• 🏀 The Wemby Paradox: Can You Win Without Winning?
• ⚡ Sprecher Buys Into Energy With Juvee Acquisition
• 💲 Sanzo Nets $5M In New Investment Round
• 0️⃣ BodyArmor Goes Zero Sugar…Finally
• 🥩 Leave the Booze, Take the Beef

When startup hydration beverage brand Barcode announced it had signed lauded 19-year-old NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama to a five-year exclusive global partnership last July, the deal looked to be as much of a coup for the young brand as the French center’s number one draft selection was for the San Antonio Spurs. His star power has been such that the valuation of the entire Spurs franchise rose 63% year-over-year as of October 2023, according to Forbes.

After months of hype touting the rookie as a once-in-a-generation talent, Wemby, as he’s frequently referred, has indeed been a standout in the league; already the rebuilding Spurs’ clear best asset, ESPN currently ranks him as the 32nd best overall player of this season, above names like Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns. But he’s been the lone bright spot of a bleak season: As of this writing, San Antonio sits at the bottom of the Western Conference with a paltry win-loss record of 7-32.

So if the Spurs aren’t jingling, how does that affect Barcode? Certainly, Wemby’s no bust, but as with all deals with superstars in team sports, what do you do when a brand’s spokesman is firing threes from the cellar?

According to David Knies, managing director of brand, innovation and growth strategy for PA Consulting, consumers tend to be savvy when it comes to separating a team’s performance from a standout player’s influence off the court, especially since the brand isn’t part of any discussion around the losing record. However, it’s not entirely irrelevant either.

“I don't think Barcode or any other brand he would endorse would have any sort of negative effect,” Knies said. “What it does do is limit the upside. If the Spurs were winning more, he would be seen more on highlights on Instagram or TikTok or things like that. His visibility would be much greater.”

The numbers seem to bear that theory out. Wemby’s power as an influencer wasn’t diminished by the team’s poor start to the season. Internal data shared with us by Barcode last month reported that the rookie gained over 749,000 new followers on social media in 2023 and drove 679 million views across NBA social assets. More importantly for the brand, founder and CEO Mubarak “Bar” Malik has said the Wembanyama name has helped open up new retail distribution in Texas, including a chainwide expansion in H-E-B.

In today’s market, emerging beverage brands are increasingly netting the kinds of athletic partnerships previously reserved solely for products whose names end in “-ade,” be it G.O.A.T. Fuel signing up the Lakers or PRIME recruiting a full roster of pro athletes. 

For Barcode and Wemby, the equity deal is now looking from our angle a lot more like how smart teams manage their young draft picks: they play the long game, stick by them and let them develop into superstars over time.

Legacy craft soda and beer business Sprecher Brewing Co. has acquired emerging energy drink brand Juvee, the company announced today. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, while Juvee co-founder Sam Keene now joins Sprecher as CMO.

🎮 Founded in 2022 by gaming lifestyle company 100 Thieves, Juvee is a better-for-you functional energy drink brand which initially established itself online through direct-to-consumer sales and via platforms like GoPuff.

🍻 Its new parent company, meanwhile, is billed as the oldest craft brewery in Milwaukee, having launched in 1985. Sprecher’s nationwide distribution network reaches 49 states and its craft sodas are available in around 25,000 doors.

📈 Since it was acquired by an investor group in 2020 Sprecher has gone on an M&A run of sorts. In 2021, it bought another legacy Midwest craft soda business, Wit Beverage Company, followed by canned sparkling lemonade line Ooh La Lemin in 2023.

Read the full story on BevNET

Asian-flavored sparkling water brand Sanzo has opened a new investment round that has already raised $5 million. In an SEC Form D filed on January 9, the company posted that it was over halfway to its $8 million goal.

💪 The filing also listed Sanzo’s board of directors: Six60 Partners managing partner and current Sanzo board member Frank Zampardi, Health-Ade co-founder and Gold House investor Vanessa Dew, investor Pat Robinson (previously managing director at CircleUp) and Takeshi Nakanishi, managing partner at HartBeat Ventures, which invests on behalf of comedian Kevin Hart.

💰 Sanzo previously raised $1.3 million from angel investors in 2020 and added another $10 million in a series A round led by CircleUp in February 2022.

🤝 The brand has found success tapping into the rising interest in Asian-American Pacific Islander culture by launching innovative flavors and partnerships that speak to cultural moments like a LTO Jeremy Lin-inspired variety and a partnership with Disney on the release of Marvel’s Shang-Chi.

Seeing the success of up-and-coming brands like PRIME and Electrolit, BodyArmor is launching its own zero-sugar sports drink this week. The Coca-Cola owned beverage brand already offers a zero-sugar and zero carbohydrate version of its other hydration brand Powerade in five SKUs.

🏃 Similar to Powerade, the BodyArmor Zero Sugar uses only natural sweeteners, no carbohydrates and more potassium than category leader Gatorade’s zero-sugar variety. 

👣 BodyArmor has already tested the reduced sugar sports drink category with its nine-SKU Lyte offering that touts no sugar added and a low-carbohydrate load (14 grams per 12 oz. serving).

🥤 The new BodyArmor Zero Sugar line will be available in four flavors (Fruit Punch, Lemon Lime, Orange and Cherry Lime) and will come in 16 oz., 6-packs of 20 oz., and 28 oz. formats (except Cherry Lime which is only available in 16 oz.).

📊 At BevNET Live Winter 2023, SPINS reported in its presentation that low- and no-sugar is driving growth in beverages with sales of zero-sugar drinks rising 15% year-over-year.

Those second and third rounds at the bar weren’t as frequent in 2024: Craft spirits reached $7.9 billion in sales in 2022, but slowed considerably compared to the year prior. 

The spirits category overall has experienced a “normalization” since the pandemic high, and craft is no exception, according to the American Craft Spirits Association’s annual report released yesterday. 

↘️ In 2022 craft spirits grew 5.3% in value and 6.1% in volume, but slowed considerably from the year prior, down from 12.2% in value and 10.4% in volume in 2021. 

💵 But the craft spirits market share of total U.S. spirits maintained a 4.9% share in volume and increased value share to 7.7% in 2022, up from 7.5% in 2021.

Pernod Ricard is the latest strategic player to launch a zero-proof version of one of its flagship brands, a sign of its broader aim to play in the growing non-alc category. 

0️⃣ The French spirit company’s zero alcohol expression, Beefeater 0.0%, launched yesterday in Spain, where it produces and sells a 20% ABV Beefeater Light as well.

🙅🏼‍♂️ Alongside the new gin-inspired Seagram’s 0.0% and ready-to-drink French bitter mocktail Suze Tonic Zero, Pernod Ricard also owns the Ceder’s brand of alcohol-free spirits. Diageo, the group’s rival, made early strides in the NA category after acquiring pioneer Seedlip, investing in Ritual, and launching NA versions of Gordon’s, Tanqueray and Captain Morgan.

🏭 But Pernod aims to become a key player in the NA industry, selling real premium spirit experiences in all categories, according to a press release. “Significant investments have been made to support this ambition, with a new state-of-the art production line, opened in autumn 2023 in Thuir, in the south-east of France,” said the statement. The production line will serve as a one-stop shop at the service of the non-alcohol spirits production, R&D and innovation for Pernod Ricard globally.

💰 Pernod's venture arm, Convivialité Ventures, has also made NA investments lately, backing non-alc company, Sober AF last year followed by a $5 million bridge round investment in retailer Boisson.