• 🥤 Coca-Cola: 'Solid Topline' in Q2
• 🚚 Poppi and Open Water Hit Chipotle
• 📰 What We’re Reading
• 🔨 Yes, Somos Made Mistakes. But The Fix Is Helping Them Make (And Feed) Millions.

Celsius might be topping the energy drink news cycle these days but Guru Organic Energy has been building out a strong team up north to fuel its own growth.

Yesterday, the Montréal, Canada-based caffeinated beverage company announced it had added some serious muscle to its board of directors including Jeff Church, Tyler Ricks and Anne-Marie Laberge.

No stranger to energy drinks, Church has had a front row seat to the category’s ups and downs. He co-founded Rowdy Energy with NASCAR driver Kyle Busch in 2020 and served as CEO until it shut down at the beginning of the year. Before that, Church co-founded and led cold-pressed juice company Suja Juice for over seven years.

Ricks, who cut his teeth at PepsiCo, also brings plenty of energy to the boardroom. He recently left the CEO spot at Super Coffee to lead plant-based pizza brand Caulipower as its new CEO. Before that his resume includes working as an executive, investor and board advisor to brands like Peet’s Coffee, Noah’s Bagels, Plum Organics and Kos Naturals.

Laberge, a native Canadian and experienced marketing executive, has formerly worked for Bombardier Recreational Products and telecommunications company Telus. 

The addition of Laberge matches Guru’s new VP of marketing Shingly Lee (also announced yesterday), who most recently was head of marketing and brand at Alpha Foods. Lee has held marketing roles at Danone’s Vega brand, The Kraft Heinz Company and Procter & Gamble.

The three powerhouse leaders and new marketing power bring an expansive knowledge base to an energy brand which has posted five consecutive quarters of growth. The company recently reported net revenue growth of 19% in Q2, with triple digit growth (+143%) in U.S. club and online sales year-over-year.

In other staffing news from the beverage industry, Liquid I.V.’s VP of supply chain and operations Emily Popham announced on LinkedIn last week that she has left her post after 4 1/2 years at the powdered hydration brand. Popham was employee number 25 when she started in 2019 as Liquid I.V.’s director of operations.

What’s next? Popham didn’t give any hints as to her next position but said that she learned to love the “building phase” of a startup business and the “chaos” that comes with it. 

Go Deeper: Learn more about all of Ricks’ recent moves on BevNET.

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Coca-Cola’s volume growth overseas has helped buoy softening numbers in North America where declines across water, sports drinks, coffee/tea, soda and its flagship brand dragged volume down 1% in Q2 2024, according to its latest quarterly earnings report, released this morning. Let's take a look at the top line:

• Net sales were +3% ($12 billion)
• Operating income rose +10% 
• Global unit case volume was up +2%, thanks to demand from international markets. 
• The company has updated its yearly guidance and now expects non-GAAP revenue growth of 9% to 10%.

In North America, there was some good news: The company gained value share in total NARTD beverages via often-overlooked categories like juice and value-added dairy (Fairlife), along with plant-based beverages. But those were more than offset by declines in water, sports, coffee and tea, Trademark Coca-Cola and sparkling flavors. Pricing was up 11% while concentrate sales fell 1%.

BevNET Insiders can access the full earnings recap.

🥤 Prebiotic soda maker Poppi and aluminum bottled water brand Open Water have both expanded their foodservice footprints through a partnership with Chipotle.

🫐 Consumers can now find 221 B.C. Kombucha’s Berry Hibiscus, Blueberry Ginger, Mango Dandelion, Passion Fruit Red Clover, Lavender Moringa and Tangerine Marigold varieties at all Publix locations nationwide.

🍸 Non-alcoholic elixir brand Three Spirit shared via LinkedIn that its products are now available in 100 Total Wine & More stores across 25 states. Total Wine & More also added Aplós’ hemp-based non-alcoholic cocktails, Ume Spritz and Chili Margarita, to its shelves. 

🥛 Plant-based oatmilk maker Minor Figures has announced its latest U.S. retail expansion into 812 Kroger stores across 7 divisions which brings it to new markets and a wider audience.

⚡ Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s energy drink brand ZOA has landed in Albertsons stores nationwide, celebrating the launch with a 2-for-$4 promotion in select locations through Aug. 30. 

From Forbes: Early this week, grocery industry expert Errol Schweizer published a review of the new book from former Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, The Whole Story:​​ Adventures in Love, Life, and Capitalism. We’ve eaten up the review and while we wait for the grocery giant’s parent to bring us the book, we will leave you with this sentiment from Schweizer:

“CEOs have to be good storytellers. Like Bible Belt fire and brimstone preachers, CEO’s know that nothing binds the flock better than a good yarn. John Mackey’s vision, through his gift for storytelling, enabled Whole Foods to change the way America eats, buys and thinks about foods. But not all good stories have happy endings.”

From The New York Times: Not all celebrity partnerships are simply for show. Recent NYT report From the Playing Field to Wall Street details the star-studded deals coming through private equity firm Patricof Co., and how the firm has devised a structure that allows athletes to dovetail their interests into investments and put between 10% to 30% of their wealth into PE deals. With a roster of over 250 athletes, including Jason Kelce and Joe Burrow, it seems this firm’s unique approach may be working. 

From Food Dive: Ellia Kassoff was more than disgruntled when his favorite childhood candy brand – Astro Pops – was discontinued by Spangler Candy. The nephew of former operators of Leaf Brands (I.e. creators of Jolly Ranchers and Milk Duds), Kassoff turned his disappointment into a new business opportunity and has gone from tech headhunter to resurrector of long forgotten candy brands.

From Food & Wine: Grocery Store Travel is apparently trending on TikTok… but what does that mean? Well for startup food and beverage brands (that often build up retail in their own backyards before reaching an expanse of retailers) this sounds like good news. According to the Tok-ers, visiting a grocery store while traveling is a form of sightseeing: it's not only a cultural experience they claim, but also a great opportunity to find delicious souvenirs. 

Miguel Leal, the co-founder and CEO of modern Mexican food brand Somos Foods, talks about how the company adjusted its positioning to resonate with a broader audience; mistakes that, in hindsight, were avoidable; how Somos identified areas for improvement in how the products tasted and were named; and how his timeline for an potential acquisition has changed significantly.

Listen to the full episode now.