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Opening Thoughts: August 18, 2022

August 18, 2022

The liquor store sure has changed. I popped into one last week to grab some Finnish Long Drink for our dog sitter. I left having seen the very embodiment of a trend.

A massive display of Svedka vodka sodas and teas greeted me at the door. Other floor displays throughout the store pitched bright-colored cans of premixed cocktails, like a gin and tonic from Bombay Sapphire. Newer canned spirits brands such as High Noon and Cutwater stacked the cases high and sold them – at a premium.

An entire section of shelves was permanently labeled “Ready-to-Drink.” An endcap display, big enough to incorporate a full-sized bicycle, marketed a product from craft beer trailblazer Dogfish Head (eventually acquired by Boston Beer). The display wasn’t for beer, however. It was for canned cocktails by Dogfish’s distilling unit. Even Dos Equis offered a blanco tequila ready-to-drink margarita.

I asked an alcohol distributor stocking a display about the transformation (spurred in part by consumers’ boredom with beer)...

    


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Former Coke Executive Looks to Scale Up 2-Year-Old Lemon Perfect

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BD caught up with former Coca-Cola sales executive Jim Brennan a month after he was hired full-time by startup beverage brand Lemon Perfect. Brennan has served as an advisor to the Atlanta-based company’s Founder and CEO Yanni Hufnagel since early 2021, helping open doors at key retailers including Kroger, Costco, and Safeway. That requires meetings with retailers and other hands-on work, and as Brennan was pulled deeper into...


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Bottler Liberty Coke Embraces Paper 6-Pack Holder to Replace Plastic Rings

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Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages has become the first beverage manufacturer to replace plastic rings and shrink wrap with paperboard holders for can multipacks. The bottler is now using a KeelClip paperboard packaging system by Graphic Packaging to hold together six- packs of 7.5-oz minicans. More package sizes could be added...


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Closer Look: Air Up Promises “Scent-Flavored” Water

Spoiler: The PepsiCo-Backed ‘Retronasal Smell’ Technology Works
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BD recently wrote about the U.S. launch of Air Up, the German maker of a refillable bottle that uses pods to flavor plain water by smell instead of taste. PepsiCo is an investor in the company, which describes its technology, based on a scientific concept called “retronasal smell,” this way: “The flavored air travels from your mouth up to your olfactory center, where it’s perceived as flavor.” From packaging to materials, Air Up embodies an assortment of beverage trends that resonate with Gen Z and Millennial consumers: Healthfulness, design, personalization, technology, and sustainability. To better understand the Air Up offering, BD bought and used the product, which the...


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All Sport Owner Jel Sert Parlays Fla-Vor-Ice Popsicle Empire into Boozy Extension

Company Looks to Expand Licensing, Co-Packing Work With Coke, Other Majors
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Company Looks to Expand Licensing, Co-Packing Work With Coke, Other Majors
Owner and President Sees Long Growth Runway for Powdered Water Enhancers

During the past two years, West Chicago-based Jel Sert built a distillery, winery, and brewery into the middle of a half-million-square-foot food and beverage manufacturing plant that for almost...


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As Inflation Rages, C-Store Behavior Stable, PepsiCo Says

Store Ad Review: July 4 Promos Strike Balance for Strapped Consumers
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US Inflation surged by +9.1% during the 12 months ending in June, according to newly released Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the largest year-over-year spike in the consumer price index in more than four...


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