• 🚚 Distribution: SUNBOY's New Retail Lineup
• 🍻 Martinelli’s Is Not Just For Kids… Again
• 🍺 NA Beer Growth Not Evenly Distributed 
• 🍕 Lunchly Launches With Mold Issues
• 🇬🇧 Is The U.K. Ahead Of The Curve On F&B Trends?

The popularity of flavored beers is on the rise. From fruity sour beers to barrel-aged stouts, the flavor choices are wide-ranging. And, if you have questions about creating a successful and delicious new brewery product, the Product Development team at Allen Flavors has the answers you need. Learn more

Despite an anticipated slow down in c-store beverage sales growth – up just 1% in Q3 2024, compared to 2.6% growth in Q2 – retailers remain “broadly optimistic” as they look toward the new year, according to the latest Beverage Bytes survey from Goldman Sachs Equity Research this month. 

The quarterly survey, which reflects around 28,000 locations nationwide and 19% of the channel, found that 2024 year-end growth expectations fell about 200 basis points to 0.7% (compared to a 2.6% projection in the Q2 survey). Traffic expectations through the end of the year are now looking at a decline of 1.3%, compared to 0.3% growth predicted in the previous survey.

• Pricing has remained healthy, according to Goldman as 84% of retailers expect incremental pricing action from both alcoholic and non-alc beverage manufacturers by the end of the year.
• Around 36% of respondents said they’re seeing promo activity pick up in non-alc, up from 29% in Q2, as price hikes lay on the horizon. Meanwhile, fewer retailers – 36% compared with 45% in Q2 – said they’ve seen a rise in alcoholic beverage promotions.

The energy drink slowdown isn’t just playing out in the scanner data. Retailers said they’ve increasingly noticed the drop-off in sales growth and saw low single-digit sales improvements in the third quarter. They’re expecting the category to finish 2024 up around 4%. Sales of performance energy brands like Celsius, C4, Alani Nu and Ghost continue to outpace the category stalwarts of Monster and Red Bull.

Retailers are feeling “cautious” on Logan Paul and KSI’s PRIME brand. The energy drink line saw sales fall 7% in Q3 (albeit an improvement from the 15% drop in Q2), but retailers are expecting further declines around 7% year-over-year for the brand in the future and a 10% drop in 2025.

There’s still reason to be optimistic. Around 41% of respondents say their outlook is more positive thanks to an uptick in unit volume sales, and “encouraging signs from planned shelf/cooler space resets.” While 24% are more negative due to macro headwinds and higher interest rates, that’s a drop from 29% in Q2 who said they felt more negative.

Go Deeper: C4 Enters Ice Age at NACS.

🥥 Spiked coconut water brand SUNBOY celebrated a slate of recent gains, including at Trader Joe’s (now in eight states), Total Wine (50+ stores in seven states) and Binny’s Beverage Depot, Illinois’ biggest alcohol retailer.

🫖 Coolers at Sprouts are making more room for a couple of brands: Once Upon a Coconut is entering 420 locations with four SKUs, while prebiotic iced tea maker Halfday is now available at Sprouts nationwide.

💧 HOIST has landed in Giant stores as the hydration brand looks to solidify its presence in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Apple juice and sparkling cider maker S. Martinelli & Company is taking it back to the turn of the 20th century with a return to hard cider. The 155-year-old company is re-introducing its 1868 Hard Cider as an ode to the Martinelli Family’s production roots before it pivoted to non-alcoholic apple juice drinks during Prohibition.

🍎 This is not the first time the company has brought back hard cider, it came back as a LTO in 2018 but now the line extension will become a permanent fixture in the brand’s portfolio.

😏 1868 Hard Cider is available in three flavors – Original, Imperial and Mango – in 12 oz. containers.

🛒 The drinks launched this week in select Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, New Leaf, Raley's, Nugget, Total Wine and Bev Mo! stores in northern California before rolling out nationwide in early 2025.

Pure and naturally alkaline, Eternal Water is quickly rising in popularity as a top premium bottled water in the U.S. Sourced and bottled in America, Eternal Water provides exceptional hydration and health benefits, making it a standout choice in the competitive water market. Learn more

Even though NA beer adoption shows no signs of slowing, growth within the segment is still bifurcated, according to data from IWSR. On the whole, the category has seen volumes improve with a CAGR of 22% between 2019 and 2023, increasing its volume share of total beer from 0.5% to 1.2%.

🆙 The Northeast and Northwest posted the fastest share growth, with Massachusetts and Maryland leading the charge from 1% share of total beer to 4%. 

📈 Connecticut rose from 1% to 3% with New Jersey, Washington and Oregon doubling their share to near beer from 1% to 2%.

💭 Based on the geography and climate of these areas, Marten Lodewijks, president of IWSR’s U.S. division, believes that the data proves that this is a “shift in underlying consumer preference” as opposed to seasonal changes.

Content creator-backed meal kit brand Lunchly is apparently facing production challenges right out of the gate after a slew of consumers have taken to social media platforms to share images of non-expired, yet moldy products.

⛔ The brand launched in September as a joint venture between Logan Paul and KSI’s hydration brand PRIME and MrBeast’s chocolate company Feastables; the mold issue appears to be linked to the Pizza varieties which includes crackers, a protein and cheese.

How do U.K. CPG brands compare to their U.S. counterparts? On the ground in London, the hosts discuss their experience at last week’s Cheers! The Drinks Summit event and highlight innovative snacks and beverages they encountered at visits to local retail chains and specialty stores.

Listen to the episode now.