• 🍋 BMI Soundbites: ‘Flavor is Forever,’ Craft’s Resurgence
• 🛒 DoorDash: Adult Beverage Delivery Orders Increasing
• 📰 Diageo Asset Dumping, Molson Coors People Moves
• ❌ New On Shelves: NA Apocalypse IPA
• 🔮 On Tap: Sierra Nevada & New Trail CBC Chats

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Bev-alc’s embrace of flavor and craft beer’s shifting distribution trends were among spotlighted issues during last week’s Beer Marketer’s Insights Spring Conference in Chicago.

Leaders from BeatBox Beverages, Boston Beer, Atomic Brands, Columbia Distributing and Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) shared where their business and the beer category is heading. Here are a few soundbites from the conference. 

And if you missed part 1, catch up here: Hot New Brands, NA Beer Steals Soda Drinkers & Molson Coors Adds Headcount: Beer Marketer’s Insights Spring Meeting Notebook Pt. 1

🤑 BeatBox on Pace to Generate $260M in 2025

Party punch maker BeatBox has grown from a $2 million business in 2018, to $176 million in 2024, co-founder and CEO Justin Fenchel shared. In 2025, the company is expected to reach $260 million after an “outstanding” start to the year.

Fenchel said: “The world is really waking up to this fourth category. It’s flavor-forward, it’s high ABV, it’s convenient, it’s fun.”

Later, he declared: “Flavor is forever.”

😎 Sun Cruiser Selling ‘By the Pallet’

Scott Hempstead, Boston Beer’s Sun Cruiser national sales director, discussed the strong 15-month start for the vodka-based iced tea brand, including surprising success in the on-premise. 

Hempstead said: “People are buying it by the pallet, not by the case. I don’t believe Boston Beer’s ever really had anything like that in the portfolio.”

📈 Columbia Seeing Craft Trends Turn Positive 

National craft brands are seeing a “resurgence,” Columbia Distributing CEO Chris Steffanci shared during a one-on-one conversation. He pointed to the reinvention of Sierra Nevada and New Belgium leading to growth across the country and trends in the Pacific Northwest beginning to flip.

Steffanci said: “We’re actually seeing that now bleed into local craft.”

He offered Georgetown as an example of a Seattle brewery on a positive trajectory and building a million case business. He also cited Deschutes Brewery’s move into non-alcoholic (NA) beer with helping reverse double-digit declines. 

👉 Brewbound Insiders can read more from BeatBox, Boston Beer and Columbia, as well as hear from leaders at Atomic Brands and A-B on fourth category and craft beer trends. 

Consumers want more beverages delivered to their doorsteps – alcoholic and otherwise – according to a recent survey by food and beverage e-commerce delivery platform DoorDash.

DoorDash, which allows consumers to order delivery from local restaurants and retailers, surveyed more than 1,500 consumers between February 25 and March 3, with results shared in the 2025 DoorDash Delivery Trends report, released last week. Respondents were 50% male, 50% female, with an average age of 40 and average household income of $81,000.

42% of respondents said they are ordering bev-alc delivery more often in 2025 than they did in 2024. And it appears no special occasion is needed to spark a bev-alc order, as 40% of consumers said they order for “regular nights at home” – the most popular occasion ahead of watching sports (39%), celebrating holidays (38%), hosting parties (34%) and romantic evenings (32%). 

While bev-alc delivery may be up, so is NA adult beverage delivery. 80% of respondents who ordered bev-alc delivery this year said they also ordered low- or no-alcohol adult beverages in the last six months, “more than twice as many as last year,” DoorDash reported. 

The increased NA ordering is on top of a 82% YoY increase in NA beer orders through DoorDash from 2023 to 2024, the company reported, citing app data. 

Insiders can dive deeper into the report, including intoxicating hemp beverage insights, ordering frequency and gifting.

🗑️ Diageo plans to cut $500 million in costs and is considering dumping some “significant” assets by 2028. 

The company unveiled a fresh cost savings plan this week, including some substantial changes to the group’s portfolio (“versus portfolio trimmings”), but the CEO reiterated that it will hold onto its Guinness brand, which was rumored to be for sale. 

Cost cuts will help the group add $3 billion in cash flow for FY 2026, which will help offset tariff impacts, which are expected to have a $150 million hit on Diageo’s operating profit. The company said it will be able to offset about half of the impact before any pricing action.

💼 Molson Coors chief communications and corporate affairs officer Adam Collins will leave the company later this month after nearly 7 years. 

Collins announced the news last week on LinkedIn, teasing “an exciting opportunity in another industry.” 

