When startup hydration beverage brand Barcode announced it had signed lauded 19-year-old NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama to a five-year exclusive global partnership last July, the deal looked to be as much of a coup for the young brand as the French center’s number one draft selection was for the San Antonio Spurs. His star power has been such that the valuation of the entire Spurs franchise rose 63% year-over-year as of October 2023, according to Forbes.

After months of hype touting the rookie as a once-in-a-generation talent, Wemby, as he’s frequently referred, has indeed been a standout in the league. But he’s been the lone bright spot of a bleak season: As of this writing, San Antonio sits at the bottom of the Western Conference with a paltry win-loss record of 7-32.

So if the Spurs aren’t jingling, what’s happening with Barcode? Certainly, Wemby’s no bust, but what do you do when a brand’s spokesman is firing threes from the cellar?

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Legacy craft soda and beer business Sprecher Brewing Co. has acquired emerging energy drink brand Juvee, the company announced today. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, while Juvee co-founder Sam Keene now joins Sprecher as CMO.

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Those second and third rounds at the bar weren’t as frequent in 2024: Craft spirits reached $7.9 billion in sales in 2022, but slowed considerably compared to the year prior. 

The spirits category overall has experienced a “normalization” since the pandemic high, and craft is no exception, according to the American Craft Spirits Association’s annual report released yesterday. 

↘️ In 2022 craft spirits grew 5.3% in value and 6.1% in volume, but slowed considerably from the year prior, down from 12.2% in value and 10.4% in volume in 2021. 

💵 But the craft spirits market share of total U.S. spirits maintained a 4.9% share in volume and increased value share to 7.7% in 2022, up from 7.5% in 2021.

• Emerging sparkling water brand Sanzo landed new investment
• BodyArmor goes Zero-Sugar
• Pernod Ricard jumps into the zero-proof spirits

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