Bevscape/NOSHscape/Brewscape Jones Soda Sells to Ca

Poppi Names Chris Hall as CEO

Prebiotic soda brand Poppi announced it has named former Talking Rain chief executive Chris Hall as CEO, effective the first week of May.

Hall comes to the Texas-based startup brand just weeks after concluding a 15-year run across various roles at Talking Rain, the parent company of Sparkling Ice. During his tenure, the company maintained its status as the leading brand in the flavored sparkling water category, with a market share of about 23% according to IRI.

“Poppi is an outstanding product with an authentic story, great founders and a passionate team behind it,” Hall said in a press release. “I’m truly impressed with the explosive growth the brand has had to date and am excited to help take it to the next level. I’m honored and grateful for the opportunity to lead Poppi, a beverage company committed to providing its community with a better, healthier, and happier soda experience.”

Hall assumes the chief executive position from co-founder Stephen Ellsworth, who started the company in 2016 with his wife Allison Ellsworth, who serves as Chief Brand Officer. It was not immediately clear what role Stephen Ellsworth will play in the company going forward.

“We’ve been super impressed with what Chris has accomplished during his time at Sparkling Ice and can’t wait to blend his years of expertise with our disruptive approach to brand building,” the co-founders said in the release. “We’re firm believers that the right team is a critical part of executing on our vision of building a multi generational brand, so we are excited that Chris is joining the Poppi family and bringing his passion, intensity, expertise and leadership to drive growth.”

In 2019, the brand brought on CAVU Venture Partners cofounder and partner Rohan Oza as an investor following an appearance on the reality pitch slam show Shark Tank. Since then the company has expanded its footprint to over 11,000 retailers nationwide including Target, Safeway, Kroger, Publix, Whole Foods and Sprouts.

Last year, Poppi closed a $13.5 million funding round, backed by CAVU as well as a number of celebrity investors such as NBA stars Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love, musicians the Chainsmokers, Halsey and Ellie Goulding, and actress Olivia Munn.

“As we enter our next phase of hyper growth, we’re beyond excited to welcome Chris to the Poppi family,” says Rohan Oza, Partner and Cofounder of CAVU Venture Partners and Executive Chairman of Poppi. “His leadership, ability to scale rapidly and operational excellence will be a fantastic addition to the breakthrough brand Stephen and Allison have built to date.”

A SHOC Closes $29M Series B Funding Round

Performance energy drink brand A SHOC announced in April it has closed a $29 million Series B funding round backed by existing investors and a roster of celebrity athletes.

Founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneur Lance Collins and former Monster Energy VP Scot De Lorme, Californiabased A SHOC produces a line of betterfor-you, functional performance energy drinks. Through a distribution partnership with Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), the brand is available in over 112,000 retail doors nationwide.

The round includes participation from existing investors, including Collins and KDP, as well as a group of individuals including professional golfers Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Lexi Thompson; MLB players Aaron Judge and Freddie Freeman; NASCAR Cup Champion Chase Elliott; pro skateboarder Paul Rodriguez; NFL defensive end Chase Young; and Good Morning America host Michael Strahan.

The round will help support the brand’s continued growth in the U.S. and comes ahead of additional innovation and marketing campaign launches expected this spring.

Jones Soda Sells to Canadian Portfolio Co. for $99M

Canadian wellness products portfolio company Simply Better Brands Corp. (SBBC) has reached an agreement to acquire Seattle-based craft beverage brand Jones Soda for nearly $99 million.

The two publicly traded companies entered a binding letter of intent, subject to shareholder approval, with a definitive agreement scheduled to be signed by the end of June. According to the announcement, SBBC will purchase 100% of Jones’ issued and outstanding common stock at a value of $0.75 per share based on a price per SBBC share equal to $3.65. Upon completion of the deal, SBBC will change its name to Jones Soda or “some derivation thereof” and may choose a new trading symbol.

“Our growth model remains consistent: acquire and build emerging Gen Z and Millennial brands in the wellness space through category, channel and geographic expansion,” said SBBC CEO Kathy Casey in a press release. “We see joining forces with Jones as an incredible fit due to a common wellness mission, consumer cohort, and leadership approach.”

