• 😠 More PRIME Problems
  
• 🍹 The Latest RTD Cocktails Launches
• 🔥 Kroger Fires At FTC
• 🎤 Beyonce, Hennessey Launch Whiskey
• 👑 Kingswood Closes $1.5B Fund
• 🏡 NY Distillers Secure DTC Shipping
• 💥 From $1M To $500M In Five Years, Olipop’s Explosive Growth Is No Accident

At this point, is there anyone not suing PRIME? Over the past month, Logan Paul’s embattled sports drink brand has faced lawsuits from the Olympic Committee and bottling powerhouse Refresco. 

This week’s news includes a fresh lawsuit from a Massachusetts-based coconut water supplier  Agrovana  – a company contracted to sell imported coconut water concentrate from India for use in PRIME’s energy drinks and hydration sticks. The allegations follow a familiar theme of broken promises and bad faith agreements.

Agrovana is suing the brand in Massachusetts Superior Court for engaging in “willful misrepresentations” in order to back out of its multi-year purchase commitments, according to a recent story in The Boston Globe.

PRIME execs allegedly told Agrovana managing partner Tim Panagopoulos in February that it would need to reduce or cancel its existing POs in the wake of plunging sales, noting that it was “sitting on heavy inventory.” 

But by July it asserted that the powder contained contaminant spots (Argovana claims it was caramelized coconut and safe for consumption) and demanded $3.2 million in chargebacks for allegedly defective product. PRIME is no longer accepting deliveries to its warehouses from vendors in India.

Agrovana is asking a judge to declare its products are up to standards and that it met its contractual obligations to Prime. 

Panagopolous’ business partner Hevan Patel had his own damning declaration for Congo Brands via the Globe: “They screwed us, and they think we won’t say anything about it.”

Catch Up Quick: Refresco Files $67M Lawsuit Against Congo Brands

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RTD cocktail creators are shaking up the saturated category ahead of a big end-of-summer consumption occasion (i.e.: the rapidly approaching Labor Day weekend). Let’s take a look at what’s on tap:

🇫🇮 The Finnish Long Drink has introduced its “Midnight Sun” Variety Pack, which includes four cans of Traditional, two cans of Cranberry and two cans of Pineapple, the latter of which is new to the U.S. market. 

💧 Canned alcoholic still water producer Bluebird Hardwater has unveiled its first-ever product extension: a line of flavored varieties crafted with juice in four flavors – Vodka Water + Lime, Vodka Water + Cranberry, Tequila Water + Lime and Tequila Water + Pineapple.

🍸 The craft cocktail brand inspired by the West Village establishment, Via Carota, has launched a new range of single-serve, ready-to-pour sparkling cocktails: Negroni Sbagliato, White Negroni Sbagliato, Spritz, Paloma and French 75.

Check out the full gallery for all of the latest RTD cocktail launches.

Kroger chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen is ready for a fight. Yesterday afternoon, the grocery chain filed a motion to enjoin the FTC’s administrative proceeding against its proposed merger with Albertsons. The motion argues that the federal agency’s case is unconstitutional and pointed to two precedents set within the past two decades to make its case:

• “First, the FTC violates Article II of the Constitution because the Administrative Law Judge presiding over the administrative proceeding is not removable by the President of the United States. This principle was recognized and applied by the Supreme Court in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (2010).” 
• “Second, the FTC violates Article III of the Constitution by seeking to adjudicate Kroger's private rights to contract with another private party administratively through the Executive Branch rather than in the independent Judicial Branch. This standard was reinforced this past term by the Supreme Court in SEC v. Jarkesy (2024).”

Kroger argues that the merger challenge should be resolved in federal court; the company is set to go to trial next week before an Oregon federal judge, but the FTC has asked that judge to block the deal while it completes its own in-house review. McMullen argues that review could take several years. 

"We stand prepared to defend this merger in the upcoming trial in federal court – the appropriate venue for this matter to be heard – and we are asking the Court to halt what amounts to an unlawful proceeding before the FTC's own in-house tribunal," McMullen said in a statement. 

Catch Up Quick: What’s Up With Kroger?

Pop superstar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is hoping her latest CPG venture strikes a chord with whiskey fans: meet SirDavis, a new American whiskey developed by master distiller Dr. Bill Lumsden and released by Moet Hennessey (LVMH). 

🥃 The label – the first-ever spirits brand developed internally by LVMH in the U.S. – has a mouthfeel and texture similar to Japanese and Scotch whiskies, but composed of 51% rye and 49% malted barley. SirDavis is named in honor of Knowles-Carter’s paternal great-grandfather, a farmer and moonshiner during Prohibition.

💳 SirDavis is now available for pre-order ($89) and is expected to move into select airports and stores (London, Paris and Tokyo) in September. 

♠️ The “Freedom” singer is no stranger to dabbling in CPG, having joined brands like WTRMLN WTR and Lemon Perfect as an independent investor. For her new spirits venture, she’s choosing to go with a familiar face: LVMH is a partner with her husband Shawn on premium champagne label Ace of Spades. 

Kingswood Capital Management, L.P. – a private equity firm with holdings in World Market, Save Mart and G Fuel – has closed its $1.5 billion Fund III, more than doubling the size of its previous fund.

• The L.A.-based firm “partners with leading companies in the middle market,” according to its website, targeting family and founder-owned businesses with a typical investment size of between $50 to $150 million.
• Beyond CPG and retail, Kingswood invests in government and healthcare services, distribution and industrial companies.

🗣️ What they said: “We are thrilled to continue the partnership with our existing investors, and we welcome our new partners as we continue to execute on our investment strategy. We believe we’ll be deploying Fund III into an accelerating market opportunity for Kingswood’s strategy of operationally-focused investing.” – Kingswood partners Michael Niegsch and Jim Renna, in a joint statement.

New York spirit and cider makers are now able to permanently ship their products, thanks to the extension of a COVID-19 pandemic-era law yesterday. 

• Small out-of-state distillers that already enjoy the privilege of interstate DTC will have the ability to obtain a license to ship their products to New York consumers as well. 
• The expansion is particularly significant as New York is home to the largest number of craft cideries in the nation and ranks second in the U.S. for the number of distilleries.
• New York marks the ninth state to grant direct-to-consumer shipping privileges to distilleries, a controversial market modernization that advocacy groups say would support a sector that is struggling to gain access to consumers via national wholesalers. 

Go Deeper: Legal Updates: Crossover Beverage Guidance Takes Shape, DTC Laws Advance

Ben Goodwin and David Lester, the co-founders of leading better-for-you soda brand Olipop, explain why marketing strategy doesn’t lean heavily into education about the products’ functional benefit, why the company’s mission and economic outcome “will forever be entwined,” and why they strive to be “experts in the leadership” of their business.

Listen to the episode now.