• 🥛 Expo West Preview
• 📶 GT’s Names First President
• 💱 Its Officially Tariff Tuesday
• 🆕 Meet Renovate Brands
• 🍋 Crystal Light's Vodka RTD
• 🌴 Fear & Loathing at Expo West

Protect product quality, scale quickly and grow faster with the right contract packaging partner. For over 50 years, WePackItAll has helped leading functional beverage brands meet demand, advance their reputation and get to market faster. Turn filling & co-packaging into your competitive advantage! Learn more

Let’s be clear: Snoop Dogg partnering with a beverage company is not exactly world-stopping news. The legendary rapper – whose place in the annals of marketing history must be equally revered – is sipping from multiple straws, as it were, pitching Corona for Constellation Brands one day and bigging up indie energy brand King Kong’n the next. 

But Snoop’s ambitions with Iconic Tonics, the new functional beverage rollup formed today through the rap star’s strategic investment and partnership with Harmony Craft Beverages, is something different, promises Iconic co-founder and CEO Evan Eneman. 

• The new venture brings in Snoop’s brands launched with Texas-based Hill Beverage Co. in December 2023 – Do It Fluid and Doggy Lbs Doggy Spritz. 

“We've known [Snoop and his team] for a long time, and really this gives a much broader, and I would say, deeper exposure for Snoop in the functional beverage space,” Eneman told BevNET this week. 

Beyond his personal expertise in all things cannabis, Snoop’s arrival brings “more mainstream viability” to the emerging THC drinks category, said Eneman. 

• Harmony’s portfolio reflects its priority on personalities: partners like acclaimed mixologist Warren Bobrow (with Klaus) and Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips (Love Yer Brain) have unique reach with different audiences and use occasions, all under the auspices of functionality.

With Snoop, that teases the promise of crossover into everything from entertainment to lifestyle to sports. The man was an Olympic commentator, for heaven’s sake. 

But with a myriad of other business interests demanding Snoop’s attention – as well as the entrance of other cannabis culture figureheads (most recently Seth Rogen) into the beverage game – the Dogg will no doubt be likely to produce some new tricks. 

For more on the deal and how Snoop will be leading the charge at Iconic Tonics: Read the full story on BevNET.

The entire natural CPG world is seemingly converging on Anaheim this week for Natural Products Expo West. Whether you are walking the show floor or tracking updates from your phone, BevNET has you covered. We’re kicking off our extensive cross-site coverage today with a roundup of some of the news and innovations you won’t want to miss over the next few days: 

🙏🏼 Goodbye, TetraPak. We have a first look at new packaging from Saint James Iced Tea, aimed at both solving manufacturing challenges and aligning more closely with a sustainability message as the company scales.

🥥 We talk with MALK about their plans to take a bigger piece of the plant-based milk shelf through a pair of new releases, one of which is a Whole Foods exclusive. 

🤔 And what is the latest innovation from Jordan’s Skinny Mixers? It may not be what you think. We have the details. 

Check out the full story for all of the updates. Stay tuned to BevNET all week for our ongoing coverage from Expo West 2025.

For a brand so clearly associated with its founder, this is a big deal. GT’s Living Foods has named Jon Clancy as the first-ever president in the company’s 30-year history.

• Clancy brings valuable experience with perishable refrigerated products, having most recently served as Chief Operating Officer at Bonduelle Fresh Americas. 
• He’ll be charged with overseeing day-to-day operations, long-term strategy, and new innovation with a priority on “protecting the integrity of living foods,” per an announcement this morning.

🔀 Clancy’s arrival will allow GT’s founder GT Dave to shift his attention to innovation, brand marketing, and building community.

🔊 “On a personal level, this also allows me to spend more time with my family – something that means the world to me after three decades of nonstop dedication," Dave added

Go Deeper: GT Dave Talks Maintaining Integrity with ‘Real Kombucha’ Refresh

Tariffs on imported goods from China, Canada and Mexico went into effect today. What does this mean for CPG? How is your business preparing?

• We want to hear from you. This week, our editorial team will be scampering around the halls of Natural Products Expo West – if you see us, tell us about how you are navigating and preparing for these supply chain shocks. 
• If you miss us: our inboxes at BevNET and Nosh are always open as well. 

Even if levies don’t directly impact your own inputs, they’re sure to send shocks through consumer spending habits. Per the latest Numerator survey, 80% of Americans are concerned about the impact of tariffs on their finances. 

• Earlier this year we asked an array of industry experts whether they thought Trump’s tariffs would tamp down growth. Click here to catch up on what they told us.

Go Deeper: Are You Ready For Tariff Tuesday?

Thrive Market’s former head of merchandising James Ren introduced a new consulting and advisory firm, Renovate Brands, this week that aims to help CPG brands sharpen retail strategy, drive velocities and scale profitably. 

• Renovate Brands will focus on executing retail strategies and channel expansions.
• Ren emphasized the 4Ps fundamentals – product, pricing, placement, and promotion strategy – and will push CPG partners on these for profitable growth.
• Brand positioning, product formulation and development and retailer relationship management will also fall into the purview. 

🗣️ What Ren said: “Having worked closely with brands across every stage [...], I’ve seen firsthand what separates the ones that break through from the ones that struggle to scale. Now, I’m working directly with brands to ensure they’re set up for success in all retail channels.” 

The O.G powdered beverage brand is shaking up its product catalog with a foray into bev-alc. With nearly one in five customers using Crystal Light as a mixer for their cocktails, it was about time the 1980s favorite made its own branded cocktail, the company claimed. 

🎶 With banger jingles like “I believe in Crystal Light because I believe in me,” Gen X is likely to be a key demographic, humming that tune while reaching for flavors like Wild Strawberry and Lemonade. 

• Now we’re left to wonder if the brand will revamp its hit Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship to get some viral (but only 77-calorie) buzz with younger consumers. 

🍹 The 3.8% ABV and zero-sugar Crystal Light Vodka Refreshers hit shelves this month in the Northeast in a four-pack for $9.99, with plans for a larger expansion, new flavors and multipack options in 2026.

Category Catch Up: IWSR Says RTDs Poised to Grow +6% Through 2028

Whether you’re heading to Expo West or sitting it out this year (the FOMO is real), tune in to this special episode – dropping a couple days early – to hear how the CPG Week team is preparing for the natural products industry’s Super Bowl.

👀 Lukas ‘Meat Sweats’ Southard is hoarding all of the jerky snacks and keeping an eye out for new non-seed oil callouts on the show floor.

💉 Ozempic Editor Monica Watrous will be hunting for GLP-1 related marketing and innovation.

📉 Brad ‘Debbie Downer’ Avery is asking the tough questions about how brands are bracing for tariffs and other economic challenges.

Listen to this week’s episode to learn more. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Like what you are listening to? Please don’t hesitate to rate our show and leave a review on your podcast platform of choice.