Marking its ten-year anniversary, ReserveBar has shifted Derek Correia from company president to CEO as the new leader goes after “untapped opportunities” in data and business intelligence innovation, product launch and supply chain efficiencies, and partnership synergies.

The transition comes as the e-commerce platform’s co-founder and CEO, Lindsay Held, moves away from day-to-day operations while remaining on the board of ReserveBar Holdings Inc., and supporting strategic initiatives. Correia has been with the company since 2019.

Launched as an e-commerce platform for rare and luxury spirits, the company has evolved over the years: it’s acquisition of MiniBar Delivery in 2021 gave it on-demand capabilities, and its “e-commerce everywhere” approach is currently pushing a white label platform to allow spirits shopping beyond its websites and into event activations, content production and other e-commerce partners.

Speaking of other sites, earlier this year the company made a bid for a piece of the RTD market with Get Stocked, a website focused on craft beer, hard seltzers, canned wine and ready-to-drink cocktails. The CEO says the site has served to further legitimize “our expertise beyond spirits and wine as we seek to further our commerce-enablement technology into the malt beverage and can versus bottles segment.” He added that premiumization of beer, seltzers and canned cocktails had not been well served in e-commerce— the site seeks to offer on-demand delivery while curating “cooler occasions” beyond the typical lager. 

But as e-commerce growth is expected to normalize with omnichannel and on-demand operators gaining share, the platform is not the only one trying to further bridge the technology gap between customers and their booze. DoorDash recently added another partner to expand its footprint into bev-alc, and ecommerce and fulfillment platform for alcohol brands, Speakeasy is also beefing up its regulatory technology.

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After a judge yesterday tacked on another $43 million to an already eye-watering $293 million judgment against Bang, what's another $63K on top of that? That's the amount former CEO Jack Owoc has been ordered to pay to reimburse Vital's debtors for attorney fees related to his long-running battle for control over social media accounts. 

🤑 To recap: during the bankruptcy proceeding, Owoc was ordered to turn over his passwords to his various "@BangEnergyCEO" accounts; when he refused to comply, he was held in contempt of court.

😠 Owoc continued to slander the bankruptcy process and the company's debtors on social media as Vital was seeking an asset sale; "The harm posed by Mr. Owoc's disregard of [the court order] was significant," wrote judge Peter D. Russin in the order granting the motion to award the fee.

👩🏼‍⚖️ The $63,517 Owoc has been ordered to pay (cut down from an original request for $74,799) represents the 66.3 hours spent by Vital's attorneys working to enforce the order.

With the official launch of its new energy drink line this week, fitness beverage brand Don’t Quit! is partnering with celebrity Peloton instructor Kendall Toole as its latest sports and wellness minded shareholder and marketing partner.

🆕 Following its merger with X2 Energy earlier this year, Don’t Quit! CEO Mark French and CMO Dave Cohen said the brand is now officially rolling out its energy drink line, which is available online in Performance Punch, Pineapple Coconut Crush, Kiwi-Strongberry and Mighty Orange Mango flavors. The drinks contain 150 mg of caffeine and 20-25 calories per 12 oz. can.

🚵🏼‍♀️ The energy launch comes with the support of Toole, a Peloton instructor and mental illness awareness advocate, who joins the brand as a shareholder and ambassador. Toole previously was a brand ambassador for X2, where French was CEO, prior to the merger. 

➕ This summer, Don’t Quit! – which was founded by fitness icon Jake Steinfeld – brought on Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin as an equity partner. Hamlin, who collapsed on the field from cardiac arrest last NFL season, was representative of the brand’s identity around perseverance, Cohen said.

🚚 Don’t Quit’s flagship protein drinks are currently available in retail with accounts such as Safeway, CVS, 7-Eleven, Kroger and more. Most recently the brand has expanded into Tops stores in the Northeast and is adding Sprouts, as well as fitness and gym doors.

New beverage-focused investment firm Alethia Venture Partners is looking to make a splash with emerging bev-alc brands by launching its first $50 million fund. Founded by Alethia CEO Mike Warren, the investment group is targeting mostly – but not exclusively – bev-alc brands that are “generating revenue and on their way to EBITA positive cash flow.”

💰 So far, Alethia’s Opportunity Fund I has officially committed $20 million to four beverage brands – Madre Mezcal, canned wine company Maker, hard yerba mate maker Kove and Pa’lante Rum – but is “always raising capital” as it prepares to launch a second fund sometime next year.

📲 Along with the bev-alc investments, Alethia has put money towards companies that can complement the VC firm’s beverage investments including text-to-pay infrastructure business Authvia and media platform NBTV.

🙋🏼‍♂️ Industry Collective founder Taylor Foxman has joined the team as a general partner bringing with her years of experience consulting in the beverage industry.

Read the full story on BevNET

Jay-Z and Usher have a thing for it, but do you? Cognac, the storied French brandy, has been troubled by sales dip over the past year, but one former Pernod Ricard exec sees an opening to revive the category. 

🤩 “Cognac brands do fantastic work marketing,” said co-founder Guillaume Thomas and former Pernod Ricard North America CFO, whose family produces cognac for some of the largest brands. “But the lifestyle is very old-school, very French luxury.”

🥃 Thomas and spirits marketing guru Andrew Weir are aiming for Martingale Cognac to bring new cognac fans into the fold by offering a fresher production style and a digital-first approach. 

📈 As premium mezcal and Scotch whiskies rise in popularity, the founders are aiming to pull in some of those spirit-curious drinkers.

➡️ Looks like they aren’t the only one disrupting the category dominated by a few major brands: yesterday Uncle Nearest announced it purchased a historic property in one of the appellation’s sought-after growth areas. 

Read the full story on BevNET

Hydration brand Hoist is sending a clear message: Race car drivers are sportspeople too and need to hydrate just like all other professional athletes. Starting in 2024, Hoist will be the official hydration partner of NASCAR race team Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing as part of a multi-year partnership.

🏁 Further details around the partnership were unavailable, but RFK driver Chris Buescher credited HOIST for having “changed the game in my overall hydration and performance” in a release. 

🏆 HOIST is part of a growing cohort of water brands – along with hellowater and Liquid Death – to align with motorsports. 

💵 The brand reported a 28.7% increase in dollar sales (+23.7% unit sales) in the 52-week period ending August 13, according to Circana data.

Else, an Israeli plant-based, kid-focused nutrition brand, is gearing up for the inaugural production run of its first ready-to-drink products slated to begin this month. Offered in two flavors at launch – Vanilla and Chocolate – the Kids Nutritional Shakes will roll out to 400 stores in the U.S., 200 stores in Canada and an unnamed “major online natural marketplace” by December 2023, according to an announcement. 

🆕 The news comes after the RTD nutritional shakes made their official debut last month at Natural Products Expo East in Philadelphia. The brand also offers the shakes in a powdered format, currently available via the brand’s website for $22.99 per 16 oz. canister.

📊 In its second financial quarter ended June 20, 2023, Else raked in revenues of $2.4 million, a 3% year-over-year increase. North American brick-and-mortar retail sales were up 157% year-over-year. According to the announcement, Else expects incremental revenues from its new RTD shakes beginning in Q4 2023 and into 2024.