Based in Vancouver, SBBC’s portfolio also includes plant protein bar brand TRUBAR, CBD oil and gummies maker PureKana, and cosmetics line No B.S. The Jones acquisition will give the company an additional play in the cannabis category as the soda maker debuted its Mary Jones line of THC-infused edibles, sodas and syrups in California in March.

“We are very excited to be bringing together the two companies to further accelerate top line growth and bottom line improvements,” said Jones CEO Mark Murray in the release. “For Jones, this combination will deliver diversification to our core business. We are bringing together not only strong consumer brands but also two strong management teams that we believe will deliver growth and operational synergies.”

Upon closing, Murray and Jones Soda chairman Jamie Colbourne will join the combined company’s board of directors and Jones shares will be delisted from the Canadian Securities Exchange.

The acquisition comes amid a period of sustained growth for Jones Soda. According to the company’s 2021 earnings report, net revenue increased 24% to $14.8 million for the full year and gross profit as a percentage of revenue increased 720 basis points to 29.7%.

The long term improvement reflects a revamped strategy under Murray’s leadership; the former JGC Foods president was named CEO in late 2020 and began work on a three-year rebuilding plan that aimed to right the ship after the company faced months of declining sales. During his tenure Jones has rebuilt its sales infrastructure, updated its marketing strategy to focus on Gen Z consumers, built out its cannabis business and relaunched seasonal classic products such as its infamous Turkey & Gravy soda flavor.

In April 2019, cannabis investment firm SOL Global purchased a 9.8% stake in Jones, and in July 2019 its subsidiary, CBD portfolio company HeavenlyRx Ltd., acquired a 25% stake in the company. Earlier this year, Jones completed its acquisition of Canadian reporting issuer Pinestar Gold as part of its cannabis strategy, and as part of the deal raised $11 million in concurrent financing. The company began trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange in February.

Monster, Orange Bang Ask Court to Confirm $175M in Damages Against VPX

Family-owned beverage maker Orange Bang and Monster Energy Company have asked an U.S. District Court in California to confi rm an interim award of $175 million in damages and a 5% royalty on all future net sales of Bangbranded products — plus nearly $10 million in attorney’s fees and costs — after an arbitrator found that VPX was liable for breach of contract and trademark infringement by falsely claiming its products contain creatine.

The origins of the case go back over a decade and stem from a 2009 trademark infringement fi led by Orange Bang against VPX; according to court documents, pursuant to the settlement agreement in that case, VPX was granted permission to use the Bang trademark on creatine-based products or other beverages that are marketed exclusively in vitamin and supplement channels.

A decade later in 2019, Orange Bang claims to have discovered that Bang had been violating the settlement agreement by marketing beverages that did not contain creatine. That September, after fi ling a motion to compel arbitration based on a provision in the agreement, Bang agreed to enter binding arbitration proceedings with VPX.

Over the two weeks of hearings, the arbitrator determined that creatyl-l-leucine (CLL), which is advertised by VPX as “Super Creatine” in its products, is not actually creatine and does not provide the benefi ts of creatine. In its request for confi rmation of the interim award, attorneys for the plaintiffs noted that the arbitrator “emphasized that VPX’s own creatine expert made ‘some signifi cant admissions, some of which can only be characterized as stunning and not helpful in advancing VPX’s position in this case,’” including by conceding that “there is no evidence to support the effi cacy of CLL.”

Meanwhile, the arbitrator found that VPX “did essentially nothing in order to ensure compliance with the VPX Marketing and Sales Restrictions” requiring its non-creatine-based products to be marketed exclusively in nutrition and supplement channels.

“It is simply not possible for VPX to comply with the VPX Marketing and Sales Restrictions when it never bothered to communicate the existence of the VPX Marketing and Sales Restrictions to its own employees, to its own customers, to its own distributors (such as Pepsi) or to the all-important retailers,” the arbitrator wrote.

According to Hueston Hennigan, which represented the plaintiffs in the suit, Monster agreed to assist Orange Bang in its lawsuit against VPX and was granted partial assignment of Orange Bang’s rights under its agreement with VPX.

In June 2020, both companies initiated arbitration against VPX with the American Arbitration Association.

The arbitrator found that VPX had violated the two basic tenants of the settlement agreement: that Bang’s products contain creatine and that they are sold exclusively in the nutrition and supplement channel. In issuing the award, Orange Bang and Monster chose to recover $175 million in lost profi ts. In lieu of a permanent injunction from using Orange Bang’s trademarks, VPX selected the option of paying a 5% royalty fee from net sales for as long as the mark is used.

