• 🥂 A Drink With…Amante 1530 Founder Ana Rosenstein
• 🍸 Boisson’s Former Co-founder Launches Non-Alc Retail Site
• 🏈 BLK & Bold’s Gridiron Partnership
• 🔄 People Moves: ZICO Rising and Cometeer Announce New CEOs

In a category that has, in recent memory, been rocked by heavy metal branding, strategic consolidation and aggressive new playbooks, can a glass-packed premium bottled water stand out on its artesian laurels? Realm thinks so.

Realm, which announced its impending launch with a splashy booth at this past Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City, has raised $1.5 million to build out its own facility and “get to commercialization” of its glass-bottled artesian water, CEO Todd Kletter told BevNET. 

In an effort to put the class into glass and present itself as an ultra-premium competitor in a saturated category, the Fort Ann, N.Y.-based brand has been working with “water sommelier” Martin Riese – even flying him out to the Summer Fancy Food Show to chat with attendees and help make the pitch for Realm’s superior liquid.

Gearing up to launch in 750 ml and 375 ml bottles by the end of the year, Realm has set its sights on high-end hotels, spas and restaurants to match its high-end positioning. 

Though Realm does have plans to scale into retail and is already preparing to open a new funding round, making the move into specialty retail will put it on shelf next to not only Italian and French imports but the vast range of premium and commodity waters in the U.S. 

Factor in the fact that there are other luxury glass bottled water brands trying to thread the same needle as Realm – and there are some big names that previously tread that same path. Voss, owned by Reignwood Group, was initially positioned as a ultra premium glass option when it was founded in 2001, but has since relented to plastic to expand its reach with a broader range of consumers. There are also other privately owned brands like Arizona-based Sedona Water and Butte Falls, Ore.’s Cascade Mountain occupying valuable shelf space in retailers like Erewhon also making a play for the water connoisseur’s heart.

But Realm isn’t sweating it. Kletter said the business has “no pressure to get moving” too quickly and wants to make sure “we get it right.”

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As Americans keep spritzing, the founder of one amaro brand is hoping her background (and a famous British crooner) will help her crack into the Italian spirits market.

🤓 Ana Rosenstein, the founder of Amante 1530, spent her early career in venture capital, focused on investments spanning from CPG to consumer healthcare. Before that, she started a now-closed CBD company while at Harvard Business School. 

💵 Now, she is applying a profit-over-growth mindset to her amaro brand launched last year, arguing that she doesn’t want “to be on the endless venture hamster wheel.”

🎼 BevNET chatted with Rosenstein about where she sees opportunity for more aperitif amaro players and why her celebrity investor takes a backseat in the company’s branding (hint: there’s a “message in a bottle”). 

Read the full story

Despite the rise, fall and rebirth of Boisson, many industry watchers might not be familiar with Barrie Arnold, the other co-founder of the NA retailer who left in February 2023. Arnold is reintroducing himself to the adult non-alcoholic category with bardelia, a new ecommerce site founded with his partner, Alexa Parmisano.

🤖 Arnold is leveraging his experience at Boisson along with AI technology — playfully named Sam the Sip Advisor — to be more “customer-centric.” 

🧱 With a focus towards mindfulness and healthier alternatives to alcohol, bardelia is starting online with plans to eventually move into brick-and-mortar locations.

Specialty coffee and tea brand BLK & Bold is teaming up with Prime… Coach Prime that is! The Black-owned business announced this week it has brought in football icon Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders as co-owner and social change leader, bringing the Colorado Buffaloes head onboard just in time for season kickoff.

🤝Co-founders Pernell Cezar and Rod Johnson welcomed Sanders as the first new co-owner of the company since its launch in 2018; he arrives as the business extends its footprint past 13,000 doors nationwide.

👋 As Social Change Leader, Sanders will be advocating for BLK & Bold’s giveback mission to support underserved Black and Brown communities in the U.S., while also promoting the brand in videos and other media.

🤩 While bringing the Hall of Famer into the business is a big step for the brand’s founders, Sanders is no stranger to brand partnerships. He became a minority investor in energy brand Redcon1 in February. He has long standing relationships with companies like Nike and Van Heusen, and, in June, he entered an endorsement deal with KFC and Pizza Hut.

🥥 After announcing his departure from Chamberlain Coffee last week, Chris Gallant is set to take the reins at coconut water brand ZICO Rising as its new CEO later this month. Speaking with BevNET yesterday, Gallant said he is “excited to see where we can take [ZICO] while keeping focus on the core products.” 

☕ Matthew Roberts, CEO of Cometeer, announced via LinkedIn that he will be stepping down from the position and into the executive chairman role in October. According to the social media post, shifting away from day-to-day decision making will allow Roberts to “focus strategically on what matters most: elevating our coffee and where I can make the greatest impact.” He will be succeeded by Fabian Seelbach, Cometeer’s current president. 

🤝Global packaging company TricorBraun announced today it has appointed John Saalwachter as VP of sales for CanSource, which provides can packaging and related services to the beverage industry. 

Read the full interview with Chris Gallant today on BevNET

Non-alc beverage sales hit a slow patch last month, as retail growth decelerated in the two-weeks ending August 24, according to the latest report on NielsenIQ retail scanner data by Goldman Sachs Equity Research.

📊 Total dollar sales dropped -0.2% in the two-week period, down from +0.6% in the four-week period. That reflects a -2.7% volume dive against a 2.6% average pricing increase.

📈 CSDs retained a decent growth level and the category was even across the two- and four-week period at +4.4%.

⚡ After years of high growth, energy drinks seem to have crested for the time being, falling -0.7% with a -0.3% volume hit and -0.4% pricing decline. This shift comes as Celsius’ rapid rise cools from triple-digit hockey stick growth to a more level 4.6% dollar sales increase for the two-week period.

Influential advisor and investor Ken Sadowsky and Taste Radio editor Ray Latif sip their way through an assemblage of beverages, as the former shares his perspective on trendy concepts, categories on the rise, package design, his investment thesis and successful retail strategies.

Listen to the episode now.