• 🍸 New Spirits From El Tesoro & More
• 🔀 KDP Rejiggers C-Suite
• ☕ Ceremony Coffee Acquired
• 🤝🏼 Dutch Bros Building Cafe Footprint
• 🪧 Teamsters Ramp Up Bigfoot Boycott

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The new year is rapidly approaching, as evidenced by the influx of food and beverage trend reports in our inboxes. Today, we’re examining Nestlé’s forecast for 2025, which outlines how shifting consumer preferences could influence product innovation trends in the coming year. 

Nestlé highlighted four categories including the return of nostalgia, better-for-you goods with functional benefits, the “fourth wave of coffee,” and the expansion of existing brands into new formats. Here’s a look at what’s to come: 

The rise of “New-stalgia”: We’re going back to the future! F&B consumers are seeking products that help them escape and reflect on simpler times, according to Nestlé, which believes new brands will team up with legacy products to tap familiar flavors, comforting classics, and childhood favorites while reinventing the “old” with a fresh twist. 

• Earlier this year, Mountain Dew unveiled a refreshed visual identity that leans into its origins in the foothills of the Tennessee mountains while placing a new emphasis on “energizing refreshment” and togetherness. 

Feel Good, Functional Beverage: Since the pandemic, consumers have increasingly taken their health into their own hands. In particular, Gen Z has embraced wellness as “anything that makes you feel good,” which has pushed the generation to be large proponents of a growing category. 

• Prebiotic, gut-friendly soda has been bubbling over with popularity this year, from Olipop’s burgeoning sports partnerships to the launch of Health-Ade’s SunSip brand. And, with the recent launch of Walmart’s new “Modern Soda” category, it looks like the soda health halo is here to stay. 

Accessible Experimentation (Coffee At Home): The beverage world has been flooded with endless opportunities for customization over the past few years, especially in the form of coffee, boba, and “dirty soda” shops. Consumers are now taking this trend into their own homes and rebelling against the purist brews of the past. According to Nestlé’s research, 51% of U.S. coffee consumers own or are interested in syrups and additives for their coffee. 

• Brands are taking note – International Delight and Silk launched retail cold foam products this year and Jordan’s Skinny Mixes has added new holiday-themed syrups to its product portfolio. Beyond customization we’ve seen a revival of instant coffee with the launch of Diamond Brew as well as the continued expansion of Barista milk products for at-home use.    

Fan Favorite Brands Expand to New Formats: Consumers now expect beverage experiences that are distinctive, personalized, and reflective of who they are, per Nestlé’s report. The brands that are currently winning (and will continue to win) in the crowded space are re-imagining beloved products in new aisles, formats, and occasions. 

• One of the best examples of this trend is the move of legacy sports drink brands into the powdered category, including Gatorade’s new Hydration Booster and Liquid Death’s “Death Dust.” 

Check out some other trendspotting stories on BevNET for a complete sense of where the industry is headed.

In just under 30 days, leaders in the beverage industry will meet in Marina del Rey, CA for BevNET Live Winter 2024. The three-day event provides a platform for beverage entrepreneurs and industry experts to network, learn, and drive innovation within the beverage sector.

On Sunday, December 8, we’ll kick things off with Beverage School, where industry newcomers can learn the basics of running a beverage business and jumpstart their networking. Following Beverage School, we’ll dive into our RTD Spirits track including an investor panel and the Cocktail Showdown, and end the day at the BevNET Live Welcome Reception. 

On December 9 + 10, we’ll hear from leaders at Nutpods, Happy, Recess, Wildwonder, Emil Capital, Life Aid, JuneShine and more. They’ll explore topics like expanding geographically, finding financial backing, and the future of beverage innovation and brand growth. View the agenda.

Beverage brands also have the opportunity to meet leaders from Whole Foods, Pilot, and Spec’s in one-to-one meetings. Register for the event to receive the sign up form.

More than 575 beverage industry professionals are already registered! Check out some of the companies attending and then view the full attendee list.

Register for BevNET Live Winter 2024 today!

