• 🔐 Keychain Attempts To Solve Malfunctions in CPG Manufacturing
• 🔄 Leadership Change At Outfox Hospitality
• 🆕 Update: More Details Spill on Snoop & Dre’s RTD
• 💯 TW&M Does Super Bowl Numbers

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Having taken steps to clean up its ingredient profile last year, plant-based milk giant Califia is turning to another blind spot for the category: its nutritional value. Billed as offering the same amount or more of nine essential nutrients than traditional dairy milk, Califia Farms Complete is rolling out this week, part of an innovation wave that also includes four other new releases. 

9️⃣ Complete contains the same amount or more of nine essential nutrients – Protein (8 grams), Calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Riboflavin – as an 8 oz. serving of dairy milk, but with only half the sugar. 

🛒 The new product is now available in 40 oz. refrigerated multi-serve bottles in stores like Target and Walmart. 

🆕 Other new Califia products announced yesterday include Matcha Almond Latte (48 oz/$6.49), Organic Oat Barista Blend (32 oz/$5.39), Coconut Barista Blend (32 oz/$4.99), the limited release Chocolate Strawberry Almond Creamer (25.4 oz/$5.29) and Pure Black Sweetened Iced Coffee (48 oz/$6.19).

A report from Bloomberg suggests that Coca-Cola could be kicking the tires in a potential deal for fast-rising Poppi.

No transaction has occurred and a deal isn’t imminent, per the story. 

The company is fresh off a splashy Super Bowl ad and on-site presence at the big game, with Post Malone adding some star power to the brand’s “Soda is Back” campaign. 

We’ll be watching this developing story

It’s Valentine’s Day so let's talk about finding a compatible partner…CPG manufacturing partner that is. Keychain, a new tech company, is hoping to bridge the gap between brands and retailers with possible co-manufacturing partners with its new AI-powered platform.

💰 Backed by $18 million seed round raised in November in a round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Keychain was founded by former home service website Angi executives Oisin Hanrahan and Umang Dua with former Monogram Capital investor Jordan Weitz.

🏭 The co-man database not only lists possible food and beverage producers but is attempting to be a middleman between brand manufacturers who have capabilities and unused line time.

🧐 Keychain is not alone in trying to make the process of matching manufacturers and brands more transparent. PartnerSlate, another AI-fueled tech platform, raised $4 million last year as it also tries to solve for inefficiencies in co-mans.

Read The Full Story On BevNET

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It’s not often that the chicken beats the fox, but it did this week. Just a few months after being named CEO of Outfox Hospitality, the holding company formed after the merger of Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market, Liz Williams is heading back to foodservice as the new chief executive of fast-casual Mexican food chain El Pollo Loco. Williams will be replaced at Outfox Hospitality (the holding company of Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market) grocery executive Rob Twyman.

🛒 Twyman joins Outfox with over 27 years of experience in various leadership positions at Whole Foods Market and, most recently, CEO of Boston-based nonprofit grocery chain Daily Table.

🦊 Williams joined Foxtrot in June 2022 as president and CFO and would go on to take over the CEO role in April 2023. The news of her departure comes less than four months after news broke of the merger between next-Gen Chicago retail chains Foxtrot and Dom’s.

⭐ Before coming to the Foxtrot, Williams held executive positions at Drybar, Hart House and Taco Bell.

Surprise! It may only be Wednesday, but we have a New Products Gallery for you, and this time, it's the spirits edition. Here’s a preview of what’s inside:

🥳 The House of Rémy Martin celebrates its tricentennial with the launch of the 300th Anniversary Coupe. The LTO was crafted by cellar master Baptiste Loiseau from the Rémy Martin “Réserve Perpétuelle,” a collection of eaux-de-vie, exclusively from the Grande Champagne terroir in France. 

🍸 Tequila Don Julio’s newest liquid, Alma Miel, is inspired by the agave honey that comes from the heart of the 100% Blue Weber Agave. The new offering features a blend of Blanco tequila distilled with oven-roasted agave honey and Añejo tequila that has been aged for at least 14 months and finished in Crémant du Limoux wine casks from the Limoux region of France.

🍰 Sugarlands Brewing Company has announced the release of its new Birthday Cake Sippin Cream. Bottled at 40 proof, the rum-based liqueur features classic flavors of cake, vanilla icing and sprinkles. It will be available as part of Sugarlands’ 10th birthday celebration on March 9 at its downtown Gatlinburg distillery.

Check out the full gallery on BevNET.

Did that Gin & Juice release from earlier this week leave you scratching your head? Fear not, we tracked down a few more details to share:

1️⃣ The launch is the first from the new “premium spirits company” By Dre and Snoop, which is led by Patrick Halbert (CEO), Andrew Gill (chief strategy officer) and Rocco Milano (EVP of sales), the founders from On The Rocks Cocktails. The three will work alongside a core team of former On The Rocks cocktails employees. 

2️⃣ Investors include Dre’s Beat Electronics co-founder Jimmy Iovine; Main Street Advisors; Marc Rowan, CEO and a cofounder of one of the biggest U.S. private equity firms Apollo Global Management; and Tom Werner, TV exec and chairman of the Liverpool football club and the Boston Red Sox, according to the release.

3️⃣ National rollout will start with grocery chains and on-premise, and the cocktails will come in single flavor 4-packs and variety 8-packs.

Read the updated story on BevNET

Forget the point spread: post-Super Bowl, our eyes turn toward some different stats, as Total Wine & More shares data on how drinkers shopped in Kansas City and San Francisco, and you may be surprised by some of the winners.

🍺 While fans of the 49ers were sipping on national brands such as Cutwater and Coors, Chiefs fans’ top selling brand of the weekend (Feb 8-11) was Boulevard Brewing, brewed right in Kansas City.

🏆 The top five selling BevAlc brands in SF were Cutwater, Modelo, BuzzBallz, Coors and Corona. In KC, Boulevard Brewing, Crown Royal, Yuengling, Michelob, and Cutwater made the… cut.

🍸 If we look at data provided by the retailer for those stocking up prior (Feb 5-8), a few wine brands made the list in KC with Tito’s at number one, while the top vodka brand was also a favorite in SF alongside Jameson.

Gotham Greens co-founder and CEO Viraj Puri spoke about how he has maintained focus and managed new and complex responsibilities amid the development of the pioneering urban agriculture company, assessing when to accelerate growth and what he considers to be his biggest mistake and best decision.

Listen to the full episode on BevNET

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