Sales of specialty foods and beverages across all retail channels (plus foodservice) increased 9.3% last year ($194 billion) and are projected to reach $207 billion by the end of 2023, according to the Specialty Food Association’s (SFA) annual State of the Specialty Food Industry Report. But a 3% drop in unit sales underlines the negative impact of lingering inflation. Here’s the highlights: 

• In 2022, seven of the top 10 and 45 out of 63 total specialty categories had unit declines, with almost half of them above 5 percent. Among the product types with the biggest deviations in volumes and dollar sales: eggs (44.7%), wellness bars and gels (23.6%) and soda (17.7%). 
• Chips, pretzels and snacks was the highest-selling specialty food category at retail in 2022, becoming the first specialty category ever to exceed $6 billion in annual sales. 
• Energy and sports drinks, RTD tea and coffee and refrigerated entrees were the three fastest growing specialty F&B categories last year; seven categories in the top 10 were at or below $1 billion, suggesting there's still room to grow.
• Plant-based cream and creamers still lag behind milk as a portion of the plant-based specialty space at retail (9.5% compared to 37%), but they’re growing fast, up 77 percent since 2020. Along with plant-based meat, plant-based frozen desserts are also slumping, falling 10% over the three-year period. 

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The UFC is no stranger to beverage partnerships, signing a deal with Logan Paul’s PRIME Hydration at the beginning of the year along with its longstanding connection to Monster Energy and Modelo. The most recent beverage brand to sign up with the mixed martial arts league is high-protein, chocolate milk maker Slate Milk. The brand signed a marketing deal with the UFC Wednesday marking the largest partnership to-date for the Boston-based, ultra-filtered milk brand. It is all part of Slate’s strategy of “selling strength” in the form of shelf-stable, canned milk. Along with the deal, Slate added $5 million onto its already $10.5 million Series A from January bringing the company’s total funding to over $20 million in four years.

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Monster’s “upbeat and constructive” tone during its annual shareholder meeting yesterday has boosted confidence among Goldman Sachs analysts, per a report issued late last night. Here are the highlights

• Monster’s pricing strategy appears to be working – consumer demand remains strong after multiple price increases since last year to fight persistent inflation. Further hikes could be coming, but so will increased promo activity this summer.
• Innovation is working, too – as noted in its most recent retailer survey, new products like Zero Sugar, Ultra Strawberry Dreams, The Beast Unleashed and Reign Storm have all performed well, with healthy repeat rates and accelerating sales.
• Some input costs (aluminum, transportation) are falling, while others remain stubbornly high, but the company “broadly speaking” has sufficient inventory to meet current demand levels.
• The Beast Unleashed is getting a new running partner (details in story)

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How long has it been since you last had a TicTac? (Seriously, we are genuinely curious) Well, apparently a lot of people turned back to the teeny tiny – sometimes minty – confections during the pandemic and now the brand is putting its social standing to the test through a new collab with Sprite. But that’s not all, back in 2019, ahead of Tic Tac’s resurgence as Americans’ breath mint of choice, the Ferrero Group-owned brand launched a Coca Cola-flavored Tac which is still available today. According to Ferrero’s global marketing manager, Scott Perry, the opportunity to team up with the Coke team once again was “too good to miss.”

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