After subsequent hearings and briefi ngs from both sides, the arbitrator included over $9.2 million in attorney’s fees and costs in the Final Award.

The interim award must be confi rmed by a court within one year of the award. Orange Bang and Monster are also asking for prejudgment and postjudgment interest on the Final Award.

Keurig Dr Pepper Announces CEO Transition Plan

Beverage maker Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) announced a management transition plan that will see CFO Ozan Dokmecioglu take over as CEO from Bob Gamgort, who is set to move into the role of Executive Chairman for two years. The change will become effective July 29, 2022.

According to his company biography, Dokmecioglu served as CFO at Keurig Green Mountain beginning in 2016, before the company’s 2018 merger with Snapple Dr Pepper. He has previously served as Vice President Finance, CFO North America at The Kellogg Company.

“I am honored to assume the role of maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group and Vermont-based Keurig Green Mountain, best known for its pod-based coffee machines, announced their merger in 2018. During that time, KDP continued to expand its beverage interests outside of soda, teas and coffee through M&A — including its $525 million acquisition of water brand CORE in 2018 — and securing a long-term manufacturing and distribution agreement with Massachusetts-based Polar Beverages. According to the release, Gamgort will remain “a signifi cant investor in KDP, maintaining at least half of his KDP shareholdings during his tenure as Executive Chairman.” assumes the new role. In particular, the report highlighted his close working relationship with Gamgort through “critical phases of KDP’s private/public existence,” including the take-private transaction of Keurig Green Mountain in 2016 and the company’s merger with Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

“While the announcement may come as a disappointment to some (given how well-regarded Gamgort is), we note that this transition is occurring 3-years after the combination & integration of Keurig and Dr Pepper and the successful deleveraging of the company,” the report stated. “We’re

KDP CEO at this important time for our Company and look to the future excited by the enormous potential that lies ahead,” said Dokmecioglu in a statement. “I am grateful for the ongoing partnership with Bob and the support of our Board of Directors and leadership team, as we continue to work together to drive outsized value creation.”

As CEO, Dokmecioglu will “lead the execution of the Company’s strategy and ensure continued operational excellence.” Meanwhile, Gamgort, as Executive Chairman, will “lead the Board of Directors and oversee the deployment of KDP’s signifi cant discretionary cash fl ow.” The process for recruiting a new CFO is underway, the company added.

As CEO, Gamgort guided the company in its three-year period after beverage

Morgan Stanley analyst Dara Mohsenian noted that investors could view the departure negatively because it was “sooner than the market expected” and “given how highly regarded he is with investors, although his agreement to stay on as Executive Chairman should help partially allay concerns.”

“I am excited to partner with Ozan, our leadership team and the KDP Board of Directors to drive continued growth and value creation. As we move into the next chapter for our modern beverage company, we’re establishing a leadership team that can guide the success of KDP well into the future,” said Gamgort in a statement.

A report from Goldman Sach Equity Research acknowledged the concerns from investors, but the analysts predict a “seamless transition” as Dokmecioglu optimistic that Dokemcioglu is taking over the reigns at a point when KDP is entering its next phase of growth with a stronger foundation.”

In its most recent earnings report, KDP reported an 8.7% net sales increase for Q4 2021 and 9.2% growth to $12.6 billion for the full year.

Paul Michaels, KDP Lead Independent Director, added: “We are pleased to appoint Ozan as our next CEO after a thorough succession planning process, including the consideration of internal and external candidates. Ozan is an exceptionally strong leader with the skills, experience, values and perspective to lead KDP into the future. We are also fortunate to have Bob in a position to continue working closely with Ozan and the leadership team over the next few years.

Beyond Meat & Pepsi JV Launches Jerky in Retail

Beyond Meat plant-based jerky has launched in Walmart, Ralphs, and online. It’s the fi rst retail launch of the PLANet Partnership.

Announced early last year, the PLANet Partnership joint venture was presented by its founders as a way to utilize Beyond Meat’s product development expertise and PepsiCo’s wide distribution network to develop plantbased beverages and snacks. While Beyond Meat is seeking to prove that it is able to go beyond the meat case, PepsiCo is looking to cater to younger consumers seeking out more sustainable, better-for-you products.

