• 🌡️ Celsius: Revenue +104% in Q3 As Energy Brand Dominates Online
• 🙋‍♂️ Nearest & Jack Picks Next Partners
• 📍 Does a Hyperlocal Ice Co-Packing Biz Hold the Future of CPG?
• 🧑‍🎓 Electrolit Aligns With College Stars
• 🏆 Prime Announces $1M Gold Bottle Contest in London and New York

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Celsius continues to put distance between itself and the chasing pack, as the number-three ranked energy drink brand reported a 104% revenue increase to $385 million in its Q3 earnings report this morning, up from just $188 million in the same period last year.

• Revenue was driven primarily by North American sales, which grew 107% to $371 million in the quarter, while international revenue was up 56% to $13.6 million. 
• The North American growth has come from the brand’s expanded distribution via its PepsiCo partnership and an increase in SKU count per location, the company said in its press release.
• Gross profit in the quarter was $194 million, up 147% from $79 million in Q3 2022.
• Ecommerce has become a powerhouse channel for Celsius, which became the top energy drink brand on both Amazon and Instacart in the quarter.

“We continued to drive growth of the category by bringing in new loyal consumers, as well as increasing consumption occasions,” said Celsius president and CEO John Fieldly in a statement.

In regards to Amazon, as of September 30 Celsius had achieved a 21.4% share of the energy drink category, besting both retail channel category leader Monster, which had an 18.6% share, and Red Bull, which held a 13% share. Amazon sales in the third quarter totaled $22.2 million, a 42% increase year-over-year. On LinkedIn, Celsius EVP Toby David said the brand is also number one in the category on Instacart.

BevNET contributor and CPG industry strategist Joshua Schall noted that the brand’s dominance on key ecommerce platforms signals that Celsius is further cementing itself as the top player among the modern wave of energy drink entrants.

"With CELSIUS becoming the highest selling energy drink on both Amazon and Instacart, it's safe to say it's the official energy drink of the Internet Generation,” Schall said.

While Monster and Red Bull may still outsell the brand in brick-and-mortar, Celsius also showed strong growth in traditional retail. In convenience, the company reported an additional 22.6 points of ACV growth to 95.6%, versus 73% in 2022. The club channel reported revenue up 83.3% from 2022 to $63.2 million.

Bottled water portfolio giant BlueTriton Brands has named former Sabra Dipping Company president and CEO Joey Bergstein as its next chief executive, effective November 28, 2023.

📥 Bergstein will assume the role from interim CEO Dean Metropolous, a billionaire investor who is a partner in Metropoulos & Co., which co-owns BlueTriton with One Rock Capital Partners.

🪴 Bergstein has been with The Sabra Dipping Company since 2021 and previously served as CEO of household and personal care products maker Seventh Generation.

🤑 BlueTriton, which owns the former Nestlé Waters North America brand portfolio including names like Poland Spring and Arrowhead, is the largest U.S. bottled water manufacturer by revenue. NielsenIQ reported its retail dollar sales up 8.5% to $4.2 billion in the 52-week period ending October 21, 2023.

Read the full story on BevNET

Blackleaf Organic Vodka and Mission Craft Cocktails are the latest brands to be selected for the The Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative, a business incubator and fund from Uncle Nearest and Jack Daniel’s. 

🤝 Like Pronghorn or The Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund by Sia Scotch Whiskey, the program aims to close the representation gap in spirits by providing mentorship and business support for BIPOC and underrepresented entrepreneurs in all areas of the distilling business. Du Nord Social Spirits was the first graduate of the program, which launched in June 2020. 

🇫🇷 Next up is Blackleaf Organic Vodka, a sustainable, USDA-certified organic vodka made in the Cognac region of France and helmed by the duo of Kevin Larkai, who founded the brand in a moment of inspiration while vacationing in Cognac, and Monté Burrow, whose resume includes operations and marketing for Diageo. 

