After a first taste of the beverage industry, Zeke Bronfman and Nate Medow are back for a second round.

In case you don’t recall, college buddies Bronfman and Medow were the team behind startup XED Beverages, which launched in 2021 with RTD cocktail line Sesh and, later, released Hape Sake Spritz. When the company was acquired by Next Century Spirits in late 2022, it opened the door for the pair to jump back into a passion project that had been relegated to the back burner: teaming with actors Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder on The Absorption Company (TAC), a wellness-minded supplement platform with a unique edge.

As its name more than suggests, that edge is absorption -- or bioavailability, to be more specific. According to the founders, TAC products use processing technology that can convert oil-based compounds into water-soluble nano powders, “allowing for a spectrum of bioactive materials” into the format for the first time.

Sourcing research from a combination of publicly available information and studies paid for out of their own pockets, Bronfman and Medow said they found that just 14% of nutrients consumed orally are absorbed, with the remaining 86% are not. The message to consumers: along with wasting money, “you’re peeing out the good stuff.”

It may be a bit technical, but the concept of bioavailability represents a “through line that runs through pretty much every health and wellness product,” and something that can stretch across specific day parts and functions. In the case of TAC’s first product, its single-serve powder sticks available on the brand’s website in 14-count ($40) or 28-count ($70) boxes in four SKUs: Restore, Sleep, Energy and Relax.

As Bronfman put it simply: “We want to own bioavailability.”.

Undead specialist actors Reed (Twilight) and Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries), the brand’s chief advocates and original creators, are heavily involved in driving that message home. With over 35 million combined followers on Instagram and X alone, the married business partners are using that reach to build a community around TAC with some early success; when they teased the brand’s February launch as “coming soon” and asked Instagram users to follow a private account for more info, they gained 200,000 followers with a week. 

As for the young beverage entrepreneurs, their early success with Sesh has left them understandably emboldened. It certainly helps to have backers like Orgain founder Dr. Andrew Abraham and RSE Ventures co-founder Bill Higgins as investors and board members, both coming onboard in an early funding round that also included Redbud Brands and Springdale Ventures. Alongside the team of Bronfman, Reed, Somerhalder and Medow, former Chef’s Cut and KIND executive Ben Garnero is at the helm as the company’s president. 

Considering the pair’s rise thus far, this industry can’t be that hard, right?

“Just continuing to push things along and speak it into existence,” Bronfman said when asked for advice to first-time beverage entrepreneurs. “I wanted desperately to have a smoothie at Erewhon that I could order -- we did that in April. Being able to just speak some things into existence has just been an incredible feeling.”

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How is Bardstown Bourbon gearing up for more competition in the contract whiskey space and on the bourbon shelf? BevNET chatted with former Molson Coors exec and Bardstown’s new president Peter Marino about the distiller’s strategy in the competitive bourbon category.

🫱🏿‍🫲🏼 Bardstown Bourbon is among a small but growing group of contract distillers for other brands, but Marino said that side of the business is healthy. 

🤑 But the distiller is still building up another major revenue generator: its own bourbon lines. The company just added new sales leadership as it expands its Origin and Collaborative Series. 

📸 Marino also believes that bourbon tourism is just starting to modernize, and is aiming to be a part of that change. 

Read the full story on BevNET

Months after its initial detection, the highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak is continuing to wreak havoc on egg-laying chickens and dairy cows. On Tuesday, a case of bird flu was detected among a massive flock in Sioux County, Iowa, and, as a result, the 4.2 million infected birds will be killed. 

🥚 CPG giant Post Holdings yesterday reported that Michael Foods’ third-party contracted egg-laying flocks in Minnesota and Iowa tested positive for avian flu. According to the announcement, the facilities house roughly 5.7 million egg-laying hens, or approximately 14% of Post’s controlled supply. 

🐮 Late last week, beef tissue from an infected dairy cow tested positive for bird flu, as reported by NYT. The sick cow had already been condemned to be culled and the meat did not enter the U.S. Food Supply. 

🗡️ You’ve heard of company loyalty programs, but what about a betrayal program? Well, plant-based milk brand Minor Figures is encouraging consumers to embrace alt-milks and creamers and participate in its “Dairy Disloyalty” competition, a campaign running from May 30 (today) through June 13 requiring participants to visit six participating cafes in any of six U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York City, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.

Consumers who collect six stamps and submit their cards online will receive a free bowling shirt and will be entered into a drawing to win a fancy espresso machine.

🏀 In the 1990s, Michael Jordan didn’t just dominate the NBA, he dominated brand marketing as a spokesman for everything from his own sneaker line to McDonald’s. Well, the GOAT is returning to the (marketing) game – and this time he’s not going to the Wizards.

Gatorade has revived its classic “Is it In You?” campaign with a new TV spot featuring narration by Jordan, alongside a number of today’s top athletes including WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, and Olympic track and field medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The throwback ad arrives ahead of Gatorade’s upcoming 60th anniversary next year.

Caribe Juice, the owners of watermelon juice brand WTRMLN WTR, is back with another hydrating drink, WTRMLN ADE. The shelf-stable sports drink harnesses the power of the melon giving consumers a vitamin-rich drink with high concentrations of electrolytes and amino acids for post-workout recovery.

🥤 The line expansion features three varieties of the watermelon and lemonade mash-up: Lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade and Limeade.

🍋 Perhaps seeing the success of Lemon Perfect, Caribe Juice is using vitamin-rich citrus fruit and consumer appeal of lemonade to blend with its hero ingredient to expand its portfolio.