• 🆕 This Week’s Hot New Sips
• 💰 THC Drink Maker Lands $4M
• 🤝 Celsius Buys A Co-Man
• 🚜 Tractor Bev Publishes Tractor Beam
• 🪧 Bigfoot Beverage Strike Grows
• 🌐 New Marketing Heads at Chobani, TÖST

What trends will drive innovation and consumer habits in 2025? Global retail analytics firm Mintel has released its yearly 2025 Global Food and Drink Trends report, categorizing how CPG companies can better align with future demands. Here’s a taste of what’s to come:

Mintel highlighted four categories which focused on conscious indulgence, elevated demand for weight management options, consumers’ emerging interest in supply chains and the role of technology.

Rule Rebellion focuses on consumers’ demand for food and beverage that “breaks the rules.” For example, Mintel’s research noted that 75% of carbonated soft drink (CSD) consumers reach for a CSD to treat themselves.

Fundamentally Nutritious was the second trend that addressed the continued emphasis on weight management products ushered in by the rise of GLP-1 drugs and a desire for more products that can be considered food-as-medicine. It represents the evolution of consumers making food and beverage choices that directly correlate to health with F&B companies adding more protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals to formulations to meet that need.

• “I would argue, if those of us can get these basics, it allows us for a little bit more ‘rule rebellion. If we know we've gotten our protein content, maybe we're more than willing to treat ourselves to something new.” - Jenny Zegler, Mintel Food & Drink director, during a webinar presentation

The third trend, Chain Reaction, stood out in its focus on supply chains and consumer education. Starting with the pandemic and evolving into to cargo ship delays from downed bridges and blocked canals, Mintel’s team explained that consumers have become more familiar with how products get to grocery shelves.

• Mintel argues that transparency in the supply chain builds consumer loyalty while also exposing customers to new ingredients or innovative ways to create familiar products with more sustainable or cheaper ingredients.

Hybrid Harvests demonstrates how technology and agriculture can work in tandem to benefit consumers, companies and the environment. This trend is rooted in how supply chains can be strengthened to improve accessibility and price while prioritizing environmental sustainability.

• This is also related to education and transparency within CPG. Mintel’s report said that if companies can “establish themselves as trustworthy agricultural innovators and educators” then consumers would be more willing to buy products that incorporate technological innovation.

BevNET Insiders can access the full report rundown for a deeper look at key insights for the year ahead.

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

From apple pie-flavored coffee creamers to resurrected energy drinks, the latest edition of BevNET’s weekly new products gallery features innovations spanning all sides of the industry. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside:

⚡ Sports nutrition brand REDCON1 is set to reintroduce JOLT Cola – dubbed the “first energy drink of the 80s” –  to consumers in a deal facilitated by JOLT Cola’s licensing agency, IMG. 

🥧 Based on consumer research revealing apple pie as the top flavor shoppers wanted to see this holiday season, Chobani has dropped a new seasonal Apple Pie Dairy Coffee Creamer.

🌊 Capri Sun has debuted a 64 oz. jug format available in two of its most popular flavors, Strawberry Kiwi and Fruit Punch. The jugs feature the same formula as the brand’s beloved pouches, free of artificial dyes and ingredients.

Check out the full roundup of new products on BevNET.

Low-dose THC beginners or seasoned stoners all seem to agree: they love Uncle Arnie’s. Thanks in part to its stellar branding, the beverage and shot maker has captured consumers on both ends of the cannabis spectrum, proving one of the few big category gainers within regulated dispensary channels. 

• That balanced approach has attracted a new $4 million tranche of capital from existing investor Mindset Capital, which went back in at 2x the valuation from its original investment in January. 
• In an effusive announcement shared on Substack, Mindset Capital CEO Aaron Edelheit praised Uncle Arnie’s for “proving that a 5 or 10 mg THC hemp customer is a very different customer than a 100 mg dispensary customer and the company can cater to both.” 
• Amidst a sea of emerging brands, Uncle Arnie’s has zeroed in on identity as a “fun value brand” – a 10 mg shot is $2.99 – “that is non-carbonated in a field of competitors trying to capture the high-end consumer with fancy seltzers.” 
• Decision to reinvest came when Uncle Arnie’s approached Mindset after struggling with inventory shortages due to high demand, per Edelheit. An unidentified “large strategic investor” also joined the round. 

