• 🆕 This Week’s Hot New Sips
• 🍊 Mommenpop Embraces Organic Twist 
• ⏸️ Kroger/Albertsons Agree To Halt Merger
• 🧢 The Wilsons Launch NO CAP! Soda

Jones Prebiotic Pop? Considering some of the flavors the subversive craft soda brand has launched in the past (and how could we forget), maybe this isn’t as far-fetched an ambition as it seems. 

Those Pop dreams are very real, according to Jones CEO David Knight, who’s tasked with guiding the 27 year-old company in “transitioning from a craft soda company to beverage company” without losing any of its essential Jones-ness. That means stretching across categories – see last week’s introduction of regular and zero-calorie colas, via a partnership with action sports promoters Thrill One – and formats (i.e. cans), and generally pushing the brand out of its established comfort zone. 

“From my standpoint, being a brand guy and a beverage guy, we have an amazing brand that has a lot of stretch and scope and to me that just means opportunity,” said Knight.  

Some opportunities are simply in making up lost ground. The new colas and a recommitment to developing low-calorie and zero-sugar SKUs (which previous management “didn’t market very aggressively,” Knight noted) are part of that strategy, along with building distribution in convenience stores. The gaps reflect a brand that’s been around for a long time but “still hasn’t broken through,” said Knight, noting it lost some traction with core customers after shifting from down-the-street independent accounts to chase grocery and big-box store placements. 

The trick now is to preserve the Jones’ foundational elements – fun, color, indulgence – while simultaneously broadening its appeal. Foodservice is a priority; with brokers and partners like Dot Foods engaged, the business will be worth $10 million in the next six to 12 months, said Knight, and not just from more BIBs in pizza shops. Through a partnership with The One Group, which owns chains like Kona Grill and Benihana, the brand has found traction in fine dining, where it can be used as a mixer, in desserts or “sold at the table for $9 a bottle.”

From that foundation, the brand has ample runway toward innovation. Embracing its role as a “fast-follower.” Knight said Jones is on the hunt: “If there’s a beverage category that’s exciting, growing and large, and where the Jones brand resonates, we should play there.” 

After dipping into RTD alcohol (Spiked Jones), energy sodas (Jones+) and delta-9 THC drinks (Mary Jones), the company is pushing further ahead this fall with the colas and two other new releases: prebiotic soda Jones Pop and Fiesta Jones, a low-calorie, Latin fruit-forward CSD packaged in resealable 16 oz. cans specifically for c-stores. The expanded portfolio and shift out of exclusively glass is expected to make the brand more attractive to DSD houses, in theory. 

“Could we be the fourth beverage company [after Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Keurig Dr Pepper]? I think the answer is ‘yes.’ Instead of a $17 million company, we should be a company with a ‘b’ at the end of our revenue.”

Go Deeper Into The Soda Space: De La Calle Respositions Tepache as Modern Mexican Soda or Nixie Leads With Organic On New Zero-Sugar Soda Launch

Today is Friday and you all know what that means…. It's new product gallery time! We’ve rounded up the hottest new products and packaged them up into a neat array. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside:

🐻 Wandering Bear unveiled its latest creation, 3-to-1 Cold Brew Concentrate. According to a LinkedIn post, the new offering is “a powered up version of the Wandering Bear you know and love” and is “endlessly versatile.”

🍸 Canned espresso martini producer Blossom introduced what it claims to be the industry’s first fruit-flavored espresso martini: Dark Cherry Blossom Espresso Martini. The new offering (9% ABV) features tasting notes of dark cherry, vanilla and Peruvian coffee.

🎃 Though many people (and brands!) are still focused on summer, some are already daydreaming about autumn. Enter Chobani, which is announcing the release of two new seasonal products: Pumpkin Spice Greek Yogurt Drink (SRP $1.99 per 7 oz. bottle) and Pumpkin Spice Barista Oatmilk (SRP $4.49 per 24 oz. carton). Whoa! First P-Spice mention of the season!

Check out the full new products roundup on BevNET.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the Small Business Administration (SBA) opened up its Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program to support businesses through those unprecedented and uncertain times. 

Now, the SBA is beginning to collect on those loans, and some small business owners have found themselves in a precarious financial position, unable to raise outside capital or sell their businesses due to the complexity of the loan terms.

Did your business receive funds from the EIDL program? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Please reach out to adeluca@bevnet.com. 

With the Aperol Spritz hitting its glow-up (ICYMI: it is the most google-searched drink in the country), another aperitif maker is hoping to ride the spritz wave to new heights. 

🍷 Napa-based aperitif brand Mommenpop’s dye-free and wine-based aperitif might not be able to compete with Aperol’s poppy orange color, but its new labels are have stepped up the volume with a revamped color palette and visual cues distinguishing fresh citrus as the heart of the brand’s identity. 

🛒 Now that we’ve reached peak spritz, winemaker Samantha Sheehan is pushing the rebranded labels into more retailers, where she’s aiming to use her citrus base as the distinguishing feature from other American aperitifs that have recently emerged.  

🗣️ We chatted with the winemaker about how flavor guides her product creation and what education is still needed to expand the aperitif category. 

Read the full story to learn how Mommenpop’s new approach helps differentiate the drink on-shelf.

Kroger and Albertsons’ proposed $24.6 billion merger is facing yet another roadblock after a Colorado judge and the state’s attorneys general agreed yesterday to an order temporarily halting the proceedings until the Colorado District Court rules on the state’s lawsuit seeking to permanently block the deal. Here’s the breakdown: 

🧑‍⚖ In addition to placing the heavily scrutinized mega-merger on indefinite hold, the agreement cancels a hearing on the preliminary injunction set to begin on Aug. 12; instead it consolidates the proceeding with a two-week trial slated to start on Sept. 30. 

🤝 Prior to yesterday’s order, the two grocery giants had maintained that the deal would close in August. 

💭 ”This appears to be a reasonable and sensible step by all involved. Critically, the court did not make any finding about the merits of the arguments against the merger,” Kirk McGill, special counsel at Denver-based law firm Hall Estill. 

⏪ The delay comes just weeks after an administrative judge paused the FTC’s in-house case to allow the defendants to handle the antitrust conflicts in Colorado and Washington state and the FTC’s suit in an Oregon court. 

Nosh Insiders can access the full story to understand what this development could signal about the fate of the deal.

Another healthy soda is entering the market this summer. NO CAP!, a brand founded by longtime beverage executive Sam Wilson and son Vinny Wilson, is preparing to launch next month.

🍓 The products are available in five flavors: Passion Vibe, Strawberry Dream, Apple Rizz, Tangy Orange and Bussin’ Berry. Each 12 oz. can contains 5 grams of dietary fiber, 10 calories and no sugar.

👪  The father/son duo are coming off of recent stints at Alani Nu and PRIME operator Congo Brands where the elder Wilson had served as EVP, while Vinny worked most recently as a field training specialist.

✨ Set to launch nationwide through Amazon, NO CAP!’s name means “no lie” in Gen Z speak. TBD on where the brand will fit in the crowded set of BFY sodas like Poppi and Olipop, but the company is highlighting its use of both pre- and postbiotics, as well as a nostalgic brand identity.