• 🆕 New Products: This Week’s Hot New Sips
• 🍸 Boisson Update: NA Retailer To File For Reorganization
• 🏜️ Petalfast’s Arizona Purchase
• 📺 Is The DoorDash Business Model Doomed?
• 💦 Daring Foods Founder Launches Hydration Beverage

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After rumors were sparked last week that leading adult non-alc retailer Boisson was closing stores, the company sent official word to suppliers this morning about its future status. 

🔀 CEO Sheetal Aiyer shared in an email that, in the best interests of its creditors and other stakeholders, the company will be entering into a restructuring process and shift the business' operational focus.

🗺️ The CEO cited “what was in hindsight” an aggressive expansion plan and inefficient deployment of capital. The business as it existed was no longer financially viable, according to Aiyer, who faulted the company’s fixed costs given its retail footprint and bi-coastal operations presenting numerous issues, and a recent downturn in topline revenue growth. 

🚧 The email clarified that Boisson is not closing and aims to build a streamlined focus on ecommerce and wholesale distribution only, although Aiyer said there are “no guarantees.” 

Stay tuned for a full report on BevNET later today.

What do influencer-created soda flavors and nootropics-infused coffee have in common? No, it’s not a trick question! They’re both featured in the latest edition of BevNET’s weekly New Products Gallery. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside: 

☕ Pressed Juicery unveiled its inaugural Nootropics collection, a range of RTD functional beverages designed to “redefine the morning coffee ritual.” The collection comprises Cold Brew, Coffee Latte and Matcha Latte, all of which are infused with reishi, lion’s mane, chaga and cordyceps. 

🥤 MyMuse teamed up with social media influencer Dixie D’Amelio to create Passion, a caffeine-free, adaptogenic soda flavor slated to launch at Target, Sprouts, GoPuff and Amazon this month. 

💧 After observing the success of canned water brands over the past few years – namely Liquid Death – Smartwater unveiled new slim, sippable cans. Available in two varieties – Original and Alkaline with Antioxidants – the 12 oz. aluminum cans will soon be available in 8-packs.

Check out the full new product roundup on BevNET.

California-based cannabis sales, marketing and distribution company Petalfast is continuing its state-by-state expansion, with eyes on going nationwide, after its latest acquisition of Arizona cannabis cultivator Flow Distribution.

🌸 Flow distributes a number of top cannabis brands in Arizona, including gummies brand Wana as well as non-edible lines like Stiiizy and 22 Red. Petalfast announced the purchase in a press release this week. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

🤝 In January, Petalfast closed an $8 million raise, at the time stating it had interest in M&A opportunities as part of its growth initiative.

🌝 While Delta-9 hemp-based THC has led to a blooming market for beverages, Petalfast remains solely focused on the adult-use cannabis dispensary channel. It looks to service cannabis products in all categories, including food, beverage, vapes, flower and more.

Daring Foods founder Ross Mackay has stepped down from his role as CEO of the plant-based frozen food brand to launch a new electrolyte hydration beverage brand known as Cadence.

💧 Cadence is a “scientifically formulated” drink designed to provide premium hydration, according to its website. George Heaton, owner and creative director of U.K.-based apparel company Represent, is also a co-founder of Cadence. 

🍋 The canned, carbonated, zero-calorie and sugar-free beverage comes in a Citrus flavor; it contains 500 mg salt, 295 mg magnesium lactate, 190 mg potassium chloride, lemon Sicily wash flavoring, lime Persian type extract, citric acid and stevia. 

💬 “As a brand builder, everything I do lives and dies on quality, and the electrolytes I was using were lacking. I envisioned something new, elevated, and disruptive. A brand that takes good and makes it great. Products are perfectly balanced to help you perform without compromising on taste, quality, and brand. From this vision, Cadence was born,” Mackay said in a post.

From the pandemic-driven boom for delivery app businesses, to the lingering issues with making them profitable, John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” segment gives a comprehensive overview of the challenges still facing gig-economy-reliant companies. 

💸 Restaurants often see the vast majority of their sales through the apps absorbed into fees while delivery drivers feel as if they are pawns to the flawed algorithms that dictate inefficient routes. 

⭐ Oliver concludes that in the most ironic sense, the tech world’s attempt at modernizing food delivery may have created one of the first businesses whose sole beneficiary is the customers themselves. So tonight, before you order a single slice of pizza and leave your DoorDasher a 3-star review… check out the full segment. 

How should emerging brands be thinking about growth? And what should they do to align themselves with large strategics? Diageo Ventures’ Head of North America, Sallie Jian will share all of the answers at BevNET Live Summer 2024 in New York, held June 12 and 13.

To hear from Jian about the ways large company capabilities can benefit smaller partners and get an overview of the state of corporate venturing practices – register today! Save $100 per registration through April 26.