Other global corporations have since followed the partnership path, with Kraft Heinz announcing its own JV with milk and meat alternative brand The NotCo last month.

In the case of PLANet Partnership, Beyond Meat sells products into the JV, and then splits the profi t or loss with PepsiCo depending on its retail sales, a structure revealed by Beyond Meat COO Phil Harden during the analyst call that featured Brown’s snacking.

As for product details, Beyond Jerky is available in Original, Teriyaki, and Hot and Spicy fl avors, and is being sold on Walmart.com for $3.98 per 3 oz. bag, with natural grocery chain Ralphs listing the item for $5.29 on its ecommerce site. Single-serving 1 oz. bags are also on sale at Walmart for $1.78 and on Amazon.com in a 10-pack for $20.99. Kroger - which owns Ralphs - also has a listing for the jerky, but does not yet have a price.

Each half-cup (30 gram) serving of jerky contains 10 grams of protein, 90 calories, 4-5 grams of sugar and 450-500 grams of sodium, and is made with a proprietary blend of mung bean protein, pea protein and gluten-free oat bran and fi ber.

The jerky’s packaging states it has no GMOs (though is not Non-GMO Project certifi ed), and has no gluten or soy. Beyond Meat’s name is on the front of pack, with the product referred to as Beyond Jerky in romance copy on the back of the bag. The only reference to PepsiCo, and The PLANeT Partnership comes via small text at the bottom of the bag regarding manufacturing.

Beyond Meat has relied heavily on partnerships to help build brand awareness and drive trial. The company has launched co-branded products with companies such as RealGood Foods, Thrive Market and Simply Fresh, and has helped develop custom branded menu items at restaurants such as Panda Express, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut.

The company is entering a competitive category. While Conagra has a line of soy-based jerky under the Gardein brand and former Hershey’s owned Krave has its own line of legume based jerky, emerging brands including Chef’s Cut, Eat the Change and Pan’s have also all launched mushroom-based jerkies.

Beyond Meat has long promoted its meat-like taste and appearance, promising that its products can be substituted with no noticeable compromise in taste. However, the question remains if this will be a selling point in jerky, or if consumers will pay a higher price for a plant-based option. Other premium meat snack brands have also tried to launch in convenience, a key channel for jerky, but have struggled to compete in price with larger conventional players such as Jack Link’s and Slim Jim.

Consumer interest in plant-based meat alternatives has still been on the upswing, but on its Q4 2021 earnings call, Beyond Meat reported a decline of 8% year-over-year in US retail sales, citing increased competition and a decline in growth in the plant-based meat category from 45% in 2020 to negative 0.4% in 2021.

Plastic-free Zero Grocery Closes; Analysts Say Model Was Unsustainable

In the case of Zero Grocery, sustainable grocery delivery does not make for a sustainable business model, according to retail analysts.

In early February, the California-based, plastic-free grocery delivery platform celebrated the closing of an $11.8 million funding round led by tech-driven VC fi rm SWAY Ventures, capital which brought the company’s total investment to-date to over $16 million. Yet despite this infl ux of capital, last month, Zero Grocery abruptly announced on its social media platforms that it had closed up shop, accompanying the message with an image stating it was “The End.”

The reason, said founder and CEO Zuleyka Strasner in a tweet, was that despite the new investment and having generated “millions in revenue” over the last three years, the company remained “chronically undercapitalized.”

“With great regret, effective immediately, Zero will be shutting its doors and stopping all further deliveries,” the announcement states. “How did this happen? Fundraising has always been the biggest battle we have faced. Unfortunately, it’s the battle we’ve lost.”

According to Brittain Ladd, a retail analyst and micro-fulfi llment center expert, the latest funding round wasn’t nearly enough capital for Zero “to create and sustain the required operations.” He believes the company “simply couldn’t raise enough money to cover their increased operational costs.”

At the beginning of the new year, Zero announced it had entirely relaunched its delivery platform shifting from next-day to same-day deliveries in under 2 hours and removing its $25 monthly membership fee. The San Francisco-based service also cut back the number of delivery zones in its home market in order to prioritize its expansion into Los Angeles. While the new service zones included only select East Bay and San Francisco neighborhoods, Zero said in a social media post it expected to “rapidly” re-expand to previously served zip codes.

