While industry watchers eagerly await the conclusion of Bang Energy’s bankruptcy saga later this week, another drama is unfolding in the boardrooms of Chicago-based kefir maker Lifeway. 

For Succession fans, this may sound familiar: Lifeway CEO Julie Smolyansky is facing a leadership challenge led by her own family: mother Ludmilla, a co-founder, and brother Edward — who control around 31% of the company between them — are seeking to revamp management with their own slate of board nominees at Lifeway’s annual meeting on Thursday. Tension has been brewing for some time — in a letter to company directors last week, David Kanen of Kanen Wealth Management (a 4.1% stakeholder) argued that over the last five years Lifeway has shown “minimal to no profitability” despite growing revenues, while the stock price has remained below $8 per share.

Those numbers have compounded Lifeway’s internal issues, which the letter lays out in stark detail. In addition to overseeing “a passive and overpaid board,” Julie Smolyansky is described as an absentee chief executive (she resides in California) who “collects a million dollars in income regardless of stock performance,” gave out jobs to friends as favors (including appointing her spouse as Chief of Staff despite “no formal employment agreement”) and “doesn’t seems to care about the company’s profitability nor shareholders.” That’s on top of allegedly “using company funds for personal purposes” and overseeing a “toxic work environment,” according to interviews with former employees. 

“While we are not legal experts, the evidence seems overwhelming that you have failed to act in good faith,” Kanen wrote. 

We’ll be following this story (along with Bang Energy, of course) this week. 

Go Deeper: Lifeway Announces “3.0” Strategic Plan Following Return to Growth

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Jones Soda last week named David Knight as its new president and CEO, effective June 23. Knight comes to the Seattle-based craft soda brand from CBD company CFH Ltd., where he has served as chief beverage officer since 2021. He has also acted as co-founder and CEO of SX Latin Liquors since 2007. 

Knight replaces outgoing chief executive Mark Murray. Murray, who will remain on Jones’ board, joined the company as an independent consultant in May 2020 during a period of sustained declines and organizational dysfunction, developing a three-year strategic plan that emphasized a return to basic business fundamentals. He was named president and CEO in December that year. 

During his tenure, Murray helped to turn around Jones’ sales revenue, ending an 18-month streak of declines. Jones reported revenue growth of 29% in 2022 to $19.1 million, however the brand again faced declines in Q1 2023 due to an inflated sales period stemming from a large one-time purchase the year before.

Read the full story on BevNET.

Non-alcoholic canned cocktail brand Jeng has named Nicole Bray as co-founder and CMO. Bray, whose executive level leadership experience includes past roles at marketing firms J. Walter Thompson and McCann Erickson – where she was responsible for accounts like Diageo, Apple and Nescafe – also founded Mercer Contemporary, an art advisory and appraisal firm for private art collectors. At Jeng, which was founded in 2021, Bray will focus on growing brand awareness, particularly with women, the company said in an announcement this week: “Women in particular are seriously changing the way they drink,” Bray said. “With Jeng, we’ve set out to give them, and others, a portfolio of upscale alternatives that promote relaxation without the constraints of alcohol.”

Florida-based Odyssey continues to expand its management team with the addition of two new hires: Antonio Torres as the brand’s new VP of Marketing and John O’Meara as the VP of Sales to bolster its position in the market. Torres brings an extensive CV, including an extended run managing field strategy at Monster, followed by a four-year stint at Essentia ahead of its acquisition by Nestle. O'Meara, meanwhile, arrives with similar experience in energy, having run sales operations as National Director at Bang during a five-year run ended in 2021 and worked at Red Bull before that.

“We are confident that Antonio’s robust beverage industry marketing experience and John’s operational skills and longtime industry relationships will drive growth within our organization," said Scott Frohman, Odyssey founder and CEO. The company today has already built a foundation of success and coupled with John and Antonio’s expertise, will drive the next wave of our growth.

This was one of those NPGs with a little bit of everything: if you had a Coke LTO collaboration with Riot Games, Liquid I.V.'s first sugar-free product, new flavors from 100 Coconuts and Karma Hydration, and the return of Essentia's half-water, half-wine bag-in-box on your bingo card, you may be a winner.

Check out the full gallery on BevNET.

The stars of the teen TV drama series Vampire Diaries have sunk their teeth into the bourbon industry. Launched during pandemic lockdowns, Brother’s Bourbon has since expanded from its flagship with bourbons targeted towards aficionados and incorporated regenerative grains into their production. We chatted with co-founders Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley about how the company has worked to overcome the pitfalls of being a celebrity brand, what strategies they’ve used to connect with retailers, and why regenerative agriculture has become a centerpiece of the brand. Somerhalder’s follow-up project to his Kiss the Ground documentary on Netflix about regenerative agriculture, premiers at this week’s Tribeca festival.

Read the full story on BevNET

Kicking off the summer season, coffee shop chain Bluestone Lane has teamed up with Vita Coco to add Coconut Water Cold Brew to its menu. Available at all Bluestone locations nationwide starting today, the new specialty drink combines Bluestone’s signature Flagstaff brew with housemade vanilla syrup and Vita Coco’s Original Coconut Water. The beverage features tasting notes of toasted almond, vanilla and milk chocolate and rings up at $5.75. It's the second toe-tap for the company in the cafe space: Vita Coco partnered with Alfred Coffee earlier this year to release its dairy-free, soy-free Barista MLK as an alternative to traditional oat, almond and soy milk offerings. The coconut water and coconut cream-based product can be purchased online via Vita Coco’s website and is also on the menu at all Alfred Coffee locations.

There’s big money flowing into emerging concepts… and we have the receipts. Within this episode, the hosts discussed canned wine, plant-based analogs of popular snacks and THC-centric brands. We also discussed influential trends and innovative products in the evolving world of mixology in interviews with past World Class US Bartenders of the Year Jessi Pollak and Adam Fournier along with James Beard-honored mixologist and author Kim Haasarud.

Listen to the latest episode of Taste Radio.