• 🍹 New RTD Cocktails
• 🥃 EU Drops Bourbon Tax
• ☕ Italians Brew It Better?
• 🫖 Bigelow's False Ad Case
• 🤑 Glimpse Lands $10M
• 📈 eGrocery Sales Soar 21%
• 📖 The ‘Real’ Story Behind Spindrift’s Stunning Success

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After ditching Diddy, Diageo is moving Cîroc and drafting LeBron.

The spirits conglomerate has forged a strategic joint venture with consulting and investment firm Main Street Advisors to swap its ownership majority over Cîroc Vodka in North America for a majority stake in the LeBron James-backed Lobos 1707 Tequila.

The deal aims to grow Cîroc’s U.S. business while Diageo intends to accelerate Lobos 1707 worldwide.

Cîroc has been something of a headache for Diageo over the past few years. The brand was backed by disgraced entertainer Sean “Diddy” Combs, who sued the conglomerate in 2023 alleging racial discrimination led Diageo to give the brand worse treatment and less support than its other portfolio brands.

• Shortly after the lawsuit, the company formally cut ties with Combs, who is now facing criminal sex trafficking charges; the lawsuit was settled back in January.
• Add in the extra pain, that as of December, Cîroc was the worst performing vodka in Diageo’s portfolio – North American sales were down 28% in fiscal year 2024. 

So, is a turnaround possible? In Main Street Advisors, Diageo has found a partner with a history of building celeb-backed brands and Nick Tran, the former global head of marketing for TikTok, has been named president and CMO of the joint venture. 

With expertise in trendy social marketing and an opportunity to begin a new chapter, we’re curious to see if Cîroc can put its troubles behind it and begin a Diddy-less new future. With tequila among the strongest spirits categories globally, Lobos 1707 gives Diageo a golden opportunity as well.

Insiders can access the full report on BevNET for all of the details.

In the latest ready-to-drink roundup…

🍋 We’re not sure why the spa day in a can is reflective of this particular mom's name, but we’re glad Mom Water’s Louise Citrus Cucumber is here in time for summer. 

🥒 Pickles and citrus, what a dill-light: BeatBox Beverages and Van Holten's have teamed up for a limited edition Big Papa Pickle Margarita in BeatBox's 500 mL resealable carton. 

🏃 In other news, we are Keeping Up with Bev-Alc: Reality star-turned-entrepreneur Kylie Jenner’s vodka soda brand, Sprinter, has announced the launch of its second flavor pack.

Check out the full gallery on BevNET.

Good news for Kentucky: the EU appears to have dropped bourbon from its tariff hit list.

• Fears of becoming pawns in a trade war can subside for now, according to a leaked list first reported by Reuters. 
• Bourbon and other U.S. whiskeys have escaped EU retaliatory measures thanks to lobbying from European drink-producing countries like Italy and France, who would also like to avoid being entangled in the escalating trade war.
• The EU votes on Wednesday to determine which American products will be tariffed as a response to the Trump administration's duties on steel and aluminum, with some of the duties set to take effect by mid-April. California wine has also been dropped.

Go Deeper: DISCUS: Industry Battles Tariffs Uncertainty, Anti-Alcohol Trends

Well coffee fans, it looks like we have ourselves a pod race. Rather than Tatooine, though, this one is kicking off in Milan, as family-owned Italian coffee giant Lavazza this week unveiled Tablì, its new at-home brewing system that uses 100% coffee “tabs” – meaning no vessel or protective wrap necessary.

👓 Visitors can experience Tablì at a special installation during Milan Design Week from April 6 to April 13, created in collaboration with Brazilian architect and designer Juliana Lima Vasconcellos located in the courtyard of Palazzo del Senato. 

♻️ Lavazza’s innovation will line up against Keurig’s new K-Rounds – which are individually wrapped in a proprietary, protective plant-based coating – as the two coffee companies seek to reverse the negative story around plastic packaging waste, a frequent criticism of pod-based at-home brewers. 

Catch up on KDP’s K-Rounds test.

R.C. Bigelow tea company is fighting a class action lawsuit over a "Manufactured in the USA 100%" label that has already been found to be false. 

🇺🇸 The case unfolding in a California federal court is attempting to determine if the tea maker deliberately deceived consumers that its products were made in the U.S.

💭 R.C. Bigelow CEO Cindi Bigelow has repeatedly denied a deliberate intention to mislead consumers and testified in court last week that “there was no mal intent. We were just trying to get our message across that we are an American company, and we make our tea bags here, and we're proud of that fact.”

🏛️ In the plaintiffs closing arguments Monday, a series of emails and messages were presented showing that Bigelow executives were aware that the labels did not follow FTC guidelines and were either reckless or intentionally misled the public.

🧑‍⚖️ An expert testified last week that the falsely labeled tea allowed Bigelow to reap higher prices for its products with consumers overpaying by 11.3%, or $3.26 million.

It’s a big day for artificial intelligence-fueled service providers (see Starday’s $11 million over on Nosh). Glimpse, an end-to-end deduction management service for CPG brands, has closed a $10 million Series A round led by 8VC, with participation from existing investors YCombinator, Origin Ventures and Informed Ventures.

🧑‍💻 Glimpse’s AI software automates deduction management and integrates with mainline distributors like KeHE and UNFI as well as retailers; it is already working with brands like high-protein ramen maker immi.

💸 The platform claims to bring four to five times average ROI for brands aiming to dispute deductions and finding inaccuracies in claimed chargebacks.

💬 “Deduction management is an expensive, complex, and often overlooked problem in the CPG world. Glimpse has built a solution that makes it simple, scalable, and smart, freeing up cashflow for brands squeezed by thin margins,” said 8VC partner Jack Moshkovich.

Online grocery sales climbed 21% year-over-year to $9.7 billion in March, primarily driven by delivery, per the latest Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey. 

🚚 Delivery surged more than 30% due to the expansion of its monthly active user (MAU) base. 

👀 The performance gains also reflect the ongoing impact of “aggressive” promotions and deep discounts on annual memberships and/or subscriptions that began around May 2024, per the report. 

💭 “Retailers that elevate the experience with relevant offers and meaningful rewards won’t just meet shoppers’ evolving needs – they’ll build stronger connections that fuel long-term growth,” said Mark Fairhurst, chief growth marketing officer at Mercatus, in the report. 

Catch up on past reports.

Even after 15 years and a majority sale of the company he founded – one reportedly valued at over $650 million – Bill Creelman remains convinced that Spindrift is just at the beginning of a “real” revolution.

Listen to the episode now. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.