Just over a month after launching its highly anticipated RTD canned coffee line into Walmart stores nationwide, Chamberlain Coffee – the brand founded by YouTuber Emma Chamberlain in 2019 – has closed a $7 million funding round led by existing investors Blazar Capital, United Talent Agency and Chamberlain herself. The round also brings new investors to the company’s cap table, including growth equity firm Volition Capital, Electric Feel Ventures, PLTFRM founder Noah Bremen, and beverage incubator L.A. Libations.

If the news sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because the financing is the second $7 million raise for the brand in as many years, having closed a Series A in 2022 to support its omnichannel expansion. Today, Chamberlain Coffee produces a variety of dry coffees, teas and hot chocolate mixes with a retail footprint of around 4,500 doors nationwide, and with its RTDs now on store shelves the business is looking to add up to another 4,000 accounts this year, according to CEO Chris Gallant. The chief executive told BevNET the cans will likely be the brand’s “hero product within 12 months” as the new financing will support extensive marketing efforts behind the line. 

With Starbucks still serving as the top-heavy leader of the RTD coffee set (at $2.6 billion in sales it’s over two-thirds of the category), recent iced coffee entrants like Black Rifle have shown it is possible for young brands to grow fast and carve out sizable market share in the space. Founder Emma Chamberlain’s internet celebrity has also provided the company with a launching pad, and influencer-driven brands like Logan Paul and KSI’s hydration drink PRIME have demonstrated that the YouTuber pulpit backed by seasoned operations – in Chamberlain’s case it is aided by Molson Coors-backed beverage incubator L.A. Libations and a 12-person full time team – can be a successful formula. However, few single-serve RTD coffee brands have managed to achieve the level of rapid conventional channel growth of Black Rifle or functional better-for-you competitor Super Coffee; just last year Molson Coors and La Colombe called time early on an exclusive partnership to distribute the coffee roasters' RTD draft latte, ending the relationship just two years into a 10-year deal.

Read the full story on BevNET 

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During the company’s Q1 earnings call this morning, Reed’s management voiced confidence that its cost cutting strategy is making progress toward its goal of reaching cash flow positive by the second half of FY2023. Here’s a breakdown of the company’s top-line numbers:

• Net sales were up $11.2 million compared to $12.2 million in Q1 2022.
• Gross profit was $2.7 million compared to $2.9 million in the same quarter the previous year, with margins slightly raised from 24.1% in Q1 2022 to 24.2% this past quarter. The company expects to reach 30% gross margin by the end of the year.
• Expenses declined 27% to $3.2 million and operating loss improved to -$2.6 million compared to -$4.2 million during the same period the previous year.

Despite the reduction of margin loss and the decrease of costs, Reed’s CEO Norman Snyder explained that the lower sales were attributed to a tightening of credit terms with suppliers causing inventory issues resulting in “an inflated rate of short order shipments.”

For the full story, including more details on the $5.6 million capital infusion announced yesterday, stay tuned to BevNET. 

Non-alcoholic beverage sales continued to decelerate sequentially in the two-week period ending May 20, growing 8.2%, according to an analysis of NielsenIQ data by Goldman Sachs Equity Research.

• Volume sales declines were down -4.7% in the two-weeks, worsening from a -3.9% slide for the four-weeks. 
• Average pricing “remained robust and accelerated slightly,” according to the report, up by 12.9% in the two-weeks compared to +12.6% for the four-week period. 
• Energy Drinks (+14%) and CSDs (+11.7%) saw the largest gains during the period, while Bottled Water (+2%) and Sports Drinks (+2.9%) experienced lower growth rates.

Read the full recap of the latest sales data.  

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LA-based VC firm Selva Ventures announced its second fund this week – totaling $34 million in capital commitments – that will begin investing in seed and series A-stage health and wellness-focused CPG brands spanning food, beverage, beauty and personal care. Founded by Kiva Dickinson in 2019, Selva has invested in 14 CPG startups, many of which will be familiar to BevNET and NOSH readers -- functional chocolate company Midday Squares, coffee alternative Mud/WTR, plant-based chicken maker Nowadays and low sugar cereal brand Three Wishes, to name a few. With this new fund, the firm is aiming to build on that count – this time with 15 investments – and writing checks ranging between $1 million to $2 million. Interested in learning more about Selva’s founder? Hear from Kiva on this episode of The NOSH Podcast.

Angling to get a piece of the rising agave spirit category, Bacardi may be adding the first mezcal to its portfolio. The spirits group is close to an approximately $200 million deal to purchase Ilegal Mezcal, according to reporting in Bloomberg Finance. After Bacardi bought an unspecified minority stake in 2017, it may be following the moves of other major spirit players: Pernod Ricard purchased Del Maguey in 2017, followed by Diageo’s Casamigos launch in 2019 and Mezcal Union purchase in 2021, and Constellation brands acquisition of a minority stake in Dos Hombres Mezcal in 2021. Other agave spirits beyond tequila and mezcal have also received recent attention from strategics: Pernod Ricard revealed an initial undisclosed investment last year in ultra-premium sotol, Nocheluna. Read the full story. 

Music mogul and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs is suing business partner Diageo, but it’s not just all about the benjamins. In the complaint filed yesterday, Combs alleges that the brands he co-owns with the spirits group, Cîroc Vodka and DeLeon Tequila, were given worse treatment because he’s Black. The filing details complaints made by Combs that the spirits group was not putting its weight behind luxury brand DeLeon Tequila, and instead directing more resources to its George Clooney-backed Casamigos and Don Julio. The lawsuit follows another music mogul vs spirit company showdown: recently Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Bacardi recently resolved a long legal battle that also involved allegations of behavior with racist undertones. Read the full story. 

• Bawi Agua Fresca (a multi-BevNET Award winner last year) is entering all Sprouts locations nationwide this month, according to a LinkedIn post from MERCENARY partner Jacob Timony. 
• South Carolina-based cannabinoid-infused drink maker High Rise Beverage Company has started distribution with P10 Foods & Hempishere Distributors, expanding its footprint in eight states across the Southeast: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida.

Walmart is attempting to offer new ways for brands to enter its stores without immediately having to fit into its more than 4,600 locations. The massive retailer will be taking meetings on Thursday, June 15 during BevNET Live in NYC. Learn more.