This is the second Molson Coors c-suite departure announcement of 2025. CEO Gavin Hattersley will retire at the end of the year, the company shared in April. The company is considering internal and external candidates for this replacement.  

🚛 Live Oak Brewing (Austin, TX) has ended its self-distribution business, and has partnered with Capital Reyes Distributing and Silver Eagle Beverages to distribute its beers in its home state.

Live Oak founder and president Chip McElroy said in a press release: “For 28 years, we've brewed our beer and delivered it ourselves – every keg, every case. But now, we're stepping forward with trusted partners who share our values and help us reach more Texans than ever – without compromising what's made Live Oak special."

The move – made with the guidance of brewery consulting firm Lone Star Beverages – will deepen Live Oak’s presence in Texas, and allow the brewery to focus more on production, innovation and quality, according to the release. 

CBC interviews continue this week on the Brewbound Podcast. The next conversations on the docket – recorded live on the BrewExpo floor in Indianapolis – include:

• Sierra Nevada CCO Ellie Preslar and chief brewing officer Brian Grossman;
• And New Trail co-owner and chief operating officer Mike LaRosa. 

The Brewbound team will also recap the latest headlines. Look for the episode midweek. 

Also on tap this week is a roundup of various legislative moves across the country impacting THC beverage sales. Brewbound managing editor Jess Infante will have updates from Alabama, Delaware, Massachusetts and more.

Plus, look for several data reports, including weekly Circana scans and a pre-Memorial Day weekend dive from Numerator.

Tilray-owned 10 Barrel Brewing has launched NA Apocalypse IPA, an NA version of its West Coast IPA. 

NA Apocalypse IPA is available in 12 oz. can 6-packs year-round at 10 Barrel’s taprooms and off- and on-premise retailers throughout its distribution footprint.

CBC conversations continue on the Brewbound Podcast with a pair of interviews featuring Right Proper Brewing co-owner and Brewers Association board chairwoman Leah Cheston and Hi-Wire Brewing co-owner Adam Charnack.

Cheston and Brewbound managing editor Jessica Infante discuss Executive Order Me a Beer – Right Proper’s pay-it-forward program to support laid off federal employees with beers and networking – and the unique experiences of parents in the beer industry. 

Cheston also discussed life as a brewery-owning parent and the division of labor between her and her husband and Right Proper co-owner Thor Cheston. Due to a now-defunct quirk in Washington, D.C.’s licensing laws, the licenses for the brewery’s two locations needed to be split up between the Chestons, so one was listed as Leah’s and the other was Thor’s, meaning their children thought their parents – and everyone else’s – just had their own breweries.

Then, Charnack discusses the recovery process of Hi-Wire’s flagship location in Asheville in the wake of Hurricane Helene with senior reporter Zoe Licata. The brewery’s facility in the city’s River Arts District is “back in full swing and we’re fully operating,” he said.

Charnack explained: “This is what Asheville is like, generally. Everything looks fully functional and back to normal, but under the surface is six months of pain that is a real deep wound.”

In addition, Zoe and Jess discuss the last gasp of Q1 earnings season, the cooler selection at Zoe’s parents’ most recent gathering and Instacart’s new party platform, Fizz.

Listen here or on your preferred podcast app.

Talk about high visibility retail: With more than 50,000 concerts and festivals last year, Live Nation events brought in more than 150 million thirsty customers, and concert attendance keeps rising.

Recently, Live Nation started investing in rising CPG brands, and attendees of BevNET Live on June 11 & 12 in New York City will have the chance to learn about the way these partnerships work through the lens of JOLENE Coffee, a brand co-founded by celebrities Anthony Kiedis and Shane Powers with investment by Live Nation, Global Brand Equities, and the h.wood group.

In this conversation, Russell Wallach, the architect of Live Nation’s global brand ecosystem, will sit down with Anthony Kiedis, co-founder of JOLENE and Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman, and Jackie Atlas, the veteran CPG executive tasked with scaling the new ready-to-drink coffee. They’ll unpack JOLENE’s ties to Live Nation and that organization’s approach to investment, marketing, and brand positioning, while sharing the best ways to develop connections within Live Nation as their partnership approach evolves, as well as the broader role of concerts and festivals as brand acceleration opportunities.

The panel is part of the excitingly varied program that BevNET Live offers this summer. Tickets are still available for the event, which also includes Beverage School, the New Beverage Showdown, retailer one-to-one meetings, and extensive sampling and networking opportunities.

There are less than 30 days until the conference!

Register for BevNET Live >>