• ☘️ In Luck: Energy Drink Startup Lands $4M Investment
• 🫧 Beliv in Bubbles: Meet Mighty Pop
• 💰 Pronghorn Adds Another Investment

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Don’t be fooled by the name: luck has played just a small part in Lucky F*ck’s fast early growth. 

In less than five months on the market, the line of adaptogen-boosted natural energy drinks launched by Kate Farms founder Richard Laver has found some traction within the lifestyle, female-skewing lane occupied by brands like Celsius and Alani-Nu.

That first chapter in the company’s story is culminating in today’s announcement of a $4 million seed investment from Imaginary Ventures and closer ties with Heimark Distributing — a Coachella Valley, California-based Anheuser-Busch DSD house — to help move deeper in California and Texas.

It’s still early days, but Laver already sees the drinks as the first plank in building a broader “entertainment company” that can grow with consumers in the venues where the brand performs well, like c-stores and gyms

Enlisting Imaginary Ventures should help in that area: The venture capital firm has CPG experience via portfolio brands like Cann, Dirty Lemon and MìLà Dumplings, but also in the bigger lifestyle market with recently acquired Foxtrot, Kim Kardashian’s Skims and Glossier.

“This was an amalgamation of everything we wanted in an investment. For us, we think in the beverage space, especially energy, it’s really speed, execution and product that wins,” Langberg said. “With Richard’s [Laver] vision, he wants to build a really big business, really fast and just completely make a splash in this market.”

The capital will go towards hiring marketing and sales team members as the brand targets new distribution regions in Northern and Southern California including Los Angeles and San Diego as well as throughout Texas. Lucky F*ck hopes to add eight to 10 new regions, hit about 10,000 to 15,000 doors in 2024 and bring the brand national by the end of the year.

Langberg will join the board of directors along with Andrew Maxman, venture and growth equity investor at Imaginary, coming on as a board observer. Heimark CEO Peter Heimark is joining the company’s board of advisors.

For more details on the company’s regional strategy and plans to enter 10,000 to 15,000 doors in 2024, read the full story on BevNET.

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🥤 Non-alcoholic beverage sales remained “strong and accelerated” as volume growth started to recover in the two-week period ending November 18, according to Goldman Sachs Equity Research’s latest analysis of NielsenIQ data. 

👀 Across all categories, dollar sales were up 6% in the two-week period, compared with 4.5% for four-weeks and 9.1% for 52-weeks. Heightened growth in volume, up 1.4% in the period versus flat in the 4-weeks, came alongside healthy/stable pricing growth, up 4.6% in the two-weeks. 

⚡ In energy, the familiar climbers kept making ground, with Celsius continuing to set a blistering pace: dollar sales were +122.8% with +118.6% volume and +1.9% average pricing growth. Other winners were C4 maker Nutrabolt (+61.8% sales and +51.4% volume), Alani Nu (+53.4% sales and +61.8% volume) and GHOST (+58.5% sales and +56.5% volume). 

🥊 Elsewhere, PRIME Hydration’s interminable march to the top seems to have ebbed just slightly, as it reported +160.5% sales growth (+185.1% in the four-weeks and +650.9% in the 52-weeks).

Check out the full story on BevNET.

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Beliv, a Latin American beverage portfolio company whose portfolio includes Big Easy Buncha and High Brew Coffee, is deepening its U.S. market ambitions with a new in-house functional soda brand: Mighty Pop.

🧪 Looking to triple-down on the emerging gut health soda trend, Might Pop contains pre-, pro- and postbiotics, positioning itself as an even more functional choice than competing brands that focus solely on the pre- and pro- varieties of gut bacteria.

🛒 The brand initially was introduced at Natural Products Expo West 2023 this past March and is hitting shelves now in Giant Foods and Erewhon stores across Texas and California. It is also selling on Amazon.

🗺️ Beliv is a relatively new name to the U.S. beverage industry, beginning its move into the market in 2021, but the company has wide global reach and sells into 35 countries total. Its acquisition of High Brew this summer and now the launch of Mighty Pop however mark a harder push behind the U.S. strategy.

Read the full story on BevNET.

Starting in 2024, Conor McQuaid, a 25-year veteran of the company, will take the helm as CEO of Pernod Ricard North America, which excludes Mexico. He will succeed Ann Mukherjee, who has stepped down to focus her time and energy on her family’s well-being, according to a statement.

🗣️ McQuaid has held leadership roles for the group’s flagship brand Jameson and recently served as the executive vice president of sustainability and responsibility for communications and public affairs since July 2022. 

👏 Mukherjee was the first woman and person of color to helm Pernod Ricard’s North American unit, leading the division through RTD investments, new innovations and a series of acquisitions, as well as taking leadership on issues outside of the bottom line. The former CEO instituted a number of campaigns including federal legislation aimed at reducing intoxicated driving and an Absolut Vodka campaign targeting sexual consent.

📉 Like other spirits companies, McQuaid will now face a “normalizing” market following rapid growth during the pandemic. The group reported a -2% decline in organic sales in the first quarter of FY 2024, with dips in the U.S. bringing down overall performance.  Analysts have flagged the need for Pernod Ricard’s newest acquisitions and innovations to pick up the slack as its flagship brand Jameson faces a natural growth slowdown.

Read the full story on BevNET

On the heels of its three investments announced last week, Pronghorn has added a 24th Black-owned spirit company to its rapidly growing portfolio.

🥃 The newest addition is Boston-based whiskey brand New England Barrel Company (NEBCo), founded in 2020 by James Sanders and a recent winner of the New York Spirits Competition “Best Single Barrel Bourbon Up to 10 Years” accolade.

🙋🏼‍♂️ Last week Pronghorn backed three more female-owned spirit brands, climbing quickly towards the company’s goal of producing $2.4 billion in economic value for the Black community by investing in 57 Black-owned spirits brands over the next 10 years. 

🗣️ Coming to BevNET Live? You'll get to hear Pronghorn CEO Jomaree Pinkard chat about how Pronghorn helps emerging companies tackle obstacles, and the way money and experience can affect their outlook.

Maya Kaimal, the founder and Chief Culinary and Creative Officer of Maya Kaimal Foods, a groundbreaking brand of Indian-inspired sauces, condiments and ready-to-eat dishes, spoke about how her company operates and innovates at the intersection of data, trends and retailer needs, aligning with an investor that could support her vision; and what she’s learned about hiring the right – and wrong – people.

Listen to the full episode here