• Production Upgrades For AriZona
• San Francisco To Sue Ultraprocessed Food Makers
• People Moves at Brez, Lake Hour and more
• Hemp Beverage Expo ‘On Hold’
• What's New: Hot Honey Hydration

• Nombase: How Two Heritage Brands Evolved for the U.S. Consumer

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There’s a good reason why they say it’s “fashionable” to be late: as anyone early to a category will tell you, it is not glamorous. 

When non-alc craft cocktail company Curious Elixirs launched a decade ago, retailers slammed the doors in founder John Wiseman’s face. It's been a journey since: over the last five years, Curious Elixirs' revenue topped $47 million versus $2.2 million in the company’s first five years. 

Now as it nears a decade in adult non-alc (ANA), we talked to Wiseman about untapped channels, what ANA on-premise venues will need to get right to survive, and why we may see fewer ANA brands in the future.

We’ve seen a number of ANA-dedicated spaces rise and fall, but Wiseman has invested in a handful of New York sober bars with the conviction that they provide a valuable community space. 

• We’ve heard from operators that the economics of NA bars are tricky, as those spaces aren’t promoting over-indulging – meaning drinkers aren’t racking up bar tabs. Other ANA suppliers take a different stance from Wiseman and are skeptical of sober spaces.
• It will take sustained focus, killer programming, and old fashioned hospitality to make these spaces repeat destinations for social connection, said Wiseman. 

As for mainstream spaces where ANA has yet to blossom, the founder laments that aside from a few NA beers here and there, sports arenas and performance venues have been incredibly slow to adopt ANA options. 

• But that’s changing as we type – just this week, Hiyo Social Tonics locked in a multi-year partnership with Live Nation venues across the country. 
• Off-premise, mainstream retailers, he said, are looking for velocity and maximization with a “good/better/best mix” of products.  

So what will the future look like according to Wiseman? Innovation in functional drinks and craft expressions will continue over the next few years, and in five to ten, Wiseman sees more acquisitions and continuing consolidation as big booze looks for growth. 

Read the full interview.

Check out more from the Zero Proof Playbook series: 

• How Upscale Bars Are Approaching Adult Non-Alc
• Former Sommeliers On Crafting A Non-Alc Lounge
• Ben Branson On The Future Of Socializing

BevNET Live L.A. kicks off this Sunday, and there are only 25 tickets remaining. If you’ve been thinking about joining us, now is the time to register. The event is almost sold out!

More than 800 are registered including Celsius, Suja, Poppi, Cann, De Soi, Nixie, Yerba Madre, Coca-Cola, TikTok, Liquid I.V, Instacart, Sprouts, Whole Foods, CVS, Bluestein Ventures, InvestBev and many more.

Register now for BevNET Live >>

Walmart opened its second owned and operated milk processing plant in Georgia this week, creating roughly 400 jobs and representing a nearly $350 million investment that will support Walmart’s Great Value and Sam’s Club Member’s Mark brands. 

FrieslandCampina intends to acquire Wisconsin Whey Protein, per a notice this week, enabling the company to significantly increase its total whey protein capacity while scaling its position across Europe, Asia and North America. 

AriZona Acquires Manna Beverages’ Anaheim Plant. The production facility has been sold to U.S. Beverage Packers West, LLC, a subsidiary of AriZona Beverages, two months after Manna Beverages shuttered operations and terminated all employees across its West Sacramento and Anaheim plants.

• The newly acquired site has an annual capacity of 69 million cases and includes five production lines.
• The deal with U.S. Beverage Packers West is expected to resurrect “hundreds” of local jobs. 

Read the full story on BevNET.

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San Francisco declared war on America’s snack aisle this week, filing the nation’s first government lawsuit against the largest manufacturers of ultraprocessed foods.

City Attorney David Chiu claims local governments are footing the bill for chronic diseases linked to the companies’ products, according to The New York Times.

The lawsuit argues that 10 companies, including General Mills, PepsiCo and Conagra Brands, misled consumers and sold products they knew could harm health.

Whether the city will be successful in this case remains to be seen. In Philadelphia earlier this year, a federal judge dismissed a private lawsuit over the health impact of ultraprocessed foods.

