and not drinking. We believe in what we call spectrum drinking,” ALTR founder Richard Schatzberger told BevNET on Tuesday.

Schatzberger, along with co-founder Darron Hollowell, have assembled a team of nanofiltration experts to develop what Schatzberger calls a “technology dial” to delicately remove different levels of alcohol without impacting the intricacies of flavor in everything from high-end wine to spirits or beer.

Currently, non-alc wine and spirits are made in primarily two ways: vacuum distillation and reverse osmosis.

ALTR intends to use proprietary nanotech membrane technology to create a less energy-intensive filtration system that will sustain the nuances of flavor at the molecular level. The company will work with Rockstart’s accelerator in Copenhagen to innovate its technology bringing more options to the non-alcoholic beverage category

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Last week, two cannabis companies found themselves entangled in lawsuits over trademark infringements. 

• In a complaint filed in Vermont federal court on Thursday, Maine-based craft brewery Goodfire Brewing Co., which has been selling beer, apparel and glassware under the Goodfire name since 2017, accused Vermont-based cannabis dispensary Goodfire LLP, which operates as Vermont GoodFire Cannabis of trademark infringement likely to cause consumer confusion.
• The complaint reads, “Both are intoxicating products and there has been more and more overlap between the craft beer and cannabis industries.” 
• Goodfire Brewing Co. is seeking an injunction, the transfer of the “goodfirevt” domain name and unspecified damages.
• In a separate complaint, THC and CBD-infused beverage maker Reddi Beverage Co., which sells drinks under the FLORA brand and trademark, alleges that Floral Beverages LLC is marketing drinks under a “confusingly similar and nearly identical name.” 

According to Law360, Reddi is suing Floral Beverages for common trademark infringement and tortious interference with its contracts and business relationships.

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Chances are high someone working in whiskey is an aficionado, but apparently that’s not the perception if you’re a woman: a new survey found that more than 80% of women in the whiskey world are still asked if they “actually like whisky (sic)” while at work or while making a purchase, with 89% agreeing that consumers still widely perceive whiskey to be a man’s drink. 

1. The new data comes from the world’s first global survey of women in whiskey, conducted last month by the OurWhisky Foundation. 
2. The report found a staggering 70% of women working in the whiskey industry have experienced sexual harassment while on the job.
3. 87% of respondents felt that they experience more challenges in the workplace than their male counterparts, reporting the top three most challenges they face are unconscious bias (84%), stereotyping (76%) and a lack of representation (54%).
4. The statistics echo industry-wide issues: the 2023 Women Raising the Bar Study showed only one in 10 women working in the beverage alcohol industry believe there has been a significant positive change toward women overall in the last five years.

Who’s Making A Change? After “Forbidden,” Will More Female Bourbon Distillers Follow Marianne Eaves? and Six Questions with Elizabeth McCall, Woodford Reserve Master Distiller

Shadi Bakour, the co-founder and CEO of PATH, a bottled water brand that uses refillable aluminum containers, spoke about how he convinced retailers and investors that there was an unmet need for the brand, the game changing impact of relationships with San Francisco Airport retailers and Natural Products Expo West, the value of licensing deals with Barbie and TMNT, and PATH’s $30 million Series A funding round. Listen to the Interview.

Capri Sun is changing the game for tired parents. Though it might look like a fancy Bose product or a new Playstation accessory, the kid’s drink maker’s innovation is in fact just clever marketing in a fancy box. The new advertising campaign launched this week with a hidden camera video of the brand selling its “Wireless Kid-Noise Canceling Technology” in a consumer electronics store where parents are shown the “easy to install, active noise cancellation system” of two Capri Sun juice pouches in a box. For about 50 glorious seconds, parents can “experience the high fidelity sound of no sound” as their children sip on 6 ounces of Capri Sun juice drink.

Well done, Capri Sun! Well Done!