• 💰 Bloomberg Report: Spindrift on the Block
• 🥛 Oatly Forms MiLB Team
• 🤝 Adult Beverage Alliance Forms in Bay State
• ⚽ Celsius Goes Pro
• 🚚 Distribution: Total THC & More
• 😜 April Fools, Allulose and Ozempic Alternatives

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They say there’s no time like the present, and that sentiment will hold true for investment in new product development (NPD) this year, according to TraceGains’ 2024 NPD Report. Of the 261 surveyed food and beverage leaders, 76% said they plan to up their R&D spend in 2024, a 12% jump from 2023. 

🤔 Multiple factors are fueling the rise in product development, but 52% of respondents identified competitive pressure as the most common driver. That aligns well with other responses which cited a need to meet evolving consumer preferences as social media has provided consumers with greater access to information. 

🛑 Brands are ready to act, but are they prepared? Despite the shared enthusiasm for NPD, many brands remain troubled by macroeconomic factors beyond their control, including the availability of ingredients and materials (46%), fluctuating demand and commodity pricing (53%), and rising production and labor costs (58%). 

📈 To address those hurdles, more than half of respondents are actively searching for ways to reduce ingredient or production costs. In 2024, R&D teams will play an increasingly important role in both top-line revenue and bottom-line profitability. 

💭 “Our research reveals a clear imperative for brands to invest in product innovation as numerous transformative shifts coalesce across the industry forcing them to act. While it’s evident that brands require robust tools and solutions to navigate these challenges, a significant gap still exists in internal resources,” said Paul Bradley, TraceGains senior director of product marketing, in a statement. 

🤫 Despite the overall gap in internal resources, many brands are opting to keep portions of the R&D process in-house to protect recipe formulations and intellectual property (IP), including product concept ideation (70%), recipe formulations (74%) and ingredient selections (70%). 

👀 Conversely, traceability remains both an important topic and a vexing issue for the food and beverage industry as a whole. According to the report, multiple regulatory themes are beginning to converge with requirements for supply chain traceability and food safety initiatives.

📦 Following a rising focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG), 48% believe sustainable packaging will be a large innovation driver in months to come. However, these efforts are lagging behind in the U.S. compared to the EU.

Spindrift CEO and founder Bill Creelman had no comment this morning following a published Bloomberg Law story that cited anonymous sources - “people with knowledge of the matter” - that Spindrift is “exploring strategic options including a sale.”

🏷️ Rumors of Spindrift exploring a potential sale have surfaced in the past; the company has received investment from VMG, KarpReilly and Prolog Ventures.

📈 Sales of Spindrift in Multi-Outlet and Convenience retail channels were over $200 million for the 52 week period ending Feb. 24, according to Circana, a Chicago-based retail data company.

Malmö, Sweden-based Oatly announced its latest corporate sponsorship innovation – The Malmö Oat Milkers – as it deepens its partnership with minor league baseball (MiLB).  

🔄 The roster will be on a unique rotation: all of MiLB’s already existing 120 teams will each play one game this season as the Oat Milkers, clad in the new team’s pink-accented jerseys. 

💭 “Our goal was to do our small part to add something to the fan experience, and to rethink the very notion of ‘sponsorship’ by creating something entirely new and characteristically irreverent,” said Armando Turco, SVP Global Brand & Creative at Oatly.

⚾ The brand will be visible throughout all 120 league stadiums via Oatly touchpoints. The games will include first-pitch rituals complete with oatmilk carton throwing, Oat Milkers trivia moments, a chance to “sign a contract to be an Oat Milker for a day.”

Hemp-derived CBD and THC beverage brands in Massachusetts are banding together with the formation of the new Adult Beverage Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the hemp beverage industry.

🌱 The Alliance has partnered with distributors Atlantic Beverage and Craft Collective, as well as brands like BLNCD, Cann, Cantrip, Mary Jones and more to promote the industry and fight to clarify regulations allowing for the continued sale of hemp-derived products.

👩🏿‍⚖️ The Alliance aims to work closely with the Massachusetts state legislature “and other stakeholders,” the group said in a press release.

📜 The announcement comes hot on the heels of discussions among Mass lawmakers about regulations to address the burgeoning hemp THC market. Some legislators have suggested the products should be put under the purview of the commonwealth’s Cannabis Control Commission which oversees the dispensary market.

For the full story, check back on BevNET.com later today.

Celsius is bringing the vibes to Major League Soccer. The fast-rising brand was named the official energy drink of MLS through 2026 – its first national professional sports partnership.

🔥 The Florida-based brand also signed deals with three teams, including the Chicago Fire Football Club, New York City Football Club, and Inter Miami – the latter having brought on international star Lionel Messi last year. Going into the next season, the brand will also begin sponsoring the Columbus Crew and Houston Dynamo.

🎽 Besides the teams, Celsius is also partnering directly with players from each, including Benjamin Cremaschi, Santiago Rodriguez, Hector Herrera, Brian Gutierrez and Diego Rossi.

🏓 According to the brand, the MLS deal will be accompanied by marketing campaigns bringing “an immersive soccer experience” to Walmart and Sam’s Club stores around the country, featuring foosball table games and more.

Beverage brands are always on the move, so here’s the latest distribution gains and updates from around the industry.

😏 Total Wine & More stores in California are now carrying Delta-9 hemp THC beverages, including Cann, which posted a picture of an endcap to LinkedIn, complete with cheese puff munchies alongside several flavors of the social tonic drink.

🥭 Asian flavor-inspired sparkling water brand Sanzo is now available in 6-packs nationwide at Whole Foods Market stores, according to founder and CEO Sandro Roco.

☀️ Juice shot brand GNGR is available in Southern California retail, including Hanks stores, the company reported on Tuesday.

🤡 Functional beverage brand Illicit Elixirs is now available, licitly, through Walmart stores across the country, CEO John Valiton announced on LinkedIn.

On this episode of CPG Week, Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous tests the knowledge of senior reporters Brad Avery and Lukas Southard on real and fake food and beverage products as April Fool’s Day approaches. 

🍩 Monica shares how allulose has become a hot topic in food and beverage as some brands position the ingredient as a natural alternative to GLP-1 weight loss drugs. But it’s banned at Whole Foods and not permitted in Canada or Europe.

🤔 Brad points out the controversy surrounding erythritol, and Lukas highlights an example of a brand removing sucralose from its formulation. Even plain old sugar is problematic, when considering the harsh conditions for producers in India, per a New York Times investigation.

Listen now on Nosh.com and subscribe to get a fresh episode every week.

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