• 🥥 Supply Chain Weighs On Vita Coco 
• 👀 Trilliant Nutrition Launches Nurri
• 🍀 Luckin Coffee Plans U.S. Launch
• 🚚 Grounded Makes U.S. Debut 
• 📉 Campari Stumbles in Q3
• 🔀 Ben Branson Changed An Industry. Can He Do It Again?

Non-alcoholic apéritif brand De Soi is getting a winter makeover today as its first-ever limited-edition flavor hits shelves – part of the brand’s strategy to continue to emotionally connect with its consumers as the adult non-alc (ANA) category “grows and becomes hegemonized,” according to master-distiller Morgan McLachlan. 

The new St. Moritz Mule is giving Moscow Mule meets après-ski soirées by combining pomegranate, cranberry, ginger, plus adaptogens like L-theanine, reishi mushroom, and lion’s mane (a.k.a. the stuff known for its anxiety-reducing properties… just in time for holiday family gatherings?) In a season when ready-to-drink sales begin to dip, the brand is getting into the cold-weather marketing spirit by partnering with ski brands on giveaways and positioning its new release as the spritz – an increasingly high-selling cocktail – for winter months. 

McLachlan is aiming to address one of the biggest challenges of flavor innovation in the ANA category: creating flavors that are recognizable alcohol proxies, but also novel and nuanced. NA cocktail and spirits brands in particular are faced with the expectations of full-proof versions as well as the potential to put off a younger audience that doesn’t even enjoy the taste of alcohol to begin with. 

“The inspiration for our flavors usually emerges from some combination of the epistemology of spirited drinks and aperitifs, flavor pairings, but also emotions and moods,” she said. 

• The product will launch exclusively at Sprouts before expanding elsewhere between late November and early January.
• In the meantime, De Soi is also engaging its VIP subscribers for product testing: over 50% of the company’s online revenue comes from recurring subscriptions, which provides them with “a high value customer base who truly love our products.” 

Go Deeper: Katy Perry’s De Soi Augments Reality

Grab a favorite beverage and settle in for a lively exploration of today's hottest category trends. In this new series, Cargill subject-matter experts spill the tea on emerging trends, new research and innovative solutions to help you shake up your corner of the market. Learn more

Supply chain issues this summer led The Vita Coco Company to report a net sales decline of 4% in its Q3 2024 earnings to $133 million. However, the company said the worst is behind them and is now looking towards a brighter future as it raised full-year sales guidance to $505 million and $515 million (previously $500 to $510 million).

⚖️ Although overall sales fell during Q3, net sales of Vita Coco brand coconut water were up 8% in the quarter and 5% year-to-date. 

⛴️ CEO Martin Roper pointed to issues with ocean freight impacting sales, but said the business has “weathered these shortages and, in late September, saw our product flow and availability in market improving.”

🍭 On a call with investors and analysts this morning, co-founder and executive chairman Mike Kirban cited strong demand for its private label coconut water and promising sales for new innovations like its Vita Coco Treats line as positive indicators for the future.

Read the full report on BevNET.

BevNET’s annual “Best Of” Awards commend companies, brands, individuals, products, ideas and trends from across the ever-changing beverage industry landscape. The highly-anticipated awards show will take place in Marina del Rey, Calif., during BevNET Live Winter 2024 on December 8-10, 2024.

BevNET’s Best Of 2024 Awards are currently open for nominations and you may submit as many nominations as you’d like, either for your own company/product or a company/product you find deserving. 

The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, November 1.

Click here for more information and to submit a nomination. 

Forty-five-year-old integrated beverage manufacturer Trilliant Nutrition, producer of brands such as Victor Allen, Aspen Ridge and Study Fuel, is seeking growth outside of the coffee category.

🥛 Those efforts have resulted in the launch of Nurri: an ultra-filtered, lactose-free protein milk shake, currently available in a single Chocolate SKU, exclusively at Costco. The shakes contain 30 grams of protein per 11 oz. can, along with 10 essential vitamins and minerals and one gram of sugar. 

