• 🧃 Kraft Heinz To Remove Artificial Food Dyes By 2027
• 🛋️ All The Bitter Opens NA Cocktail Lounge
• 👩🏻‍🏭 Danone Completes Jacksonville Plant Expansion
• 🏃 5-Hour Fugitive Finally Faces Feds
• 🌞 Sunsetting The White Claw Vodka + Soda
• 😎 Summer Wave Of Spirit Campaigns
• 🎙️ Now Streaming: Taste Radio

From the playful rise of #WaterTok to the wellness appeal of prebiotic sodas, consumers are reshaping what they expect from a simple sip. Flavored water is leading the charge, bridging fun, function, and flavor in ways brands can’t afford to ignore. See where innovation is headed next. Learn more

For someone who likes to move fast, these last eight months must have been particularly tough on Cadence founder Ross MacKay. 

When we say he likes to move fast, we mean literally: MacKay, the former co-founder of plant-based meat startup Daring Foods, is an avid runner (“I like to compete in running a little bit too much,” he admitted during an interview earlier this month). 

That passion inspired Cadence’s launch as a single-SKU 250 mL RTD last July, but now the brand is shifting speed to a higher gear with a new slate of innovation that aims to define the budding sports performance platform as more than just “that salty drink.” 

“Almost every other month [this year], you’ll see something from us,” MacKay told us.

The expanded beverage roster now includes three new flavors in a larger format, three varieties of powder drink sachets and two Fuel Bars. The brand architecture is built to house the products under three hydration occasions: Core (everyday), Race (caffeine) and Recover (sleep).

While the bars will mainly move online, Cadence’s revamped RTDs are being seeded in specialty retailers this spring in hopes of laying the groundwork for an eventual move to mainstream channels — similarly to how some of the biggest names in energy have made the jump. 

Against that backdrop, Cadence’s positioning at the intersection of wellness lifestyle and sports performance feels unique – and potentially a challenge for category managers. But the rise of other hyper-focused “modern hydration” brands like LMNT and The Absorption Company may herald a sea change.

“I’d say to a [grocery] buyer put this anywhere, because this will transcend into a lifestyle brand. I think [modern hydration] will be agnostic to sport or to performance or to whatever you want it to be. And I think it needs another few brands to prop that category up.”

Insiders can learn how Cadence is positioning its expanding portfolio and building an audience through targeted strategic partnerships. 

Kraft Heinz is kicking red dye and others to the curb as it aligns itself with key objectives of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.

• The food and beverage conglomerate this morning proclaimed, effective immediately, it will not launch any new products in the U.S. that contain Food, Drug & Cosmetic (FD&C) colors. 
• Kraft Heinz also stated it will remove FD&C colors from its U.S. portfolio by the end of 2027.
• This push within Kraft’s own portfolio is playing out while federal officials are working on a plan to rid the U.S. food system of FD&C colors, commonly referred to as synthetic food dyes.

Insiders can access the full story to learn about Kraft’s stated three-pronged approach to cleaning up its ingredient decks. 

Sober curious consumers in Chico, California can now enjoy the premium cocktail experience at a new Zero Proof Lounge concept created by bitters brand All The Bitter.

• The Lounge includes on-site bitters production, tours, NA cocktail flights, a full zero-proof bar and a curated bottle shop, the company said in a press release.
• Locals out in Chico can visit the Lounge Tuesday through Saturday from 12 to 7 p.m. and sample a range of menu items including Agave Margarita and Spiced Old Fashioned, as well as functional drinks made with kava, such as its Yuzu Meyer Lemon Drop.

🛒 It’s also a retail opportunity: the Lounge’s bottle shop includes over 200 products, including NA beers, wines and spirits as well as food items like almonds, jams and olive oil.

Go Deeper: Learn how one viral moment made for a case against NA spirits on-premise.

Work with the team behind hundreds of successful beverage launches. From formulation to production, BevSource provides the strategy, insights and execution you need to move faster, avoid costly missteps and scale with confidence. Let us turn proven know-how into first-time-right execution for you. Learn more

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Danone North America has completed a $65 million renovation and expansion of its Jacksonville, Florida production plant, which is set to double capacity for its International Delight creamers and lead to an overall 30% reduction in bottle loss.

• The new production line can make both creamers and coffee, and will be used for the company’s SToK Cold Brew brand as well.
• The 115,025 square foot facility has been in operation since 1948 and the expansion is expected to create around 200 new “direct and indirect jobs,” the company said.

Related Reading: Chobani ‘Entering a New Dimension’ With $1.2 Billion New York Facility

An alleged energy shot bootlegger will finally face justice after a decade on the lam. Juan Romero, a Mexican national accused of producing and selling millions of counterfeit 5-Hour Energy shots, was extradited from Italy this month and faces federal conspiracy charges in California for his role in an 11-man operation a decade ago.

• Romero and nine co-defendants were initially charged in 2015, accused first of relabeling bottles of 5-Hour Energy meant only to be sold in Mexico and shipping them to the U.S., and later filling blank bottles with “mysterious liquids” after they ran out of authentic stock, according to Law360.
• Romero has been a fugitive since the initial arrests, and many of his co-defendants have since admitted to the scheme.

From the desk of spirits editor Ferron Salniker, here’s the latest intoxicating updates…

If you were confused by the launch of White Claw 0% NA seltzer line (so… a seltzer?) you weren’t the only one. The company behind White Claw and affiliated cocktails is now simplifying its approach to several product types. 

• After 18 months of testing White Claw 0%, Mark Anthony Brands (MAB) has rebranded it as White Claw Zero Proof.
• It also reformulated the liquid and refreshed the packaging to reduce consumer confusion with their high ABV product, Surge, given their similar dark blue packaging. But MAB president David Barnett Barnett admitted that MAB hasn’t “cracked” NA yet.
• Moving forward, the company’s strategy is a simplified approach to White Claw built around “four key pillars:” its core hard seltzer portfolio (4% ABV), Surge, non-alc (NA) Zero Proof seltzers and cocktail-inspired flavored malt beverage (FMB) line ClawTails (7% ABV).
• With the more focused approach, MAB is in the process of phasing out other products: the White Claw Refresher lemonade seltzer line, White Claw Surf line of mixed flavor seltzers and spirits-based White Claw Vodka + Soda.

Insiders can read the full story on BevNET.

This month, Aviation brought the Vasectomy Cocktail back, and ALB made the dirty martini breakfast appropriate.

✈️ Ryan Renolds’s Aviation Gin TV spot from 2021 has returned with the help of 90210 stars Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling. The Vasectomy, a cocktail that Reynolds – a father of three – made while sarcastically reflecting on the joys of fatherhood, arrived in a new form thanks to the on-screen couple. 

🍸 The data experts will tell you that earlier drinking occasions have picked up in the last few years, but we’d bet a dirty martini for breakfast wasn’t on their bingo card. Capitalizing on the martini trend, New York-based vodka brand ALB teamed up with “bagel disruptor” PopUp Bagels for a dirty martini schmear. 

Check out all of the latest campaigns on BevNET.

While many founders chase the latest trends, Yannis Ouzounopoulos, the founder and CEO of Olyra, saw opportunity in an overlooked $4 billion category – and struck breakfast gold.

Tune into the episode now. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.