• Introducing Pepsi Prebiotic Cola
• Trump Soda? Coke To Extend Brand With Sugar
• Hiyo Goes National With New Flavor
• Pure Fuel Partners For Distro Growth
• Alc Down Hard at Half Year Mark

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Health-Ade’s investors are selling the company to Generous Brands, a portfolio company of private equity firm Butterfly Equity, for approximately $500 million.

“With its purpose-led brand and products that are positioned at the intersection of delicious taste and modern health trends, Health-Ade fits perfectly into our platform and growth strategy,” said Generous Brands CEO Steve Cornell, in a statement. “This exciting addition to the Generous Brands portfolio will accelerate our mission of inspiring more people to thrive through the power of vibrant nutrition.”

The kombucha brand, founded by husband-and-wife team Justin and Daina Trout and Vanessa Dew, has long been the major alternative to category leader GT’s.

• Health-Ade sold $182 million in kombucha over the past 52 week period ending June 15 – up 8% from the previous 52-week period, according to Circana data, good for a 24% share of the refrigerated kombucha category.
• GT’s neared $340 million in sales in the same category. 
• Both brands have other products; Health-Ade’s SunSip is intended to compete with prebiotic “Modern Soda” brands like Poppi, Olipop, and Culture Pop.

Generous Brands – a platform that includes Bolthouse and Evolution Fresh juices, as well as manufacturing for açaí brand Sambazon – has been pushing to acquire Health-Ade for more than a year. Health-Ade has long been rumored to be on the market, with CEO Chris Lansing brought in at the end of 2022 to accelerate growth and make it a more appealing sales target.

Insiders can read up on the announcement here.

Just months after spending almost $2 billion to enter the gut-health soda category through its acquisition of poppi, PepsiCo is launching its own prebiotic carbonated soft drink with Pepsi Prebiotic Cola.

• The two-SKU line (Original Cola and Cherry Vanilla flavors) features three grams of prebiotic fiber per 12 oz. can and is set to launch on Black Friday in November.
• Pepsi Prebiotic contains 5 grams of cane sugar, 30 calories and no artificial sweeteners.

💬 “Our portfolio has always adapted to the needs and flavor preferences of the consumer,” said Ram Krishnan, CEO, PepsiCo Beverages U.S. “Pepsi Prebiotic Cola represents the next leap forward in giving consumers choice, optionality and functional ingredients in their cola experience, without sacrificing the iconic Pepsi taste we’re known for delivering.”

Insiders can access the full story for all of the details.

First Colbert, now Coke? President Donald Trump’s brusque efforts to reshape American culture have been greeted with little resistance from the corporations on which he has exerted pressure. Coca-Cola seems to be the latest to acquiesce to the White House demands, maybe a little bit. 

CEO James Quincey revealed during this morning’s Q2 earnings call that “an offering made with U.S. cane sugar” is coming to Coke’s trademark soda line this fall. 

⏪ The news comes after Trump, a noted Diet Coke aficionado, posted on Truth Social last week that he “has been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so.”

For more on this story, click here.

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Non-alcoholic RTD brand Hiyo is reaching even higher. The adaptogen-infused “social tonic” has expanded a national retail partnership with Whole Foods Market and dropped a new Pineapple Coconut flavor, the company announced today. 

• Hiyo will be available across all U.S. Whole Foods Market locations beginning this month. 
• The new flavor will be available exclusively in-store, at Hiyo.com, and Amazon through September 30, before expanding to additional retailers in October.

🔮 We should expect more big retail moves from the brand. At the top of the year, Hiyo closed a $19 million funding round to fuel its ambitions to scale and locked in an investment from Constellation’s venture capital group.

Insiders can access the full story for more details.

Pure Fuel has taken the slow approach to distribution, waiting two years to sign its first deal while it prioritized awareness and infrastructure building. 

The Philadelphia-based brand worked to line up key partnerships with sports teams, rappers and influencers, taking a “culture-first” approach to brand building.

• After leveraging sponsorship deals with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Chicago Sky and the Chicago Fire, Pure Fuel is putting resources toward building a broad distribution network in Pennsylvania and Chicagoland.
• The brand is aligned with California-based dried fruit maker Sunsweet Grocers as its manufacturing partner (and a minority stakeholder).
• Pure Fuel makes two varieties of hydration drinks, an uncaffeinated option and another line caffeinated with yerba mate and green coffee beans, both available in four flavors.

Read more about Pure Fuel’s approach to brand building on BevNET.

They say no one is drinking anymore, and whoever “they” is may be right. Beverage alcohol sales have fallen 3% year-to-date in off-premise channels, according to NIQ’s “Halftime Report” tracking 2025 sales data.

• Beer, wine and spirits dollar sales passed $53 billion in July. That’s a lot of money, but as much as last year: convenience (-0.8%), liquor open state (-3.4%), grocery (-3.5%) and mass, dollar and club (-6%) are all down.
• Excluding RTDs like hard seltzers, FMBs and canned cocktails, all other major alcohol categories were down in both dollar and volume sales, with wine (-5.9%) suffering the biggest slide.
• RTDs are up (+1.7%) in dollar sales, but volumes were nevertheless down (-3.2%).

Insiders can get the full data breakdown on BevNET.

Yerba Madre is a brand nearly synonymous with its namesake ingredient. But in a country where most consumers have never heard of yerba mate, a caffeine-laden herbal infusion, how do you build a household name around it? Ben Mand, the CEO of Yerba Madre, talks about how the company is expanding its national footprint while staying true to its regenerative roots and mission-driven values.

Tune into the episode now. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.