• 🥳 OOSO Wins NBS 29
• ⚡ Guru Revenue Falls Amid Distro Shift
• 🟢 Whole Foods Leaders Absorbed Within Amazon
• 🥫 Is Sustainable Packaging Worth The Investment?

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How can emerging brands stay competitive in a cutthroat market? When and how does your brand break into major chains and channels? All of that insight graced the stage during the final day of BevNET Live Summer 2025 in New York City on Thursday. Here’s your highlight reel:

Couche-Tard (Circle K) U.S. VP of Merchandising Kurt Fraschetti, retailer broker Rob Welcome, and Slate Milk co-founder Manny Lubin discussed what brand owners need to know before they take a retailer meeting.

• For broaching c-stores, Welcome said he looks for brands that have already established a “base business in a different channel” and which have strong teams behind them.
• C-store requires strong national marketing in order to raise awareness and trigger the brand recognition needed to get the attention of a consumer in a grab-and-go channel, Lubin advised.
• “Especially in a c-store, people aren’t usually lingering – they’re in and they’re out,” Lubin said. “That’s why the marketing support is so important nationwide, especially in convenience when people are grabbing versus shopping.”

Polar’s Investment Thesis: Polar Beverages president and CEO Ralph Crowley Jr. explained how he still sees early stage, emerging beverage brands as a key source of innovation and inspiration for the industry.

But at Polar’s level, the company aims to work with seasoned entrepreneurs who have “already made the mistakes.” 

“It’s impossible to avoid [mistakes],” Crowley said. “You trip, you reformulate, you repackage and you’ve got to be the entrepreneur and keep moving on these things. There’s inevitably going to be mistakes, but you’ve got to be well-capitalized, enthusiastic, get out there, get your brands in front of retailers.”

Insiders can access the full Day Two recap on BevNET.

Want to relive every moment? All BevNET Live Summer 2025 presentations are available for replay here.

BevNET Live is back in Marina del Rey, CA on December 7-9. Connect with beverage leaders, discover industry trends, and close out the year strong. Register early to save on tickets and access the hotel room block. Don’t miss out on this key event to fuel your brand’s growth into 2026. Learn more and register.

👑 OOSO was crowned the champion of New Beverage Showdown 29, joining an elite cohort of well-known beverage brands such as Health-Ade and Poppi that have previously claimed victory.

🫖 The brand produces a range of tea-based wine alternatives and was founded in 2023. Offered in two flavors – Green Tea, Mint & Lime and Hibiscus, Ginger & Currant – the adaptogenic beverages feature ashwagandha, L-theanine and Vitamins B and C.

💭 “We like to say that we’re steeped in the perfect blend of nutrition innovation, whether you’re living an alcohol lifestyle and or simply taking a break – it allows you to be unapologetic,” said co-founder Sophie Raciatti while presenting on stage.

Insiders can check out the full recap of the final round on BevNET.

Montréal-based energy brand Guru has officially ended its distribution agreement with PepsiCo in Canada. As the brand ramps back up its direct distribution model, it saw retail shipment declines with sales dipping to CAD$6.5 million versus CAD$8 million in Q2 2024.

👏 Guru CEO and president Carl Goyette expressed “pride” in his team “taking back control of its destiny,” and said he expects the brand to now “go on offense.”

📊 Despite the sales decline, the energy drink improved its gross margin to 59.7%, compared to 55.8% in the same period last year. It also cut net losses nearly in half from CAD$2.6 million to CAD$1.4 million year-over-year.

🇺🇸 Looking ahead, GURU leadership is confident it will continue its road to profitability as it invests in its U.S. business, where sales have been ticking up in the last year.

Read the full report on Guru’s strategy.

Amazon’s Worldwide Grocery Stores (WGGS) is absorbing Whole Foods Market’s leadership.

The new structure will still see Jason Buechel in the top spot. Buechel was named Whole Foods CEO in 2022 and took over as VP role at the WWGS division in January, now overseeing the Amazon Go, Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market banners.

👋 Whole Foods' corporate team will now be nested into Amazon’s performance review and pay structures, bringing the ecommerce giant more control of the natural channel banner.

💲 The news comes after Amazon’s retail grocery stores began touting “low prices” in recent weeks, signaling that the restructuring is a way to eliminate redundancies.

💭 “Amazon is following the same blueprint as Walmart…Grinding more and more revenue out of the same pot,” said grocery consultant and former Whole Foods executive Errol Schweizer.

What does this mean for suppliers? Find out on BevNET.

While sustainability goals are typically an inherent aspect of modern, mission-driven brands, a recent report from McKinsey and Co. suggests what’s on the outside isn’t resonating with consumers like it used to.

🍎 In an environment where food prices are elevated and shelf-life, product quality and safety are top of mind, beating out eco-friendliness at every turn.

♻️ We broke down the report’s top five takeaways including what are top purchasing drivers in F&B, why there’s a rising interest in food safety and shelf life, how recyclability has claimed consumer attention and more.

Insiders can access the full story for some easy-to-digest insights.