• Soylent Stalls, Starco Brands Fading?
• Gallup Finds Record Low Number Alcohol Consumption
• CPG Execs Say Business Model Won’t Work In 10 Years
• Monday Moves: Staffing Switches & Retail Rollouts
  

The mushroom beverage category has been seeding spores to become the next big health and wellness trend for years, and Melting Forest believes it’s found the key to unlock the mainstream mass appeal the space has been seeking.

The energy and relaxation beverage maker has hired new VP of growth and strategy Micah Urbach to help craft a fast expansion into convenience and foodservice channels, where chief revenue officer David Martin said the brand has potential capture the “cult following” that propelled some of the past companies he’s worked at (*cough*SoBe*cough*Fuse) to stardom.

• Mushroom drinks have been steadily gaining traction in natural and conventional channels thanks to brands like Four Sigmatic, MUD\WTR and Odyssey. Melting Forest is a relative newcomer.
• Grand View Research projects mushroom drinks to reach $5.78 billion at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2024 to 2030.

With its psychedelic branding, Melting Forest’s packaging doesn’t not invoke an image of magic mushrooms (none included, just Lion’s Mane and cordyceps), but that colorful and playful imagery is essential to building the cult following Martin believes the brand is poised to create.

With Urbach on board, channel expansion as well as diversified distribution (adding more DSD and B2B) is also going to be key pillars on the road map.

“I liken it to playing a game of chess and knowing your seventh move before you make your first one,” Martin told us.

Insiders can read the full story on BevNET.

Is the Soylent story coming to an end? 

It’s a fair question after perusing parent company Starco Brands' (Whipshots, Winona Butter Popcorn Spray, more) Q2 2025 earnings, showing just $6.8 million in gross revenue, a 33.6% drop from the same period last year. 

Sales are slower, the company admitted, while also citing inventory challenges in getting products to shelves – but D2C might be Soylent’s new (old) home.

Of potentially more grave concern? There’s “substantial doubt” as to Starco’s viability as an ongoing concern, as noted in its Form 10-Q filing, thanks in part to its “history of recurring net losses and continued working capital deficiencies.” 

Read the full story on BevNET for more on the future of Starco.

The percentage of Americans who say they drink alcoholic beverages has fallen to its lowest point – 54% – in the history of Gallup’s annual survey tracking drinking patterns of adults.

Industry stakeholders were quick to point out that the fluctuations in the year-over-year results should be taken with a grain of salt: the findings surveyed 1,002 adults 18 and up, in a time when underage drinking has plunged. 

• Of those who consume alcohol, “a record-low 24%” said they had a drink within the last 24 hours. 
• Meanwhile, 40% said the last time they had a drink was more than a week ago, which was “the highest percentage since 2000.”

Fun Fact: Gallup found a steep decline (19%) among Republicans who say they drink, while Democrats’ consumption has remained steady at 61% over the last two years, only declining 3% compared to 2023. Could it be that Dems are a little more… stressed out these days?

Get the full recap on BevNET.

The CPG business is undergoing a shift, but without a crystal ball to determine where the industry will be in a decade from now, we’ll have to rely on recent news and survey responses from those on the front lines.

Nearly half of CPG executives (49%) believe their current business model won’t survive the next decade – a rate that is seven times higher than the average across other industries, per a recent PwC report – due to “flat growth, low margins and economic volatility.”

Of the CPG executives that reported their business model won’t be viable within the next 10 years, nearly one-third aren’t planning to restructure a single function: “In other words, leaders know change is needed but many haven’t committed to the urgency required,” the report claims.

Insiders can access the full breakdown on Nosh.  

Here’s a taste of the people and products moving around the industry to start off your week.

🥤 Uncle Snoop is heading to Tennessee via Iconic Tonics, the producers of Do It Fluid and Doggy Spritz lines, which will now be moving through Best Brands, Inc. and expanding to Georgia (with Savannah Distributing Company) and New Jersey (Allied Beverage Group).

💧 Is ‘wet’ water overrated? We’re not sure, but DryWater seems to be making its case. The electrolyte + vitamin powder is entering over 2,000 Walgreens locations this month. 

☕ RTD coffee has embraced functionality in recent years, but Everyday Dose Coffee+ continues to fly its flag in packaged varieties, which can now be found at Target stores.

☔ Sparkling Ice procedure Talking Rain Beverage Company appointed Marlee Perez as VP of technology. 

Read up on more of the latest distribution gains on BevNET.