• ✨ BevNET Live Is Just 5 Days Away!
• 👀 New Products: Spicy THC and Summer Sips
• ⭐ Reviews? We Got 'Em
• 👋 Former Koia President/CFO Starts Consulting Venture
• 👀 Brown Forman Eyes RTDs
• 📈 Tequila Poised to Surpass Vodka On-Premise
• 🎙️ Now Streaming: Taste Radio

Starbucks has added two SKUs (Ginger and Turmeric) of Solti’s refrigerated wellness shots line to its checkout line coolers at over 10,000 doors nationwide. In one fell swoop, the move makes the coffee giant Solti’s top foodservice customer and presents a major mainstream opportunity for the California-based beverage brand, writes managing editor Martin Caballero.

Last year, 11-year-old Solti brought on Clayton Lichterman as VP of Business Development after he supported Kodiak Cakes and as it built a presence in foodservice. The channel now represents around 5% of the total business, founder and CEO Ryne O’Donnell told BevNET this week.

As Starbucks has found itself in an overall state of flux – announcing significant shifts in its cafe operations to favor new technology – Solti joins a slate of rising brands that have been embraced by the coffee giant, including current cooler mates Koia, Perfect Bar and Olipop.

Even as the broader juice category has struggled to stay relevant after the cold-pressed boom over a decade ago, shots have remained a bright spot in the segment with brands like So Good So You to Vive Organic to, yes, Solti.

Solti said its performance at Publix stores has shown its SuperShot line is capable of driving high velocities across all income demographics, even at a premium price point of between $3.19 to $3.30 per unit.

Sales of Solti’s refrigerated fruit drinks were up 42.3% and its vegetable juices grew 36.1%. RTD teas, though a smaller category for the brand, were still up 23.3% to around $7.3 million, per Circana U.S. MULO and c-store data for the 52-weeks ending December 29, 2024.

“[Starbucks] saw the future,” Solti founder and CEO Ryne O’Donnell said. “And I think if you look at total US MULO [sales] data, they also saw that, and that's compelling.”

Perhaps it’s a result of the continued mainstreaming of health and wellness. O’Donnell said the brand has done better in conventional grocery accounts than the natural channel over the last six years (going back pre-pandemic, notably). In mass chains Walmart and Target, the brand has steadily increased facings, with new expansions in those accounts “almost once or twice a year.”

Insiders can read more about this development and other distribution updates from around the industry on BevNET.

Over 700+ beverage industry leaders are already registered for BevNET Live, happening June 11–12 in NYC, and time is running out to secure your ticket. Get ready for two days of can’t-miss opportunities, including:

💥 New Beverage Showdown – Discover the bleeding edge of the beverage industry as 12 emerging brands pitch live on the BevNET Live stage.

🥤 Sampling – Discover the latest in beverage and get your own product in front of hundreds of industry decision-makers.

🎤 Presentations & Panels – Learn from category leaders at OLIPOP, Liquid Death, Chobani, Yerba Madre, Live Nation & more.

🔗 Networking – Make real connections with founders, investors, operators, distributors, and retailers.

🎓 Beverage School – A crash course on the essentials for early-stage brands.

🤝 Retailer 1:1 Meetings – Sit down with buyers from retailers like Whole Foods, HEB, Casey's, and Stop & Shop. Meetings are already filling up!

🎟️ Grab your ticket before it’s gone → [Register Now]

What this week’s new product gallery lacks in volume it makes up for in style – this group is not if not an eye-catching bunch. We’ve found products to match any style, including: 

🍋 A primed-for-summer pink lemonade flavor from one of the hottest indie energy drink brands. 

🌶️ Low-dose THC drinks in sophisticated flavors like Grapefruit Habanero and Meyer Lemon Elderflower.

🔆 A new 5-Hour Energy shot that glows under black light, if you’re into that. 

☕ A packaging refresh from KC’s QB. 

🆓 Check out the full gallery here.

This week at BevNET we rounded up cold brew from specialists at Rise Brewing Co., fiery mocktails from Beckett’s, some tang courtesy of Jabin and a healthy serving of natural sweetness from Coaqua Coconut Water.

Then, we chronicled our thoughts with each swig, highlighting aspects of the brand, liquid and product positioning that stood out and things the company could consider for next time. 

🆓 Check out this week’s review roundup on BevNET.

To submit your beverage product to BevNET for review, click here. And to browse past reviews, check the archive here.

A seasoned, long-established CPG finance executive is leveraging his deep CV to strike it out on his own.Koia president and CFO Michael Woolard has left the company to launch a consulting firm tentatively named Foundational CPG. 

⏩ Woolard had been with refrigerated shake brand Koia since 2019 (he remains a shareholder), but is aiming to now bring his experience spanning over 20 years in various roles to help small and mid-sized businesses.

🗣️ “I’ve basically ran all departments [through my career] as a CEO, as president – I know what naturally happens,” he told BevNET this week. 

BevNET Insiders can read the full story here.

From the desk of spirits editor Ferron Salniker, here’s the latest intoxicating updates…

Tariff uncertainty and shifting consumer spending habits weighed on Brown-Forman’s yearly earnings and outlook for fiscal year 2026.

📉 The whiskey giant’s net sales decreased 7% in the fourth quarter and 5% for FY 2025.

😐 Whiskey sales were flat, while RTD and tequila sales dropped 6% and 14% respectively in the year.

🔀 The largest exporter of U.S. spirits has so far narrowly avoided retaliatory European Union tariffs that were set to be imposed on bourbon, but now faces 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, impacting its ready-to-drink (RTD) products.

👓 Still, the CEO sees "opportunity" in smaller format sizes, highlighting Nielsen data that 375ml and the 50ml formats contributed 80% of the dollar growth in spirits over the last 12 months. 

Read more about the company’s plans for RTDs.

Tequila and vodka are now neck and neck in terms of volume share on-premise, according to the latest CGA Cocktail Report.

• Both spirits currently account for 23.5% of total spirit sales across the U.S. on-premise.
• If trends keep up, tequila may dethrone vodka: volumes for vodka are down 3.6%, while tequila continues to climb, up 0.6%. 
• Still, vodka has remained a crowd favorite, with 26% of on-premise consumers saying they’ve had it in the past three months. 
• Beyond premium and luxury vodka, there are other growth opportunities too – both flavored and unflavored vodka rank among the top four cocktail bases for consumers, per CGA.

Are they breakout stars or just... confusing? Pizza wine, salmon jerky, kava & mushroom-infused drinks, Gen Z-inspired peanut butter and “cheezy” puff snacks. Why we're thumbs up – or down – on buzzworthy new concepts in CPG. This episode also spotlights two remarkable women on a mission to elevate the way we eat: Holly Arbuckle of Singing Pastures and Swati Elavia of Monsoon Kitchens.

Listen to the episode now. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.