• ⚖️ Celsius Looks For ‘Balance’
• 💗 Gopuff Sizes Up
• 👿 Devils River Files For Ch 11
• 💧 MTN WTR’s New Facility
• 🧑‍⚖️ THC Biz Buys Fraud Cannabis Co?
• 💎 1800 Tequila Diamond
• 🥤 Katie Lee Biegel Is Changing The Way We Drink

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Black Rifle Coffee Company said it’s right on target for 2025 – even if the numbers don’t seem to be all that great at first glance. But with energy drinks now on shelves and retail handing the company some strong numbers, it has its scope targeting growth.

The Salt Lake City-based business reported net revenue of $90 million for Q1 2025 in its earnings report this morning – down $8.4 million from last year. Last year, Black Rifle ended on a similar down note.

Not to worry – that’s all aligning with expectations, said CEO Chris Mondzelewski, as the company has been making an effort to be “more adaptive to navigate an evolving operating environment.”

“With marketing efforts set to accelerate throughout the year, we expect revenue momentum to build and remain confident in the strategy and long-term goals outlined earlier this year,” Mondzelewski said in a statement. “Importantly, we continue to grow market share in every category in which we compete—underscoring the strength of our brand, our products, and our execution.”

• Food, drug and mass (FDM) stores were a big highlight, with sales up 21% in the combined channels as retail distribution for both packaged coffees and RTDs grew.
• Backed by Keurig Dr Pepper’s distribution network, the Black Rifle Energy line is looking promising, the company said, already achieving 21% ACV in FDM and convenience stores – about 12,000 doors – since it began rolling out in late Q4.
• Still, the company admits it didn’t anticipate tariffs to come and shake up business, but that’s where flexibility comes in.

Black Rifle said it has implemented a price increase to offset the “significant rise in green coffee prices” – which were rapidly inflating even before tariffs came on the scene, as Arabica beans more than doubled in price over the last year. 

The bulk of Black Rifle’s supply comes from Central America, Brazil and Colombia, so tariffs are adding to the burden, but that hasn’t hindered optimism at the company that its RTD and retail performance can lift the business higher.

In fact, an economic slowdown leading consumers to drink more coffee at home and less on the road could be a boon, Black Rifle suggested.

“Overall, the [coffee] category is doing very well,” said Mondzelewski. “A lot of that is on the back of some of the price increases, but even on a unit standpoint there's reasonable stabilization in the category.”

Go Deeper: KDP and Black Rifle Unite

Though the company stole some big headlines with its acquisition of Alani Nu at the beginning of 2025, Celsius has endured a “slow start” to the year, in the words of Chairman and CEO John Fieldly this morning.

😐 How slow? It depends on who you ask. 

• Fieldly cited the cycling of major distribution gains and promotional activity in Q1 2024 for this year’s soft opening. 
• He also acknowledged that increased category competition has made retailers reluctant to lean too heavily into a single brand with promos. That means a “more balanced approach” moving forward. 

🔮 The outlook seemed better overseas (international revenue +41%) and sourcing efficiencies for raw and packaging materials helped push gross margin up to 52.3%, even as the specter of tariffs and inflation threaten the quarters to come.

Insiders can access the full rundown on BevNET.

Gopuff is going big – so to speak. The ecommerce grocery platform launched GoXL this week, a new line of multipack and bulk items available for home delivery via the company’s app.

• GoXL features over 300 items including private label Basically branded products (such as toilet paper) as well as branded food and beverages like Chobani Nonfat Greek Yogurt, Smucker’s Uncrustables and Bareballs Protein Bars.
• Gopuff tied the launch to heightened economic uncertainty and a rising interest from consumers in value products, per the announcement.
• The items are touted as a way for consumers to save – for example, a 10-pack of Uncrustables will sell for around $10 at $0.99 per sandwich, compared to $1.99 for a single-serve sandwich.

Insiders can read more about GoXL on BevNET.

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It’s rough out there for spirits makers and the hits keep coming. Devils River Distillery is the latest whiskey maker to file for bankruptcy protections under Chapter 11. 

🥃 Founded in 2017, the bourbon maker – which added actor David Bautista as an investor in 2023 – operates a distillery, speakeasy and restaurant in downtown San Antonio, Texas.

👀 Signaling the end of the days, Devils River began auctioning off assets last month.

☹️ Devils River is the latest in a series of U.S. whiskey bankruptcies, including Oregon-based Westward Whiskey and Boston Harbor Distillery.

🫸 Distillers face challenges from multiple fronts as tariffs change the trade environment and consumers slow consumption.

Catch Up: DISCUS: Industry Battles Tariffs Uncertainty, Anti-Alcohol Trends

Spring water brand MTN WTR has begun production at its $15 million, state-of-the-art bottling facility in Yamanashi, Japan. The brand’s 70,000 sq. ft. facility features two production lines and allows the business to can its water directly from the Mt. Fuji-based aquifers.

🤖 The facility will use AI-powered automation and also includes an onsite microbiology laboratory and a canning lab to test water quality.

🚰 The bottling plant has a capacity of 500 cans per minute with plans to build out a separate glass bottle line in coming months.

Get more details on BevNET.

THC “beer” maker Inde Can LLC filed a lawsuit against two law firms alleging that attorneys conspired to defraud the beverage maker by selling it an unlicensed marijuana business in Montebello, Calif. 

📝 Inde Can lists Stoel Rives law firm and cannabis-focused Greenbridge Corporate Counsel PC along with various corporations and individuals as defendants in the case.  

😡 The suit claims that Groundworks Operations Inc. sold Inde Can the assets of cannabis business GW Montebello Inc. for $2.2 million when the business was not authorized to operate by the Montebello city government.

🤔 The complaint alleges that Groundworks and its legal representation "falsely advertising the facility as a fully licensed, ready-to-operate business, concealing the Montebello Police Department's denial of their business license, and concealing the public policy restriction that made Inde's presence unlawful and its business model dead on arrival."

1800 Tequila celebrated Met Gala Monday (also Cinco de Mayo) with the debut of an unexpected… uh, innovation. 

• The tequila maker unveiled a diamond “not mined from the Earth but crafted from its award-winning 1800 Cristalino.”
• Musician, actor and producer Janelle Monáe wore the “innovative and sustainable” gemstone on a brooch designed by Jonathan Raksha of Maison Raksha

Bestselling author and TV personality Katie Lee Biegel discusses her journey into the organic wine business as the co-founder of Kind of Wild. She reflects on the evolution of the food and beverage industry, the power of in-person and digital consumer engagement, and why authenticity – not the “celebrity chef” label – is at the heart of her approach to food, wine, and business.

Listen to the episode now. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.