On a recent trip to San Diego, I popped into a cannabis dispensary to look at the beverages. I was surprised by the choices, including Pabst Blue Ribbon High Seltzer. The non-alcoholic fizzy drink comes in six fruit flavors. Each 12-oz slim can contains at least 10mg of THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana. A $5 can is...

I’m taking a break from alcohol as I work to get in better shape. It’s been more than a month. Not drinking is easy. Not drinking while socializing is hard.

I took for granted the extent to which responsible social drinking is as much about ritual as intoxication. Everything from trying a new porter to experimenting with Old Fashioned recipes is fun. Doing it with people you love or laugh with is even better.

As I’ve written before, there are barriers to the adoption of non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic drinks. The functionality of alcohol as a social lubricant, as well as alcohol’s ability to lessen inhibition, are built-in mechanisms that drive consumption rates and make premium pricing palatable. Non-alcoholic replacements for booze don’t share those advantages.

Now, I find myself — like so many other consumers — not wanting to...

We just announced the finalists for our 2023 Beverage Digest Awards. Winners in 13 drink categories will be named at Future Smarts in New York on Dec. 11.

There are a few trends worth noting from this year’s roster of finalists:

— A range of teas came to the forefront. Vying for Best Premium Drink is a Blue Tea Jasmine variant from Rishi’s line of Sparkling Botanicals, as well as a Cold Brew Tea from...

We’ve decided to go deeper into the world of influencer marketing during our Future Smarts conference next month. Influencer firm CreatorIQ, prebiotic soda brand Poppi, and TikTok style influencer Preston Konrad will sit for what I am sure will be a captivating panel discussion. Look for ...

I’m happy to announce an addition to our Future Smarts conference on Dec. 11. Ghost Lifestyle Co-founder and CEO Dan Lourenco will join us to discuss ready-to-drink Ghost Energy, launched in 2020. The brand has made a splash with its candy company partnerships and Anheuser-Busch JV. We’ll talk about making inroads in a competitive category dominated by Monster Energy and Red Bull.

If you haven’t yet signed up for the event, here’s what to expect:

I’ll ask Coca-Cola North America President Jennifer Mann about her plan to accelerate total beverage growth at Coke’s largest global operating unit at a time when market conditions demand both precision and agility.

PepsiCo North America Beverages Chief Supply Chain Officer Karen Jordan will discuss lessons learned from one of the worst global supply chain disruptions of the past century.

Keurig Dr Pepper Chief Strategy Officer Justin Whitmore will shed light on how partnerships with Electrolit, Nutrabolt, and Athletic Brewing will help maximize growth and value.

Next, I’ll ask our Wall Street analyst panel for views on how consumer sentiment affects beverage company pricing and volume strategies.

Melody Richard, SVP for U.S. Pantry at Walmart, will illuminate both sides of the supplier-customer partnership in a discussion covering key consumer, retail, and beverage category trends.

Then I’ll ask Coca-Cola Consolidated President and COO Dave Katz about the critical role innovation plays for the beverage bottler.

Buffalo Rock President & CEO Matthew Dent will talk about the importance of efficiency in a modern manufacturing and distribution environment.

And Paul Pisano, SVP of industry affairs and general counsel for the National Beer Wholesalers Association, will help make sense of the emerging crossover between two massive beverage sectors – alcohol and non-alcohol.

Register HERE , and we’ll see you in New York!

Concern over the potential negative impact to food and beverage sales from obesity medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy is overblown.

This summer, Morgan Stanley rightfully dug into whether the rapidly growing use of diabetes drugs for weight loss would dampen food and beverage sales in a country racked with obesity. Analysts at the firm estimate a -2.0% to -3.0% decline in carbonated soft drink and snack consumption in 2035 driven by the drugs. Other firms...

How can we serve you even better? That’s the central question of a subscriber survey you’ll find in your email inbox today.

The survey won’t take much time at all, I promise. But your feedback will contribute to our roadmap for making our offering even more useful and adding services.

What topics should we cover more? What should we cover less?

What newsletter data sets and stories are most useful? What data should we add?

What suggestions would you have for our resource products, such as the Fact Book and the Coke and Pepsi Systems book?

You’ll find all these topics and more in the survey. Even if you are a brand-new subscriber, we’d love to hear from you. ..

As you’ll read in today’s newsletter, BodyArmor’s newest product is not a liquid. It’s a powder, packaged in a single-serve stick. The sports drink brand is the latest to add the format, which is catching on with consumers looking for convenient and highly portable functionality.

Analysts at Consumer Edge Research wrote in March that single-serve, non-ready-to-drink beverages — while small relative to the entire US non-alcoholic beverage market — were growing...

PepsiCo’s SodaStream has new competition from kitchen appliance maker Ninja. The Ninja Thirsti Drink System launched in late July. The company sent me a unit to try. Here are my observations:

— The primary difference in Thirsti versus SodaStream is that drinks are produced by the glass instead of by the bottle. With SodaStream and most other sparkling water appliances, including Aarke and Drinkmate, water is carbonated inside a multi-serve bottle. The user removes the bottle and pours in flavor syrup, shaking the mixture by hand. With Thirsti, water is drawn from a reservoir that is refillable and removable for fridge chilling. Changeable concentrate pods automatically release...

Beverage companies are all about innovation, and so is Beverage Digest. In addition to creating a dynamic speaker lineup for our Dec. 11 Future Smarts conference in Manhattan, we are adding a new-for-us networking opportunity for attendees.

The plan is to host a welcome reception for all registered attendees on the Sunday night before our Monday event. We’ll announce more details soon. This gathering will be a chance to share drinks and bites with old industry friends and forge new relationships. We also recognize that with so much remote work these days, Future Smarts is an ideal opportunity for far-flung team members to connect — and perhaps even meet and socialize for the first time.

As for our program, we’ve announced two more high-level executive speakers: Coca-Cola North America President Jennifer Mann, and PepsiCo Beverages North America Chief Supply Chain Officer Karen Jordan. We’ve also assembled a stellar Wall Street panel. Here’s a sneak peek at the insights I intend to uncover for attendees.

Future Smarts will be...