• ⚡️ Going Deeper on Liquid Death's IPO Buzz
• 🚚 Distribution News
• 📴 Bang Battles Continue
• ➡️ From Joyo To Juni

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Earlier this month, a report that the metalhead-approved canned water maker Liquid Death had hired Goldman Sachs to lead a possible IPO sent some heavy reverb through the financial and CPG worlds. 

While CEO Mike Cessario had previously discussed the company exploring the IPO route in October, the report by The Information suggested that going public could come sooner rather than later for the self-proclaimed thirst murderers, with spring 2024 cited as a possible date should they commit (Liquid Death has not discussed the report and declined to comment when reached by BevNET).

Having previously projected over $250 million in revenue this year and with $200.6 million in capital investment to date, Liquid Death has been ramping towards a possible exit, presumably while wielding an ax on a flame-spewing motorcycle. The question now is the destination.

Traditional M&A is always an option, though Jim Watson, senior analyst for beverages at Rabobank, wondered if the four-year-old brand – with its heavy metal and underground punk aesthetics – would be able to maintain its magic as a portfolio brand at a major conglomerate.

“If you are Liquid Death, you'd have to ask ‘The moment we go to a Coke or a Pepsi or a KDP, are we sellouts?,” he asked. “Have we lost the inherent right with consumers to own the imagery that we've built up so far?"

An IPO, however, would allow the company to go to the next level and maintain control of arguably its most important asset: its uniquely irreverent, boundary-pushing brand identity. Its ability to use that as a vehicle to enter new categories and store parts (see: iced tea) will also be an important factor should the brand decide to go the IPO route.

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• After landing mega-hyped San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wenbayama as an investor/ambassador last week, where else could Barcode grow besides Texas? The sports hydration startup is now available in Albertsons, Randalls, and Tom Thumb stores across the Lone Star State. H-E-B, an official partner of the Spurs organization, is also part of ongoing discussions per a recent discussion with the brand, but no updates on that just yet.

• Barcode isn’t the only next-gen hydration play seeing stars in Texas: Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott-backed GLOW has also announced placement in 900 new Albertsons’ retailers across the state including Market Street, Randall’s, Tom Thumb, and United Supermarkets for all three of its beverages: GLOW Sparkling Hydration, GLOW Sparkling Energy, and now GLOW Ultra Smooth Alkaline Water. Even with the heralded young hoop star in San Antonio, Prescott may remain the state’s pre-eminent beverage spokesperson: CEO John Larson credited the QB back in October with helping broker a 2,000-store test with 7-Eleven in Texas. 

• Beer distributors have consistently proven to be a reliable bellwether for energy drink expansion, a path Florida-based Odyssey Wellness is attempting to follow. The mushroom-powered energy drink has signed two new DSD partners — Molson Coors house JJ Taylor in Florida, and Savannah Distributing in Georgia — adding to its existing presence from the Sunshine State through the Carolinas. There’s also the Midwest and West Coast, where the product has been seeded in retailers like Fresh Thyme and Meijer.

• No-and-low alcohol beverages continue to thrive: see Hiyo, which announced last week its national launch into Sprouts Farmers Market and Wegmans Food Markets, a combined 430+ new locations.

• Probiotic pop may be all the rage these days (even Barbie is drinking them) but Doctor D’s has been hard at work building the category for a while now, with no signs of slowing down. This month the brand is introducing two ever-popular vintage soda-inspired flavors exclusively with Publix — Classic Cola and Root Beer — at the retailer. The brand is targeting a total store count of 8,000 by summer’s end, with Whole Foods, Meijers, Stop & Shop, Food Lion and Raley’s alongside Publix.

• Premium coconut water maker CoAqua is now partnered with Sysco Distributors, slotting alongside the likes of Wegmans, Giant, Sprouts Farmers Market, Central Market, Bristol Farms, Woodman’s and Nugget Markets. 

On a mission to eliminate barriers to wellness and exercise, Propel’s ongoing work with actor Michael B. Jordan is taking on a new dimension with the launch of the “Propel Your City Project” which aimed at supporting a specific partner organization in Los Angeles, Detroit, Houston and Atlanta to expand their individual reach and connect communities through movement. Plus:

• Arizona gets its first official partnership between a pro sports team and a CBD company: inside Day One's exclusive stadium retail deal with Phoenix Rising Football Club.
• Starry books an appointment with the "dunk king" at Hershey Park
• Energy drinks Accelerator and ZOA target NIL partnerships, but with two different strategies.
• Spider Energy hits the gas with NASCAR's Ryan Ellis.

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Every so often, we all need to unplug, reset and re-find ourselves on a beach — so why should a brand be any different? According to founders Jay Shetty and his wife Radhi Devlukia-Shetty, adaptogenic sparkling tea line JOYO “went to Bali, had its "Eat, Pray, Love" moment and came back refreshed as Juni.”

• Along with some brighter packaging, the formula has been updated with a new function-forward adaptogen blend highlighted by ashwagandha, lion's mane, acerola cherry, reishi mushroom and green tea.
• The pivot allowed the Shettys “to rethink, reenvision and realign with our initial brand goals to create something even better,” they said in an email. 
• With adaptogens and mushrooms increasingly spread across beverage categories and types, is the natural functional proposition enough to anchor a brand?  

For a man boasting an outsized ‘personal brand,’ access to social media is just a notch short of food, water and shelter on the list of priorities. So you might say Jack Owoc is fighting for his life? The now ex-CEO and founder of Bang Energy maker Vital Pharmaceuticals filed an appeal on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Southern Florida against a U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s order for him to turn over control of three CEO social media accounts. 

• The appeal comes after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Peter D. Russin last month granted summary judgment in favor of the Vital debtors, who sought control of the CEO accounts in an adversary lawsuit connected to the company’s Chapter 11 case, as reported by Law360. 
• Since their termination from the company in October, Jack Owoc and his wife Megan have continuously refused to turn over the passwords to the three CEO social media accounts.
• “The record is clear, however, that the CEO accounts have predominantly been used to market Vital products. They contain links to the company’s website,” said Russin in the summary judgment. “Of the recent social media posts that the Owocs introduced, 95 (33.5%) are pure marketing posts.” 
• The Owocs argue it was “grossly premature” for the court to make a summary judgment ruling. Although the social media accounts were used for marketing purposes, they said the accounts also “cultivate and market [Jack’s] persona as an ‘explosive, high-intensity, unstoppable leader.’”
• The appeal comes after VPX initiated mass layoffs earlier this month in preparation for its anticipated acquisition by Monster Beverage Corp. Monster last month was revealed as the winning bidder for VPX, per court documents filed in the U.S. District Bankruptcy Court in Florida.