• 💀 Raise the Dead: Weird Beverages Teams With Legendary Band
• 🏭 Ya YA Expanding Newly Acquired Oatly Production Plant
• 👏 Pronghorn Portfolio Keeps Growing

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If anybody wears the label of “weird” as a badge of honor, it’s these two. 

Canned tea maker Weird Beverages is teaming with our Editor-in-Chief’s favorite band, The Grateful Dead, to release a pair of new permanent flavors -- Grateful Grapefruit and Mystical Mint -- in its 16 oz. can Weird Yerba lineup starting on January 1. 

In an email earlier this week, Weird Beverages CEO Jason May explained that Ronnie Bruland, the company's president of sales, was friends with a senior member of the band's management group. After successfully pitching the idea for a collaborative release, Weird was granted licensing rights (via Rhino Entertainment) for exclusive use of the trademark -- including the brand name, lightning-skull logo Stealie Rose and those iconic bears -- in its categories of trade. 

 Along with deepening the brand's cultural credibility, partnering with the Dead means integration with a seemingly unstoppable marketing machine that has generated millions of dollars (and continues to do so) over several decades via a range of merchandise -- created with the likes of Nike, James Perse and others -- while Dead-inspired bands like Dead & Company (which just finished its ‘final tour’ but kept the door open for reunions) keep raising the original group's profile. 

That potent combination of culture and commerce means Weird has "very high expectations for the collaboration," according to May. Two products are fully resolved for 2024, along with some merchandise capsules and promotional materials, but a strong showing could lead to further work together down the road. 

Just creating a single product inspired by a band which the Weird Tea team has "been attending shows since the '80s" was "surreal," May admits. Artist and designer Michael Sieben's take on the Dancing Bears, as seen on the two cans, gives a quick indication of how the two sides are aesthetically aligned. "Just looking at the initially produced sample cans has our whole crew’s minds spinning."

"Very few musicians have had the global impact that they’ve had with their distinctive iconography, and we’re honored to contribute—even on the smallest level—to that cultural impact with this project," he said. "It’s a perfect blend of weird meets weird, and if we can create new fans of the Grateful Dead then that’s a massive success."

At BevNET Live Dec. 3-5 in Marina del Rey, we've carefully crafted an environment that allows for productive discussions with key industry players like retail buyers, investors, distributors, founders, beverage innovators, and industry partners. Check out the current roster of attendees, with new companies joining daily. Register for BevNET Live.

Coca-Cola has no desire to move its “firewalled, wholly owned” bev-alc subsidiary Red Tree Beverages into the distribution business, president Jenny Dowdy said yesterday during Beer Marketer’s Insights fall seminar.

🍺 Unlike Pepsi, which has been rolling out alcoholic versions of its brands – including Boston Beer-produced Hard MTN Dew and FIFCO-produced Lipton Hard Iced Tea – via its Blue Cloud Distributing, Dowdy committed Red Tree and Coca-Cola overall to avoiding the U.S. alcohol distribution sphere, explaining “The creation of Red Tree was really just a way to formalize the way that we operate. It just underscores that we operate as a distinct entity from our non-alc business.”

🚚 Coca-Cola launched Red Tree this summer as an umbrella over its bev-alc partnerships, which include licensing agreements with Molson Coors (Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, Simply Spiked, Peace Hard Tea), Constellation Brands (Fresca Mixed) and Brown-Forman (Jack & Coke) to produce and distribute alcoholic versions of its most popular non-alc brands.

For more on about Red Tree’s innovation strategy and how the partnership has bolstered Molson Coors’ beyond beer portfolio, read the full story on BevNET

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After solidifying a $72 million deal in January to take over Oatly’s Ogden, Utah and Fort Worth, Texas facilities, Toronto-based co-packer Ya YA foods has now secured a tax incentive to expand the Utah plant. As part of the agreement with Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, Ya YA will bring over 300 new jobs to the state and invest $92 million during the next 10 years. 

👷‍♂️ According to local news reporting, construction will begin immediately at the Business Depot Ogden facility.

💰 According to the press release, the company’s wages expect to be just under $197 million for the 10 year period with a new state tax revenue of $9 million and new state tax credit of 20%.

Gen Z is just saying “no” to booze at new levels, according to a new report from NIQ. We grabbed the top takeaways on the most diverse and possibly sober generation yet:

With the U.S. population much more racially and ethnically diverse than in the past, the BevAlc industry will need to continue marketing to a broader audience and diversifying the industry itself to find success with future generations.

✊ And on that note, Gen Z consumers say you can’t fake the funk: they are more likely to purchase BevAlc products if the company supports sustainability initiatives, LGBTQ+ rights, ethnic and racial minorities and social issues. 

🍹 As to how this generation compares to others in terms of abstaining? 45% of Gen Z survey participants said they never consume alcohol (compared to 36% and 32% of millennials and Gen X), meaning many may enter into the category (if at all) through non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits. 

Read the full story on BevNET

Pronghorn, the investment firm focused on boosting Black entrepreneurship in spirits, has added three new female-led spirits companies into its portfolio.

🥃 The Diageo-backed incubator has invested in Acquired Taste Cognac, New England Sweetwater Farm & Distillery and Rally Gin.

📈 Getting closer to its goal of investing in 57 Black-owned spirit brands by 2032, the incubator now counts over 20 brands, including nine led by women (representing 36% of Pronghorn’s total portfolio).

🎂 The new additions follow Pronhorn’s one-year anniversary in June, when it announced it had raised $200 million to support its mission to cultivate the next generation of Black entrepreneurs and executives in the spirits industry.

Everyone seems to be looking for caffeine these days, but not all energy is created equal. We take a look at a new entrant into the “clean caffeine” space with Plant Press, which offers a plant-powered energy boost in 12 oz cans with the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee.

Read the full review of Plant Press on BevNET

Chris Hunter, the co-founder and CEO of plant-based beverage brand Koia, spoke about the importance of setting goals both in his personal life and in business, lessons from an aggressive retail strategy early into the brand’s development, why self-manufacturing is the key to profitability and the company’s future, and how to optimize the roles of celebrity partners.

Listen to the full episode on BevNET.