• 💧 Flow Posts Revenue Declines Amid DSD Fees, Resell Competition
• 💦 Who’s The Rehydration Champ? Advertising Watchdog Says “No One”
• 🇺🇸 Oatly U.S. President to Exit
• 🤝 Next Century Spirits Takes Minority Stake in VIDE

Dry January may be officially over, but it went out with a bang.

This past weekend over 500 people gathered in D.C.’s Union Market district to sip on, speak about and celebrate all things booze-free. Throughout the course of the three-day event, dubbed Mindful Drinking Fest 2024, attendees – ranging from everyday sober-curious individuals to local bottle shop operators, bar owners, caterers, beverage industry folks and generally curious people like me – were left with the strong impression that the momentum behind the non-alc movement can’t be contained to just the first 31 days of the year. 

Within the “Grand Tasting Hall” nearly 40 brands poured samples of over 120 different products, from locally-made mixers to ready-to-drink non alcoholic beverages, zero proof spirits, de-alcoholized wine and even cannabinoid tinctures made from regeneratively farmed hemp. Programming featured content for all audiences including talks and tips on NA mixology and a keynote discussion with “Sober Sexpert,” Tawny Lara.

But beyond the confines of Union Market’s Dock 5 – an empty fulfillment space turned event venue – organizers mixed wellness programming with similar types of parties and entertainment that might be expected from booze-friendly events. “We just want to show that this is fun too,” said Derek Brown, who co-founded the event in partnership with bar owner Maria Bastasch, local NA advocates and with the Non Alcoholic Beverage Association. 

On Friday night, attendees could participate in a NA Bar crawl through DC and by Saturday, energy levels spiked for an NA Rave at Disco Mary, an “Alcohol-Optional” pop-up cocktail bar run by Bastasch. The party scenes were balanced out with (hangover free) Sunrise Yoga classes or morning trail hikes with a Certified Forest Therapy Guide.

Now that no-and-low alcohol has been established as a rising trend, its ability to evolve alongside consumers into a lifestyle based on inclusion, rather than exclusion, may indicate its long-term viability. 

“A lot of times people think of non-alcoholic as the absence of something and what we're really celebrating at the end of the day is social wellness and these delicious alternatives to alcohol,” explained Brown, who is also founder of Positive Damage and author of Mindful Mixology. “We're not missing anything. We're showing that this is on par with alcohol products and that you can celebrate and enjoy it in the same way.”

Adrianne DeLuca (adeluca@bevnet.com) is a reporter for BevNET and Nosh, based in Washington, D.C.

Canadian alkaline water maker Flow Beverage Corp. released its Q4/FY2023 earnings this week reporting declines across revenues and gross margins. The company has been in a “complete operational transformation” over the course of 2023 as it tried to divest its Aurora, Ontario production facility and improve branded product sales while adding new co-packing contracts.

😓 The company announced that it was having a good first half of the year before being hit with contractual fees from distributors and a decline in ecommerce sales deriving from competing resellers online.

📉 In FY2023, Flow posted an EBITDA loss of CAD$38.1 million, rising 6% year-over-year and “a little disappointing” net revenue growth of 27% on branded products for the year, reported Flow CFO and EVP of operations Trent MacDonald.

🏭 Yet, there was some optimism as the company sees its new co-manufacturing contracts with Joyburst Hydration, BioSteel and BeatBox, bringing in about $148 million in the coming years.

Read the full story on BevNET

Who’s the heavyweight champ of electrolytes? Depends who you ask. Per today’s recommendation by the BBB’s National Programs’ National Advertising Division (NAD), it can’t be BodyArmor Flash I.V., as its recent marketing campaign claiming to be “The Rehydration Champ” conveys “a comparative superiority message or is merely puffery.” 

🙉 NAD reported that, even though Flash I.V. has more electrolytes than Gatorlyte, BodyArmor should discontinue its claim unless it can “properly support” the misleading claims.

🤷 BodyArmor disagreed with the NAD conclusion, saying that the claim was used to advertise the launch last year and “has already run its course.”

🤯 This is not the first time that NAD has recommended sports drink brands rein in their hydration claims. The watchdog weighed in on a debate last year between Coke’s Powerade and PepsiCo’s Gatorade that included the proper use of a flexed arm emoji 💪.

There’s a changing of the guard at Oatly: Mike Messersmith, the longtime North America president for the publicly traded Swedish oat milk giant, announced on LinkedIn today that he will be leaving the company this month, with Helge Weitz, president of Oatly’s German business, set to take over.

🥛 Messersmith has overseen all of Oatly’s U.S. business since its launch, joining the company in 2017 as general manager, North America, before being named president of the division in 2020. 

🇩🇪 Weitz will now make the leap from Berlin to New York. A longtime beverage sales professional, he similarly began with Oatly as a general manager in 2017, covering sales in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

🧑‍💼 It appears to be an extended period of change at Oatly: Last summer, the company replaced its longtime CEO Toni Petersson, naming global president Jean-Christrophe Flatin to the role.

As a testament to the growing consumer demand for ready-to-drink cocktails, Raleigh-based spirits producer Next Century Spirits today announced it has acquired a minority stake in VIDE. The partnership seeks to scale VIDE nationally from a sales, distribution and marketing standpoint while establishing Next Century as a leader in the RTD cocktail market.

⏪ Founded in 2018, VIDE produces a 6-SKU line of zero sugar Tequila Sodas and Vodka Sodas crafted with premium spirits. In 2021, model and actress Olivia Culpo joined the brand as a financial investor who “continues to champion VIDE,” according to a press release. 

🍹 The acquisition will enable Next Century Spirits – whose portfolio also includes Bear Fight American Single Malt Whiskey, Creek Water Whiskey, Caddy Clubhouse Cocktails, and Truthteller 1839 – to diversify its offerings while meeting the demands of Gen Z and Millenial consumers.  Looking ahead, the company sees significant promise in the tequila-based RTD segment. 

💭  “Broadly speaking, the RTD category is hyper-competitive, but we see the tequila RTD space as an underdeveloped category where we have an opportunity to scale growth,” said Anthony Moniello, Co-CEO at Next Century, in a statement.  

Dive Deeper: What’s Next for Pre-Mixed RTD Cocktails