Zero Grocery had differentiated itself within the waste-free and plastic-free grocery space by eschewing the bulk commodities like grains, nuts, dried fruit and coffee and tea other retailers such as The Wally Shop and Tare Grocer focused on. Instead, Zero aimed to bring branded products direct-to-consumers, buying stock in bulk directly from brands and packaging them in plastic-free, returnable and reusable containers.

The operation drew similarities to Terracycle-owned company Loop, which began online and over the past two years has shifted its focus to retail partnerships including Kroger and restaurants like Tim Hortons and Burger King. Like Zero, Loop aims to create a circular economy by selling products from brands such as Häagen-Dazs, Nature’s Path and Tropicana, in its own reusable and returnable containers. Although it began online to “test and learn for its partners,” the company said the intention was always to move to physical stores where “the majority of purchasing happens.”

“Loop is about buy anywhere and return anywhere and we are set up today so that consumers are able to purchase at Fred Meyer and return at Burger King, for example,” said a spokesperson for the company. According to Ladd, Strasner’s goal of modernizing the milkman model would never have been successful long term, calling it “nearly impossible.” He believes that sustainable change within the current grocery model will only be achieved through larger, established grocery retailers and delivery companies such as Instacart, GoPuff and Doordash.

However, “Supermarket Guru” Phil Lempert, an analyst focused on consumer behavior and the changing retail landscape, doesn’t believe that even Instacart or Doordash could have made a zero waste delivery model a success. Lempert said it is less of an issue with plastic-free, zero waste, or even business models altogether, but a lack of consumer commitment to the issue.

“What the American consumer wants, and I’m not saying this kindly, is 50,000 products, and we want them pretty, packaged and perfect,” Lempert said. “Look at [imperfect] fruit, for the most part it’s tastier and less expensive, it eliminates waste, it hits ‘all the above’ but consumers just didn’t buy it.”

However, Lempert doesn’t believe all hope is lost for grocery waste reduction measures, stating that somewhere in-between zero waste and current shopping habits is feasible. He said most retailers are looking to embrace waste-reduction practices such as leaving behind petroleum-based plastic bags and, in the post-pandemic world, shifting back to reusable bags and containers.

“Here in the U.S., we think in terms of extremes,” said Lempert. “It’s either plant-based or animal-based. Zero waste or wasteful. There’s something in between and I think we need to take, not baby steps, but small steps to get there. Whenever anybody tries to go to the furthest degree, that’s when it fails.”

Acid League Raises $6M, Launches Refrigerated Dressings As Part of ‘Third Wave Pantry’ Push

Coming on the heels of launching 15 new products into Whole Foods this winter, condiment and beverage brand Acid League announced it has closed a $6.2 million funding round aimed at supporting expansion into new product categories and reinforcing manufacturing and marketing.

The round was led by existing investors InvestEco Capital and BrandProject, with new fi rm Springdale Ventures and several family offi ces also taking part. Capital was raised on a rolling close since November, with the fi nal funds arriving in March, CEO Scott Friedman said.

In total, the company has raised roughly $11.5 million since launching in 2020, reporting revenues north of $10 million.

“Like any growing startup, we’re investing in people, we’re investing in inventory. And in a supply chain constrained world, you have to build up inventory a lot sooner and a lot higher,” Friedman said. “We’re obviously also spending money acquiring consumers, marketing and DTC acquisition.”

The company also is moving to a new 40,000 square foot production facility in Guelph, Ontario and plans to hire a plant manager, assistant plant manager, head of QC/QA/ safety, product launch managers and an operations team. Though self manufacturing is a more capital intensive production option, Friedman said, it does alleviate some of the constraints the brand might face from a co-packer and offers Acid League an easier way to quickly take advantage of retailer requests.

That speed was exemplifi ed by the brand’s recent launch of 12 new SKUs in Whole Foods Market, including hot sauces, mayos, ketchup, BBQ sauces, salad dressings and more cooking sauces. The pace isn’t unusual for Acid League, Friedman added, which launched 110 products in 2021 across D2C and retail; its non-alcoholic wine alternative Proxies account for 36 SKUs alone. Now that it has a solid brand block, the release schedule will slow this year 2022, he said, as the company prioritizes selling in existing products.

