• 💪🏼 Koia Bulks Up Innovation
• 👁️ Ball ‘Keeping A Close Eye’ On Energy Drinks
• ❌ Snapchill Recalls All Cans
• 🏈 Tom Brady Invests In Gopuff
• ⚾ Pot Drinks Now Sold In Portland Stadium
• 🚰 Bottled Water Behemoth And Omsom's New Owner

Consumers want more from energy drinks—hydration, focus, mood enhancement and muscle support. Manufacturers are responding with functional ingredients like ashwagandha, BCAAs, and natural caffeine to meet the growing demand for healthier options. Learn more

Diversity in marketing is crucial in today’s multicultural landscape. Consumers are 38% more likely to trust brands that effectively embrace diversity in their advertising, but that approach hasn’t sat well with everyone – including the demographics it's meant to spotlight. 

See: “Latino coating,” the term the Hispanic Marketing Council is using for a superficial marketing approach that layers Latino elements onto products, campaigns, media or entertainment for the appearance of diversity. The group launched a new campaign – #StopLatinoCoating – this year to address the issue as it pertains to its constituents. 

“To us, Latino coating is a form of cultural appropriation that offers a mere illusion of inclusivity by adding Latino elements on the surface, just like greenwashing or rainbow washing – but preying on Latino identity,” said HMC chair Isabella Sanchez in a statement. 

Despite Latinos accounting for 20% of the U.S. population, brands only invest roughly 4% of their advertising spend in targeted efforts towards the demographic. Additionally, more than a third of Latinos are currently dissatisfied with the current products or value propositions being offered. 

How does this relate to the F&B industry? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey 2022, Latinos represent 15% of all food spending with an 84% increase from 2012 to 2022. Additionally, they spend an average 6% more than non-Hispanics at grocery stores per week. 

HMC’s campaign points to food and beverage giants like Pepsi, Nestlé, and Molson Coors as examples of how to successfully center Hispanics in a marketing campaign. In fact, Pepsi – which has a Hispanic Business Unit and works closely with Omnicom Media Group to produce culture-forward work – won HMC’s 2024 Marketer of the Year Award for allocating “intentional and appropriate investments” to the Hispanic market. 

How can a brand determine if they’re Latino coating? According to HMC’s Hispanic Market Guide 2024, you are Latino coating if you launch a Hispanic Heritage Month Campaign and have it suffice for the whole year, translate or adapt a campaign not originally crafted for Latino audiences; use stereotypes rather than tapping into the nuances that speak to Latino experiences; or attempt Hispanic marketing without working with specialized agency partners.

Brands and marketers must choose to either prioritize the Hispanic market with intentional and authentic representation or eventually – and inevitably – lose out on trillions of dollars, according to the guide.

If brands address the drivers of dissatisfaction in terms of access and value proposition, there is a collective $109 billion of revenue at stake right now. And, if they can course correct, there is a potential $600 billion in the future, according to the report. 

“For anyone targeting consumers under 50, the general market as you have known it is dead. To continue pouring the vast majority of marketing/advertising dollars into an increasingly shrinking non-Hispanic white demographic segment while virtually ignoring the majority (Black and Brown people) does not make much sense,” said HMC research chair Nancy Tellet in the guide. 

Go Deeper: Learn how some have executed major pivots due to inauthentic marketing.

As Koia’s business heats up, the plant-based protein beverage maker said it needed to move beyond the cooler. This month, the brand launched its first shelf-stable line, Koia Nutrition Shakes, available in three flavors in 11 oz. tetra pak cartons and targeted towards the ecommerce market in 12-pack cases.

🍃Koia’s cold-chain core line has helped propel the brand past $100 million in sales, said CEO Chris Hunter, but logistics and pricing had limited its ecommerce options. A shelf-stable format now opens up Amazon and D2C, as well as providing loyal consumers a more convenient pantry-stocking option.

🍌 The Nutrition Shakes are similar to the core cold line, but feature a different formulation with higher protein (20 grams per 11 oz. versus 18 grams per 12 oz.) and 21 vitamins and minerals. The drinks come in Vanilla Bean, Cacao Bean and Chocolate Banana flavors.

💗 This isn’t Koia’s only news innovation. The brand will be going wide with a 32 oz. multi-serve, which it previously tested in Sprouts stores, and has several more launches in the upcoming months.

