• 🆕 This Week's New Products
• ⭐ How Star Power Is Faring In Spirits
• 🚚 KeHE CEO: Private Label is Rising 
• 🍩 Dunkin’ Drops New Tracks
• 💰 Can Kombucha Make A Comeback? Money Is Still Flowing… In Some Spaces.

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Summer is a time for sun, surf and, in our case, scanning piping hot reams of beverage sales data from NielsenIQ. 

With overall dollars up 4.2% in June, it’s been an auspicious start to the season, but where do things go from here? Before our eyes glaze over with digits and symbols, we are here to offer a few thoughts on the latest tranche of numbers. 

If consumers are worried about recent claims disputing Poppi’s good-for-your-gut reputation, they aren’t showing it at the register. 

• In the weeks since the Texas-based company was hit by a widely publicized class action lawsuit, it has continued to perform, driving +147.8% volume growth in the four-weeks ended June 29, a nice jump over the 12-week gains (+129.9%) and ahead of its full 52-weeks numbers, though pricing has been trending downward over the past month. 

Meanwhile, Poppi’s main rival Olipop continues to blissfully coast along, posting more four-figure sales gains in June. Nielsen doesn’t have info for Culture Pop or other players outside the top two, but indicators suggest its status quo for the time being: among soda drinkers, “digestive health” was the third-most mentioned need state on social media conversations in June, according to data from The Brightfield Group.  

Just around a year ago, a bottle of PRIME was basically an express pass to the cool kids’ lunch table at middle schools around the country. 

• Its two-year stack numbers still look strong, but this summer Logan Paul’s sports drink has been drifting: against the backdrop of drama with distributors – volume (-26.2% for the four-weeks) and price (-1.4%) both continue to fall. 

More worrying for the brand, its distro woes have arrived just as its immediate competitors have hit their stride in stable, established networks: KDP partner Electrolit soared in June (+34.8 volume on +4.6% pricing), Mark Anthony Brands’ splashy Lionel Messi collaboration is just starting to move through DSDs like Reyes and Gold Coast, and we expect GHOST’s hydration drinks (distributed via Anheuser-Busch affiliates) and Lemon Perfect to make a greater impact on the sales charts as the year rolls on.

The shifting investment landscape in CPG has been a major discussion point over the past 18 months as investors have become more cautious about deploying their dollars. That might be one lens from which to view the sales data: we’re thinking brands like Spindrift, the subject of sale speculation earlier this year, continuing to grow volume (+28.3% in the four-weeks) and dollar sales ($226.6M). On the other end of the spectrum, Kitu Life’s recent management moves haven’t stopped it from bleeding volume (-58.8%) and sales (-37.1% to $26 million), numbers that are sure to concern existing and future investors. 

Could the second half of the year see more smaller-scale, selective M&A activity? A report from FABID suggests conditions could be right for choosy investors, as Q1 2024 saw average investment dollars increase but to a smaller group of recipients.  

Go Deeper: Non-Alc Beverage Sales Decelerate in Late June.

As we gear up for the weekend, there are plenty of new plant-based dairy drinks on tap. Here’s a look at the new beverages announced this week:

☕ Califia continues to position itself as one of the go-to players in the alt-dairy coffee and tea category with a new Chai Almond Latte. 

💪 Ripple sees a future for itself in kid-positioned products as it unveiled its Shake Ups Protein Shakes intended for younger consumers (but to be enjoyed by all).

☕ Stumptown Coffee has embraced the 15th anniversary of the beloved animated film “Coraline” by partnering with the movie’s production studio in a co-branded nitro canned coffee.

🍧 BodyArmor and Dude Perfect have launched their own collaboration that nods to a familiar summertime treat: berry ice pops.

🍻 Hoplark is at it again. This time it has brewed cornsilk and hops in a Mexican Lager-Style hop water that it will feature in a michelada (or Hop-alada) partnership with Miche Mix.

Check out the full new product gallery now on BevNET.

When it comes to celebrity-backed spirits, who’s hot, who’s not? With the spirits downturn impacting companies across the board, we turned to 3 Tier Beverages for some data on how celebrity brands are faring against each other and their civilian counterparts. Here’s the scoop:

📈 We’re seeing celebrity-backed brands in categories with positive sales numbers gain steam, so RTD brands like Long Drink (Miles Teller), VMC (Saul “Canelo” Alvarez) and Delola (Jennifer Lopez) are all in the top-five growth brands among spirits. NA celeb-backed brands also make up a tiny percentage but are growing 65%.

🥂 We also looked at how the business model has evolved since, say, George Clooney struck it big with Diageo: Now there are several ways celebrities put their names to spirits, although with social media moving faster than it was a decade ago, consumers are much more savvy about what seems to be an authentic connection.  

🔍 Retailers are looking at that too: How much a celeb plans to put into that brand is part of getting on the shelf, but there are other factors too. 

Read the full story on BevNET for more insight on the success of celebrity-backed spirits.

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As the country slowly climbs out of the post-pandemic inflationary era, KeHE CEO and president Deb Conklin said during the distributor’s 2024 Holiday Show last month that it is seeing a rapid change to consumer behavior: From high-income families shopping at Walmart to an estimate that as much as 40% of CPG product consumption could be from private label within the next five years.

🎤 Conklin’s keynote also touched on topics including her own surprise that the economy avoided a recessionary sink and consumer’s growing embrace of natural and organic products.

👷 She cautioned that as baby boomers retire en masse, the industry needs to be more adaptable to changing attitudes and flexibility from younger individuals entering the workforce, even as labor participation rises.

💽 Although COVID accelerated the adoption of online shopping, she highlighted that most consumers still shop at three or four physical stores per week; more people are now omnichannel shoppers as well she said, buying both online and in-person.

Could the song of the summer come from Dunkin’? The coffee chain has dropped its first record on Spotify today – “Iced: The EP” – featuring five tracks that are all love for the brand’s top chilled menu items, including “standout single” “Iced Like My Coffee,” which features a duet by boy band icons A.J. McLean and Joey Fatone.

🎭 The mini album is a part of the brand’s summer Dunkin’Terns marketing campaign, which also includes commercial spots starring actor Will Arnett. Other songs include “Refresher Season,” “All I Need is An Iced Coffee,” and “SPARKD’ UP” – an ode to Dunkin’s recently introduced energy drink offering.

🧢 The company said it plans to also release a “visualizer” video for its song with McLean and Fatone, and additional tie-ins for the Dunkin’Terns campaign are planned for this summer, including a merch line developed with AMBUSH designer Yoon Ahn.

🎧 As far as brand image goes, Dunkin’ has been bullish with the absurd pop music marketing as of late. Remember their Super Bowl commercial this year where Ben Affleck formed a hip hop group called The Dunkings? 

It’s a “buy or sell” episode as the hosts opine about the future of online grocery shopping, fish sticks, and whether kombucha can recapture some of its magic (and sales). They also discuss Athletic Brewing Co.’s recent $50 million financing round and highlight a few fizzy and spicy new products.

Listen to the full episode now.