Alcohol | Beverage-Digest

Boston Beer Sees Dew Alcohol Extension as Growth Rising Star

Still, Regulatory Hurdles for PepsiCo’s Blue Cloud Unit Slow Expansion

August 2, 2022

Hard Mtn Dew was a bright spot in an otherwise challenging second quarter for Boston Beer. Founder and Chairman Jim Koch said the flavored malt beverage (FMB) product, produced under a license from...

Briefs: August 2, 2022

August 2, 2022

A collection of recent developments from around the industry to keep you up to speed...

Opening Thoughts: July 15, 2022

July 15, 2022

The beverage industry is full of niche and regional brands that find ways to remain relevant as consumer trends come and go. We drop into two such brands today – Jel Sert and Ale-8-One. Each has a century of history that started with determined founders.

Jel Sert began life in 1926 making instant gelatin desserts. Founders Charles and Lillian Wegner created the product using...

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

July 15, 2022

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...

Bang Energy’s Path to Some Independent Pepsi Bottlers Appears Blocked

Amid Celsius Speculation, PepsiCo Leaders Open to Energy Distribution Deals. But ‘Not Urgent.’

July 15, 2022

Some independent Pepsi bottlers in the US may be unable to distribute Bang Energy for Vital Pharmaceuticals (VPX) following PepsiCo’s and VPX’s decision to sever ties by the end of this year. Bottlers...

Briefs: July 15, 2022

July 15, 2022

A collection of recent developments from around the industry to keep you up to speed...

Q&A: Blue Moon Craft Beer Creator Keith Villa Demystifies THC Beer

Ceria Founder Also Says Non-Alcoholic Beer Market Will Rival Craft Brew Market

June 23, 2022

Keith Villa, the PhD brewmaster who created Blue Moon almost three decades ago
for Coors Brewing, is credited with using that beer to help introduce scores of consumers to more flavorful craft brews. Blue Moon was a gateway brew for light beer drinkers who would eventually consume everything from IPAs to Saisons as craft beer went mainstream during 2000s. In recent years, Villa has been toiling away on his latest gateway project: cannabis- infused and alcohol-free beers. Villa’s company, Ceria Brewing, relaunched its beers with
a new look this month after first introducing the brand in 2018. Villa uses a proprietary process to get Ceria’s beers to 0.0% ABV. Ceria’s lineup includes a Belgian-style white ale called Grainwave (Villa’s latest Blue Moon) and an IPA called Indiewave. Versions of these alcohol-free beers with psychoactive THC and non-psychoactive CBD are available at licensed marijuana dispensaries in Colorado and California, where the recreational use of cannabis is permitted. The beers have less than 100 calories per 12-oz can. A six-pack of Ceria’s alcohol- free beer sells for about $10. THC versions sell at regulated cannabis dispensaries for about $6 - $8 per can, plus taxes. Given the growing interest in low- and no-alcohol beers and cannabis-infused beverages, BD took the opportunity to discuss both segments with Villa, who runs the company with his wife Jodi Villa, who is CEO. The following has been edited for length and clarity...

Coca-Cola Considers Bottler Payments as Jack & Coke Joins Canned Cocktail Trend

Solutions Sought as Booze Market Taps Non-Alcoholic Brands

June 23, 2022

Coca-Cola is considering compensating its franchise bottlers in the US for company- sanctioned ready-to-drink alcohol beverages sold in bottlers’ exclusive territories, BD has learned from bottling executives. Just last week, Jack Daniel’s whiskey maker Brown-Forman and Coca-Cola announced a “global relationship” for a Jack & Coke canned cocktail to be launched in Mexico later this year. While other...

Opening Thoughts: June 23, 2022

June 23, 2022

I’m a skeptic when it comes to non-alcoholic craft beers, spirits, and wines. How big can this market get without the functional benefits of alcohol, especially when sold at about the same price?

I recently posed the question to Athletic Brewing Co-founder and CEO Bill Shufelt during a panel I moderated for Credit Suisse in New York. His non-alcoholic beer brand has raised more than $70 million since launching in 2018 and accounts for almost half of the still-small US non-alcoholic beer market. Shufelt told me that most of his consumers don’t shun alcohol. Sometimes they just need a break and they like beer. He sees lots