• 🙏 Hemp To Congress: Regulate Us, Please!
• 🚚 Behind Boisson’s New Deal
• 🍎 There Goes the Neighborhood: Breaking Bad Boys Bring Mezcal to Applebee’s
• 🌅 Whiskey Sunrise: Country Singer Chris Stapleton Jumps Into the Spirits Game

After years of waiting for a regulatory greenlight on CBD in food and beverage ended in the FDA deferring the question back to the legislature, could Congress finally provide some clarity on CBD this year? As negotiations for the upcoming Farm Bill get underway, the U.S. hemp industry is pushing to make it happen.

The U.S. Hemp Roundtable last week released a list of its key priorities for the new Farm Bill – the first major update to the law since the 2018 Farm Bill that initially cleared the path for much of today’s legal hemp market – and regulating CBD and other hemp-derived ingredients is at the top of the industry’s wishlist. 

According to Jonathan Miller, general counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, the industry group is encouraging Congress to include language in the bill that would direct the FDA to issue a ruling allowing for the inclusion of hemp-derived CBD in food, beverage and dietary supplements. The lack of regulation, he said, has been a major paint point for hemp farmers and CBD manufacturers, and many farmers and brands have shifted their focus towards hemp-derived THC ingredients like Delta-9.

In 2018, market data firm the Brightfield Group projected that the hemp CBD market would reach $22 billion by 2022. By mid-2022, the firm reported that the U.S. hemp CBD industry would likely reach $5 billion in retail sales.

“Had the FDA gotten ahead of everybody like they should have in 2019, we would have a thriving industry both on the CBD side and on the delta cannabinoid side,” Miller told BevNET. “But there’s just so much uncertainty, a lot of unregulated products as a result, and that’s why we need to get this regulation in the Farm Bill.”

Beyond CBD, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable highlighted six more key priorities for the bill, including a call to “address the shortage of testing laboratories,” “reduce regulatory requirements for hemp grain and fiber farmers,” allow hemp grain to be used in animal feed, maintain the legal definition for “hemp,” support social justice initiatives and remove the felon ban preventing convicted felons from working in the hemp industry, and rule that hemp crops containing less than 1% THC content be deemed compliant with the USDA.

“We feel really good,” Miller said. “We're not so arrogant to think that everything we asked for we're going to get, but we've narrowed it down to what we think are our top, realistic priorities, so we're hopeful.”

After reporting yesterday’s news that leading non-alc retailer Boisson is expanding its business model with a national wholesale push, we chatted with the company’s recent executive hire, Jill Sites, vice president of wholesale, about the strategy behind the expansion. 

🛍️ The national account strategy with KeHe and LibDib involves “curation and consolidation,” said Sites, acting as the single point of contact with distributors and taking care of paperwork, discounts, pitching to customers and attending shows, in addition to handling shipping and purchase orders. Basically, taking some of the admin work off suppliers’ plates. 

🛒 In order to be successful in a low margin, high volume channel like wholesale, the company needs to drive it, said Sites. That means not trying to beat big BevAlc but filling holes in where they can at specialty grocery, natural grocery and curating sets for bottle shops.

📈 That’s in line with NA brands’ priorities as many of them aim to expand further into retail with specific non-alc sets and are looking for inroads into the bar. 

Read the full story on BevNET

Mezcalritas are coming to one of America’s biggest casual dining chains. Applebee’s is introducing mezcal for the first time on its menu with three new mezcal margaritas featuring actors Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston’s Dos Hombres Mezcal. 

👬 The cocktails are shaken and poured tableside (fancy!) and served with a chilled shaker tin with multiple pours at $9 for a limited time. However, guests can expect to see more Dos Hombres Mezcal cocktail innovation from the restaurant chain in the year ahead, said Patrick Kirk, vice president of beverage innovation at Applebee’s.

📈 Mezcal has experienced some of the most notable growth this year among agave spirits at on-premise outlets, according to CGA. While there are only a few celebrity-backed mezcal brands (tequila dominates on that front), they could play a small role in recruiting new customers: Only 7% of consumers say they are influenced by celebrities’ endorsements or brand ownership—but of these, 82% would drink another category or brand if they like the celebrity behind it, according to CGA.

He might sing about Tennessee Whiskey, but yesterday Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and musician Chris Stapleton unveiled his collaboration with Kentucky-based Buffalo Trace Distillery has hit retailers nationwide.

🥃  Traveller Whiskey, a premium blended whiskey is meant to be an approachable and everyday sipper priced at $39.99. Other celeb-backed brands have aimed to hit that mid-tier price point for their flagship as an entryway into retail.

🦬  Traveller is made from a blend of whiskeys from The Sazerac Company’s distilleries and bottled at Buffalo Trace. The country star was born in Lexington, Kentucky, nearby the distillery, and has collaborated on special releases for charity before.

💵  Buffalo Trace has found wins in both the value and high-end bourbon and rye whiskey markets, from budget brands like Ancient Age to the coveted Pappy Van Winkle. Last year the Sazerac-owned distillery announced it had expanded to double the production of its whiskey.

Alix Peabody, the founder of pioneering canned wine brand Bev, chronicled the three years leading up the acquisition of her company by global wine and spirits company E & J Gallo, how she analyzed the timing and opportunity to sell, and the resulting – and surprising – fallout with confidants.

Listen to the full episode of Taste Radio