• 👩🏼‍🌾 Danone Buys Majority Kate Farms Stake
• 🥂 Brown-Forman Backs Away From Wine
• 🚚 RNDC Grows On Demand Distro
• 🔀 Monday Moves

As if he needed more caffeine.

Anthony Kiedis, the hyperkinetic Red Hot Chili Peppers’ lead singer, along with celebrity friend Shane Powers, a podcaster and former Survivor contestant, turned the pair’s 20-year-plus standing weekly Thursday coffee meeting into a beverage business.

“Shane shouted at me down the sidewalk ‘Let’s do something!’” said Kiedis via a release. “I shouted back ‘how ‘bout coffee’? He said ‘done’. 

That’s when the adventure began, the duo said, with the goal of “putting a high-quality spin on a can of coffee.” Today, the fruit of their multi-year effort made its main stage debut…

JOLENE officially launched with a 2-SKU line that includes a black Cold Brew and an Oat Milk Latte. Both are packaged in 8.4 oz. slim cans. The brand has trademarked the tagline “everything happens over coffee.”

The RTD coffee company is packing more star power beyond the social capital of its celebrity creators. Concert and event company Live Nation, h.wood group (a restaurant and nightclub company) founder and CEO John Terzian, and celebrity spirit company Global Brand Equities are all investors.

Check out the full story on BevNET for all of the details.

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Danone is taking a majority stake in Kate Farms, the largest plant-based, pediatric medical nutrition brand in the U.S., giving the French conglomerate a sizable footprint in the American hospital channel.

🎯 The acquisition (terms not disclosed) comes just two months after Kate Farms began branching into mainstream retail with a new line of Kids Nutrition shakes, which entered over 300 Target doors in March.

⚕️Kate Farms CEO Brett Matthews will move into the role of chairman and CEO of Danone’s North American Medical Nutrition business unit following the closing of the deal.

🤝 Danone is apparently in an M&A mood: Last year, the company offered up $283 million for an outright purchase of Lifeway, however the kefir brand shot that offer down and the two got tied up in a legal battle over the proposal.

Check out the full story on BevNET for all of the details.

Hemp-derived THC drinks have seen 25%+ online sales growth every quarter for a year, but can that momentum last? In our new two-part special, we explore the growing tension between thriving DTC sales and the need for retail scale. Founders and marketers warn that pricing mismatches and tightening regulations could undercut the category’s future. Some brands are turning to beer and liquor distributors, but at what cost?

📖 Read Part I and Part II.

Brown-Forman is taking another step back from wine, terminating its sales and distribution partnership with Californian winemaker Korbel Champagne Cellars.

👋 The 60-year partnership will come to an end by the end of June, according to a statement released today. 

⏪ The move comes two years after Brown-Forman’s sale of Sonoma Cutrer vineyards to U.S. wine business The Duckhorn Portfolio. 

💫 Other bev-alc groups have also been divesting portions of their wine portfolios, such as Constellation and Pernod Ricard, who both sold off the cheaper wines in their books this year.

In other spirits news: Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits (SGWS) announced the dismissal of a 2018 case against Breakthru Beverage (f.k.a. Major Brands) over claims it held a franchise agreement with Jägermeister, which SGWS consistently denied. An appellate court judge ruled in favor of Southern Glazer’s and Jägermeister and the case was dismissed without any settlement payments.

Go Deeper: Brown-Forman Shifts From RNDC to Reyes

Suppliers in six more states now have access to LibDib’s platform-based distribution model in partnership with RNDC. 

📍 RNDC On Demand has expanded to Florida, Virginia (wine only), Washington D.C., Maryland, Colorado, Illinois, and South Carolina. 

⏩ The program allows suppliers to quickly enter new markets and have the opportunity to transition into full-service RNDC distribution as they grow. 

🤝 The partnership between RNDC and LibDib was first tested in Texas in 2021 giving brands last-mile delivery capabilities without requiring them to provide ongoing inventory to an RNDC warehouse.

🔀 In crossover states such as Florida, Colorado, Illinois, Washington D.C., and Maryland – where both LibDib and RNDC On Demand operate – suppliers can work directly with portfolio managers to select the distribution model that best fits their brand.

Here’s a taste of the people and products moving around the industry to start off your week. 

🧺 Functional drink brand Positive Beverage is reaping the benefits of its West Coast expansion with a rollout to 18 new Harvest Foods locations in Washington. The news comes after it won facings in Vons and New Seasons stores in California and Oregon earlier this year.

🛸 Perfy’s “flavor invasion” is hitting 27 Gelson’s Markets in Southern California, per a post by founder Vasa Martinez.

🥬 Drinkable greens brand Be Amazing added Raley’s locations across California and Nevada, said director of retail sales Gavin Konkel. The canned beverages are made with “vitamins and phytonutrients from 10 organic fruits and veggies” with just 1 gram of sugar per can.

🛒 Instacart CEO Fidji Simo has abandoned her post for another tech gig. Simo is now the CEO of ChatGPT parent company OpenAI. 

Check out more recent distribution news on BevNET.