Is the food and beverage funding freeze finally thawing? FABID’s Q1 2025 Report reveals a surprising rebound in deal size and investor appetite—just not where you might expect.
Ninety-five percent of bev-alc brand launches fail, according to Gustavo Aguirre, VP of brand innovation at investment firm InvestBev. Aguirre spoke during BevNET’s Spirits Sunday event in Marina del Rey, California. Aguirre was joined by GHJ advisory partner Maria Pearman and 5:30 Somewhere founder Dale LeFlam.
Light lager brand Montucky Cold Snacks is “a big anchor” within Gallo’s total beverage alcohol strategy moving forward, as the wine and spirits giant enters the beer category, Gallo EVP and general manager Britt West told Brewbound.
While bev-alc is in flux, zero-proof partying is still in full swing with the announcement of a new multi-year partnership that brings Hiyo Social Tonics into Live Nation venues across the country.
Check out news items initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter November 20-26, including headlines from Rogue, Tilray, Molson Coors, Firestone Walker and more.
Craft brewery owners dreaming of selling their businesses in multi-million dollar deals are doing just that – dreaming, industry leaders said last week during a panel discussion about exiting the business at the Mass Brewers Guild annual conference.
Recess Drinks has closed a $30 million series B round led by CAVU and other repeat investors, according to CEO and founder Ben Witte.
Low-ABV IPA maker Dad Strength is poised to disrupt the beer category, according to recent investor and Shark Tank star Robert Herjavec.
Vodka soda RTD Sprinter Spirits reported it had secured over $4 million in new investment as part of a $12 million round it is currently raising, per a Securities and Exchange (SEC) Form D filed on Friday.
Spirits-based ready-to-drink (RTD) is one of the more fragmented segments in bev-alc, but independent brands with discipline and an eye for the right occasion can still break through, according to Gustavo Aguirre, vice president of brand innovation at private equity firm InvestBev.
The sharks were biting on low-ABV on the season premiere of ABC’s Shark Tank. Dad Strength, the maker of 2.9% ABV IPAs, generated interest from four of the show’s investors.
Garage Beer, the light beer brand that achieved national prominence when NFL stars Travis and Jason Kelce invested in it last year, has received “strategic growth investment” from Durational Capital Management, the company announced today.
Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila has landed additional investment and named a new CEO. The tequila brand’s parent company, Calabasas Beverage Company (CBC), received a strategic investment from the Pérez family, owners of Grupo Solave.
San Diego-based Ballast Point has new, local investors in its ownership group, San Diego Beer News reported. Hospitality force RMD Group and boutique investment firm Cypress Ascendant have taken shares in the brewery, and the investors who facilitated the bombshell acquisition of Ballast Point from Constellation Brands in 2019 have exited.
Rémy Cointreau has acquired a minority stake in French non-alc spirits company JNPR, joining other major spirit groups with bids on the growing category.
Michigan-based beverage-alcohol platform Benchmark Beverages has taken a minority investment in Blake’s Beverage Co. and the two companies have launched a commercial partnership. Benchmark (Dark Horse, Roak, Brew Detroit, Great America) and Blake’s Beverage Co. (Blake’s Hard Cider, Austin Eastciders, Avid Cider) aim to “accelerate growth and shake up the beyond-beer category with fresh innovation and national scale,” according to a press release.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) continues to reshuffle its craft brewing operations. The world’s largest beer manufacturer announced a $1 million investment in Wicked Weed’s Asheville, North Carolina-based operations that coincides with the winding down of operations at its 104,000 sq. ft. production facility in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, “over the next few months.”
