The founders of Sunboy, a spiked sparkling coconut water, initially got together slanging fresh coconuts at events and parties in New York. The two hosted parties on the Brooklyn Bridge selling coconuts from a bicycle, eventually growing the enterprise to offer the experience at food and corporate events. But when the pandemic put those events and that hustle to a stop, Luke McKenna and Yair Tygiel were forced to come up with another product: a hard coconut water.
With tequila and ready-to-drink cocktails becoming two of the hottest alcohol categories, Lance Collins is looking to have a hand in both. As the founder and chairman of tequila soda brand Casa Azul, launching today, the beverage mogul behind Fuze, NOS, BodyArmor and Core is confident his new line of tequila soda will hit the sweet spot for consumers of spirit-based canned cocktails who enjoy the low-ABV and low-calorie qualities of a hard seltzer.
When the leadership of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians expanded its casino, a brewery and distillery seemed like a natural addition. But until a few years ago, distilling alcohol on reservations was illegal. Now, the Paskenta Brewery & Distillery is the first tribal-owned California distillery. One of just a handful of tribal-owned distilleries in the U.S., it’s also aiming to be a model for others.
Black-owned South African spirits group Spearhead announced yesterday it has raised $3 million to expand the reach of its two products, Vusa Vodka and Bayab Gin, to the U.S., as well as launch new product lines and accelerate its marketing efforts. The raise was led by Pendulum, an investment and advisory platform aimed at supporting business leaders of color.
Pernod Ricard announced last week the launch of The American Whiskey Collective, a new business unit dedicated to the company’s American whiskey portfolio that will pursue growth by investing in the “new fashioned” brands’ innovation, according to the division’s newly appointed head, Craig Johnson.
Vita Coco is the latest non-alcoholic beverage giant to dip its toes into the RTD cocktail space, announcing today a collaboration with spirits conglomerate Diageo to release a line of coconut water spiked with Captain Morgan white rum.
Brian Rosen doesn’t want to invest in your vodka flavored with sriracha or lemon peel and cumin. The lifelong beverage entrepreneur and advisor is channeling his experience into growing spirit brands that instead have wide appeal, and he’s adding strategic capital through InvestBev, an investment firm focused on adult-beverage brands, raw distillate, beverage technology and cannabis.
In his own words, Grisa Soba has “always been a contrarian and tried to do things differently.” That approach has taken Flaviar, the spirits enthusiast membership club Soba launched in 2012 from a simple tasting box format to one of the largest clubs of its kind serving the U.S. and EU. Before moving into digital… Read more »
Last week, premium whiskey Uncle Nearest announced its third in a series of investments designed to create a tangible shift in the funding inequities for BIPOC-owned businesses. It comes at a time when other Black founders and business leaders are also making strides to celebrate Black people’s historical contributions to spirits and build more Black-owned legacy beverage businesses.
The pronghorn is the second-fastest land mammal in the world, second only to the cheetah. But the pronghorn can sustain its speed for longer than a cheetah, according to Dia Simms, a co-founder of Pronghorn, an initiative focused on cultivating the next generation of Black entrepreneurs, executive leaders, and founders within the spirits business. Simms,… Read more »
From actors to musicians to the world’s richest man, high profile figures have built their own category within the alcohol industry: celebrity spirits. But as celebrity-owned or endorsed brands become the norm, what makes them succeed or fail?
Seven states plus the District of Columbia currently allow distillers to ship direct-to-consumer (DTC), but that number may be changing with a new bill making its way through the California Legislature.