Read the full story.

Aligned with BevNET’s commitment to explore burgeoning beverage trends and innovative brands, the BevNET Spirits Awards are focused on shining a light on the dynamic spirits industry, including large and small spirits companies, ready-to-drink cocktails, ready-to-serve cocktails and non-alcoholic spirits.

Now, let’s see our nominees! Winners will be announced on December 17th on BevNET.com.

View the Full List of BevNET 2025 Spirit Awards nominees here.

🍀 Lucky Energy enlisted Ray Faust as its new Chief Commercial Officer. The fast-growing energy drink aims to tap his experience in guiding beverage brands (OLIPOP, Heineken, Coca-Cola) through "inflection points," per a statement on LinkedIn.  

💼 Experienced beverage board member Mitch Krupp (Saint James Tea, Liquid Death) is bringing his talents to sports drink upstart A-GAME, joining the company's board and coming on as Chief Business Development Advisor/Partner. 

🚣 Lake Hour, the RTD cocktail venture co-founded by actor Wyatt Russell, has hired Michelle Ivey, formerly of Illegal Mezcal, as its first-ever CEO. 

☁️ Brez's head of content strategy, Daniel Crocker, is moving on from the THC drink maker, according to a LinkedIn update. 

Here’s a look at leading headlines from around the beverage industry. Insiders get access to the full story.

1. Hiyo Lands Investment, Multi-Year Partnership with Live Nation
2. Spirit Brands Preach Pivot from CPG Marketing Playbook
3. Ripple Foods Raises $17M, Names O’Grady as CEO
4. Inside the Mainstreaming of Ingestible Beauty
5. No Cap! Grows SoCal Footprint

The future of the Hemp Beverage Expo is up in the air as the annual trade show for infused drinks announced its 2026 plans are “on hold.”

The Jage Media-owned show said in a social media post it is working “closely with the Hemp Beverage Alliance and other industry leaders to determine how best to support and serve the industry.” 

• No reason was given for the postponement nor was a timeline provided for when further updates will be available. 
• The second edition of the show was held this summer in Atlanta, Ga. and drew over 1,200 attendees – up from around 300 individuals at its inaugural show in Minneapolis the year before.

It’s unclear if the decision to put a hold on the show is related to the pending federal ban of hemp-derived THC products, which is set to go into effect next November barring new regulations passed by Congress within the next year. 

Read our notes from the Hemp Beverage Expo 2025.

It’s Hump Day! Here’s a taste of the new drops and activations from the first half of the week.

🐨 Mooala is rolling out a revamped look across its entire plant-based milk portfolio, designed to highlight its ingredient sourcing principles, organic certification and simple formulations. 

🥤 Pepsi is expanding its Pepsi Challenge – a marketing campaign where consumers participate in a blind taste test between Pepsi and Coca-Cola – into 2026, introducing more tour stops and a new flavor matchups. 

☕ Beekeeper Coffee teamed with Gopuff to launch its latest RTD coffee flavor: Hot Honey Cold Brew Latte. 

🍯 Mike’s Hot Honey is also expanding into the beverage category with the debut of Mike’s Hot Honey Syrup, formulated for use in both hot and cold drinks. 

💧 Oodles of Doodles introduced its five core flavors of kids hydration products to the U.S. market

🏈 Liquid I.V. said it will debut its first-half Super Bowl commercial in 2026 that ensures “hydration gets the airtime it deserves.” 

Check out more marketing news.

In this special crossover episode of the Nombase podcast and Taste Radio, Lucía Conejo Mir of Inés Rosales, the century old Spanish bakery behind the classic torta de aceite, and Jennifer Donnellan of Lakrids by Bülow, the Danish confectionery introducing Americans to chocolate coated licorice, share their journeys bringing their European CPG brands to the United States. 

One brand has spent decades establishing its presence here, while the other is just beginning its intentional expansion, yet both face similar challenges in adapting heritage products for a new audience, navigating price pressures and logistics, and educating consumers in a crowded market. 

They open up about the work required to succeed in the U.S. while staying true to the traditions that make their products special.

Tune in here. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.