• 📱JelSert’s Deep Dive into #WaterTok
• 🐮 Don’t Have A Cow? Dunkin’ Intolerant to Anti-Lactose Crowd, Suit Says

Boring old water got you down? The influencers of #WaterTok might have some tips.

The TikTok trend made headlines last year as content creators and passionate flavored water fans began using the hashtag to share tips and tricks for mixing powder and liquid drink mixes together to create unique flavor combinations. The rise of #WaterTok may have seemed like an odd, niche trend to some observers but, for drink mix manufacturer Jel Sert, it was revelatory.

The Jel Sert Company is a 98-year-old, family-owned maker of drink mixes under a number of owned (Wyler’s, Pure Kick) and licensed (Skittles, SunKist, Starburst) brands. After #WaterTok blew up in the Spring, the company reported a roughly 25% spike in sales, with some retail channels – namely value and mass – seeing 40% to 50% jumps as TikTokers praised the products and created unique recipes by blending multiple flavors.

Ken Wegner, president of Jel Sert, said the company was taken by surprise when #WaterTok first took off. Now, the company is going all in. This year, Jel Sert is debuting an “As Seen on #WaterTok” campaign that will use the hashtag’s name in stores and on other marketing materials (including a Pure Kick branded NASCAR car) and will be launching new innovations through its Wyler’s Light line designed specifically to delight the #WaterTok community.

Beyond the buzz, there are real economic imperatives fueling the online movement: chains like Dollar General, Family Dollar and Walmart – where an 8-pack can sell for as little as 99 cents – are among the brand’s top performing outlets. That price helps feed the experimental “recipe” element of #WaterTok, encouraging users to try different recipes, and it also leaves more cash left over for buying one of those coveted Stanley Quencer mugs. 

“We are strongly believing and seeing that the category for Jel Sert has reset at a new level,” Wegner said.

For more on the #WaterTok craze and how Jel Sert is reshaping its marketing around the trend, check out the full story on BevNET.

Cognizin® Citicoline is a leading cognitive health ingredient that helps maintain focus, attention, and memory. It delivers a patented form of citicoline to supply your brain with an important nutrient to help you stay sharp. Give your customers the best ingredient for brain health with Cognizin. Learn more

Is a surcharge for non-dairy milk alternatives discriminatory? A class action lawsuit filed last month against cafe chain Dunkin’ thinks so.

🥛 The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, alleges Dunkin’ violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and discriminated against consumers with lactose intolerance and milk allergies by charging extra for non-dairy alternatives. 

💸 The complaint claims that Dunkin’ charges an additional $0.50 to $2.15 more than dairy milk for soy, coconut, oat or almond milk as a coffee additive, placing a higher burden on consumers who can’t digest milk.

🥜 The complaint also looks to get ahead of any argument about supply costs, claiming that on average plant-based alternatives may be slightly more expensive than whole milk, but are noticeably cheaper than half and half or heavy cream – and it doesn’t take any extra labor for a barista to reach for the almond milk.

🧑‍⚖️ Is there a case here? Well, in 2008 the ADA was amended to include people with food allergies and intolerances. Whether an extra charge for plant milk qualifies as a violation is TBD.

The team from Patrón has reunited for a new Texas-based spirits venture.

Announced yesterday, Round 2 Spirits comes from billionaire John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of Patrón Tequila and Paul Mitchell hair products. DeJoria and partner Martin Crowley are responsible for scaling the brand into a pioneer for premium-plus tequila in the 1990s.

🤝 He’s joined by other execs from Patrón and a former COO of distributor Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, who are teaming up to scale new global brands out of a Texas distillery.

⭐ The company is upgrading a former whiskey distillery in Texas that will focus on finding whitespace by being consumer-led rather than category-led, according to the new COO. 

In an industry that’s much more saturated compared to Patrón’s early days, we chatted with the team about what disruption and innovation means to them. Read the full story on BevNET

Three-quarters of consumers who said they would abstain from alcohol this month have stayed committed to Dry January, according to a survey by CGA, NIQ’s on-premise market research firm.

🙋‍♂️ One-in-four consumers surveyed prior to January said they would participate in the yearly tradition, while six in 10 specifically said they plan to abstain from alcohol in bars and restaurants. The primary driver for participating was for “health reasons” (41%), followed by wanting to save money (35%), to “challenge myself” (30%) and to decrease alcohol intake (27%).

👍 Of note, 12% of participating consumers said there are “better non-alcoholic options available than in previous years.”

🥤 Still, soft drinks are the primary replacement for bev-alc in the on-premise, chosen by 65% of participating consumers, followed by “hot drinks” (30%), energy drinks (26%) and sparkling water (23%). Nearly one-in-five consumers (19%) are replacing bev-alc with mocktails, followed by non-alcoholic (NA) or alcohol-free beer (15%), NA wine (14%) and NA spirits (13%).

🥃 Of those who had a mocktail this month, 77% plan to continue to drink the alternative beverage past Dry January – the largest commitment of the four NA alternatives of bev-alc. The majority of consumers drinking NA beer and NA wine plan to continue drinking beverages in the segments past January (59% and 57%, respectively), while 46% of NA spirits consumers plan to continue.

CGA also dove into expected consumer behavior in the on-premise for the Super Bowl and Valentine's Day. Brewbound Insiders can read more here.