• 📊 Nielsen: Non-Alc Beverage Sales “Healthy But Decelerated”
• 🇯🇵 Lost In Translation: Sochu Reclaims Its Identity
• ⚾ A-GAME Deepens Polar Bevs Relationship with Board Appointment
• 🤓 A Beverage Nerd's Reading List

“Healthy but decelerated” – is there a more Nielsen-ish description of beverage sales than that? Well, they keep using it because it keeps working, as the first few weeks of 2024 reflected softer pricing growth, according to Goldman Sachs Equity Research’s latest analysis of NielsenIQ data. 

👀 Across all categories, dollar sales were up 2% in the two-week period, compared to +2.8% in the four-week and +7.8% in the 52-week periods. Accelerated growth in volume, up +0.7% in the period versus -0.5% in the four-week, was offset by softer pricing growth, up 1.4% in the two-weeks compared to +3.3% in the four-weeks. 

🥤 In CSDs, category leader The Coca-Cola Company outperformed the category, with sales up 3.9% in the two-week, while volume rose 0.3% and average pricing grew 3.5% while better-for-you Zevia saw sales drop -15.2% with volumes down a significant -28.9%. 

⚡ Elsewhere, rising star Celsius continues its climb to the top of the energy drink category, reporting dollar sales up +74.1% and volumes up 37.7% in the two-week period. Frontrunner Monster Energy Company – whose portfolio includes Bang – saw dollar sales declines worsen, dropping to -6.9% (-4.2% in the four-week and -1% in the 52-week). 

Keep an eye out for a full recap on BevNET later today.

Sports fans love a great comeback story -- could athlete-focused hydration brand Biosteel, recently jilted by Canopy Growth, be on the road to recovery? That remains to be seen, but the company has taken an important first step back into the game with yesterday’s announcement of a new three-year manufacturing deal with fellow Canadian brand Flow Beverage.

🤝🏼 The deal is valued at around $19.3 million in revenue over the term, and commits Biosteel to the purchase of 12 million units within the first four months and a cumulative minimum of 24 million packs for the second and third year.

😰 It’s an early win for Biosteel’s new owners DC Holdings Ltd., the Canadian sports nutrition portfolio company that purchased Biosteel’s Canadian business unit -- including the brand’s IP, formulas and the bulk of its inventory -- in November.

💧 For Flow, the move is aimed at boosting the value of its Aurora, Ontario production facility in anticipation of a sale. The alkaline water brand has been actively recruiting co- packing clients (Beatbox Party Punch, Joyba) over the past months with that endgame in mind.  

Read the full story on BevNET

For decades, the Japanese distilled beverage shochu has been mislabeled in the U.S. as Korean soju, but a new California law is clearing up the difference for consumers, and may open doors for new sales opportunities. 

🤔 The confusing labeling practice started in the late 90s and gave shochu the same permission as soju— to be sold to beer and wine licensees— but only as long as it was labeled soju. 

🇺🇸 The oversight of an important cultural distinction worked against educating U.S. drinkers about the unique spirits, so the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (JSS) has been hard at work to change state legislation. Now, modeled after an identical law established in 2022 in New York, AB 416 in California gives shochu distillers with products below 24% ABV access to those soft liquor license holders.

🥃 Shochu brands are aiming to build on the budding thirst for more global spirits and have positioned the spirit as an interesting base for mixologists. Now, they’ll be pushing it as a low ABV distilled spirit option for cocktails where drinkers would otherwise only find beer and wine. 

Read the full story

After partnering with the Massachusetts-based distributor last year, sports hydration startup A-GAME Beverages – backed by former MLB All-Stars Johnny Damon and Bo Jackson – is strengthening its ties with Polar Beverages in naming senior VP John Wetzonis as chairman of its corporate advisory board.

🚚 A-GAME CEO Randall F. Greene announced the appointment on LinkedIn yesterday, noting that Wetzonis will “help guide our national expansion and partnership with Polar Beverages in the United States through production, investment and distribution.”

👟 Positioned to compete in an increasingly crowded ‘hydration-plus’ set, A-GAME has worked over the past year to expand its nationwide availability, including a partnership with Kalil Bottling Co. to grow its Arizona business.

Believe it or not, there are things worth reading on the Internet besides BevNET. Here’s some recent beverage articles from around the web that caught our eye!

✈️ The sober-curious, non-alcoholic alternative trend continues to ramp up, and now it’s taking to the skies. The Washington Post reported this week that more and more consumers are taking booze-free vacations, and that’s caught the attention of hotel bars and the air travel industry, who are quickly working to add more NA options to their menus. 

Airliners and airport lounges alike are embracing zero proof drinks, while Expedia reports that 40% of travelers are likely to book a “detox trip” in the next year.

🥤Meanwhile over at The New Yorker, writer Nate Odenkirk (son of Better Call Saul star Bob) took apart the better-for-you soda trend this week with an overview of his imaginary new brand NuSoda, which promises to “Health-ify” classic soda flavors (sound familiar?) by swapping out cane sugar for Jerusalem-artichoke extract and adding so many probiotics “your gut will overdose on bacteria.” It may cut close to home for some brands, but it’s always a sign that a trend is truly resonating with consumers when the parodies arrive.