“The strategy was to, you know, get a broad offering in retail,” Friedman said. “It’s going slow down for sure [in stores]...[but] we’re still doing a lot of innovation in the DTC space with collaborations and in our living pantry line.”

Still, the company doesn’t plan to leave any opportunities on the table, introducing three new prebiotic salad dressings in March – Hot Honey, Oat Milk Ranch, and Miso Caesar – at Whole Foods. Though dressings are a core part of the brand’s existing portfolio, the prebiotic varieties are unpasteurized and refrigerated, taking the brand into a new section of the store and offering a slightly higher price point at $8.99, compared to $7.99 for its shelf stable dressings.

Direct-to-consumer, which currently accounts for roughly 50% of sales, will also continue to be a priority, though the company is keeping an eye on customer acquisition costs. The channel is already profi table, which Friedman attributes to its premium price. Acid League’s average order value is north of $60 per customer, he said, and the company at least breaks even on customer acquisition costs from a shopper’s fi rst order.

While $7.99 salad dressing and $16 Worcestershire sauce may seem expensive to shoppers facing increasing infl ationary pressures, Friedman said he believes customers will actually be willing to pay more for a premium product, leaving the brand better off than some global corporations.

“We are one of the leaders in what I call ‘third wave pantry.’ So if you look at what happened in third wave coffee, I think it’s happening in the pantry..[and] is coming to the grocery store,” Friedman said. “We’re seeing infl ation, as everybody is..[but] it’s one thing to say, ‘we’re going to give you a better product, and we’re going to ask you to pay more, because we’re investing more,’ it’s another thing for a brand to say, ‘oh, we’re selling you the same ho hum products, but we’re going to put it up by $1.’”

Jim McGreevy to Join Coca-Cola PACS Following Beer Institute Departure

The next chapter for Jim McGreevy, the outgoing president and CEO of the Beer Institute (BI), will be at the Coca-Cola Company’s North America Political Action Committees (PACS), as VP of public policy, federal government relations and political engagement (PPGR).

The Stone-Molson Coors trademark infringement legal saga continues to play out in a series of post-trial motions. Each side has fi led motions, with Stone seeking additional damages on top of its $56 million jury award, and Molson Coors attempting to block Stone’s request for a preliminary injunction earlier in April.

The moves follow a jury siding with Stone in its trademark case against Molson Coors over its 2017 rebrand of Keystone Light, which separated the words “Key” and “Stone” on cans and packaging. However, jurors said Molson Coors did not willfully infringe upon Stone’s trademark.

On April 18, Stone’s attorney, J. Noah Hagey, fi led a motion asking the court to order Molson Coors to “disgorge $116 million in profi ts attributable to the infringing ‘Own the Stone’ campaign,” as well as “award treble damages in the amount of $168 million” in addition to the $56 million jury award and an undisclosed amount of attorneys’ fees.

Hagey called the harm caused to Stone “very real,” adding that the jury award “while more than justifi ed, does not adequately compensate Stone for the full extent of the injury it has suffered.” He continued that the verdict alone would allow Molson Coors “to enjoy hundreds of millions of dollars of benefi t from a fi ve-year campaign of infringement.” At trial, Stone sought a $216 million jury verdict.

“The rebrand caused a fundamental change in the trajectory

McGreevy announced in mid-April that he would be departing the BI in May after eight years of leading the trade group. His fi rst day at Coca-Cola will be May 16.

In his new role, McGreevy will “lead the company’s strategic engagement on public policies,” including “environmental policy, health, nutrition and ingredients to social policy, human rights and beyond,” Joanna Price, chief of publics affairs, communications and sustainability for Coca-Cola’s North American unit, wrote in an internal memo.

Additionally, McGreevy and his team will be responsible for the development of Coca-Cola’s “FOR” policy work, which will “engage with government, trade associations and NGO stakeholders,” on topics including: environment; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); health and wellness; and international trade. He will also help “protect the Coca-Cola system’s reputation across federal, state and local government and NGO stakeholder groups,” Price wrote.

“A new challenge is always great,” McGreevy told Brewbound. “And it’s an industry I know well and can bring value to in a different kind of role at a company as opposed to trade association.

