• Breckenridge Distillery Debuts NA Spirits
• A Brewer’s New Beverage Co-Packing Business
• Are Tariffs Opening the Door for Yaupon?
• ICYMI: The Past Week’s Top Reads
• Monday Moves: Staffing Switches & Retail Rollouts

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After pulling off its first activation at the X Games last month, zero-sugar soda NO CAP! is putting more fuel in the tank for the second-half of 2025 with $3 million in new investment to support supply chain optimization and marketing support. 

The round was led by San Diego-based Pinnacle Investment Group and comes as No Cap is preparing for a slate of retail rollouts including a chainwide debut at discount retailer Five Below, entry into five divisions of Kroger and the closing of a partnership with Target. 

But before the company could load cans onto trucks, it needed capital to shore up its supply chain: “My biggest headache at this point,” said co-founder Sam Wilson.

• In addition to expanding distribution, the company is also preparing to launch two variety 8-packs in 7.5 oz. mini-cans next year. 
• The cash will also go towards adding field marketing reps in key regions to support its DSD partners.

“Now it's time to really hone in, not only from a dashboard perspective to understand our COGS from start to finish but really get in the weeds so we can better understand where we need to be versus where we are,” Wilson told BevNET.

Before that could be done, Sam and Vinny Wilson (the father-son team running the brand) spent some time tweaking the product’s positioning so it could best take advantage of category white space. Those changes include dropping fiber from its formulation, linking up with a candy maker via a new licensing deal and shifting its can size. 

But that’s just a sample of what the team has in store for this year…

Insiders can check out our full chat with the Wilsons to learn how the brand is working to capture Gen Z consumers. 

Canadian cannabis giant and U.S. craft beer platform Tilray Brands is at it again. The company’s Colorado-based Breckenridge Distillery announced Thursday the launch of Mock One, a collection of non-alcoholic (NA) spirits. 

Mock One, a line of whiskey, gin, tequila and rum replacements, enters an increasingly crowded segment, armed with labels that look somewhat similar to competitor Drink Monday. (We’ll see if we hear more about that in the ANA LinkedIn threads!)

Tilray acquired the distillery in 2021 with the intent to create cannabis-infused, NA distilled spirits. So is Mock One a gateway into that space?

Insiders can read the full story to find out.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is getting into a new biz. The brewery recently announced the launch of CanDo, a full-service, co-packing operation dedicated to producing premium adult beverages. 

Located adjacent to Sierra Nevada’s brewery in Chico, Calif., CanDo offers end-to-end manufacturing, packaging, and logistics solutions for “forward-thinking beverage brand partners.”

Sierra Nevada ranked third in annual craft production volume and returned to growth in 2024, but is clearly getting in on beer alternatives: CanDo specializes in canned spirit-based ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails, natural energy drinks, and other functional beverage products.

Read the full release on BevNET’s Newswire. 

Have news of your own to share? Submit it here.

Could Donald Trump have been the catalyst yaupon needed to finally catch a break? Producers of the caffeinated tea – the only such plant native to North America – are looking at Trump’s tariff policy as an opportunity to promote the locally-made beverage in line with the President’s isolationist policies, the Washington Post reports.

Yaupon grows in the Southern U.S. and has traditionally been used by Native Americans for centuries, but it has struggled to emerge as a marketable mainstream beverage in the modern era.

Still, there’s a number of suppliers across the country who are working to educate consumers on yaupon in hopes the category can grow.

Traditional tea producers aren’t too worried though. Paul Harney of Harney & Sons told the Post that “there’s always some degree of chaos. It’s always something: the pandemic, shipping, something.”

Related Reading: One Mother Of A Rebrand For Another Traditional Tea Type

⚡ Barstool Sports Owner Dave Portnoy Backs PHX Energy Drink Launch 

A new beverage platform is tapping into Barstool’s massive media base, but it isn’t looking to Portnoy’s wallet. Read Here 

🥤 Trump Says Coke Will Go Back to Cane Sugar in U.S. 

The president said he is negotiating to Make Mexican Coke American Again? But the CSD giant doesn’t yet seem to be in agreement. Read Here

☠️ Wake the Dead: Liquid Death Taking on 'Caffeine-Crazy' Energy Drinks in 2026

Liquid Death is bringing its unique approach to the caffeinated set it once tried to steer clear of – what’s changed? Read Here

Here’s a taste of the people and products moving around the industry to start off your week.

🍓 Bawi is bringing its canned agua fresca drinks to Whole Foods stores in Texas, Chicago and California, its first major push into a national grocery chain.

🥤 Nixie’s better-for-you sodas are now available in Stop & Shop locations on the East Coast.

🧃 PLEZi, the beverage brand co-founded by Michelle Obama, is launching its FiZZ and Hydration lines at Sprouts stores across the country.

⚡ Rapper T-Pain’s new energy shot Good Game is shipping out nationwide through Acosta.

🆕 Luida Ortega has been named the new president for The Coca-Cola Company’s European operating unit, effective September 1, succeeding Nikos Koumettis, who will retire in 2026. Ortega currently oversees the company’s Africa unit.

Insiders can access all of the latest distribution news on BevNET.