Happy Friday! Senior reporter Lukas Southard here, stepping in for our newsletter editor (and resident FDA expert) Adrianne Deluca. We have a whole pallet of distribution news, fresh summer sips and marketing campaigns to tell you about this morning.

From the playful rise of #WaterTok to the wellness appeal of prebiotic sodas, consumers are reshaping what they expect from a simple sip. Flavored water is leading the charge, bridging fun, function, and flavor in ways brands can’t afford to ignore. See where innovation is headed next. Learn more

🐻‍❄️ It’s only been officially for a few days, but Polar Beverages is already seeing “a very warm welcome” for its newest DSD account, Just Ice Tea. “This partnership is a special one -- our co-founder Seth Goldman is a proud New England native, and Polar was instrumental in Honest Tea’s early success in the region,” said Eat the Change on LinkedIn.

🎯 SoCal-based non-alc social tonic Hiyo has landed some significant mass-retail validation by launching at select Target stores nationwide last month in 4-packs of its three flavors: Blackberry Lemon, Peach Mango, and Watermelon Lime.

🍸 Also heading into Target: adult non-alcoholic (ANA) specialist De Soi’s canned Spritz Italiano. 

🥤 Jones Soda has high hopes for new prebiotic extension Pop Jones, which is now available in Modern Beverage POGs across several national and regional chain stores. Albertsons-Safeway, Hy-Vee and Kroger are also partners.

💦 CVS and Walgreens are expanding their powder hydration sets with BIOLYTE On the Go packets starting next month in 6-count boxes of two flavors: Citrus and Punch.

Before we head into the weekend, we rounded up all of the hottest new products and sorted them for our latest new product gallery. Here’s a preview of what was stocked this week:

🥤Cornbread Hemp has launched into the hemp-derived THC beverage space with a line of low-sugar, 5mg drinks in four flavors: Blueberry Breeze, Raspberry Limeade, Peach Iced Tea and Salted Watermelon.

🍍 Humm added a new flavor to its Whole30 Approved lineup of gut health beverages: Humm W30 Pineapple Kiwi. The LTO contains zero grams of added sugar, two billion probiotics and a boost of Vitamin B12. 

🥛 Eclipse has officially debuted its Non-Dairy Whole Milk crafted with chickpea and pea protein, which was previewed at Expo West. The new product is aimed at foodservice partners, including coffee shops, smoothie bars, bakeries and cafés.

Check out the full gallery on BevNET. 

💧 Primo Brands is looking for a “Pitch Perfect” performance with its “Besties” campaign starring real-life buddies Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson as it launches new carbonated flavored water Splash Refreshers. 

⚽ It’s all about soccer for Crystal Geyser and Powerade, with the former announcing itself as the official water sponsor of the United Soccer League (USL) and a presenting sponsor for league games with Spanish-language broadcaster TUDN. Meanwhile, Powerade recruits two of the game’s hottest young stars – FC Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Rodrygo of Real Madrid – to be the faces of its new video campaign. 

🎵 Taking a detour from action sports, Monster is leaning into music with two new initiatives. For its core Monster and Java Monster lines, the brand is flexing its marketing muscle this weekend as the exclusive energy drink of the Stagecoach country music festival. And for its low-calorie Reign Storm line, the brand has enlisted country star Maren Morris to front a new marketing blitz. 

For more details on these and other brands, read the full story on BevNET.

Welcome BevnetCommunity! Download your free 2025 Wellness Trends report—featuring top insights on stress, alcohol alternatives, and more. Love the data behind the report? Subscribe to our Wellness CPG platform and get 50% off with code: Bevnet50. Learn more

U.S. spirits exports hit a record high last year as European importers upped their orders in fear of 2025 tariffs on American whiskeys. 

🥃 U.S. spirits exports reached $2.4 billion in 2024, up 10% with exports to the EU surging 39%. Exports elsewhere, however, dipped by 10%. 

🎢 The report from DISCUS arrived after a rollercoaster few months of tariff threats and negotiations that have entangled U.S. spirits in a trade war. Among other worries, with Canada (the second-largest export market) imposing a tariff and removing products from shelves, the outlook for 2025 is uncertain, said DISCUS CEO Chris Swonger.

📈 Whiskey leads in exports, but vodka and cordial are driving growth, rising double and triple-digits respectively compared to 2023. 

E-commerce beverage-alcohol platform Provi has now settled with a second distributor over allegations that it interfered with its business. Provi settled with Republic National Distributing Co (RNDC) yesterday, following a settlement with Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits (SGWS) earlier this month, according to a joint notice. 

🧑‍⚖️ Provi filed a complaint in March 2022 against SGWS and RNDC – two of the largest wine and spirits distributors in the country – alleging the defendants worked to “boycott, disparage and tortiously interfere with Provi’s business.”

👀 The complaint was the first of its kind to use a report by the U.S. Department of the Treasury assessing the state of competition in the beverage-alcohol industry following a 2022 executive order by President Joe Biden.