• 🩸Could Blood Sugar Concerns Drive New CPG Trends?
• 🤝 Halfday Iced Tea Lands Liquid Death CSO
• 🪴Rogen’s New Brew
• 🚚 Distro: High TImes for Hi Seltzer

Glucose… the next gluten? A Wall Street Journal article published in late January examines a burgeoning health craze – monitoring and minimizing blood sugar spikes – among nondiabetic consumers seeking metabolic and cognitive benefits.

Backed by 3.3 million Instagram followers, French biochemist Jessie Inchauspé, creator of the Glucose Goddess Method, is at the forefront of the movement. Her approach involves so-called “hacks” such as eating a savory breakfast, drinking a tablespoon of diluted vinegar daily, and adding protein, fat or fiber to carbohydrate-rich foods. Proponents of the plan point to improved energy levels, reduced cravings and enhanced mental clarity. 

💉 The rising usage of diabetes drugs like Ozempic for weight management and appetite control may be contributing to the heightened interest in blood sugar beyond the diabetic community, which encompasses an estimated 29.7 million Americans, or 8.9% of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Several health and fitness apps like Signos and Nutrisense use continuous glucose monitoring devices to provide personalized recommendations for nondiabetics on nutrition, exercise, and fasting and meal timing. 

🍪 This signals a potentially powerful opportunity for packaged food and drink companies marketing low-glycemic products. General Mills’ Good Measure brand sells “blood sugar-friendly” snacks that were developed for consumers with diabetes and prediabetes. Joydays debuted last year and offers a range of cookies that are sold “in the diabetes aisle” at Walmart stores, according to its website. Founder Amy Cohn partnered with diabetes dietitians to develop the recipes, which contain allulose, monk fruit and date paste. 

🥤 Several beverage brands are also leaning into messaging around balanced blood sugar. Good Idea features a patented blend of amino acids and a mineral proven to reduce total blood sugar when consumed with a meal. Functional soda brand Perfy has adopted a “Boosts Moods Not Blood Sugar” tagline and partners with diabetic influencers and diabetes supply companies to build awareness.

💡 If all of this seems vaguely familiar, recall the gluten-free fad that kicked off about a decade ago, fueled by wellness influencers and celebrities pushing folks to avoid wheat. An estimated 1 in 133 Americans, or about 1% of the population, has celiac disease, the autoimmune condition flared up by eating gluten; yet the global gluten-free foods market was valued at $6.45 billion in 2022 and is forecast to expand at a CAGR of 9.8% through 2030, according to Grand View Research. As evidenced by the rapid rise of gluten-free – and its adoption well beyond those with celiac disease – it’s reasonable to expect a similar trajectory for diabetic-friendly products.

After over three years leading sales at Liquid Death, Sean Lynch announced today that he is has been named the president of canned iced tea Halfday. Lynch brings over over a decade of sales experience from stops at Red Bull, Bai and Califa Farms, as well as tech companies like Cove PBC and Eat Just.

🥤 Initially launched as a prebiotic tea tonic, Halfday rebranded itself in 2022 with the help of Los Angeles-based design firm Someone & Others to bring a new look to the gut-friendly iced tea brand.

💰 Last August, the company received $7.3 million in funding from undisclosed venture investors as it continues to grow its five-SKU line of iced teas into more retail partnerships. As of April, the brand was available in over 2,100 retail doors.

Health-Ade is launching a prebiotic pop? That’s not an old headline, though you’d be forgiven for thinking so. Rather, the California-based kombucha maker is once again looking to tackle the exploding next-gen soda with SunSip, launching online in 12 oz cans this week via D2C and in Whole Foods.

🥤 The line is available in Cherry Cola, Raspberry Lemonade, Root Beer and Strawberry Vanilla varieties and retails for $2.49 per can.

🫧 The company launched Health-Ade Booch Pop, later simplified as “Pop,” in 2020. It discontinued the line last year and has now tailored SunSip to ideally build on Pop’s strengths while avoiding its weak points.

Read the full story on BevNET.

It feels like only last week that Robert Downey, Jr. was the latest Hollywood star to enter the packaged coffee game, but things move quickly in the world of celebrity CPG. This week, it’s Seth Rogen who’s looking to grab a piece of your morning cup with the launch of Houseplant Coffee, produced in collaboration with frozen coffee platform Cometeer.

😄To answer your first question: no, this coffee won’t get you high.

🧊 Houseplant Coffee’s two inagurual roasts -- Bean There Done That, an Ethiopian medium roast blend, and Get Roasted, a Mexican dark roast -- are aimed at the premium at-home coffee market that Massachusetts-based Cometeer has cultivated for its unique frozen coffee puck format. Both are available to Cometeer subscribers (plans start at $64 per month) as part of the Houseplant Roaster Box, or for the one-time purchase price of $84.

🗣️ "From where we sit, coffee and cannabis are the perfect pair,” said Evan Goldberg, Rogen’s frequent creative partner, and a co-founder of Houseplant along with the actor and Michael Mohr.

🍫 That relationship has proven fertile ground for a handful of CPG players: see THC-infused coffees The Drinkable Company, or ‘luxury cannabis’ brand Binske’s collaboration with Intelligentsia Coffee on a THC-infused espresso chocolate bar. 

Read more on BevNET

January’s well and done, and as we move deeper into Q1 startup beverage brands are getting new placements across the country. Here’s some of the latest distribution highlights.

🌿 Delta-8 THC beverage brand Hi Seltzer signed a distribution agreement with Texas liquor store chain and foodservice distributor Spec’s Wine, Spirits & Finer Foods. The brand is now in over 200 Spec’s locations.

☕ Nguyen Coffee Supply is also building out Texas with placement in H-E-B stores across the Lone Star State.

🔑 New York-based sparkling water brand KEY is heading to the Midwest with new distribution in Minnesota via Coborn’s grocery stores.

➕ Powdered hydration mix maker Cure is heading for the great outdoors with a rollout in REI locations nationwide.

Check out the full roundup on BevNET.

High retailer inventory levels, pullback on consumer spending, and changing generational tastes are some of the challenges the BevAlc industry is facing, according to a new data analysis from WSWA SipSourse at the organization’s conference last week. Here are a few top level highlights:

🛒 Wholesaler inventories are larger than ever amid a widening gap between sales and inventory, which means retailers are more than likely to bring in less of new items. 

🍸 Spirits remained resilient on-premise but really it was RTDs leading growth in some of the more alternative channels like concessions, travel and nightclubs. 

➡️ As reported previously, the top-end of spirits has slowed, so analysts are looking to the mid-tier to provide growth for the category. Does that mean adiós to the parade of new luxury tequilas? 

Read the full story on BevNET

In food and beverage, innovative brands often get the most attention. But do products that are positioned as incrementally better-for-you than existing options have more runway? The hosts discuss. This episode also features a conversation with Good Culture’s Jesse Merrill and Manna Tree’s Steve Young about the synergy between profit and purpose.

Listen to the full episode of Taste Radio