• 🧃 Ocean Spray’s Revl Fruits Scales Up
• 🆕 Gallery: This Week’s New Products
• 🐌 Bevs Off to Slow Start in April
• 🚜 Tractor Beverage Plows Into Cans
• 🍺 CPG Week Talks Water That’s Not Beer

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The effect of grocery price increases since the pandemic have continued to ripple across the industry – impacting consumer shopping habits and forcing retailers and suppliers to re-strategize how they get products moving off shelves, and in turn, bigger basket sizes through checkout.

According to Jeff Wojtkowiak, president of In The Loop Consulting and a former Kroger executive speaking during a recent Jefferies webinar, once those prices are bumped up, they will remain elevated. This will make promotional cycles and strategic merchandising a bigger priority.

The Pack-Size Situation: Despite costs going up, consumers are still snacking and overall, Wojtkowiak believes the category has fared better than others – like confections where purchasers may be more discretionary and price sensitive. 

The category has benefited from clever packaging and promotions including positioning snacks in single-serve, meal-replacement-like formats, he said: “it’s fundamentally becoming a larger part of the way that people are eating and therefore there’s higher demand.”

Retail Relations: Consumers have increasingly turned to discount, club and value-positioned retailers (think: Aldi, Costco and Walmart) when it comes time to grocery shop. When they do shop a traditional grocer, many are reaching for more private label products than ever before. 

There’s also an interesting dynamic among this next generation of private label and club shoppers. Historically, this demographic was strictly a value-based shopper, Wojtkowiak said, but now “mainstream” and even “upscale” consumers are beginning to shop for better deals in grocery. 

That all spells trouble for “middle of the road” retailers like Kroger and Albertsons, who are “not necessarily the best in price and are not necessarily the best in service,” said Wojtkowiak. 

“I think they start to get squeezed out, they lose their identity and anytime I’ve seen retailers that have done that in the past, those are the ones that generally are losing share and begin that downward spiral.”

Read the full story to learn why Wojtkowiak believes private label is a “self fulfilling prophecy” and his thoughts on why Amazon’s Whole Foods grocery business is just “messed up.”

Following a quiet launch late last year, Ocean Spray’s Revl Fruits – a four-SKU line of shelf-stable premium juices – is scaling up through new retail partnerships with Target, Kroger and Publix. 

⏪ Revl Fruits comes in Berry Wild, Truly Tropical, Tart Cherry, and Boldly Cran varieties, each crafted with 100% juice and a splash of coconut water. In hopes of standing out in a sea of glass and plastic, Revl packages its products in 32 oz. Tetra Pak cartons. 

📈 The new retail partnerships bring Revl’s door count from 500 to nearly 5,000 nationwide. According to Christina Zwicky, head of Revl Fruits, the brand was highly selective in choosing its initial retailers.

💭 “The expectation that we did this perfect day zero is unrealistic. So we’re going to learn where we are, where we are most likely to win, iterate and then continue to scale this brand into more channels across more usage occasions,” said Zwicky. 

Learn more about Revl Fruit’s plan to rejuvenate the premium juice category in the full story on BevNET.

From dessert-flavored syrups to gamer-themed energy shots, the latest edition of BevNET’s weekly New Products Gallery features innovations spanning all sides of the beverage industry. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside: 

🎮 5-hour Energy wants to help consumers level up with its new product line targeted at adult gamers. Available in three flavors – Pineapple Charge, Rocket Raspberry and Apple Bash – the Gamer Shot features B vitamins, taurine and amino acids. 

🍰 Now you can have your dessert and drink it too, thanks to Skinny Mixes’ Dessert Collection. The new zero-sugar, zero-calorie syrups are designed to satisfy sweet cravings with flavors like Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Chocolate Salted Pretzel and Italian Wedding Cake. 

🍍 Plink!, the winner of BevNET’s New Beverage Showdown 23, has entered its magnesium era. All three hydration tablet flavors – Pomegranate Berry, Watermelon and Pineapple – now feature 25 mg of magnesium in addition to 250 mg of sodium and 180 mg of potassium. 

Check out the full NPG on BevNET.

Non-alc beverage sales slowed quite a bit in the two-week period ending April 6, with soft volumes and slow pricing action identified as key factors, according to the latest analysis of NielsenIQ data by Goldman Sachs Equity Research. An “unusually early” Easter holiday contributed to the deceleration of year-over-year retail dollar sales growth. Here’s a sample of the numbers:

• Total NA beverage sales growth was just +0.4% in the two-week period, compared to +2.4% in the four-week period and +1.8% in the 12-week period.
• Volumes fell -1.1% in the two-weeks and average pricing grew +1.5%.
• Carbonated soft drinks fared better than most beverage categories, up +3.5% (+4.2% in the four-weeks) as Coca-Cola outpaced the set at +4.2% dollar sales growth.
• PepsiCo grew just +0.8%, but KDP reported acceleration in the two-weeks, up +2.2%, versus +2% in the four-week period.
• Within better-for-you soda, Poppi remains a force to be reckoned with, as sales rose 144.%.

⚡ Key Takeaway: Energy drinks are in need of a recharge as sales decelerated to +1.6%, compared to +3.7% in the four-weeks. However, Celsius continues to expand as sales rose 49.2% even with category leader Monster (excluding Bang) dipping -1.6%.

Keurig Dr Pepper-backed Tractor Beverage Company is growing out of its fountain drink roots with the launch of a four-SKU line of canned beverages positioned for foodservice. The 12 oz. slim cans are available in Farmer’s Punch, Lemonade, Strawberry Dragonfruit and Mango Peach flavors.

👨🏿‍🌾 The certified organic, non-GMO beverage maker launched its nonprofit Farmhand Foundation last month which supports helping farmers transition to organic and regenerative farming methods.

🥤 The company has focused on partnerships with emerging better-for-you restaurant brands, and is located more than 6,000 locations including fast casual chains like Chipotle, Smash Burger and Garbanzo.

The CPG Week team gives some spicy updates on what has shaken out in Momofuku’s chili crunch trademark dispute. Later, they delve into why canned water brands are positioning themselves more and more like beer alternatives in on-premise settings. Then BevNET Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman gets into the details of CPG private equity firm Forward Consumer Partners’ first acquisition: premium cracker brand Firehook Bakery.

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