• 🌄 KDP Heads to the Canyon
• 🤩 Celebrity Parade: Messi, Sofia & Snoop Edition
• 🔢 SPINS Acquires The Data Council
• 👩🏿‍⚖️ In the Courtroom: Arsenic and Old Contracts
• 🪖 The First Thing Jocko Willink Did When ‘Things Went Terribly Wrong'

Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits appears to be in more legal hot water. Coming off the heels of a judge allowing a separate lawsuit to go forward against the wine and liquor distributor, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appears to also be going after the company for its pricing practices, according to a Politico report. 

Although not finalized, the expected FTC suit against the bev-alc distributor will most likely center on how it operates its business and uses its market share to muscle out competition. The FTC is rumored to be invoking the little used 1936 Robinson-Patman Act which attempts to rein in larger suppliers from influencing prices in order to undercut smaller retailers.

Violators of the antitrust legislation are accused of offering different pricing schemes to competing buyers for the same products and/or discriminating against certain businesses using price differentiation. Though the FTC has not used the legislation in over 20 years, the Robinson-Patman Act can be invoked to tamp down on anti-competitive practices by larger companies.

The FTC has allegedly been investigating Southern Glazer’s since last year. The news comes amid a series of Biden administration-led lawsuits through the FTC that attempt to level the playing field for smaller retailers and reduce the impact of high food and beverage prices on consumers.

Southern Glazer’s could become a regular in the courtroom in the future, as a judge announced last week that e-commerce bev-alc platform Provi’s lawsuit against the distributor could move forward. The lawsuit alleges that bev-alc distributors Southern Glazer’s and RNDC illegally stifled competition and “tortiously interfered with Provi’s business.” Check out the latest updates on that case here. 

Go Deeper: Feds Open Investigation into Southern Glazer’s

Also from the FTC: An Oregon judge denied a request by Kroger and Albertsons to get additional information on which markets the FTC takes issue with in its ongoing challenge to the supermarket chains’ proposed megamerger. The companies requested the underlying basis for the FTC's market share and concentration figures but the judge said some of the requests are best suited for the expert discovery phase while others were too broad and would require excessive attorney work. 

Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) is going deep in the Grand Canyon State. The beverage giant recently announced the acquisition of Arizona-based Kalil Bottling Co. Let’s dive into the details:

☀️ Kalil owns a production facility in Tucson and sales and distribution centers in both Tucson and Tempe. The acquisition also grants KDP bottling and distribution rights for several of its brands reaching around 4,500 stores.

🚚 The deal marks the first acquisition of a distributor by KDP since 2020, when it purchased two regional businesses in Texas and Louisiana. It now marks KDP’s first owned operations in Arizona.

🤵 It’s also the first deal to be announced under new CEO Tim Cofer, the company’s former COO, who assumed the chief executive role from Bob Gamgort this spring.

Read the full story on BevNET.

⚽ After a slow trickle of tidbits and teases since Lionel Messi’s new sports drink was announced in late March, we finally got a first look at the new brand, dubbed Mas+ By Messi, developed in collaboration with White Claw maker Mark Anthony Brands. But is the brand ready for “PRIME” time? The 16.9 oz PET bottle that looks conspicuously like Logan Paul’s brand, while the four initial flavors – Miami Punch, Orange d’Or, Berry Copa Crush and Limón Lime League, all named for “inspirational milestones” in Messi’s life – tick the boxes for low sugar (1 gram) and calories (10 each). 

☕ Colombian actress Sofia Vergara is launching ¡DÍOS MIO!, a new coffee brand dedicated to sourcing 100% of its coffees from certified women coffee growers that are registered with her country’s Federación Nacional de Cafeteros. That partnership is expected to be a key factor in distinguishing the brand as it launches in three initial varieties – Sweetness (Light Roast), Balance (Medium Roast) and Strength (Dark Roast) – on Walmart.com and the brand’s website.

🍷 It’s been almost four months since we last heard about a Snoop Dogg-backed beverage venture – so it’s about that time again. After announcing the Gin & Juice alcoholic RTDs (in partnership with OG mentor Dr. Dre) back in February, Snoop is back with Cali Cocktails, a carbonated canned wine sipper (9% ABV) created alongside Australian brand 19 Crimes. 

BevNET Insiders can click here and access even more details.

Market researcher SPINS announced this morning it has scooped up The Data Council from Advantage Solutions Inc. Here’s a quick rundown of the deal:

🧑‍💻 Data Dump: SPINS believes the content management platform’s capabilities, which sit “at the center of ecommerce and marketing in the CPG industry” will help SPINS’ retail partners fuel ecommerce, in-store and supply chain growth. 

🔀 The market research firm also said the integration, which is an extension of a longstanding partnership between the two platforms, would allow for “more efficient, and more intelligent interactions” within the natural product ecosystem.  

Plenty of brands have been in and out of the courtroom over the last month, culminating in a big win for Fiji and much more. Here’s what we’ve gleaned from the gallery:

🗻 Fiji Water won its appeal in a breach of contract case brought by Carolina Beverage, overturning a $2 million jury verdict that had found The Wonderful Company-owned brand guilty of violating a distribution deal by selling its waters direct to retailers. Appellate justices ruled in favor of Fiji as Carolina Beverage continued to distribute Fiji after the termination.

🍎 Arsenic can be found naturally in apples and other fruits, but now S. Martinelli & Co. is facing a consumer-led class action suit claiming it failed to disclose arsenic levels detected in its bottled apple juices. The complaint argues that Martinelli misled consumers by not including a disclaimer on its labels.

🚱 The case between eight Las Vegas residents and alkaline water maker Real Water is now being tried before a jury. The plaintiff’s allege the company’s products have caused liver failure – including among five children after the water was found to contain the toxic chemical hydrazine. The company previously accepted responsibility for plaintiff medical costs and in February a jury awarded $129 million in damages to a different group of people who suffered the same injury from drinking Real Water.

Jocko Willink, a decorated, retired Navy SEAL and founder of better-for-you beverage and supplement brand Jocko Fuel, explained why having a “military mindset” means more than you might think and how he empowers his team to navigate the complexities of running a modern consumer brand.

Listen to the episode here.