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Featured Articles
Interviews Building a Functional Beverage that Works: Insights From Michael Colangelo
Functional beverage founders know: the idea is the easy part. The hard part is making sure your product is feasible to manufacture, shelf-stable, and something that consumers keep coming back for. That’s where Michael Colangelo, flavor chemist and founder of MC Flavors, shines. In a recent Dry Atlas webinar, he ...
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Interviews What Do Investors Actually Look for in Non-Alc Brands? A Conversation with Jeff Cantalupo
The non-alc beverage space is changing fast, and not every brand is keeping up. New trends pop up by the dozen: functional ingredients, hybrid drinking, and phrases like “social wellness.” Jeff Cantalupo, founder of Listen Ventures, has been paying close attention. As an early backer of wellness brands like Calm ...
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Culture Why is Gen Z Really Drinking Less? And How Non-Alc Brands Can Respond
Gen Z is drinking less alcohol than previous generations. That much, we know. But the why behind this trend is more nuanced than the usual headlines about health consciousness and sober curiosity suggest. A 2023 Gallup survey found that just 62% of adults under 35 say they drink alcohol, down ...
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Latest Articles
Distribution Moderation Has Two Models. Only One Benefits Non-Alc Drinks.
For years, the beverage industry has largely interpreted moderation as substitution. Consumers drink fewer units of alcohol, so they replace cocktails, wine, and beer with non-alcoholic equivalents. But a different model of moderation is gaining traction, particularly in restaurants and wine bars: drink alcohol, just in smaller amounts. Two formats ...
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Strategy Espresso Sodas Are Multiplying. Occasion Strategy Is What Separates Them.
Last year, we outlined why coffee remained an underused ingredient in alcohol alternatives. It’s a high-frequency ritual, a well-understood functional delivery mechanism, and a flavor capable of doing work that few other ingredients can. Two recent espresso-forward RTD entrants—Esspo and Esprizio—are worth examining side by side. They represent distinct strategic ...
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Distribution Spirits Distributors Are Building THC Beverage Portfolios
The THC beverage category has been constrained less by demand than by distribution. Early growth came via fragmented channels: direct-to-retail relationships and opportunistic partnerships. That model allowed brands to enter the market quickly, but it also limited scale. Execution varied by state, distributor incentives were inconsistent, and field support was ...
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