🍸 The second brand is Mission Craft Cocktails, offering ready-to-pour classic cocktails made with California ingredients in 375ml bottles. Five percent of proceeds from sales of Mission Craft Cocktails goes to local California food banks.

🗓️ Mark your calendars: the program also announced the return of its Spirits on the Rise Summit, which will take place April 15-16, 2024, and bring together spirits industry entrepreneurs from historically underrepresented communities.

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The NBA season has begun, and highly touted San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama is undoubtedly one of the league’s star attractions this year. But he’s also stepping into a new role off the court, starring in his first video advertisement for rising sports drink maker Barcode since he joined as an investor and brand ambassador this summer. 

📢 In the ad, which debuts online at 6pm EST today, Wembanyama holds a Barcode branded basketball and speaks in his native French about the expectation surrounding his arrival in the U.S. The video features clips of the star playing basketball as a youth as well as his first NBA appearances.

🏪 Barcode also recently launched a billboard campaign with Wembanyama and has been steadily building out distribution in both Texas-based grocery chains as well as in New York partnering with DSD house Rainforest Distribution. The brand has also signed on as the official  sports drink of the Brooklyn Nets.

Over the next three years, Montreal-based Relocalize plans to deploy 100 fully autonomous, ice micro-manufacturing facilities through partnerships with retail stores, according to co-founder and CEO D. Wayne McIntyre. It’s a significant achievement on its own, but with the ability to produce “simple input” products like beverages, its impact on CPG could be even bigger.

🏭 The micro-factories, or RELOs are co-located within a retailer’s distribution, warehouse or fulfillment centers so that product can be produced and delivered direct-to-stores.

♻️ This method promises to cut a product’s carbon footprint by upwards of 90%, eliminate shipping and logistics costs, and keep the SRP at parity with the industry standards, McIntyre claims. 

🧊 The company is also honing in on what its production model could mean for cold-storage demand. “As soon as you build cold storage, that space is oversubscribed and so, if you can give [retailers] back that space – that's a really powerful incentive,” McIntyre explained. 

When will Relocalize take on the beverage industry? Read the full story on BevNET to learn more.

Sports drinks marketing has typically been the domain of top-tier professional stars, from Gatorade’s “Be Like Mike” ads through Kobe Bryant’s affiliation with BodyArmor and now to Victor Wembayama’s aforementioned budding partnership with Barcode. But with college athletes now in the mix thanks to the NCAA’s name, image and likeness (NIL) ruling, brands like KDP-affiliated Electrolit are looking to bring on student athletes as ambassadors, starting with the addition of four University of Houston student-athletes this week. 

🏀 Electrolit, also based in Houston, is welcoming four members of the Cougars’ athletics program: men’s basketball guard Jamal Shead; women’s basketball starter Laila Blair; Kenna Sauer, an outside hitter in women's volleyball; and Mikaela Gracia, goalkeeper for the women’s soccer team.

💧 “It’s important that Electrolit is on hand to help nurture tomorrow’s athletes on and off the court,” said Jake Sloan, Sr. Marketing Director of Electrolit USA.

McDonald’s isn’t the only brand touting the “billions” it has served: As it nears the sale of its billionth bottle, hydration beverage maker PRIME has announced a 48-hour contest, dubbed Golden Prime, for its fans in New York and London. 

📲 On Nov. 10, one 24-carat solid gold bottle (worth $500,000) will be placed in each city, encased in a bullet-proof glass box. To win the prize, fans must correctly guess and input a six-digit code.

🔥 Each person has only one guess and 20 seconds to make said guess. If no one correctly guesses the code within 48 hours, the bottle will be incinerated by torches inside of the glass box. 

📈 Founded in January 2022 by social media influencers Logan Paul and KSI (and backed by Congo Brands), Prime has gained rapid traction in the sports drink category. In the two-week period ending Oct. 21, the brand saw dollar sales jump 275.6% while volume grew 219.4% and average pricing climbed 17.6%, according to an analysis of NielsenIQ data by Goldman Sachs Equity Research.