Beyond Beer

Private label products saw a banner year in 2025, with spirits ranking as one of the top growing categories. As some distillers aim to take advantage of the opportunity, will brands feel the squeeze?

From yoga studios to luxury fashion houses to corporate campuses, a diverse ecosystem of alternative channels has quietly emerged as a small but meaningful growth opportunity for adult non-alcoholic (ANA) drinks – and mostly through organic discovery.

Michelob Ultra Zero is now the No. 1 non-alcoholic beer brand by volume in off-premise scans tracked by Circana for the 12-week period ending February 8, Anheuser-Busch InBev shared this week. A-B hailed the brand as the “fastest-growing” NA beer in the industry. Although Michelob Ultra Zero is the top NA volume brand, it trails Heineken 0.0 in dollar sales.

The non-alcoholic (NA) beer segment failed to grab a significant amount of dollar share in grocery stores in January, according to NIQ data analyzed for Brewbound by Bump Williams Consulting (BWC).

As functional drink brands look for a foothold in the booming alcohol alternatives space, one kava company is trying something new.

New York may allow licensed alcohol retailers to sell THC-infused drinks if a new measure introduced in the State Legislature earlier this week gains passage.

Beverage-alcohol’s health and wellness headwinds are showing signs of dying down in 2026, Bernstein analyst Nadine Sarwat wrote in her February 13 “Weekend Consumer Blast.”

As the distribution tier continues to shrink, what must brewers and bev-alc brands do to protect their routes to market? ArentFox Schiff partner Nichole Shustack and senior associate Isabelle Cunningham joined the Brewbound Podcast to discuss how suppliers can navigate the turbulence that comes with wholesaler consolidation.

In 2025, Jiant told Brewbound that it wanted to be hard tea’s Olipop – a flavor-forward, ingredient-focused functional brand that connected with new and lapsed drinkers in the category.

Surfside, the spirits-based iced tea category leader, is launching four new flavors as the brand continues its rise from a Northeast favorite to national ready-to-drink (RTD) powerhouse.

The future of hemp beverages remains in flux as potential legislative bills circulate on Capitol Hill, but for suppliers and distributors in the space, keeping up with demand has been business as usual. Almost.

The former vice president of human resources at Bardstown Bourbon Company has filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging discrimination, retaliation and broader workplace misconduct at the prominent Kentucky-based whiskey producer.

Heineken is expanding its non-alcoholic (NA) beer line with two new Heineken 0.0 flavors: Cold Pressed Lime and Nectarine Juniper. The first flavor varieties for the NA beer brand will launch next month in the U.S., Heineken USA CEO Maggie Timoney shared last week.

While some intoxicating hemp brands are positioning themselves as alcohol alternatives, one early adopter of alcohol-free spirits is joining the fray from the opposite direction.