• ⏪ BevNET Live Replay: SPINS’ Data Dive
• 🦥 U.S. BevAlc To See Slow Recovery
• 🧑‍⚖️ Kroger/Albertsons Hits Another Roadblock
• 👅 Flavorman Opens New Facility
• 🥳 Happy Birthday To The Barcode
• 🎩 How ‘Fancy’ Became Trendy

North Carolina notched a spirited win right in time for one of America’s booziest holidays.

The state’s Senate passed a new bill (SB 527) late last week that carried out a number of bev-alc related measures including lowering the tax rate for spirits-based RTD cocktails, allowing delivery and cocktails to-go and permitting sales on major holidays. That means for the first time ever, North Carolinians can get drinks dropped off directly at the dock before motoring off to properly celebrate American Independence this Fourth of July.

The bill deems any “pre-mixed cocktail” as having a maximum ABV of 13% (which exempts them from the state’s mixed beverage tax of $20 per four liters typically charged to on-premise bev-alc permit holders) and is now making its way to Governor Roy Cooper’s desk for a signature.

Why is this happening now? The moves will help drive growth both for the growing category as well as the wider (read: older, more-established), but slowing spirits space. 

The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS) has even made reducing the tax rates and broadening availability for spirits-based RTDs a legislative priority. In 2023, premixed cocktails including spirits RTDs were up 26.8% to $2.8 billion (+$599 million), according to DISCUS. 

No Taxation Without RTD-Representation: In 2021, Michigan and Nebraska also cut taxes on spirit-based RTDs and trade groups have faced off over the impact on consumers. In 2022, Vermont also lowered its excise tax on spirits-based RTDs and allowed for wider distribution. But facing opposition from the beer industry, that momentum slowed last year. 

The Nebraska legislature voted down a proposed rollback of the tax reduction on spirits-based RTDs, while Nevada’s Clark County allowed on-premise beer and wine licenses to sell spirit-based products. We hear the battle with Big Beer will begin at High Noon. 

Back to North Carolina. This new law also allows Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) stores to open on New Year’s Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day, at the discretion of the local ABC board. ABC stores would still be closed on a New Year’s Day or Fourth of July that falls on a Sunday.

And legislators did not stop there. The bill also revives the pandemic-era practice of single-serve drinks to-go and by delivery at on-premise locations, breweries, wineries and distilleries – a law that was sunset in June 2021.

Check out the full story on BevNET for more details about how spirit-based RTD regulations are taking shape across the lower 48.

The way in which consumers incorporate their favorite beverages into their day-to-day lives is ever-changing, especially in the coffee and tea space. Our capabilities in coffee and tea can offer you the flavors and ingredients that can shape your products into what consumers desire. Learn more

Suzy Richard, chief sales officer at SPINS, said consumers are increasingly incorporating a wide array of beverages into their daily routine, from gym fuel to afternoon energy to ready-to-drink craft cocktails and everything in between.

During her presentation at BevNET Live Summer 2024 earlier this month, Richard walked attendees through data that highlighted which beverages are on the rise, what consumers are searching for and how brands can meet these ever-evolving dayparts or “micro-moments.”

BevNET Insiders can access the full session on demand. Join us for all the access.

The U.S. bev-alc market will slowly build back from a "reset year,” according to the IWSR with inventories possibly not evening out until 2026. There aren't too many surprises, but here's the rundown:

🥃 Agave spirits, RTDs and whiskey will lead growth in spirits over the next five years according to the data company, while Cognac and Scotch will continue to face challenges. 

📈 Tequila will be the main generator of value gains between 2023 and 2028, building off the +4% volume increase of agave spirits in 2023. Hard tea, cocktails and long drinks will also continue an upwards trajectory. 

🍺 Meanwhile, no-alcohol spirits volume surged by +38% off a smaller base in 2023. NA beer and spirits are expected to hold that double-digit growth until 2028.

The multi-year road to merging two of the country’s biggest grocery companies in a $24 billion deal has hit another obstacle as a Colorado state judge last week refused to dismiss a bid by Kroger and Albertsons lawyers to throw out the state’s attempt to block the merger.

❌ The grocery stores’ legal team has pushed to throw out the Colorado AG’s arguments to block the merger based on a U.S. Constitution clause that supersedes state antitrust laws in commerce crossing state lines.

🏛️ In May, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that there is nothing stopping a state court from blocking a deal regionally even if the companies operate across state lines.

🤔 The judge’s order left some room for interpretations, stating that the “request for a 'nationwide injunction' as the term is commonly used’” but “that is not to say that there could not be some other business agreement between defendants that would apply to other areas of the country that would not illegally impact competition in Colorado.”

Beverage development company Flavorman announced today the opening of a new $8.5 million, 28,000-square-foot production facility at its Louisville, Kentucky “Beverage Campus.”

🥼 Named the Scott Reed Production Building (after Flavorman’s longtime warehouse manager) the company said in a release that it is “strategically designed to enhance the company's Blending, Compounding, and Quality Control capabilities.”

🧪 The facility adds new blending equipment and lab space, and expands its bottling and canning capacities, which will allow the product developer to mount larger production runs.

It’s such a ubiquitous part of life and commerce that most people don’t spend much time thinking about (if any time at all) that there was life before the barcode enabled us to buy whatever we wanted. Those black bars just celebrated their 50th scan-iversary last week.

🧾 On June 26, 1974, a 10-pack of Juicy Fruit gum at a grocery store in Troy, Ohio became the first ever product to be scanned and sold with a barcode.

↗️ The GS1 US, a non-profit organization responsible for issuing authentic barcodes to new products, estimates that today around 10 billion items are scanned daily.

🌐 The tech continues to evolve. Beyond the rise of QR codes in the last decade, GS1 US is also now developing a new scannable code system that it hopes will be ready for mass adoption by 2027.

Why are some concepts that were once derided as too esoteric for mainstream consumers now viewed as cutting edge and trendy? The hosts discuss the topic during their recap of the 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show and also highlight rooibos-based drinks, a “breakfast martini” and THC powders.

Listen to the full episode now.