• ☁️ Jeng’s Microdose Dreams
• 👀 ICYMI: CA Court Cracks Down on GT's
• 🆕 Spirits NPG: Summer Sips From J. Rieger & Co., Seagram’s and RIKI

New York-based Jeng, which produces a line of hemp-infused zero proof cocktails, is expanding deeper into the cannabis set with its latest innovation – a line of microdosed canned NA cocktails made with 3 mg of hemp-derived Delta-9 THC and 6 mg of CBD per 12 oz. can.

• Jeng’s sparkling THC cocktails are available in Spicy Blood Orange Margarita, Rhubarb Cucumber Spritz, Paloma and Moscow Mule varieties. Each 4-pack will retail for $20. 
• The brand is targeting women, primarily in the 30-50 age demographic, a group they believe have been underserved by the THC beverage category.
• According to Madeline Scanlon, cannabis insights manager for market research firm Brightfield Group, although women are continuing to become a larger share of the overall cannabis market, cannabis drinks still over-index with men. A 2022 report on parents who consume cannabis 1 to 4 days per week found that fathers were 42% more likely than mothers to reach for a THC beverage.

Read the full story on BevNET.

A Los Angeles County Superior court has ruled against GT’s Living Foods ordering the kombucha company to pay over $450,000 in restitution to eleven former employees in a civil case concerning labor violations like wage theft, worker abuse and retaliation.

The ruling, which was issued last Thursday, contends that GT’s Living Foods intentionally hired a vulnerable workforce of mainly immigrants from Central America – many with limited to no understanding of English – to work in dangerous conditions in its Vernon, California kombucha production facility. GT’s has been accused of failure to pay overtime compensation, failure to provide meal and rest periods, failure to pay wages upon termination and unlawful retaliation.

GT's founder and CEO GT Dave told BevNET in a statement that he was “saddened” by the ruling calling it “a shocker.” But presiding Judge William Highberger was didn't hold back in his criticism of the kombucha company leader's testimony.

Read the full report on BevNET

Spirits companies are reporting a sales slowdown in the U.S., and Diageo now counts as one of them. 

• The group reported a 10.7% rise in net sales for fiscal year 2023, driven by scotch, tequila and beer, but spirit sales declined 1% in the U.S.
• Net sales grew organically 6% to $21.9 billion for the Don Julio owner, with premium-plus brands contributing 57% of overall organic net sales growth. 
• Tequila was a bright spot in the U.S. where it grew net sales 15%, driven by Casamigos (+14%) and Don Julio (+13%) 
• Other spirits companies are struggling with volume losses in the U.S., as sales normalize post-pandemic.

Read the full story on BevNET

With summer in full swing, many ready-to-drink cocktail makers are releasing sun-inspired sips. In this gallery, former bachelorette JoJo Fletcher enters the beverage space with an Amalfi Coast-inspired beverage, J. Rieger & Co. Distillery launches an “Electric” new line and Sunshine Punch seeks to evoke a sense of nostalgia.

Check out the full gallery on BevNET.

Yesterday, Tennessee-based Ole Smoky Distillery agreed to a merger agreement with Tanteo Spirits, an ultra-premium spicy tequila founded in 2007

• The combined company will leverage Ole Smoky’s infrastructure and its sales and distribution network to significantly accelerate Tanteo’s growth, according to the company. The move marks Ole Smoky's entry into tequila.
• Flavored tequila hasn't been as fast-growing as flavored whiskey, but the small segment is rising slowing with new premium entrants like Tanteo.

The rise (and rise, and rise) of low-sugar prebiotic sodas has been well documented on these pages, and apparently Coke and Pepsi have been reading. In an interview with CNBC, Olipop founder and CEO Ben Goodwin claimed that the two beverage giants have expressed some level of interest in working together (“have already come knocking” was the exact term) but were rebuffed in order to focus on “blowing business through the roof.” Fair enough (neither Coke or Pepsi responded to request for comment), but at the clip Goodwin’s company is running — Olipop is set to clear $20 million in sales this year from just 20,000 stores — could a strategic exit come down the road? It could help the company address one of its potential hurdles: bringing the price down from $2.49 per 12 oz can.

What do a newly appointed ketchup queen helping a decades-old food company get cool again, the social media expert for Steak-Umm, a black belt in karate who is shaping the nation’s eating habits and Barbie have in common? 

They’re all on the first-ever compendium of NOSH Notables, our companion site’s list of key leaders, investors, hyper-skilled role players and more influencing the growth and development of the CPG food business.

If you’re trying to fund your company, improve as a leader, make a difference in the food system or refine a certain business tactic, consider a strategy, talk to these people, think about what they’ve done or what they might do, think of them as coaches, icons, resources.

See who’s Notable.

Non-alc canned cocktail maker Parch Spirits Co. is the latest beverage brand to partner up with brand incubator L.A. Libations, joining its SoCal Incubation Program (SIP), the companies both announced on LinkedIn.

• Founded last year, Parch produces a line of agave-based NA beverages infused with desert botanicals and adaptogens. The drinks are currently available in two varieties – Spiced Piñarata and Prickly Paloma – which retail for $40 per 8-pack of 8.4 oz. cans.
• Parch recently was named the winner of BevNET’s New Beverage Showdown 25 in June.

Through its SIP unit, L.A. Libations helps to grow startup brands, aiding with retail expansion, marketing and more. Brands in the program have the opportunity to “graduate” into LAL’s full portfolio. Alumni include canned coconut water maker 100 Coconuts and bottled water brand Hawaii Volcanic.

If there’s one thing you’d assume Rüdiger Koppelmann, General Manager of SodaStream, knows pretty well, it’s kitchen table top appliances. So maybe there’s something to this: Koppelmann is the lead investor in a seven-figure round for German startup The Oater, a machine for making oat-based drinks aimed at the food service sector. The company sports an “Oat Drink as a Service” model, offering a subscription program in which they supply the oat drink machine and the necessary ingredients for making drinks. It’s a path that startup NuMilk has forged previously (eventually shifting to at-home appliances) to mixed results. The company’s pilot phase begins this month at catering partners in Cologne and Berlin.

Allison Luvera and Lauren De Niro Pipher, the co-founders of Juliet, a premium brand of multiserve wine encased in an innovative cylindrical container, spoke about how they assessed the opportunity to disrupt a legacy category, why developing a unique package was central to the planning process and how they have won over retailers by positioning Juliet as an upscale lifestyle brand.

Listen to the full episode of Taste Radio.