• 🎉 Expo West: Pop & Bottle Goes Multiserve
• 🌱 Muscle Milk Launches Plant-based Shake
• 🙂 Happy Coffee Jumps Into RTDs
• 🍹 White Claw Unveils Tequila Smash
• ❤️ Tilray Takes On Liquid Death… With Love

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It’s no secret that a stray TikTok video can become a major inflection point for a brand, from #WaterTok influencers boosting powder mixes to a viral moment for Poppi rocketing up sales. But now, it looks like social media success can come even from a case of mistaken identity.

Happypop, a brand of functional energy drinks created by Koia co-founders Maya French and Dustin Baker, saw online sales leap over 31,000% last week when TikTok creator Emmy (@emmwee) posted a video about discovering a “happy” drink she had been buying contained kratom, a drug with opioid-like properties that is not approved by the FDA. 

Emmy never named the brand she had been drinking in the video (it appears to have been New Brew, a canned “euphoric seltzer” made with kratom and kava), and she was actually trying to warn her followers away from the product, labeling it “gas station crack.” Still, it seems that Emmy’s followers were more interested in finding out what this mood-lifting drink was than in her health concerns. But instead of New Brew, Google searches for “happy drink” led her followers to Happypop – which does not contain kratom, but does have 90 mg of mucuna pruriens and 100mg of caffeine per 8.4 oz. serving.

According to French, that mistake has now led to the company – which only launched in December – selling out of its top two flavors in under 48 hours. From March 20 to 21, Happypop’s online store visits rose from nearly zero to 35,615 with a conversion rate of 0.96%, and roughly $13,650 in sales across more than 300 orders. The boost also led to over 1,200 new email list subscribers, and a big opportunity to scale Happypop much faster than French or her business partners had anticipated.

In response, French has rushed to start a new production run to keep up with demand, she told us, while also jumping on a new social media campaign to retain these new customers. While the business is making it clear that their product is a very different experience from kratom, the mix-up also hasn’t stopped Happypop from leaning into the humor, offering consumers 25% off with the discount code “Gascrack.”

Past experiences working with Instagram influencers led to an uptick in followers, but not sales, French said. However, a fast response on TikTok and its tongue-in-cheek embrace of the “Gas Crack” label has been transformative for the brand. The next step will be to mount a retargeting campaign for the new email subscribers and encourage those consumers to spread the word and leave reviews.

“People paid us to trial the product, and so I’m expecting another wave of once they try it they’re going to be excited to talk about it,” French said.

Happypop also learned a lot about how to message the brand overall, French added. The company had emphasized caffeine and energy in a lot of its early marketing, but the experience showed that consumers are resonating with the promise of improved mood.

As for Emmy, Happypop sent her a bouquet and a few cases of each flavor.

At Natural Products Expo West 2024, cold brew coffee brand Pop & Bottle unveiled a new line of multi-serve cold brews, intended to extend the brand’s presence across the refrigerated coffee set and reach new mainstream consumers. In a video interview recorded at the show, BevNET senior reporter Brad Avery spoke with Pop & Bottle co-founder and CEO Jash Mehta about the new launch and more, including how the woman-owned company has resonated with female consumers, and why the brand is growing when the rest of the cold brew coffee segment is declining in retail.

Watch the full video on BevNET

Muscle Milk is tapping into the growing demand for plant-based protein with the launch of its newest product line, Plant Protein Shakes. Available in two flavors at launch – Chocolate and Caramel Vanilla – the shakes are powered by 25 and 30 grams of protein, respectively, and come in 14 oz. plastic bottles with an SRP of $4.99. 

🎥 The PepsiCo-owned brand has also unveiled its new “Strength for it All” campaign featuring MLB star Julio Rodriguez, WNBA All-Star Candace Parker and global soccer superstar Christian Pulisic. The ad spot highlights how strength isn’t just for the gym, it’s for “all of life’s moments, both big and small.” 

⭐ Pulisic will be the face of the Muscle Milk Plant Protein installment of the “Strength for it All” creative launch in May. The hero spot features the new product alongside other product offerings from the brand. 

💭 “Our new campaign shows the parallels between the inner and outer strength required to do both everyday tasks and the regiments of pro athletes. As a brand that appeals to active people of all backgrounds, our goal is to make our products feel accessible for everyone,” said senior marketing director Marissa Pines in a statement. 

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Strike while the coffee is hot is what they say (or something along those lines). Happy products, the coffee brand launched by Craig Dubitsky (the former founder of eos and hello products) and Academy Award winner Robert Downey, Jr., has already launched a line of RTDs less than two months after hitting the market.

☕ Launching in select Walmart locations nationwide, the four-SKU line of 11 oz. canned coffee is available for $2.98 each and comes in Caramel Latte, Mocha Latte, Vanilla Latte and dairy-free Cold Brew Coffee.

🏃The company sees the new on-the-go format as a way to reach a younger demographic of coffee consumers who are driving demand behind both premium convenience options and cold coffee varieties.

🤨 Canned coffee continues to be a place where many specialty roasters are devoting both innovation and marketing dollars with viral brands like Chamberlain Coffee and big players like La Colombe increasing their options in the format.

After going dry for 0% sparkling water late last year, White Claw has refocused its innovation efforts on the hard seltzer category with its new Tequila Smash lineup. The nationwide rollout follows the product line’s regional debut in 2023. 

👀 Offered in four tropical fruit-forward flavors – Strawberry Guava, Pineapple Passion Fruit, Mango Tamarind and Lime Prickly Pear – the beverages clock in at 5% ABV and 100 calories per 12 oz. can. 

🛒 White Claw Tequila Smash is available in variety 8-packs with a SRP of $18.49-$18.99 at retailers like Target, 7-Eleven and Kroger. 

⏪ The Chicago-based company isn’t the only hard seltzer brand capitalizing on the boom in tequila as of late, especially as traditional hard seltzer sales continue to drop. Last week, Truly announced its latest spirits-based seltzer, Truly Tequila Soda, in similar flavors: Lime, Grapefruit, Watermelon and Guava. The new line is also available in a variety 8-pack with a SRP of $17.99-$19.99. 

Tilray Brands leadership recently sat down with BevNET’s sister pub Brewbound to talk about its next wave of innovation, a movement that includes a couple of notable non-alc releases.

🏃‍♂️ First up is non-alc beer Runner’s High, set to launch in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans in three flavors: Golden Wheat, Raspberry Wheat and Dark Chocolate. The line, which appears to be following the path forged by another well-known non-alc brand, is being tested in the Southeast, Northeast and Pacific Northwest before potentially expanding wider. 

♥️ What’s the opposite of Liquid Death? Liquid Love, apparently. Tilray’s new line of canned still water (with “some functional benefits,” such as electrolytes or ginseng) will launch in 19.2 oz. cans. Tilray CMO Prinz Pinakatt described the product as a “water-plus proposition that looks at the world in a more optimistic way than some other players in this space do…”

🥃 Et tu, HiBall? After a brief stint in the Anheuser-Busch non-alc portfolio, the once-energy line has been reborn as a 10% ABV FMB called HiBall Hard Ball, sold in a 16.9 oz. resealable PET bottle.