• 📦 Boxed Water Sells 
• ⭐ Reviews? We Got Em’
• 🤑 A Profitable Year For Oatly?
• 🚚 Brez, Mela, NOCCO
• ⚽ Messi v. PRIME Updates
• 💡 The C-Store Opportunity

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The country’s largest wine and spirits distributor charges independent retailers up to 67% more than favored retailers for the same products, alleges the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in another round of its lawsuit against Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits (SGWS). 

The stats come from newly unredacted portions of the FTC’s December complaint against SGWS alleging that the distributor engaged in anticompetitive and unlawful price discrimination. 

While the initial complaint had nearly full pages blacked out, the public now has access to a bit more more of what’s fueling the FTC’s case. Allegations include:

• SGWS routinely charging independent retailers as much as 12% to 67% more for the same bottles of certain wine and spirits than national and regional chains in the exact same geographic area. And…
• Employees allegedly structuring multi-supplier deals and secret specials for large retailers that were withheld from small businesses. 

The complaint chronicles a whole lot of other mechanisms by which the distributor generally makes these discounts available to chains or hides them from smaller retailers. 

SGWS has already clapped back with a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, and argues that the volume discounts enable consumers to pay lower prices. 

But let’s pop out of the legal lingo for a minute. 

The crux of the FTC case is that there’s a big incentive for distributors to favor retailers who can buy in significant volumes – but that could force smaller, maybe more innovative competitors or distillers out of the market in the name of lower pricing. As we’ve reported, craft distillers already have a tough time finding routes to market. 

So while bev-alc chains raise their market share and gain more concessions from distributors, the pressure on smaller distillers is likely to continue. As the industry evolves from the craft spirits revolution era to peak celebrity era to today’s "tough times", the case hints at the question, is the consolidation era next?

Check out all of the details a full breakdown of the redacted complaint.

In the flurry of recent M&A activity, one deal flew under our radar last week: Early advocate of plastic-free packaged water Boxed Water is Better has been acquired by Nyrad, LLC, which is described in a press release as simply “a group of private investors.” 

🚚 The deal gives the Michigan-based company continuity as it plans to expand distribution and manufacturing over the coming years, said Boxed Water CEO Daryn Kuipers in a statement. 

🤝 It is one of few deals in the packaged water space (not including sparkling) as of late, aside from the multimillion dollar merger of BlueTriton and Primo.

💧 The company, originally funded by the DeVos family-backed Windquest Group, primarily moves through broadeners Sysco, US Foods, KeHe and UNFI, as well as with DSD partners in select markets.

Read the full story on BevNET for all the deal details.

Liquid Death, Throne Sport Coffee, House of Cha, Dappy

This week at BevNET we rounded up a Super Bowl QB's favorite sport coffee, booze-free functional drinks from Dappy, an oatmilk masala chai from House of Cha and new soda-inspired sparkling waters from Liquid Death.

Then, we chronicled our thoughts with each swig, highlighting aspects of the brand, liquid and product positioning that stood out and things the company could consider for next time. 

🆓 Check out this week’s review roundup on BevNET.

2025 could be Oatly’s year. The plant-milk maker is projecting to reach profitability for the first time as a public company.

🏭 Efforts to downsize operations like cutting 500 employees and closing one of its production facilities have gone a long way to reducing expenses, said Oatly CEO Jean-Christophe Flatin during the company’s earnings call Wednesday. 

📈 The brand is also reporting strong revenue growth worldwide. Q4 2024 revenue was up 4% to $214.3 million and full year earnings were $824 million with a gross margin of 29%.

✉️ Oatly will still need to deliver on this expectation over the next 10 months, but there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel. 

• Remember, it was only four years ago when the company was subject to a stock shorting report that said it would “never achieve profitability.” 

Read the full report on BevNET.

🏆 BevNET Rising Star award winner Brez continues to expand, adding Akins Natural Foods, Chamberlin’s Natural Foods and Earth Origins Markets via distributor Pod Foods to its door count last month.

🍉 The specter of U.S. tariffs may still loom, but at least Canadians can now get their Mela. The watermelon water brand is partnering with distributor Beverage World Inc. to make its first expansion into Canada with a focus on urban markets like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

💊 Nordic energy drink NOCCO is now selling three flavors (Cherry Berry, Blue Raspberry and Miami Strawberry) at The Vitamin Shoppe, both in-store and online.

Lionel Messi will not have to show face in New York court to assess a potential settlement between Mark Anthony Brands (maker of his Más+ by Messi sports drink) and PRIME Hydration. 

⭐ PRIME tried to “disrupt” the soccer star’s Major League season by requesting him to personally appear in the trademark dispute case, but has now decided to not object to his absence.

⏪ Rewind: Mark Anthony Brands sued PRIME last year seeking a declaration that the Más+ line does not violate PRIME’s trademarks. PRIME countersued, arguing that it does. Now they’re both due to convene in court on March 11 to settle the matter.

😡 PRIME originally demanded Messi appear in the flesh, but Mark Anthony said that ask was intended “solely to harass” the athlete by interrupting his soccer schedule. In his place, Mark Anthony CEO Samantha Reader will attend in person.

🤔 Is Messi himself really important to determining if a trade dress violation happened? Mark Anthony said he had “no direct involvement” in the design of Más+, but PRIME shot back pointing to the brand’s website where Messi attests to personally selecting the bottle in an interview.

The CPG Week podcast team shares their hot takes on the bubbling controversy around poppi’s Super Bowl stunt, before exploring the burgeoning opportunity in the convenience channel. 

🤔 The team dives into the rising demand for foodservice in c-stores, per a recent CoBank report, which raises the question of how CPG brands can adapt to meet this need.

🏪 How can next-generation food and beverage brands tie their distribution horses to this trend? 

Listen to this week’s episode to learn more. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Like what you are listening to? Please don’t hesitate to rate our show and leave a review on your podcast platform of choice.