“I’m sad to leave the beer industry,” he continued. “There’s that old adage that your worst day in the beer business is better than your best day in any other business. I’m gonna go fi nd out if that’s true.”

During his tenure at the BI, McGreevy successfully led an initiative to make federal excise tax relief for brewers and importers permanent via the 2020 Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act. The BI, under McGreevy’s leadership, also successfully lobbied to include brewers as essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and created the Brewers’ Voluntary Disclosure Initiative, providing “greater transparency to the consumer of the contents of beer.”

The BI will conduct a “comprehensive search” for McGreevy’s replacement, Gavvin Hattersley, the BI’s chairman and the president and CEO of Molson Coors, wrote in a member update.

Stone Seeks Added $284M in Trademark Infringement Case with Molson Coors

of Stone’s business from which it has not recovered today and will likely never recover,” Hagey wrote. “Meanwhile, Stone’s valuation plummeted following the rebrand from $830 million to less than $475 million.

“The quantum of this harm far exceeds $168 million,” he continued. “The Court should award treble damages of $168 million as authorized by Section 1117(a) to fully compensate Stone for the harm caused by MillerCoors’s knowing infringement.”

During the trial, Stone’s attorneys argued that Molson Coors’ Keystone Light rebrand confused consumers and led to a 20% decline – or $174 million drop – in Stone’s business.

According to Stone’s fi ling, Molson Coors has sold more than 4 billion cans of the rebranded Keystone Light beer since April 2017, generating $1.7 billion in revenue and $764 million in profi ts.

Also on April 18, Daniel R. Lombard, an attorney for Molson Coors, fi led a response to Stone’s request for a permanent injunction that would force Molson Coors to “immediately cease producing and distributing the infringing [Keystone Light] packaging,” and “withdraw all infringing packaging and advertising from the marketplace.”

Lombard called Stone’s request for a permanent injunction “overly broad and unenforceable” and “not warranted.”

Reyes Picks Up Bell’s Brewery Portfolio Within Its Indiana Territory

The Bell’s Brewery portfolio is moving to the Reyes Beer Division in the majority of the wholesaler’s Indiana territory.

Reyes, the largest beer distributor in the U.S., announced on April 18 that its Monarch Distributing subsidiary has closed on agreements for the Michigan craft brewery’s brand rights in its Indiana footprint, adding about 175,000 cases to Monarch’s operation.

It is unclear as of press time which wholesalers sold Bell’s distribution rights to Reyes. A Monarch, which Reyes acquired in 2020, operates warehouses in Indianapolis and Evansville and distributes beer to Marion, Hamilton, Hendricks and Tippecanoe counties.

At the time of Reyes’ Monarch acquisition, Bell’s portfolio was carved out of the transaction, as Bell’s founder Larry Bell was unwilling to sign off on Reyes distributing his offerings. By December 2020, Bell’s had reworked its distribution network in southern Indiana, going with 15 independent Anheuser-Busch wholesalers, while Indiana Beverage distributed Bell’s offerings in the northern half of the state.

However, the dynamic has changed following the sale of Bell’s to New Belgium parent company Lion Little World Beverages, as New Belgium CEO Steve Fechheimer explained in March when the two companies announced plans to consolidate their footprints in a number of markets.

“We have a long standing, strong and strategic partnership with our friends at New Belgium,” Reyes Beer Division CEO Tom Day said in a press release. “With New Belgium recently joining with Bell’s Brewery, we are excited to expand our offerings and live out our company’s purpose of connecting customers, consumers and brands every day, everywhere we operate.”

“Our Monarch team is eager to start warehousing, selling, delivering and merchandising this great portfolio,” Reyes Beer Division east president Stephen Reyes added. “With both companies having Midwest roots, we’re grateful for the opportunity to represent Bell’s in Indiana.”

Spirit-Based Truly Vodka Seltzer to Release in Summer

Boston Beer Company revealed its answer to E. & J. Gallo’s High Noon Sun Sips ahead of its earnings call in late April. Truly Vodka Seltzer, a vodka-based version of the sugar-based original that will be released “late this summer.”

Truly Vodka Seltzer (5% ABV, 110 calories, 2g sugar, 4g carbs) will be made with six-times distilled vodka and real fruit juice. The line extension will come in four flavor varieties: Cherry & Lime, Blackberry & Lemon, Peach & Tangerine, and Pineapple & Cranberry. Vodka Seltzer will be sold in 12 oz. slim can variety 8-packs, 8-packs of Cherry & Lime, and single-flavor 4-packs.

