Bottling executives within the US Coke and Pepsi soft drink systems have experienced a business environment during the past three years like no other in their tenures. A global pandemic shut down most fountain sales and drove consumers to retail, where a sudden sales spike stretched infrastructure and workforces. Then supply chain disruptions forced bottlers to...

Darren Rovell, the journalist, investor, and social media influencer who wrote the literal book on Gatorade, is bringing heat to the fast-growing canned cocktail market. Rovell, who has 2 million Twitter followers and is credited with introducing the late Kobe Bryant to BodyArmor co-founder Mike Repole, had his lightbulb moment 10 months ago while drinking spicy cocktails. That inspiration has since led to a brand called KickStand Cocktails and a newly landed $2 million investment round. The ready-to-drink cocktail blends vodka and fruit juice with artisanal spice, which Rovell says is the key differentiator. KickStand enters a canned cocktail market that is expected to grow by an average of +11.6% through 2032, according to researcher Future Market Insights. As consumers move on from the hard seltzer craze to...

      Hard Mtn Dew distributor Blue Cloud Distribution, set up last year by PepsiCo, is currently delivering products in nine states, according to the company. The states are Florida, Tennessee, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia. To date, Blue Cloud Distribution has secured federal alcohol wholesale permits in 31 states. The permits come from the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which collects federal excise taxes on alcohol and regulates labeling and marketing for alcohol products. Depending on the state, additional alcohol distribution permits could be required by state and county governments. In the US, alcohol beverages are regulated under a “three-tier” system made up of a state-by-state patchwork of regulations that generally prohibit vertical ownership of producers, wholesale distributors, and retailers. PepsiCo’s arrangement with Boston Beer for Hard Mtn Dew, as well as the company’s foray into alcohol distribution has generated tension with US beer distributors and confusion as to the entity’s operating model under the three-tier system. BD spoke with Blue Cloud General Manager Emiliano Di Vincenzo to seek additional clarity and to update progress with both Hard Mtn Dew and Blue Cloud...