As the weather begins to dip, spirits makers are beginning to roll out new products for winter.  We’ve rounded up these new releases and packaged them up into a neat array. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside:

🧑‍🍳 Celebrated Mexican chef Erique Olvera is taking his talents to spirits with Manojo Mezcal. The 43% ABV espadín from Oaxaca is meant to be enjoyed for cocktailing or sipping, and hits the nose with green herbs and minerality on the palate.

👀 Continuing its experiments in whiskey barrel aging, El Tesoro’s Basil Hayden Toast Edition is the newest release in “The Collection Mundial” limited edition cask-finishing series that pairs the historic tequila distillery with the barrels of Suntory Global Spirits’ whiskey distillers. 

🇯🇵 Heavensake, the first luxury Franco-Japanese sake brand, is ending the year with collaborations with two of Japan’s most prestigious sake breweries, Katsuyama and Niizawa.

Check out the full roundup of new spirits on BevNET.

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Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) has appointed Drew Panayiotou as its new U.S. Refreshement Beverages CMO, replacing Andrew Springate who has held the role for the last seven years. 

📍 Springate will be moving into a “critical role leading industry and strategic initiatives” that reports directly to KDP CEO Tim Cofer, the company said in a press release.

🥤 Panayiotou will oversee KDP’s cold beverage portfolio including brands such as Dr Pepper, Canada Dry, Mott's, A&W, Snapple, 7UP and Core Hydration.

⏪ He has previously served as Pfizer’s global CMO and held executive roles at The Coca-Cola Company, The Hershey Company and various other corporations like The Walt Disney Company, Google and Red Wagon Ventures.

Missouri-based rollup FairWave Specialty Coffee Collective has added another regional brand to its portfolio with the acquisition of Ceremony Coffee Roasters.

• The Maryland-based business includes a roasting operation and six cafe locations in Annapolis, Bethesda and Baltimore.
• FairWave, created in 2020 by Great Range Capital, has been on a buying spree in recent years, adding names like Philtera Cold Brewed Coffees, Anodyne Coffee Roasting Company and Folly Coffee Roasters to its portfolio.

Encouraged by a positive quarterly earnings report last week, upstart fast-service coffee chain Dutch Bros has set forth an ambitious vision to operate a total of over 4,000 stores in the next 10 to 15 years.

⏩ Speaking to the Phoenix Business Journal, CEO Christine Barone credited the company’s data-driven approach to real estate planning as helping drive expansion, including the opening of 38 new stores (33 company-operated) in the past quarter. 

📈 That growth will continue with “at least” another 160 shops in 2025, before openings “further accelerate” in 2026, according to a transcript of the earnings call.

📲 The Oregon-based company currently operates 950 locations across 18 states, is pushing the throttle just as Starbucks is struggling to find its footing after a dip in traffic; there’s also Chinese giant Luckin, which recently confirmed plans to arrive in the States. 

• Dutch Bros has leaned on app-based ordering and drive-through service, riding that strategy to 28% revenue growth, delivering $338 million, a year-over-year increase of $74 million.

The Oregon AFL-CIO and Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 114 are supporting the ongoing boycott of Bigfoot Beverages, a major Pepsi products distributor, and Franz Bakery. 

🤝 At a rally yesterday in Eugene, Ore. various unions showed solidarity with each other as they called on both Franz Bakery and Bigfoot Beverages to offer honor fair labor practices and contracts, including reinstating pension plans for Bigfoot workers.

🏭 Union members at Franz Bakery went on strike at the Springfield, Ore. plant on October 31 asking for more time off, higher wages and better safety measures.

😠 Over 240 members of Teamsters Local 206 and Teamsters Local 324 have boycott Bigfoot Beverages since September 19. The boycott has grown over the last month and a half with the Teamsters planting their feet and calling on the local community to vote with their wallets.

Ismail Salhi, the co-founder of subscription-based baking company Wildgrain, talks about why being obsessed with its existing customer base and not hiring “until it’s painful” have helped the brand generate $30 million in revenue and become profitable just three years after its launch.

Listen to the episode now.