🪴 The investment is part of a growing cannabis portfolio for Mindset Capital; the firm is also backing cultivators Grown Rogue and Glass House, as well as AYR Wellness. But beverage is a specific focus within that mix, with about 7-10% of its fund going to private beverage investments.

Celsius Holdings is beefing up its manufacturing arm with the purchase of Big Beverages Contract Manufacturing LLC, a North Carolina-based co-packer that the brand has long used to produce its energy drinks.

🤑 Celsius will pay $75 million for the acquisition, which includes Big Beverages’ 170,000 sq. ft. turnkey manufacturing and warehouse facility in Charlotte, N.C.

⛓️ In a release, Celsius said the deal moves the brand closer to vertical integration as it continues to embrace fast-moving product development and limited time offerings.

🗣️ What they said: “We believe that this acquisition gives Celsius fantastic leverage to accelerate our product innovation and production capabilities so we can continue growing the energy drink category with our great tasting, functional and better-for-you performance energy drinks.” - John Fieldly, Celsius chairman and CEO, in a statement.

Stay tuned for more details on BevNET later today. 

There’s a new publication incoming for industry consumption. Tractor Beverage Company is venturing into the creative realm with Tractor Beam, a quarterly online publication that will “explore bold, optimistic futures where regenerative farming and soil science inspire how we live and thrive on this planet.”

🧑‍🌾 The first edition will be available in early 2025 and will offer a new take on “Sci-Fi and Cli-Fi” with a distinct focus on “soil-based climate fiction.” (Dirt Diaries would have been a better name in our [unsolicited] opinion).

🌎 Tractor Beam will invite writers and artists to share stories that bridge reality with a vision for a transformed relationship with earth and nature.

🔊 "At Tractor, we're focused on possibilities. Tractor Beam isn't just a call for innovation; it's an invitation to reimagine our relationship with the land and one another. Think of it as a future Farmer's Almanac, exploring a world where regenerative practices and harmonious living with the earth take center stage. It's about inspiring hope – encouraging a new generation of thinkers and dreamers to bridge the Hope Gap and turn imagination into action.” - Duke Stump, Chief Brand Officer

The labor strike against Oregon distributor Bigfoot Beverages is intensifying as Teamsters Local 206 and 324 are calling on the state’s residents to now boycott the company. 

🧐 The strike against Bigfoot, a major Pepsi products distributor in the region, began on Sept. 19 after union members said the company moved to unlawfully cut a “core pension benefit,” seeking to transition employees' retirement program from a pension to a 401(k) plan, and alleged that the company lied during contract negotiations.

💸 The Teamsters represent over 200 Bigfoot employees and said the company’s proposal would amount to an additional $3,300 in out-of-pocket costs for its members each year. Meanwhile, Bigfoot has argued that its proposed retirement plan would be 100% vested and all employees can transfer their benefits to future employers.

🪢 Nobody appears to be budging. Workers have been picketing all Bigfoot locations and the call for a consumer boycott suggests the fight is only getting fiercer.

🔀 Chobani has named marketing veteran Jai Kibe as its new CMO, effective November 4. The appointment comes after the exit of longtime La Colombe brand marketing and comms head Alicia Moore, who left in June. She announced a new role this week on LinkedIn, as VP of Marketing at ski and outdoor wear brand Halfdays.

🍷 Adult non-alcoholic drink maker TÖST Beverages has named Boundless Brands founder Jessica Daponte as CMO. Daponte has nearly 25 years of marketing experience across industries, with terms at Saatchi & Saatchi, Nickelodeon, Arnold, Red Antler and has worked on campaigns for Diet Coke, Reese’s and SpikedSeltzer.

Another episode, another billion-dollar deal. In this case, the buyer (KDP), if not the brand (Ghost), is somewhat surprising. The hosts have their say. They also highlight a couple spicy collaborations, but are divided on one of them. We also speak with Lexy Prosszer, an investment principal at U.K.-based venture capital firm Btomorrow Ventures, which is focused on investments in innovative, functional brands.

Listen to the episode now.