• 🦁 Lion’s Roar: Yerbaé Partners With Penn State NIL Collective
• 🫖 Humanitea Expands Reach With New Flavors
• 📊 Spirits: De-Premiumization Across Categories, But Resilient On-Premise
• 💸 Suja Sale?
• 🤩 That's My Q

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Yerba mate energy drink Yerbaé has added to its list of athlete investors by teaming up with Penn State’s Happy Valley United (HVU), becoming one of the first non-alcoholic beverage brands to align with a Name, Image Likeness (NIL) collective.

🔵 As part of the deal, Yerbaé is launching an exclusive HVU branded Blue Razz flavor that will be sold around the PSU campus and at HVU events with a portion of the profits going back to the collective. In exchange, HVU will bring awareness to the brand through its student-athlete members and will facilitate introductions and distribution opportunities in the local economy.

💲 The announcement comes after the brand reported a $4 million investment in August and a new $5 million private placement last week with a lead order from NY Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

For details on how Yerbaé is lining up key distribution partners throughout Pennsylvania as a “beachhead” for further East Coast expansion, Read The Full Story On BevNET

With organic, sustainability and charity at the forefront of its message, RTD tea brand Humanitea is ramping up for expansion next year as it introduces three new flavors.

🆕 This month, the brand announced it will add Chamomile Tea with Honeysuckle + Guava and Rooibos Herbal Tea with Peach + Vanilla flavors to its lineup of 16.9 oz. Tetra Pak packaged teas. A third new SKU, Half + Half Black Tea Lemonade, was also announced with plans to launch in the near future.

🏡 Founded in 2012, Humanitea was acquired by a team of beverage industry veterans, including CEO Jeff McClelland and chief sales officer Joe Garza, in 2020. The new owners rebranded the line – moving from PET to Tetra Pak – and reformulated the drinks to be organic and Non-GMO.

For more details on the brand’s expansion on the West Coast and Midwest, Read the full story on BevNET.

‘Tis the season for year-end reports and forecasts. In this update WSWA shares where spirit shoppers are trading down and the IWSR looks at how those trends are playing out globally. Here’s what you need to know: 

📉 Spirits 12-month rolling volume trends overall are down 3.5% from October 2022 to September 2023, and down 5.1% for year-to-date ending in September. 

🫢 We know RTDs are leading spirits but when removed, the picture for spirits is noticeably worse with 12-month trends of -5.2% and year-to-date dropping to -6.7%.

🎅🏼 Tequila and whiskey, especially on the high end, have also been bright spots for spirits but as consumers cut costs they are no longer going for higher end products at the rate they were before. Analysts expect premiumization trends to be resilient over the long term, but are watching the holiday season.

😐 Despite “pockets of premiumization,” the case is the same abroad: across 20 key markets the IWSR reports total beverage alcohol premium-plus volume consumption only increased by 1% between H1 2022 and 2023. 

Read our full report on BevNET

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You got the juice...now? According to an Axios report, Suja -- a part of investment group Paine Schwartz's portfolio since 2021 -- has been exploring a sale, although its exact strategy appears to be in flux. 

🫠 Per Axios, Suja's original plan was to go public, but when "the market backdrop changed," it pivoted into discussions over a potential acquisition by PE group Butterfly Equity via Bolthouse Farms. However, those negotiations appeared to be on pause and Suja had not retained a financial advisor. 

🍊 A transaction with Bolthouse -- which picked up Evolution Fresh from Starbucks last year -- or another strategic like Tropicana/Naked (PAI Partners) would further consolidate premium RTD juice within a small cohort of private equity firms.

What do you call a drink that’s half tea and half lemonade? Well, it better not sound too close to “Schmarnold Schmalmer” as Liquid Death learned this week. The beverage brand announced on Instagram that it was threatened with legal action by an unspecified “large enterprise” over its “Armless Palmer” canned tea flavor, prompting the brand to announce a new name for its tea/lemonade combo: Dead Billionaire, now rolling out on Amazon and into retail.

⛳ Deceased golf legend Arnold Palmer, of course, lends his name to a tea/lemonade drink that is currently sold by competing canned tea purveyor AriZona, the “giant iced tea corporation” referenced in its post.

 🤔 Was Arnold Palmer technically a billionaire? His net worth was reported to be around $700 million at the time of his death in 2016 and Yahoo estimates his estate is valued at around $875 million. Does this matter? Probably not, but “Dead Multi-Millionaire” is a little clunkier phonetically.

You can blame a lot of things for the current state of American politics, but the problem isn't caffeine, apparently. Per a report from Business Insider, the success of our great experiment in constitutional democracy hinges on a steady supply of Celsius to the halls of Congress, where the energy drink has become a firm favorite amongst lobbyists, journalists and some legislators. 

⚡ The action centers around Celsius-exclusive vending machines sprinkled across government buildings, including the Capitol Refectory, Dirksen Senate Office cafeteria and the basement of the House of Representatives, the latter being a meeting point for self-professed "afternoon Celli man" Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and other fans. 

🌡️ Why are coffee-fueled lobbyists and members of the press making the switch? Improved foodservice distribution has made a difference, but the phenomenon underscores how Celsius' overall strategy to create an approachable better-for-you lifestyle brand has made inroads with white-collar audiences that may have previously eschewed the energy category.

It's not like we needed an excuse to drink this holiday season (Dry January is still a month away), but in case you require some inspiration, recently revamped Q Mixers is debuting its first campaign in partnership with Lexington, Kentucky-based agency Cornett, which won the business after a competitive pitch last spring. 

🤷🏼‍♂️ The concept, dubbed "Q It Up," is built around what Q's products can do, as well as what they can't. Example: “We can’t fix these nightmare intersections,” says a wall ad at one of Chicago’s chaotic six-way junctions, “but we can fix your cocktail.”

🎿 Expect to see significant OOH placements in San Francisco, Chicago, and Denver, plus three popular Colorado ski resorts (Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, and Keystone), as well as four live-action digital videos.

In just 5 days, more than 725 beverage professionals will convene in Marina del Rey, CA for BevNET Live. Seating is limited, and tickets are going quickly! View the attendee list to see who you can meet, check out the full three-day agenda, and then register to join us.