• 🚚 Distribution: Happy Expands Footprint
• 💡 NIQ: BevAlc Sales Slip In June
• 🇺🇲 Pernod Spins Out American Whiskey Biz
• ⏸️ Kroger/Albertsons Request Delay From FTC
• 📜 New State Laws Shake Up Spirits Space

The classic Italian cocktail has enjoyed sustained popularity over the past several years, and now the rise of the Spritz is colliding with the sober curious movement on menus and in retail. 

Global Drinks Intel data suggests that as much as 70% of consumers will “be reaching for a spritz this summer,” and Distill Ventures, the Diageo-backed adult beverage brand accelerator, has gone as far as to dub 2024 the “Summer of the Non-Alc Spritz.” 

The wine-based beverage, probably best known in variations like the Aperol Spritz and Hugo Spritz, is now the eighth most popular cocktail in the country, said Distill Ventures CEO Heidi Dillon. That hype is now continuing to gain momentum on menus in on-premise accounts across the U.S. and U.K. markets – in America, spritz sales tripled over the past year, according to research firm CGA, “leapfrogging classics like the Espresso Martini and Bellini.”

And this spritz blitz is not just occurring when consumers are out and about – the trend is also having an impact on the emerging adult non-alc CPG category, Dillon said, where zero proof aperitifs are growing their reach. Brands like Wilderton and Three Spirit (which Distill is invested in) as well as Ritual Aperitif, De Soi, Ghia, and For Bitter For Worse are all riding this wave, as well as low-alc aperitif options such as atōst and Le Moné. Mainstream retailers such as Target are also helping keep the trend afloat.

NA aperitif brand Everleaf has added a competitive flair to the conversation. It just wrapped the second edition of its annual contest for the best non-alc spritz created with its products.

These benefits are stemming from a “Spritz Culture,” Dillon suggested, that has pushed drinking occasions from late night partying to early evening and dinnertime libations. According to data from The Brightfield Group, social media mentions for non-alcoholic spirits and social tonics were up over 104% in the 52-weeks ending May 30, 2024.

“Americans are increasingly seeking out options that balance simplicity and sophistication with colorful, playful serves that feature natural botanicals and a more complex bittersweet flavor profile,” Dillon said in an email to BevNET, noting the low-alc nature of a hard spritz has appealed to health and wellness minded consumers who are reducing, but not abstaining, from alcohol.

“Spritz culture also creates a shared experience across social interactions and elevates the occasion. For any brand in the space, it’s essential to guide consumers on when (occasion) and how (serve) to enjoy a spritz by educating them on aperitif culture (time of day) and distinguishing their offerings from typical canned cocktails (elevated flavor profiles).”

Go Deeper: Building the Category Pitching NA Retailers

The way in which consumers incorporate their favorite beverages into their day-to-day lives is ever-changing, especially in the coffee and tea space. Our capabilities in coffee and tea can offer you the flavors and ingredients that can shape your products into what consumers desire. Learn more

Beverage brands are on the move this summer. Check out the latest roundup to learn where the delivery trucks are heading: 

☕ Craig Dubitsky and Robert Downey Jr., backed coffee brand happy recently announced a slate of new wholesale partnerships for its medium and dark roast k-cup and ground coffees, including Walmart, Kroger and CVS, Hy-Vee and Harris Teeter. The five-month-old brand said it will reach 50,000 points of distribution by September. 

🩸 Blood alcohol content-lowering drink maker Safety Shot announced it is expanding access of its products nationwide via a new partnership with KeHE.

✨As evidenced above, spritz are having a moment. Today, De Soi CEO Scout Brisson announced the brand’s Sparkling Non-Alcoholic Apéritif is now available in 1,400 Target locations nationwide. 

🍊 Superfruit energy drink brand Huxley is now being sold through UNFI, founder Simon Solis-Cohen announced on LinkedIn. The brand will start in a Minnesota distribution center and plans to expand to additional UNFI DCs next year. 

