• 🍾 A Bellini Boondoggle
• ⁉️ Does the FDA Still Have The ‘Ability to Function’
• 🫧 Protein Sparkles Overseas
• 🆕 What Else Is New?

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Intoxicating hemp beverages have become one of the fastest-growing functional drink categories in recent years, but how the space continues to develop depends on where the products can be sold.

Right now, it’s all about that Web Weed. Hemp-derived THC drink purchases from DTC websites were up 27.4% during Q1 2025, according to the Brightfield Group, an uptick from the already robust 25.9% increase reported the past two quarters.

Businesses have leaned into ecommerce and direct-to-consumer sales to build brand and product awareness while expanding their customer base. That all began after Minnesota opened the door to hemp-derived THC, a market spearheaded by craft breweries in the state.

Though brands are growing online, brick-and-mortar is the bigger opportunity, even despite the challenge of navigating an evolving landscape of state-by-state regulations dictating where and what can be sold in retail.

Effectively allocating marketing dollars between digital and brick-and-mortar footprints can be difficult for any beverage brand. But hemp beverage makers face even more complexity due to a consistently evolving restrictions impacting both online and in-person sales.

“What hemp beverages are going to have to figure out is either pricing towards DTC or building for retail first,” said Ben Mason, founder and CEO of Pillar Marketing, because “you can't sell something for $10 a can online and then make it $4 per can in retail.”

That balancing act has posed challenges already, leading some brands to diversify into simpler-to-ship (read: cheaper) formats like gummies, shots and multiserve bottles and support the larger opportunity in RTD cans.

“DTC is not a business plan, but a channel strategy,” said Green Street Beverage CMO Jarrod Jordan. “Especially in beverage, you can’t think that you're going to win by focusing on having a DTC Dollar Shave Club-esque business without winning in retail.”

Tomorrow we will explore the opportunity and potential pitfalls of aligning hemp beverages with beverage-alcohol distribution.

Insiders can read the ecomm segment of this deep dive to learn how hemp beverages are balancing DTC and retail.

New York alcohol importer Monsieur Touton Selection has caught the ire of Alunis, the maker of Cipriani Bellini, which accused the business of infringing on its seafoam green trade dress in a lawsuit filed this week.

🪞 Altunis claims that Touton created a visually similar product to its bottled Cipriani Bellini line – called Volante Bellini – after U.S. licensee Bicobi Ltd. exited a distribution agreement with the importer two years ago.

🤬 The complaint did not mince words, calling the move “particularly egregious” because the distributor has been targeting the same consumers and is “acting as a parasitic entity, ruthlessly exploiting plaintiffs.”

📂 Touton filed for a trademark on Volante Bellini last year but does not yet have approval on the mark. 

The FDA has been battered by staff cuts since the Trump Administration took office. Just look at the news on Monday for supporting evidence…

• A cohort of attorneys general from 19 states and Washington D.C. filed suit over the risk arising from staff reductions.
• Later in the day, one of the FDA’s lead inspectors, Michael Rogers, resigned citing similar sentiments. Things aren’t looking so secure when it comes to food safety, they say. 

💡 Jim Jones – the former FDA Human Foods Deputy Commissioner who took an “early retirement” due to the firings back in February – shared all of his thoughts about the state of the agency and where it is heading last week at the Institute for Food Technologists (IFT) Food Policy Impact 2025 meeting in Washington, D.C.

✂️ He said the cuts will “degrade [the agency’s] ability to function,” citing an instance from right before his departure – after DOGE orders were imposed on both staffing and budgets – where “highly trained lab technicians” were having to spend time writing up justifications “for why they needed to spend $150 to buy reagents to run a sample.”

Read the full story on Nosh for all of Jones’ insight on FDA’s crippling staff losses.

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Protein – it’s not just for the MAHA crowd. 

The protein-in-everything trend has found an unusual bedfellow in the rise of “modern soda” (or soda-as-everything?). Last week, we featured a story on the launch of Don’t Quit Protein Soda in the States, but overseas there are brands popping up (no pun intended) as well.

1️⃣ Andrea Hernandez’s newsletter Snaxshot highlighted Feisty, a three-SKU line available in the U.K. in three flavors. 

2️⃣ And if you’re heading to European ingredients trade show Vitafoods in Barcelona, you can find a new protein soda concept from Arla Foods.

Could protein soda give “modern pop” a run for its money? Share your thoughts with mcaballero@bevnet.com. 

In the meantime, catch up on the new launch from Don’t Quit.

It’s Hump Day! Here’s a taste of the new drops and activations from the first half of the week.

🥥 We’re not sure what their position is on getting caught in the rain, but Vita Coco definitely likes Piña Coladas, given it’s the latest flavor for their line of Coconut Juices with Pulp.

🫚 Reed’s is going functional with a new 4 SKU line of Multifunctional Sodas, available in Berry Bubbly, Strawberry Vanilla, Root Beer and Lemongrass Ginger flavors.

🍄 Sēkwl is launching a line of adaptogenic sparkling waters made with functional mushrooms, sold in six flavors including Hibiscus, Grapefruit, Lemon Ginger, Chamomile, Blue Spruce and Cacao.

🧖 Kava-based beverage brand Melo is introducing a Tahitian Lime flavor to its lineup of canned relaxation drinks, alongside an updated sleek can design.

🔐 With tariffs leaving many consumers worried about looming inflation, Keurig is introducing a Price Lock Event where its auto-delivery subscribers can lock in their current K-Cup pod prices through the end of the year.

Check out more new product news on BevNET.