Future Proof Brands, the Austin-based parent company of BeatBox Beverages, plans to lay off 158 employees following Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) majority share acquisition of the party punch maker.

Adult non-alc (ANA) cocktails are gaining momentum in luxury hotels, with one major chain reporting a 32% sales increase over the past three years. But functional ingredients and education still create challenges.

New data suggests that direct alcohol replacements (such as NA beer) and “alcohol adjacent drinks,” including hemp beverages or adaptogenic functional drinks, are growing for different reasons – and are not necessarily competing.

After carving out early momentum in New Jersey, food and beverage serial entrepreneur Jason Cohen is taking his vodka-based ready-to-drink beverage, Spiked Ade, to more markets. 

Stoli Group USA, the owner of Stoli vodka, will move into the liquidation phase after initially filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2024.

Import beer’s unstable 2025 came to a positive end for some top brands this December, according to the latest report from market research firm NIQ.

After Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) shed suppliers at an alarming rate last year – resulting in the closure of its California operations – the distributor is being hit with another major loss as Jose Cuervo’s parent company makes its national exit.

Suntory Global spirits has appointed Davin Nugent, a former Anheuser-Busch InBev and Mark Anthony Brands executive, as president of global ready-to-drink (RTD).

A “leading global beverage company” has made a $14 million strategic investment in InvestBev Capital’s flagship Fund V, the private equity firm announced today.

From class-action suits over Fireball to disputes over jalapeño-flavored Tequila, this year’s bev-alc legal drama was, in a word, spicy.

This year’s top spirits headlines capture an industry in transition: major distribution shifts, sudden closures, shocking lawsuits, the race to win an emerging category, and of course, at least one celebrity closing a deal. Here are the top 10 BevNET spirits stories, as ranked by popularity.

Stateside Brands, the company responsible for popularizing vodka-based iced tea, is now adding vodka to another beverage: the sports drink.

The Clean Alcohol Collective (CAC), co-founded by Meredith Mills-Merritt, founder of ready-to-drink (RTD) brand The Original Southside, and Conor Begley, co-founder of Father’s Brewing, launched this month as a coalition of alcohol brands offering greater ingredient transparency and shared formulation standards.

The next evolution in adult non-alc (ANA) will require brands to push flavor to greater heights, invest in retail strategy, and find new occasions.