• 🆕 This Week's New Products
• 😇 A Drink With The Founder of Little Saints
• 🔄 People Moves: Nestlé Names New CEO
• 🚀 McDonald’s New Beverage Concept Expands
• 📸 Netflix Spotlights NA Beverage Category

Jack McNamara has never tried to hide his considerable ambitions, nor has he minimized the size of his task. 

Over the course of a decade as founder and CEO of functional beverage platform Tru, he gradually shepherded the Massachusetts-based brand from its early days as a liquid shot through to its current format – a line of 12 oz. canned RTDs – picking up industry backers (Polar boss Ralph Crowley) and investors (BTomorrow Ventures) along the way. 

And though its branding makeover and entrance into a hot new category may seem like a major new chapter for Tru, McNamara sees it simply as additional small steps towards the final destination. 

“For us, it's all about starting at square one and leveling up, whether it's the distributor, the retailer, or our team, and that's kind of the philosophy we've taken and over the past couple of years,” McNamara said on the phone last week from his new home in Houston, where he’s working to seed the brand in Texas retailers (Central Market) and the West Coast (Erehwon). 

Following that approach, Tru’s distribution expansion, now being overseen by ex-Red Bull man Sean McDonough, has been piecemeal and purposeful. Growing out of the Northeast, Tru has looked to supplement placement in key chains – Wegmans, Meijer – with DSD support, picking up partners like Heidelberg Distributing and DeCrescente Distributing. Once a regional DSD presence has been established, division sales directors come in to run the show. 

The branding update rolling out now is part of that approach; rather than attacking an apparent weakness (it’s not, he says), it’s about seizing an opportunity to make important incremental gains. The makeover makes some important visual tweaks – ditching the hard-to-read cursive, adding a stripe for easy SKU ID and making clear the product is sparkling – are designed to aid on-shelf presentation, but also help Tru communicate its unique structure, in which each functional need state features just a single SKU. 

Many distributors, McNamara noted, view Tru as an energy drink brand because that SKU happens to be one of its strongest performers (though, ironically, sleep-aid Dream is the real workhorse, he said). With the new branding, the company has tweaked its pitch to be “the carbonated complement to Vitaminwater,” and its aforementioned brand architecture follows the same one-SKU-for-one-function formula.  

“Why reinvent the wheel?,” asked McNamara. “Why not follow this formula and see if it works in a carbonated format?”  

BevNET Insiders can read the full story later today to learn more about Tru’s path ahead.

Summer is giving way to Fall, and brands this week are announcing new products playing to both seasons' flavor profiles. Here’s a sampling from our latest new products gallery:

🍎 Spindrift is rolling out its new Fuji Apple flavor made with real juice right ahead of apple picking season. The brand says it tested out 18 different blends of apple juice before arriving on Fuji as the supreme option for its latest launch.

🍪 Plant-based coffee creamer Nutpods has some sweet new flavors rolling out to retailers nationwide. The brand is launching Cookie Butter, Sweet Crème and Vanilla Caramel varieties made with non-GMO cane sugar. 

🏕️ There’s time left this summer for another campfire or, in Muscle Milk’s case, is a sip of its new S’mores flavor. The brand announced the launch of the new protein shake variety this week, made with 25 grams of protein, calcium, Vitamin D and 170 calories.

Check BevNET later today for the full gallery of new products.

When Megan Klein first launched her non-alcoholic sparkling canned cocktails in 2021, the adult alcohol alternative category was still introducing itself to consumers. Now, more than three years later it has matured into a competitive set with a number of brands jockeying for attention and shelf space.

📱 Klein spoke with BevNET about prioritizing a digital identity in order to speak authentically to Little Saints target audience.

🧑‍🔬 After initially formulating her drinks with CBD, Klein removed the cannabinoid last November. She explained why its become clear that was the right decision and how the move actually helped the brand reach new customers.

🍸 Finding what works and what the market is asking for can take time. Klein lays out the strategy she used to reach more on-premise opportunities and her recipe for growth across multiple channels.

Check out the full interview on BevNET for all of Klein’s insights.

👔 Nestlé has promoted Laurent Freixe, EVP and CEO of Zone Latin America, to CEO of Nestlé S.A., effective Sept. 1. He succeeds Mark Schneider, who has relinquished his role after eight years with the Swiss food group. The company’s abrupt leadership change comes amidst recent struggles; Nestlé last month cut its full-year outlook due to a lack of consumer demand. 

🌎 After nearly 17 years with the New Hope Network, Carlotta Mast has moved into a global role at Informa Markets. In a LinkedIn post, Mast said the new role will help her “contribute in new ways that are aligned with my purpose: community building, content, sustainability and positive impact.” 

After announcing it was going deeper in the drinks game late last year, McDonald’s is introducing its CosMc’s concept to the Fort Worth, Texas area. Mickey D’s has opened five CosMc’s (all in Texas with the exception of its initial drive-thru only location in Bolingbrook, Ill) – making it halfway to its goal of 10 store openings in 2024.

🥤 CosMC’s goes all in on the space-themed concept and offers Galactic Boosts, Stellar Sips, Slushies, Frappés and coffee or tea-based Brews.

🥪 Even though the focus is on specialty drinks, CosMc’s also sells food like breakfast sandwiches, sweets, snacks and frozen indulgences.

🤔 The strategy is intended to bring added value to the standard fountain drink options usually available, taking a page from other QSR chains like Starbucks that have found new revenue with a full menu of mixed coffee drinks and fruit-flavored refreshers.

The nascent NA beverage category just received a few minutes of fame in Netflix’s new season of Emily in Paris. The spot sees American influencer and marketing character Emily Cooper launch into a pitch for a non-alcoholic version of her client’s wine while citing the rise of NA’s and the sober curious movement in the U.S.

🍷 Emily argues that these consumers – primarily Gen Z and Millenials, she claims – are simply looking to take a “wellness approach” to be more mindful about drinking.

🇫🇷 However, her Parisian client doesn’t seem to buy into the concept: “Sobriety may be popular in America, but it is this antithesis of French culture,” her boss interjects. 

🤫 We may be blending two pop culture moments with this one, but hear us out: Non-alc beverages have the potential to be very mindful, very cutesy… “very demure” if the Parisians play their cards right. The sober curious trend after all is rooted in mindful drinking.

🗣️ But that might not be possible with current perceptions: “Does that mean they are drinking and just not talking about it?”…“No it means they are not drinking and won’t shut up about it,” the scene emphasizes. 

The hosts welcome Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous to the show as they discuss Mars’ $36 billion acquisition of Kellanova, including key takeaways from the deal, its impact on the food industry and why it may spur a flow of M&A activity among entrepreneurial companies.

Listen to the episode now.