Truly Vodka Seltzer is in addition to the previously released Truly Flavored Vodka, a one-liter bottled vodka being produced and sold by Beam Suntory. Burwick called Truly Vodka Seltzer “a complementary companion” to the Truly line, which he said will attract a different consumer than the existing 21-to-34-year-old Truly drinkers — consumers in the 45-plus age range, female, African-American, with higher incomes.

“We see there is a window here and there is a place to go with Truly Vodka seltzer at the high end of hard seltzer with a different consumer,” Boston Beer CEO Dave Burwick said.

With its spirit-base leading to a higher tax rate, Truly Vodka Seltzer will be priced in line with products such as High Noon. Truly Hard Seltzer, which is sugar-based, falls under beer’s lower tax rate.

BrewDog Closes Indianapolis Taproom

BrewDog USA has permanently shuttered its Indianapolisbased taproom, a spokesperson confirmed in mid-April.

“[W]e made the tough decision to permanently close our Indianapolis bar,” the company said in a statement. “We are doing everything we can to ensure a smooth and fair transition for our Indy-based team members, including offering all team members full-time jobs at our other locations, a stipend for relocating, and helping facilitate future career moves.”

BrewDog explained that the closure “was a result of a combination of factors.”

“We exhausted all of our options prior to making the tough decision to permanently close,” a spokesperson said.

News of the closure was broken by beverage-alcohol industry journalist Dave Infante, who publishes the Fingers newsletter.

BrewDog opened the Indianapolis location, the Scottish craft beer maker’s first U.S. taproom outside of its homebase of Ohio, in September 2019.

Last year, the Indianapolis taproom terminated three women and one non-binary person. All four belonged to the LGBTQ community and were told they were being dismissed because the company “wanted a change in culture.” After an internal investigation, BrewDog USA also terminated the manager who approved the firing.

Earlier in April, BrewDog CEO James Watt wrote on LinkedIn that BrewDog is in the process of opening 27 taprooms in 2022, including Atlanta, Waterloo, Brisbane, Paris, Basingstoke, Las Vegas, Berlin, Hull, Cork with Ipswich, Lincoln, Durham and three in India.

Judge Grants Sycamore Brewing Injunction Against Stone’s Use of ‘Keep It Juicy’ Phrase

A federal judge in April granted a nationwide injunction to Charlotte’s Sycamore Brewing Company in its trademark infringement case against Stone Brewing Company. The preliminary injunction went into effect following Sycamore posting a $50,000 cash bond.

Sycamore Brewing fi led a federal trademark infringement lawsuit against Stone on April 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. In the suit, Sycamore contended that Stone infringed upon its tagline trademark “Keep It Juicy” — which Sycamore registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offi ce (USPTO) in August 2021 and uses on packages of Juiciness IPA — on packages of the California craft brewery’s Hazy IPA.

During an April hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Frank Whitney ruled in Sycamore’s favor and rejected Stone’s argument that the description “juicy” and the phrase “keep it juicy” are interchangeable terms.

In his order, Whitney wrote that Stone and its affi liated parties are “immediately enjoined nationwide from using the Keep It Juicy name and mark, or confusingly similar variations thereof.” Whitney added that Stone can sell through its existing supply of Hazy IPA “packaged in the infringing box” so long as the brewery covers the infringing language with an opaque label or “a new, non-infringing phrase or slogan.”

According to Whitney’s ruling, Sycamore “has shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its claims for (1) Trademark Infringement … (2) Unfair Competition … and (3) Deceptive Trade practices …” and Stone’s attorney’s failed to “rebut the presumption of the validity and ownership” of “Keep It Juicy” by Sycamore.

“The mark is distinctive in the craft beer context,” Whitney wrote. “The similarity of the marks is astounding, and the goods are not just similar, they are the same — a craft India Pale Ale.

“In some retail locations, the two products are placed beside or above/below one another,” he continued. “Accordingly, the proximity of products as sold is again staggering. Moreover, the mark has been placed, as a prominent part of the packaging, on both Juiciness IPA and Hazy IPA’s retail boxes.”

A trial in the case is expected later this year.