💭 “While other protein drinks are often positioned around nutrition and muscle building, Nurri is positioned as more of a lifestyle brand. Our brand is playful and bright, and we want everyone to enjoy a drink that makes it easier for consumers to get their protein intake up,” said a spokesperson for Nurri. 

⏪ Trilliant’s platform spans private label and branded beverages, including coffee grounds, coffee pods, teas and fruit drink mixes. The company, now owned by private equity company Blackstone, generates approximately $60 million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, reports Reuters. 

BevNET Insiders can read the full story to learn more about Nurri later today.

While Starbucks is navigating its own identity crisis, it is about to be put under even more pressure. Having cleared its nine-figure bill with the SEC for fraud charges from 2020, Chinese cafe chain Luckin Coffee is seemingly ready to take on the U.S. market with cut-price drinks priced at around $2 to $3, per a report in The Financial Times.

🎢 The company, China’s largest cafe chain, has weathered a delisting from Nasdaq and an exposé for inflating sales numbers and the departure of key executives (two of whom have since created a major competitor) since forming in 2018. 

💳 Investors have kept faith with Luckin’s lean model, emphasizing small-footprint kiosks, automation and cash-free transactions, all of which allowed the company to thrive during extended COVID-19 lockdowns and reopening. 

📉 The news arrives as Starbucks struggles with a 10% year-over-year drop in store traffic and questions over what the cafe experience represents as it seeks to balance app-driven mobile orders with in-store customer service.

🇺🇸 Grounded, the West London-born clean protein shake brand, has made its stateside debut at Whole Foods Market. The brand’s Plant-Based Protein M*lkshakes are now available in WFM stores across the California and New York regions. 

🥤 Poppi announced some big moves in Walmart, with its prebiotic sodas making their way into all 4,300 stores across the country, increasing its physical store count by 79%, as reported by Beverage Business Insights. 

🥥 Premium coconut water brand 100 Coconuts has landed its products in over 230 Whole Foods Market locations nationwide. The retail chain carries the brand’s best-selling Pure Coconut Water, as well as its Pineapple and Mango varieties.

💧 Continuing with its omnichannel approach, hydration brand waterdrop has locked in distribution at all Wegmans locations, according to a LinkedIn post by Alexandre Ruberti, the brand’s general manager for the U.S. 

Keep an eye out for a full distribution roundup on BevNET later today. 

After three years of double-digit growth, Campari has joined its peers in posting sales losses in Q3. 

🔇 The group’s quarterly organic sales declined by 1.4%, but were up in the nine months ending September 30 by 2.1% in organic terms to $2.47 billion. Campari faulted a combination of “concomitant factors” including muted consumption in the U.S.

🏘️ Following in the footsteps of Pernod-Ricard and Diageo, which began offloading brands this summer, the group said it will streamline its portfolio by disposing of “non-core brands” as it focuses on newly created ‘Houses of Brands’ for its leading categories: cognac and champagne; aperitifs; whiskey and rum; and tequila.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Other major spirits groups have announced similar results this quarter: Organic sales for Rémy Cointreau fell by double digits for the second quarter in a row, Cuervo-owner Proximo reported a deceleration of sales, and bulk spirit producer MGP lowered its earning expectations for the full year, expecting a 24% sales drop in its third quarter results to be announced tomorrow.

Ben Branson, the trailblazing founder of non-alcoholic spirit brand Seedlip and innovative venture studio Pollen Projects, shares his perspective on an evolving market for zero-proof beverages, why “the best” non-alcoholic products are not analogs of legacy spirits and why he’s betting big on an unusual sourcing and production model.

Listen to the full episode now.

Correction: A glaring typo in yesterday’s edition misnamed Tanya Seber, head of business development at Dora’s Naturals. Our apologies to Ms. Seber!