A strike by 50,000 union workers at 14 major ports across the East Coast and Gulf Coast may or may not be devastating for the U.S. food industry – depending on how long it lasts.

As of 12:01 a.m. ET this morning, commercial cargo traffic at some of the supply chain’s most critical points is officially offline, after negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) failed to produce a new contract. If you’re interested in what’s at stake for workers and management, CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco has done some excellent reporting and has a pretty thorough recap of the current outlook here.

What does this mean for CPG? First and foremost, if you have cargo on its way through Boston, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Wilmington, N.C., Baltimore, Md., Norfolk, Va., Charleston, SC., Savannah, Ga., Florida (Jacksonville, Tampa or Miami), New Orleans, Mobile, Ala., and/or Houston, Texas – be prepared for delays.

Become an Insider to understand how the strike could impact CPG and the already-battered state of the East Coast and Gulf freight industry.

Are you affected by the port closures? We want to hear from you. Contact us at news@bevnet.com.

Feeling lucky? Los Angeles-based Lucky Energy (formerly Lucky F*ck Energy) is after closing $11.75 million bringing its total investment to-date to $25.5 million. The round was led by Brand Foundry with additional capital from previous investor Imaginary Ventures.

🤝 Sapphire Sport and Sugar Capital are new to the brand’s cap table; the former is expected to bring expertise to help Lucky line up sports and entertainment partnerships.

🤑 Launched by Kate Farms founder Richard Laver in August 2023, the drink maker secured $4 million in seed investment from Imaginary Ventures in November 2023 and then added $8 million from Brand Foundry in April 2024.

🙊 This April, Lucky Energy rebranded, removing the expletive but still marketing around its rebellious identity by focusing on its founder story of resilience and triumph over tragedy. 

📊 Differentiating in the competitive energy category is key especially as sales have softened under inflation and volumes have been sliding all summer, according to NielsenIQ scanner data.

BevNET Insiders can access the full story for all of the details on Lucky’s raise. 

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