BevAlc sales took a small dip in the last two weeks of June, according to the latest analysis of NIQ data from Goldman Sachs Equity Research.

• Sales fell 1.9% across categories - in the two-week period, versus -0.7% in the four-week period and -0.9% in the 12-weeks. 
• Spirit-based RTD numbers are still positive, although slowed down at +7.5% in the two-week period, compared to +10.8% in the four-weeks. 
• Wine-based RTDs also weakened, posting +19.5% growth in the two-week period. High Noon, Cutwater and Nutrl all saw positive growth, meanwhile Jack Danel’s sales continued to slip.
• In FMBs, hard tea (+17.2%) and soda (+7.2%) are showing resilience but both were down by a few percentage points. 

BevNET Insiders can get all the data and insights.

French conglomerate Pernod Ricard is mighty interested in American whiskey, announcing the formation of a new U.S.-based subsidiary dedicated to the spirit, North American Distillers (NADL), last week.

🐰 NADL will oversee global sales and operations for Pernod’s American whiskey portfolio, which includes brands like Jefferson’s, Rabbit Hole, Smooth Ambler, TX Whiskeys and peanut butter-flavored whiskey startup Skrewball.

🥃 The subsidiary will be run by Richard Black, a longtime Pernod executive with over two decades of experience, including time as the head of its Scotch unit Chivas Brothers.

🥜 Pernod has been growing its American whiskey business for at least eight years, when it acquired Smooth Ambler in 2016. Its M&A strategy in the sector has not slowed and it took a majority stake in Skrewball last year.

For more insights, read the full story on BevNET.

Kroger and Albertsons have asked a judge to delay the evidentiary portions of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) case against their proposed $24.6 billion merger. 

🤔 The grocery chains claim in a filing last week that carrying out this phase – scheduled to begin July 31 – would interfere with the defense of their mega-merger in other proceedings in Colorado, Washington and federal courts. 

⏪ The FTC filed a lawsuit to block the deal, claiming it is anti-competitive and would harm workers and consumers, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in February, alongside a bipartisan group of nine attorneys general. 

🧑‍⚖️ Following the FTC’s in-house trial, the corporations are scheduled to appear in a Denver, Colo., state court on Aug. 12, federal court in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 26, state court in Seattle, Wash., on Sept. 16 and then back to Denver on Sept. 30.

💭 From the filing: K/A claim there are 17 potentially overlapping witnesses between the FTC proceeding and the Colorado state court hearing: “These overlapping trials involve virtually identical issues.”

Go Deeper: Kroger/Albertsons vs The FTC: What Happens Next?

🌚 Moonshiners rejoice. Last week a Texas federal judge ruled that laws banning making liquor at home are unconstitutional after the Hobby Distillers Association sued the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau late last year; the complaint argued that the government doesn't have the power to ban home distilling under the Constitution.

• While up to a certain amount of wine and beer is legal to brew at home, distilled spirit enthusiasts haven’t had that luxury since federal excise taxes were enforced over a century ago. Last year those taxes generated $10.2 billion in revenue, so we don’t expect the government to give up the bag easily. 
• But don’t break your stills out yet, the judge put the order on hold while the government has two weeks to respond. Stay tuned for more coverage. 

🍸 Over in Pennsylvania, shoppers will soon be able to grab their favorite canned cocktail from previously beer- and wine-only outlets. 

• Last week, the Pennsylvania Senate approved Senate Bill 688, which allows spirit-based RTDs under 12.5% ABV to be sold from certain retail outlets, such as restaurants and hotels, that already sell beer and wine products with the same or lower alcohol contents. The bill now heads to Governor Josh Shapiro for signature.
• With RTDs leading spirits category growth, the bill is the latest in a series of state-by-state pushes from spirits advocacy groups to reduce the tax rates and broaden availability for spirits-based RTDs.