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🔐 What You're Missing |
| | Blake’s Beverages wants to be a home base for all things apple- and fruit-flavored. The company – which includes Blake’s Hard Cider, Austin Eastciders and Avid Cider Co. – is continuing to expand its portfolio, with new launches and an eye on further M&A. Brewbound senior reporter Zoe Licata chatted with Blake’s founder and CEO Andrew Blake this week about the company’s plans, and how it continues to find “synergies” across its brands’ lineups and distribution networks. Insiders are getting the full scoop in today’s Brewbound Insider Newsletter and on Brewbound.com, along with details on several other news stories, including: - The dismissal of Uncle Nearest’s bankruptcy case;
- Beer Girl’s appearance on Shark Tank and potential investment from Uncle Nearest founder Fawn Weaver;
- Sazerac’s acquisition of vodka-based RTD Dirty Shirley;
- Carbliss’ expansion into malt-based beverages;
- How Ratio Beerworks has found a niche in cocktail bars;
- Pernod Ricard’s continued exit from RNDC;
- And how March Madness could help boost beer sales in the on-premise.
Insiders also have access to the Brewbound Newsletter Archive, including previous newsletter-exclusive Insider content. Become a Brewbound Insider today! Or, be in the know on all food and beverage news from Brewbound, BevNET and NOSH with Insider All Access. |
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📰 Today's Top Story |
| | | More than 2 years after Blake’s Hard Cider, Austin Eastciders and Avid Cider Co. merged under the Blake’s Beverages banner, the companies have found a rhythm that helped make Blake’s the “fastest growing” independent cidery in the U.S. But the company still has work to do to fully integrate the brands and strengthen cohesion across portfolios, founder and CEO Andrew Blake shared with Brewbound this week. Blake said: “When you go from a branded house to a house of brands, you really have to think about what the soul of each brand is and what customer it speaks to. We've been really focusing on, ‘What is Blake's, what is Austin and what is Avid?’ “This year is really where you'll start to see each brand be synergistic to the others in a unique way.” Learn more |
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📝 Brewbound Headlines |
| | | The legal battle over Uncle Nearest has taken another dramatic turn: Founder Fawn Weaver’s attempt to use bankruptcy court to wrest control of the bourbon brand from a court-appointed receiver lasted less than 48 hours before a judge threw the petition out. Following Weaver’s filing of 3 Chapter 11 petitions on March 17 for Uncle Nearest in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Judge Suzanne Bauknight granted Farm Credit Mid-America’s motion to dismiss Thursday morning. The judge sided with the lender’s argument that the existing receivership order had stripped Weaver of any corporate authority over the company, including the power to file for bankruptcy. Keep reading |
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| | | Another low-ABV beer with an explicit target audience made an appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank this week and came out with an investment. Potentially. Beer Girl founder Caroline Renezeder Foulk pitched the 3-year-old lager brand to a panel of investment “sharks,” and caught the attention of the episode’s guest investor, Uncle Nearest founder Fawn Weaver. Foulk asked for $125,000 for a 10% stake in the brand, which she pitched as a low-ABV alternative to light lagers. Weaver ended up as the only investor willing to bite, telling Foulk that she “has something special,” but her offer would be “sharky.” She offered $125,000 for 20% of Beer Girl. Keep reading |
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| | | Sazerac has acquired Dirty Shirley, the RTD vodka-spiked take on the classic Shirley Temple. The acquisition puts a cherry on top of the growing TX base for Sazerac, arriving roughly 2 years after the company invested in BuzzBallz and 3 RTDs released in partnership with a Lone Star State distributor. Learn more |
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🆕 New On Shelves |
| | | Carbliss, the vodka-based RTD that has become a breakout independent in the category, is rolling out a malt-based version across 7 Midwestern states. Packaged in 19.2 oz. single-serve cans, the offering will hit c-stores in IA, WI, SD, NE, IL, MI and OH over the next few weeks, following a successful test in IA that validated consumer demand for the larger format. The new line comes in 4 flavors developed specifically for the larger can: Cherry Limeade, Arctic Blue Raspberry, Black Cherry and Kiwi Strawberry. Read more |
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👀 ICYMI |
| | Maine’s craft brewing industry has always punched above its weight despite being among the smallest in population. That outsized impact along with the state’s robust tourism business gives Maine craft brewers a unique perspective on the industry’s ebbs and flows. The latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast features 2 of those voices – Baxter Brewing president Jenn Lever and Orono Brewing co-owner Abe Furth – in separate conversations recorded during the New England Brew Summit. Listen here |
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👋 That's all for today's Brewbound Newsletter |
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