• 🤝 Coca-Cola Buys Australian RTD Brand
  
• 📊 Hemp-THC Fueling Next Innovation Wave
• 💧 Proud Source Links With Dora’s in NYC
• 👀 BevNET Magazine Nov/Dec 2024 Issue

The next time you crack open a bottle of water, take solace in knowing that it is finally, officially “healthy.”

Last week, the FDA finalized its new definition for use of the term “healthy” on food labels in its first update since 1994, greatly broadening the standard to cover a range of new foods and drinks that were left out by the older and far more limited guidelines.

The new rules now allow products like avocados, lean game meat, eggs and olive oil to use “healthy” in their descriptors, so long as they meet the new restrictions limiting the amount of saturated fat, sodium and added sugars (which vary by food category). For beverage, these guidelines also now open the door for water and fat-free and low-fat dairy products to use the label.

But that’s not all! Coffee and tea products can also now qualify under the updated definition, assuming they meet the added sugar limits (so, no, Java Monster isn’t likely to be rebranded as a wellness product any time soon). 

Certainly, it opens up a whole new world of marketing and messaging opportunities for brands who, we can imagine, were likely ripping their hair out that a bottled unsweetened green tea would need to use workaround terms like “better-for-you” in official communications. 

Some products, however, will find themselves out in the cold under the new definition, in particular high-sugar fruit juices that were able to apply the label in the past so long as they met a 10% daily value for certain vitamins and nutrients. Ultra-sweet juice boxes with a dash of Vitamin C aren’t going to cut it anymore, but companies will have until 2028 to comply with the change.

The Coca-Cola Company announced late last week that it has agreed to acquire Billson’s, an Australia-based producer of alcohol ready-to-drink products like Vodka with Tangle, Vodka with Grape Burst, and Vodka with Portello. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

🍺 As part of the deal, Billson’s current owners Nathan and Felicity Cowan will continue producing their cordial, soda, and beer range under a new brand name.

⏩ Coca-Cola’s acquisition of Billson’s is targeted for completion on Jan. 31, 2025. The beverage giant has no plans to expand the alcohol RTD brand beyond Australia. 

🗣️ What they said: “This acquisition allows us to expand in the dynamic and growing alcohol RTD category in Australia and aligns with our vision to provide a beverage for every occasion, always keeping the consumer at the center of everything we do.” - Matthias Blume, Coca-Cola VP of marketing, ASEAN and South Pacific 

Hemp-derived THC is opening up new commercial frontiers nationwide, mainly because consumers are excited about the burgeoning category. But the numbers – per Brightfield’s latest segment look-in, exclusively for BevNET Insiders – reflect a more nuanced picture: Yes, hemp-sourced THC is blowing up (14% CAGR to ~$750 million by 2029) but are beverages keeping pace? 

Drinks may have a higher ceiling over time, but, for now, gummies still reign supreme in hemp THC, followed by flower and pre-rolls. In fact, the incidence rate for beverages has slipped just a bit (from 14% to 11.4%) though Brightfield notes it’s too early to define that trajectory as a trend. 

Adding further wrinkles to the market, celebrities are starting to leverage their followings to break into the drinks category; see stoner-approved names like Seth Rogen, Snoop Dogg and Cheech & Chong. That greater advocacy is helping open up new day parts and occasions – higher-dose products at home, lower-dose when out at bars and restaurants. 

BevNET Insiders can read the full report here.

Last week, we caught up with Michael Boyd of aluminum packaged water maker Proud Source as the company caps off a year of “righting the ship” by entering New York City, a “critical market” where the brand has aligned with Dora’s Naturals.

 🚚 Proud Source has picked up DSDs like Jack Hillard in Texas and CoreMark and Pure Beverages in the Midwest, but all roads now lead to New York City, where Boyd’s tenure running marketing at longtime Dora’s partner GT’s Kombucha has earned him a strong track record with Dora’s owner Cyrus Schwartz — who now has more warehouse space to fill.

🛒 Proud Source’s experience over the past 12 months is influencing strategy for 2025; Boyd specifically praised the brand’s 16 oz. “Made in America” cans as “the next big evolution” within the business. That value-minded packaging — a particularly popular format for water since first championed by Liquid Death — has been a “huge success” that helped open the doors at large format stores like Kroger (where 8-packs have gained a foothold in center store) and convenience outlets like Qwik Trip. The 16 oz. tall boys complement its existing 12 oz. cans.

📈 “The biggest thing is as we’ve expanded and looked at the way the category is growing, there’s a huge opportunity to gain new consumers and drive trial with the can packaging,” Boyd explained.

#ICYMI: The digital copy of the BevNET Magazine Nov/Dec 2024 Issue is now available on our site, complete with insights on consumer behavior, brand growth, category volume, and trend forecasting. 

🥤 Contents include: 

• Modern Family: Next-Gen Gut Health Sodas Take Over
• Sober & Sparkling: Alcohol Moderation is Enhancing – and Challenging – the Idea of What Sparkling Water Can Be
• Sour Milk: Plant-Based Dairy Strategizes Around 
• National Cider Month: A Call for Collaboration in the Hard Cider Segment
• New Beverage Guide 2024/2025 

💻 Access the full magazine at bevnet.com/magazine.