• 🆕 This Week’s New Sips
• 🌱 Hemp Regulation Roundup
• ⚽ Mas+ Supports Youth Soccer
• 🍸 Can-Tini Acquired By High Basin
• 🐄 California Dairies' New Facility
• 💡 It’s Better For… Who? Plus, How To ‘Rethink’ Food Insecurity.

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Premier yerba mate brand Guayakí will be celebrating its 30th anniversary next year under its new name: Yerba Madre.

The plan maintains the brand’s signature visual identity – yellow packaging with red lettering – but the name change is still a big shift for the company. Even if it has been slowly moving away from the hard-to-pronounce name for at least a year (well, hard to pronounce for native English speakers at least).

We sat down with CEO Ben Mand to learn more about the reasons behind the rebrand, and how the business – its RTD drinks pulled in $206.6 million in revenue via U.S. retail, MULO and c-stores in the last year, per Circana – is continuing to grow and lead in the small, but expanding, U.S. yerba mate set.

“We felt Yerba Madre retains that lingual [element of] what people just refer to us as,” Mand said, noting that many consumers just called the brand ‘Yerba’ or ‘The Yellow Can.’ “As well, it speaks to what we're really like – this broader inclusivity of all the different communities, as well as what we're trying to do from a regenerative business model and positive impact in both communities and environments.”

The rebrand is just one piece of a larger restructuring and mission to scale. In the coming year, Mand said to expect to see a lot more variety in its new innovations and expanded distribution. The company has also added an innovation team “to make sure that we are timely with things, that we have in-and-out opportunities,” he added.  

Growing the field team and adding independent doors is another key goal for Mand, claiming that field marketing at events and smaller, mom and pop type stores is “an important part of our overall DNA.”

However, even if growth is vital, staying true to the company’s social mission is just as important for Mand. He believes firmly that not only can “business be a force for good,” but also that investing in environmental and community programs ensures that “what goes around comes around.”

Insiders can read the full story to hear more from Mand on mission, sales and tariffs.

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:

⚡ 5-hour Energy is taking inspiration from a classic carnival treat – Cotton Candy – for its latest LTO energy shot. Each 1.93 oz. sugar-free shot contains 230 mg caffeine.

☕ Just in time for peak iced coffee season, International Delight rolled out Cinnabon Iced Coffee in cans, featuring tasting notes of cinnamon and cream cheese frosting.

💪 Huel announced the first retail launch of its Black Edition High-Protein Complete Meal, exclusively at GNC nationwide and online.

Check out the full gallery on BevNET for more.

It is hard to keep up with all the regulatory changes in the hemp-derived THC category. Have no fear, BevNET is here to keep you up-to-date. Let’s crack a cold one for this:

🤷 Florida’s legislature appears to have fallen short of passing regulatory framework to limit the reach of hemp products in the state. The Sunshine State’s House and Senate failed to find common ground before the legislative session ended on competing bills that would restrict intoxicating hemp.

❌ Meanwhile in Ohio, state Senate members passed a law that would relegate essentially all intoxicating hemp products to the marijuana dispensary channel. Ohio’s move would limit the state’s CBD industry and bar brewery and restaurant owners from selling hemp beverages.

🫗 Rhode Island’s state Senate also passed new legislation that limits hemp-derived THC drinks sales to licensed retailers (including some liquor retailers but barring DTC sales) while also requiring sales to to 21+ consumers and bans advertising aimed at children.

Catch Up: Hemp Industry Responds To California ‘Readopting’ Emergency Ban

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Along with Almave’s Cinco de Mayo non-alc campaign and Brew Dr.’s support of the national parks, there were a couple of new marketing items we took notice of this week.

💦 Mas+ By Messi has become the official hydration partner of MLS NEXT and MLS GO in a multi-year deal to support North American soccer organizations.

🍷 Heard of wine clubs? How about Non-Alc wine clubs? Adult non-alcoholic (ANA) retailer The Zero Proof is launching a quarterly ANA wine club as it harnesses increased demand (and options) in zero-proof vino.

😵‍💫 Hypnotiq has joined the ranks of Ultimate Fighting Championship’s sponsors in a multiyear deal.

Catch up on more recent marketing moves on BevNET

Texas-based High Basin Brands is tapping into the espresso martini trend within its homestay, acquiring Austin-based Can-Tini. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

🤝 This is the spirits company’s second acquisition in the last 12 months after it acquired Treaty Oak Distillery in November.

🤔 Can-Tini nitrogen-infused RTD espresso martinis in 6.8 oz. cans with 7% ABV. It is the first RTD in High Basin’s portfolio.

🪨 Launched by the founding members of On The Rocks, High Basin also operates the Ghost HIll Organic Vodka.

💭 “Can-Tini is everything we look for in a breakout brand: exceptional liquid, beautiful design, and the ability to stand out in a high-growth category,” said High Basin CMO Jordan Rothschild-Noomé.

Go Deeper: High Basin Bets on Organic with $4M Launch, TX Distillery Acquisition

California Dairies Inc., a farmer-owned cooperative, unveiled its new 200,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant, Valley Natural Beverages (VNB), in Bakersfield, Calif. 

🐮 The vertically-integrated plant is expected to process an estimated 116,000 gallons of dairy milk per day at its current capacity.

🏭 The new production plant will eventually stretch to 400,000 sq. ft. and have a processing capacity of up to 600,000 gallons per day.

🥛 With 90 full-time employees onboard, VNB incorporates renewable energy to operate and will open three processing lines to produce conventional extended shelf life and ultra-high temperature beverages and products.

Catch up on more recent dairy processing developments.

They call it “better-for-you.” But better for who, exactly? And are trendy startups solving a problem – or just selling the illusion of one? The hosts dig in. We also revisit four interviews from Taste Radio’s NYC meetup, where leaders from innovative food and beverage organizations, including Rethink Food and The Goods Mart, shared insights on mission-driven business models and scaling with purpose. 

Listen to the full episode now. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.