• 🎯 Distribution: Chamberlain and Sèchey Grow in Target
• 🏭 Refresco Buys VBC Bottling
• 🏀 PRIME Adds A New Team To Its Roster
• 👻 GHOST Steps Into Food
• 🍸 WTF? N.A. Retailer Goes M.I.A.

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Spanning from the mass channel to the international market, here’s the latest distribution gains from around the industry:

💻 Influencer Emma Chamberlain’s namesake brand, Chamberlain Coffee, is beefing up its mass channel distribution footprint with the launch of its RTD oat milk latte line in over 800 Target stores nationwide.

🍷 Speaking of Target, adult non-alc lifestyle brand Sèchey is now a “permanent” part of the retailer’s beverage aisle; according to an announcement Target has extended the partnership for a curated set of NA brands, indefinitely.

🥥 Canned coconut water maker 100 Coconuts is rolling out into new grocery accounts, including Raley’s, Lowes Foods, Save Mart and Lucky stores.

🇫🇷 Celsius will expand into a country that actually uses the metric system, announcing this week it will launch in France at the beginning of Q4 2024. Suntory will serve as the brand’s exclusive distributor in the country.

Beverage solutions provider Refresco is expanding its manufacturing network with the acquisition of VBC Bottling Company, a Modesto, California-based premium beverage producer.

🍾 VBC is the latest purchase by Refresco, which in 2021 acquired three Coca-Cola bottling plants and last year closed a transaction for alcohol beverage firm Avandis. 

👷 Refresco CEO Hans Roelofs called the deal “another step” in the company’s “Buy & Build strategy,” adding that “additional canning capacity along the West Coast improves our ability to service all our contract manufacturing customers.”

Viral hydration and energy brand PRIME continues to line up new sports teams, this time becoming the Official Sports Drink Partner of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. PRIME has already aligned with the UFC, the WWE, Los Angeles’ Lakers and Dodgers as well as some of Europe’s largest soccer clubs: Bayern Munich, Arsenal and FC Barcelona.

⛹️ Logan Paul and KSI’s drink brand has also been accumulating a hefty roster of professional athletes and celebrities including Patrick Mahomes, women’s soccer player Alisha Lehmann and NHL’s Auston Matthews, among others.

📉 Despite the meteoric rise for the Congo Brands-owned beverage, sales have decelerated recently. Dollar sales growth was down in the single digits, a stark difference from its 323% jump in the 52-week period ending February 24, according to NielsenIQ data.

BevNET Rising Star award-winner GHOST just recently launched a new beverage innovation, but its next move represents a step into an entirely different side of CPG: Meet GHOST Protein Cereal, a collaboration with category giant General Mills.

🥜 Details have been scarce thus far, but the products were teased in LinkedIn posts from the brand’s official account on Wednesday. It is launching in a Peanut Butter and a Marshmallow flavor, with each variety offering between 17 to 18 grams of protein per one-cup serving. 

🗣️ Per the post: “It’s no secret...we just love cereal. Since day one, we’ve been inspired by the iconic cereal aisle color palette, nostalgic cereal flavor profiles and genuine fun that cereal, as a category, exudes. So...why not partner with the best in the business (General Mills = GOAT) and put our own spin on one of our favorite things on this planet?”

📈 GHOST is set to join a competitive protein cereal set that includes brands like Magic Spoon, Premier Protein and Kellogg’s Eat Your Mouth Off. 

BevNET spirits editor Ferron Salniker joins the podcast to dive into why the adult non-alcoholic beverage category might be facing struggles in light of the news that Boisson, one of the largest independent retailers of NA beverages, is closing all of its brick-and-mortar shops. The group talks about the recent investment and rebrand of Lucky Energy. To wrap up the show, Monica, Brad and Lukas debate the reach of edgy marketing campaigns and how it can take time for brands to find their lane in competitive categories like energy drinks. 

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