As we noted yesterday, Coke didn’t offer much commentary on its burgeoning BevAlc interests in its CAGNY presentation, but we did glean some notable insights from Molson Coors’ Form 10-K report filed on Tuesday with the SEC.

💪 Following its most recent investment last year, the beer giant also revealed that it now owns 40% of ZOA, the energy drink and workout supplement company co-founded by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

 ➡️And it might not be stopping there: the contract includes an option that kicks in during September 2024 that allows Molson Coors a 90-day window to purchase incremental shares and up its stake to over 50%. Molson also has an agreement to distribute ZOA’s products “in certain channels in the U.S.,” according to the 10-K form.

🚨 The text also offered this telling clue on the future of Molson’s thus-far fruitful partnership with Coca-Cola to produce, market, sell and distribute alcoholic RTDs from Topo Chico, Simply and Peace Tea: “These agreements have varying expiration dates and performance criteria, with several agreements approaching expiration in the near future.”

🤔 Coke management underscored its “measured” approach to BevAlc in its own presentation, and its lack of commitment to any singular path to scale -- preferring to a balance of joint ventures and in-house projects -- could create some uncertainty for Molson Coors’ own long-term category strategy.

We'll be listening for more updates during Molson's CAGNY presentation today.

Pernod Ricard claimed Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian have taken a liking to the French group’s spirits portfolio (Lillet and Ocean Spray Vodka Cran respectively) during its presentation at the annual Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) event, but made a few comments beyond pop culture too.

🔀 The second-largest spirits group globally took listeners through the cycles of premium spirits ups and downs, but was confident the most recent soft growth in spirits spending will last between six to 12 months.

🤑 The group’s recent acquisitions, such as Codigo 1530 Tequila and Skrewball, have been made specifically to increase exposure to the North American market and the most dynamic spirit categories, said CEO Alexandre Ricard.

🛒 But will those acquisitions put U.S. operations in-line or ahead of the market or will they need to add on? Chairman and CEO for North America Conner McQuaid said the strategy has addressed portfolio gaps and now established the portfolio required to meet the group’s goals (although that doesn’t mean they won't keep their eyes and ears open for other bolt-on opportunities, he added).

🏭 Expect a deeper investment in distilling capacity: historically, the group has invested between 4-4.5% of its sales in CAPEX, but Ricard said “it’s going to be a lot more than that” this and next year, roughly €800 million.

🇮🇪 That means doubling its capacity in the Irish whiskey distillery to sustain future growth for Jameson, growing the Miltonduff Scotch whiskey distilleries, and building a $250 million distillery for Jefferson's Bourbon.

Casa Azul Tequila has actress Eiza González and NFL champ Travis Kelce in its corner, and now has a new CEO with a lengthy track record in BevAlc: Dennis Carr. 

🍷 Carr comes from a four-year stint as vice president of E. & J. Gallo Winery, and was also the president and CEO of spirits company Hotaling & Co for seven years. Before that he worked for C. Mondavi & Family as well as Boston Beer. 

📈 We’ve been following the dive into spirits by Lance Collins— whose track record of success in beverage has few equals— since he introduced Casa Azul’s flagship tequila soda in August 2022. Last March the company followed with a high end tequila line of the same name. 

🙋‍♂️ The low-ABV Casa Azul soda has several competitors in a hot segment, including High Noon from Carr’s previous employer, which claimed to be the highest selling spirit last year. The new CEO’s first move was to introduce two new flavors in a variety pack, and it looks like he’s taking up the charge of expanding retailer distribution this year. 

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Sorry for the obvious headline, but it’s never been more appropriate, since meeting Voss’ new boss means meeting the old Voss boss. 

⏪ About a year after leaving the big chair at kombucha brand Health Ade, Jack Belsito has signed up for another round at Voss, the high-end water company he led for nearly a decade, bringing in PE firm Juggernaut Capital in 2011 before eventually leading the company into a deal for majority ownership by China-based Reignwood Group in 2016. 

✍️ Belsito left in 2018 to work the investment and advisory side of the business with First Beverage Group before returning as an operator with Health Ade in 2021. 

🤠 The former Snapple CEO didn’t have much to say beyond confirming that he is, in fact, back in the saddle at the brand, which has seen category share gradually erode amidst new bottled water entries.

Stevia-centric soda brand Zevia this week announced it has brought on Girish Satya as the company’s new CFO, effective today. 

 👋 Girish – who brings over 20 of experience with finance, operations and strategic leadership with high-growth businesses – assumes the position from interim CFO Florence Neubauer, who will continue with Zevia as SVP, finance and business transformation. 

📉 The appointment comes as part of the company’s larger push toward growth, having reported unit sales and volumes down in Q3 primarily driven by supply chain issues. Zevia’s brand refresh from earlier in 2023 also contributed to higher inventory losses.

⏪ This marks the California-based soda producer’s fourth leadership shakeup in the past couple of years. In 2022 – nearly one year removed from Zevia’s IPO filing – CEO Paddy Spence ceded his longtime role as CEO to president Amy Taylor and in 2023, the company brought on Kirsten Suarez as CMO and appointed Bill Williamson chief supply chain officer.

Rather than sponsor the Super Bowl this year, Liquid Death sought to beat the NFL broadcast at its own game by selling the “Biggest Ad Ever” – an eBay auction to place an ad on the side of over 500,000 Liquid Death multipacks. Now, a winner has been named, and would you believe me if I told you it’s a cryptocurrency exchange? Yeah, it’s Coinbase.

🤑 Coinbase will pay $500,114 – the ninth-largest sale in eBay history, per AdAge – to place its ads on a nationally distributed Liquid Death production run. The cryptocurrency exchange platform has near total creative freedom in designing the ad, although the canned water brand will have final approval.

❌ The announcement came this week after a delay when Liquid Death said an error on eBay’s side led the auction to appear complete with a winning bid of $355,500. Dude Wipes CEO Sean Riley had declared an early victory on LinkedIn, but in a “Dewey Beats Truman”-esque turn of events, Coinbase walked away triumphant after Liquid Death reached out to bidders directly.

😐 The winning ad may carry its own baggage. Consumers have been inundated with crypto advertising for years and post-FTX scandal the industry has faced skepticism from the public, not to mention the government. However, Liquid Death has never been one to shy away from criticism, and handily brushed off negative comments from its own anti-crypto fans in 2022 when it launched its Murder Head Death Club NFT line.

🗣️ The company is proud to claim that instead of spending on a Big Game ad, it spent just $5,000 to produce a video and “turned it into over $500,000.” Is this a one-time stunt, or did they just open up the door for more companies to create revenue streams by subletting their packaging?

Weekday Vibes is a line of non-alcoholic spritzers made with dealcoholized wine and available in two flavors: Grapefruit Rosemary Sparkling Rose and Bitter Orange Spritz. The two products have pretty different flavor profiles and nutritional makeups, but how do they hold up against their alcoholic counterparts?

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