The sale of alcohol in the US passes through a three-tiered system: producers, distributors and retailers. For years this has impacted alcohol’s digital presence, forcing consumers to shop brick-and-mortar or turn to third parties.
Wolf’s Ridge Brewing in Ohio has been setting a sustainability precedent for independent craft beer brands. Managing waste through composting has been their biggest success and advice to their fellow brewers.
Carlsberg's alcohol-free brews increased 7% in volume in 2019. Craft brands also delivered well with a 16% jump, against a backdrop of core beer falling 1%.
In the face of health and wellness concerns and low-to-no alcohol trends, craft brewers of heavy, boozy beer are rethinking their methods. Line extensions and new packaging formats are the advice of Massachusetts-based Night Shift Brewing.
Makers of the Brizzy hard seltzer drink have filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Molson Coors, who plans to release a hard seltzer called Vizzy this year.
Bacardi is enlisting the help of 7,000 global employees to track new trends in cocktails and wider alcohol by sending them to local bars and restaurants. This year mindful drinking is expected to go mainstream, and natural, fresh ingredients will be at...
Local cider sales in the US are up 15% since last year. And despite recent challenges from hard seltzer and FMBs, regional ciders are tracking double-digit growth. The industry now focuses on conveying the diversity of the cider category.
Million-dollar commercials, glitzy halftime performances and a championship football game all come together in one of alcohol’s biggest holidays of the year. Every year, Americans prepare for Super Bowl Sunday with more than $2bn in booze sales.
American consumers are increasingly looking for products with a focus on simple, high-quality ingredients and sustainability. And a group of Italian companies believe their products are ready to meet these demands: with their drinks on show at the Winter...
Tapping into the wide market of functional nootropic ingredients, startup beverage brand Sun Chaser leverages L-theanine and cordyceps for an alcohol alternative.
A new 3% ABV craft IPA from Goose Island Beer Company will be the brewery’s first low-calorie and low-alcohol option. It’s going nationwide across the US and into Canada this year.
Hoplark’s HopTea brand replaces malt in its beverage brewing process with a tea base for a line of non-alcoholic beer alternatives. Its latest grapefruit variety mimics the radler style.
Nitro-infusion is commonly associated with the cold brew coffee category: but Enhanced Beverage Solutions (EBS) sees potential for the trend to thrive in other categories such as tea, wine and cocktails.
US organic tea brand Numi debuted a branding refresh at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco last week, alongside new functional sleep teas and premium drinking chocolates.
After just a year and a half in business, Surreal Brewing Company sells five varieties of alcohol-free craft beer out of northern California. They exhibited at this year’s Winter Fancy Food Show, sampling the latest release.
Tetra Pak has partnered with Mirakl to launch a food and beverage Virtual Marketplace, claiming it makes it easier to purchase products and will ‘change how buyers and sellers operate’.
Hard seltzers dominated the alcohol conversation in 2019, and there’s been an uptick in flavored malt beverage (FMB) launches in response. Loverboy brings a healthier option to the small but growing hard tea category.
The Pabst Brewing Company (PBC), best known for its Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) beer, is launching a new IPA. The Seabird beer is exclusive to the midwestern US region.
Sake originated in Japan and is made alcoholic from fermented rice. Hiro Sake wants to make the trend portable and accessible with smaller, on-the-go portions.
The non-alcoholic beer industry is growing steadily in North America, anchored by risk-taking brewers like Partake in Toronto. Wider acceptance has zero-proof IPAs cropping up in taprooms, bars and restaurants on both sides of the border.
A sober bar from Texas will take its alcohol-free drink partners and signature mocktails on tour to 15 cities across the US this year. It’s joined forces with ‘botanical bubbly’ Dry Soda in a shared mission to help people connect without alcohol.
What are the top beverage trends to look out for in 2020 and beyond? Flavors, textures and ingredients will all continue to evolve in the decade to come.
Plant-based protein shakes from Koia are expanding in the new year with a line of coffee drinks, made with plant-based protein, MCT oil and coconut milk.
US hard seltzer consumption is set to triple by 2023. But will consumers be able to support the stream of new launches? And can other global markets mimic the success of seltzer in the US?
Zero-proof and low-ABV drinks are on the rise, but traditional craft beer is still tracking growth. The Brewers Association (BA) has industry highlights from the year, including a record 8,000 breweries operating in the US.
Nielsen’s annual Top 25 Breakthrough Innovation awards whittled down 45,000 CPG products and singled out five US beverages. Products from PepsiCo and Coca-Cola were among those gaining top honors; alongside hard seltzer success story White Claw.
New York-based LIQS Cocktail Shots is taking its growth international with November’s launch into Japan. Its lines of liquor-based and wine-based shots build their audience first on-premise at concerts, stadiums and festivals.
Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur is delving into the craft side of coffee in Australia with its first limited batch sourced from single-origin beans. More releases are to come, made from coffee of different global regions.
A US start-up has created vodka quite literally from thin air – using solar power to convert carbon from the air and convert it into alcohol. It’s now working with NASA to look at other opportunities for capturing carbon.
A new partnership with spirits and wine company Brown-Forman will bring classic liquors like Jack Daniels, Herradura and Chambord to the Drinkworks pod system in 2020, furthering at-home cocktail personalization.
Cinnamon, star anise and creamy rice combine with oolong tea for Better Booch’s newest kombucha flavor, Hola Horchata. It’s the first in a new line of out-of-the-box varieties set to launch in the US in early 2020.
After years as an ecommerce brand associated with tech workers, Soylent is appealing to mass audiences and retail. New flavors Strawberry and Mint Chocolate indicate more diverse innovations to come.
AB InBev has chosen Canpack as one of its partners to focus on its sustainable development objectives to ensure 100% of its packaging is recyclable or made from recycled materials by 2025.
The Brewers Association (BA) announced its first Small Brewery Sunday in the US, a campaign designed to support the more than 7,500 local craft brewers across the country.
At the recent Cerveza México 2019 event, it was revealed that the country’s craft beer market is nearly up to 1,400 independent breweries with a 29 million litre output. The industry relies heavily on exports to the US and Europe to keep up with annual...
After six years in operation, plant-based US beverage brand Rebbl will eliminate virgin plastic from its bottles next year: one of the pledges made in its inaugural Impact Report.
The first predictions are in for what’s to come in US beverage next year. A continued emphasis on health, wellness and sustainability will drive innovations.
The newest Starbucks Reserve Roastery is the company’s largest location in the world, with five floors and more than 35,000 square feet. It opens its doors November 15 in downtown Chicago.
In a new deal inked with JetBlue, Truly Hard Seltzer will be the first official alcoholic seltzer of a US airline. Starting this fall, the Wild Berry flavor will be available on all JetBlue flights.
New York-based Super Coffee is now the number one independent coffee company in the US, the founders said. Their formula leverages MCT oil, whey protein concentrate and zero sugar.
Major coffee chains in the US have reintroduced their seasonal offerings for the holidays, including new peppermint, caramel and mocha-flavored launches.
The Allegra World Coffee Portal’s 2020 predictions for the US coffee landscape shows continued growth in mobile ordering, social media marketing and still more cold brew.
Online sales represent less than 1% of alcohol’s total US sales, but it’s a fast-growing category that retailers are still trying to crack. A clean digital presence with simple navigation is key, experts say.
In the land of CBD alcohol alternatives, beer holds the most market share. Mirth Provisions is working to expand the US industry with its CBD-infused apple cider, available soon in 19 states.
