Daniel Blake knows a little something about rising again. Three years ago, he took a leave of absence from Anheuser-Busch InBev after the conservative backlash against a Bud Light brand partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Blake oversaw the marketer primarily responsible for the campaign. Many Bud Light distributors were angered as well as they lost almost a third of their sales during the controversy, after consumers boycotted the beer. Blake and his subordinate eventually left the company. Today, Blake is eight months into the US launch of his energy drink brand, PHX Hydration Energy. "I believe things happen for a reason," he said of the end of his Anheuser-Busch career. "And it's not the event itself that defines you — it's your response." Blake is founder and GM of One 11 Brands, which markets PHX (pronounced Phoenix). Following a three-market roll-out last year, PHX is expanding to 14 states this quarter. Blake has enlisted Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy, a media personality and influencer known for pushing back against political correctness. Blake entered a US energy drink market dominated by three powerful competitors — Monster Beverage, Red Bull, and Celsius Holdings. Even more daunting, PHX is one of many challengers looking to carve out space in a crowded but growing category. US energy drink volume grew almost +10% at retail last year as dollar sales jumped +12%, as shown in the Green Sheet with this story. What Blake has going for him is distribution within the very Budweiser beer network that was at the center of his exit from AB InBev. Bud distributors have a track record of helping to build fast-growing energy drink brands such as Monster, Celsius, Alani Nu, Bang, and Ghost that would eventually leave for distribution partnerships or transactions with Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper. Those beer networks are now eager to replace the lost brands. In a recent interview — which has been condensed and edited for clarity — BD's Duane Stanford started by asking Blake how he plans to differentiate PHX?

PepsiCo announced last month an initiative with German tech conglomerate Siemens and computer chip maker NVIDIA to create “digital twins” of manufacturing plants and warehouses. The goal is to use AI-backed digital simulation technology to figure out what physical changes to plants and warehouses would best improve speed, quality, and efficiency. According to Siemens, the technology tested in one US Gatorade plant increased throughput by +20% within three months. PepsiCo estimates it could reduce capital expenditures by -10% to -15% by “uncovering hidden capacity and validating investments in a virtual environment” before construction. “This allows the company to optimize existing assets rather than investing in costly new construction,” Siemens said in a blog post about the PepsiCo partnership. BD wanted to understand how digital twins work, so we turned to Niraj Jha, who is the senior director of logistics at Niagara Bottling. His work is focused on how data, automation, and AI are reshaping beverage supply chains. Jha’s team leads large-scale optimization initiatives across Niagara’s national network. Jha has been an outspoken proponent of AI technology in manufacturing and distribution. The following interview has been condensed and edited for clarity:

Sixteen years ago this month, Coca-Cola launched the 7.5-oz mini can as a “great option for smaller thirst occasions, and for calorie-conscious consumers,” the company said at the time. Launched then in eight-packs, the mini can has since expanded to 6-packs, 10-packs, 24-packs, and even 30-packs, becoming a key format in US retail channels like...