Read the full story on BevNET.

Ball Corporation, the world’s leading manufacturer of aluminum beverage cans, is “keeping a close eye” on domestic beer and energy drinks as it plots its next few years, executives said during an investor day Tuesday.

• The company aims to increase its market capitalization to $30 billion by 2030, up $9 billion from its existing $21 billion market cap. 
• Ball plans to get there through +2% to +3% organic volume growth, operating earnings growth with “2X operating leverage,” and driving capital allocation with a 1:1 net earnings to free cash flow ratio, EVP and chief financial officer Howard Yu said. 
• Half of Ball’s net sales come from its North and Central Americas business unit, where it has 40% penetration in the can market for beer, carbonated soft drinks and energy drinks, according to the investor day presentation.

🗣️ Chairman and CEO Dan Fisher said he is monitoring how domestic beer is “tethered to the end consumer and the energy category because we've benefited greatly. We've got an outsize position there. It's great that it's only flat to slightly up.”

BevNET Insiders can read more about Ball’s tumultuous past few years and executives’ takes on competition and product mix.

Thanks to innovative technology from industry leader Alland & Robert, Farbest Brands now offers Beyond Acacia®! This exclusive, easy-to-use gum acacia has high-density granules that help optimize beverage production – with benefits like improved solubility and high dispersion. Learn more

Canned cold coffee co-packer Snapchill has recalled all of its products due to a risk of botulism as part of its production process. 

🏭 The Green Bay, Wisconsin company initiated a voluntary recall on Tuesday; it appears the problem stems from the “low acid canned foods process for manufacturing” not being properly reported to the FDA, as is required by regulation.

😮‍💨 So far no illnesses or reports of botulism have been reported as a result and Snapchill is working to rectify how it files its production process to meet FDA oversight.

☕ Formerly named Elemental Beverage Co., Snapchill was founded in 2011 and uses proprietary technology to rapidly cool hot coffee and package it in cans for specialty roasters like Intelligentsia and George Howell, among many others.

🤝🏻 In May 2022, distribution and logistics provider Englewood Marketing Group took an equity stake of roughly half the company and moved the operations from Watertown, Mass., to Wisconsin.

Go Deeper: Learn more about Snapchill’s manufacturing focus.

Just last week Gopuff’s director of merchandising Max Crowley took to the BevNET Live stage to breakdown the company’s beverage strategy, but failed to spill the tea on its new, big name investment partner (which may have captured the attention of our Boston-based BevNETers). 

🚚 Today, the rapid delivery company announced that it has entered into a “multi-year strategic partnership” with Tom Brady, who has also joined as an investor.

👀 The seven-time World Champion, entrepreneur and philanthropist will work with the platform on product development, content creation and more, assisting Gopuff in building brand awareness.

✨ Are we surprised? No, not really. Since actually entering retirement, Brady has been capitalizing on his likeness well beyond his own incubated brands. He is now a spokesperson for numerous companies, spanning from Delta Airlines to Hertz and in January, merged his TB12 nutrition platform with footwear and apparel producer NOBULL.

That’s right, THC beverages have notched a major win in the minor league space. This past week, Seattle, Wash.,-based based Cycling Frog claims it has become the first THC beverage to be sold at a sporting event after a can was purchased, cracked and crushed at the Portland Pickles stadium in Oregon.

🏆 While it may still be a while until you can drink your high in a major league setting, the sale at the summer league’s stadium marks a major milestone for the category, which has advocated for the normalization of these products through on-premise sales.

⚔️ Cycling Frog has been an outspoken advocate for the hemp-derived THC beverage category and successfully fought legislation in New York last year that could have stifled the category’s growth.

What did the CPG Week team do, see, and sample last week at BevNET Live? Senior reporters Brad Avery and Lukas Southare talk about their favorite sips and unique dining experiences while Nosh managing editor Monica Watrous shares highlights from a shopping trip to the Big Apple’s trendiest grocery stores. It's safe to say the team took it all in at the summer conference.

💧 Then, the group gets to the news, discussing the implications of the proposed merger of water giants BlueTriton and Primo and how it will not only create the largest bottled water conglomerate in the country but also impact politics and policy through its massive scale.

🍜 Later in the show, the podcasters dig into Omsom’s acquisition by DayDayCook and what it means for Asian CPG food brands.

Listen to the full episode on Nosh.