• 🐶 Dank Dogg: Snoop (Finally) Enters Cannabis Drinks
• 🎯 CENTR Brands Exits CBD
• 🚚 Non-Alc Distro: Barcode Heads South
• 🍸 Spirits Distribution: Tequio Hits Erewhon, Emma Watson Teams Up with RNDC
• 🎙️ Taste Radio: How Deux’s Mastery Of Social Media Vaulted It Into The Big Time

You can’t keep a good Dogg down. 

After a brief dalliance in the RTD coffee business earlier this year, legendary rapper, weed advocate and rising CPG player Snoop Dogg is back with another new beverage venture, this time teaming with Texas-based Hill Beverage Co. to use iconic rap label Death Row Records as a way to enter the rapidly expanding world of cannabis beverages. 

The new line, called Do It Fluid, offers four flavors -- Blood Orange (“G’d Up”), Blue Razz (“Tha Shiznit”), Cherry Limeade (“Lodi Dodi”) and Peaches N Honies (“Pump Pump”) -- in a CBD-exclusive (25mg, priced at $4.99 per 12 oz can) version, as well as an 8 oz version that contains 3mg Delta-9 THC and 5mg CBD ($5.99 per can). More innovations are slated to come next year.

Landing one of cannabis’ biggest names is a coup for Texas-based hemp-based drink producer Hill Beverage Co., which launched this year and lists Do It Fluid as the only products on its website. According to a press release, founder Jake Hill has “extensive experience in the development of controlled, industry-leading growth technology with more than a dozen cannabis-driven companies,” including Cookies.  

Ironically, Do It Fluid is being positioned, at least aspirationally, to compete with some of the beverage alcohol products that Snoop “endorses”, most notably Corona Beer but also Happy Dad Hard Seltzer. In an interview with Forbes, he posited: “It’s considered completely normal to split a six-pack of beer or bottle of wine at the end of the day... Why not a cannabis or hemp-infused drink?" 

Read the full story on BevNET

Functional drink maker CENTR Brands has terminated its entire U.S. and Canadian-based staff -- with the exception of CEO Arjan Chima. 

According to a statement issued on Monday, the Vancouver-based publicly traded company will cease funding its CBD business and is likely to default on multiple debt obligations, citing liquidity issues tied to “operational challenges, inflationary pressures significantly impacting costs and market instabilities.” 

What that means is unclear, as the company has promised to evaluate alternatives to cut costs and fund future growth for CENTR Enhanced USA, its non-infused division. "We are taking the necessary steps to ensure the long-term success of CENTR," said Chima. "We are confident that this decision will help us to focus our resources on our other non-CBD business and create a more efficient and profitable organization."

CENTR had been one of the brands picked up for distribution by Southern Glazer’s during its push into CBD drinks back in 2021. However, the company’s fortunes have shifted since the distributor pulled out of the category this summer, with president/CFO/director David Young and director Joseph Elmlinger both resigning from their roles in November. 

The year may nearly be over, but emerging brands aren’t slowing down. Here’s the latest distribution news from around the beverage industry.

🏀 Hydration beverage maker Barcode is expanding chainwide in H-E-B stores across Texas, with marketing support for the rollout to rely on the brand’s partnership with San Antonio Spurs star player Victor Wembanyama. The brand is also now available via Fresh Direct in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

🫧 Prebiotic soda brand Poppi will be the exclusive soda brand available at all 80 Juice Press stores nationwide, the companies announced this week. The juice bar chain said Poppi’s position as a low-sugar functional drink aligns with its focus on health and wellness.

🫖 Tea Drops founder and CEO Sashee Chandran announced via LinkedIn that the brand’s latte kits are now available in 1,500 Walmart stores nationwide, including a chain-exclusive Vanilla Bean Latte Kit.

💧 “Microdrink” brand Waterdrop is now available in around 1,500 Walgreens stores across the country, reported co-founder Henry Murray. The drug chain will carry two flavors from the brand.

In spirits distribution news, a new agave RTD is making deeper moves into SoCal’s luxury supermarket chain, Kastra is riding the martini wave into Total Wine, and U.K. gins try their luck across the pond. 

🇲🇽 Six months after its southern California launch, Tequio Tequila Cocktails’ Blanco RTD is now available at two Erewhon locations. The founders are staying focused on the Southern California market for most of next year with some strategic expansion into new markets, including parts of Mexico around Q4.

🇬🇷 Kástra Elión Vodka, a premium sipping vodka distilled from Greek olives and grains, is moving into additional Total Wine & More locations and BevMo stores. The brand has built its story and additional products like cocktail brine around the “olive ecosystem,” and founders say the rise of the martini has fueled sales since its launch in 2020. 

🥃 With tequila and vodka looking like they are keeping their top placements as America’s favorite spirits in 2024, Fairfield Rum is moving into Connecticut cocktail bars positioning its brand as an alternative by using the tagline “if you like your tequila, you will love our rum.” It’s headed into retail accounts and new states next year. 

🧙 Gin hit its peak in the U.K. a couple of years ago, with analysts recommending that founders head for new markets and find whitespace in flavor innovations— now two U.K. gins are trying just that. Flavored gin Warner’s is heading into Total Wine and Renais Gin, courtesy of Harry Potter star actor Emma Watson’s Renais Spirits, has landed a national distribution deal with RNDC. 

Read the full story.

Sabeena Ladha, the founder and CEO of Deux, spoke about how her prior work experience helped give the better-for-you sweets brand a head start, why Deux promotes indulgence first and foremost, how the collaborative nature of its social media and influencer strategy has benefited trial, awareness and innovation, and how she navigates the challenge of managing three product lines.

Listen to the full episode of Taste Radio