• 🤔 Honest Tea Lives On… In India
• 🚚 Distribution News

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Join us at BevNET Live Winter 2023 in just 7 days in Marina del Rey, CA. You’ll have the opportunity to connect with more than 725 attendees including retail executives from Albertsons and Whole Foods; investors like Emil Capital, Humble Growth, and MOSAIC Ventures; brand leaders from Poppi, nutpods, De La Calle, Chamberlain Coffee and many others; as well as distributors, suppliers, service providers, and experts from across the industry. Check out the full list of registered companies and start planning your conversations.

As mocktails begin to drive growth for non-alc spirit alternatives, one emerging brand is aiming to be the NA craft cocktail at hotels and other on-premise locations. They’re now pushing a smaller format that appeared almost by accident. 

Tilden, a 750 ml ready-to-serve mocktail debuted at the start of the year with two unique non-alc cocktails. 

🔽 The flagship was always intended to be in pourable, shareable format. But as the two founders brought sample flask-sized bottles to sales pitches, hotels and retailers called out additional occasions for the smaller sizes. 

🆕 Now the brand is launching the flasks as a double-serve ready-to-pour alternative that can boost trial at retailers and still give hotels or alternate on-prem locations something to add to a minibar or pour into classy glassware. 

🎩 Similar to full-proof RTDs like Wandering Barman, Tilden will have to stake its claim by offering craft cocktail quality drinks to those on-premise accounts, while competing with other new premium mocktails that are also helping bars and restaurants offer their sober curious customers something more than a soda.

Read the full story on BevNET

When Coca-Cola decided to divest from Honest Tea in 2022, the brand’s fate (aside from the kids’ subbrand) looked sealed – and even moreso after former Honest founder Seth Goldman’s Eat the Change introduced Just Ice Tea. But Coke apparently has big plans for Honest to live on in one of the globe’s biggest tea markets: India. 

🤝🏼 Per media reports, Coca-Cola India has partnered with “iconic” Darjeeling tea estate Makaibari on a two-SKU line (Lemon-Tulsi and Mango) of ready-to-drink iced green tea that will be marketed under the Honest banner. 

🫖 Tucked into the foothills of the Himalayas, the family-owned tea garden claims to be the oldest tea factory in the world.

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Sanzo founder/CEO Sandro Roco continues to report distribution gains for the company via LinkedIn: in the past two weeks, the sparkling water brand has picked up placements in Gelson’s Market and at Jewel-Osco (Albertsons) in the Midwest. 

In yet another sign of the movement’s growing momentum across channels, it seems that zero-proof libations retailer Sechey has been enlisted by Target to create a curated “exclusive assortment” in select stores that includes names like Ghia, NOPE, De Soi and Kin. We’re reaching out for more details. 

Leisure Hydration (formerly Leisure Project), a BevNET Award winner from last year, has launched on Amazon with a special offer of around 30% off. 

Cold-pressed juice specialist Tulua is bringing its six-SKU line of shots to Giant Carlisle stores in Pennsylvania, according to a post on LinkedIn. 

DRY Soda’s Botanical Bubbly Reserve Collection – available in Lavender 75,Spiced Pear, and Rosé Soleil, all packaged in 64 oz. glass bottles – has expanded its availability to retailers including Sprouts, CVS, HEB, QFC, Market of Choice, Town & Country, Nugget Market, and Lunds &Byerlys.

It’s not often that a high-profile investment deal is announced just before a major holiday, but we got lucky this week. After discussing the news that Kim Kardashian’s private equity firm SKYY Partners has invested in upscale condiment brand TRUFF, the hosts munched on a new brand of cookies launched by popular Twitch streamer Pokimane and dove into a growing pool of caffeine-free energy drinks.

Listen to the full episode of Taste Radio