This week in 1999, at AB's shareholders meeting there was a lengthy dialogue between Teamster reps and August Busch III. Teamsters claimed AB contract offer only did better on 2d vote in 1998 because August went to Merrimack, NH and Fairfield, CA breweries and "threatened" to close them both if votes not changed. August acknowledged that those 2 breweries - AB's oldest - would be first to close if a strike and/or boycott hurt volume and mkt share. Yet, he corrected Teamsters, he "guaranteed" to keep both breweries open for life of contract if Teamsters "reconsidered" rejection of contract. But Teamsters still turned down offer tho they eventually settled without a strike.

Mark your calendars, folks. This year's Beer Insights Seminar will take place on November 9-10 at the New York Athletic Club, a storied institution dating back to 1868 that's located on Central Park South. Join us back in the Big Apple for an evening reception on Sunday, November 9th and an all-day program on Monday the 10th. Registration details and speakers to be announced. In the meantime, don't forget to sign up for the Beer Insights Spring Conference, coming up May 12-13 at the Four Seasons Chicago!

Over two mos after deal was announced, there's still no definitive word from any side on whether Celsius will look to move recently acquired Alani Nu from beer distribs into the Pepsi distribution network. "We feel good about energy and we feel good about the strategy and the partnerships that we have in this space," said PepsiCo ceo Ramon Laguarta during Q1 earnings call when asked about Pepsi's position in energy drinks category and "willingness" to bring Alani Nu into its network. Notably, "we're having conversations with Celsius, obviously after they acquired new brands, and still I would say early discussions about how we can find ways to participate or not in this new acquisition," added Ramon. But "it's still too early to make any kind of public comment on this," he concluded. (Assist from Seeking Alpha transcript of Pepsi Q1 earnings call.)

While AB lobbied behind the scenes for tariffs on non-American made beers and aggressively pushed its "American" beer agenda in the US, parent co ABI also plans to invest heavily in its Mexico biz, to the tune of $3.6 bil, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). Investment is expected to "modernize" ABI's breweries and stores in the country. "We stand with Mexico like good friends, in the good times and the bad," stated ABI's Grupo Modelo veep Raul Escalante at Mexico president Claudia Sheinbaum's "morning news conference." The irony is impossible to miss. But ABI's sizable investment in Mexico is seemingly a shrewd move to play both sides of the border line rather than solely bang the "American" drum.

After proposed class action lawsuit filed by a disappointed investor in Feb, Constellation racked up 2 more fed suits in last 2 mos, all built on same assertions about co's extra-soft wine biz, much of which co sold to The Wine Group earlier this mo for ~$900 mil. Second investor suit followed about 1 mo after the first, then just this wk, a 3rd suit hit same fed ct in NY. All 3 are based on the same allegedly "materially false and misleading statements" made between April 11, 2024 and Jan 8, 2025. But 2d and 3d suits take slightly different forms and ratchet claims up even further.

A week ago we ran story based on account of attorney who'd won judgment vs Icelandic Glacial cofounder Jon Olafsson (BBI, Apr 16). Olafsson's attorney at Menz Bonner Komar & Koenigsberg LLP has asked us to publish the following statement: "My client is aware of the judgment from the court in New York and the press release issued by Silvertip's lawyers.

For bev creators who've strived to find a differentiated pack that might go viral on social media, Wall Street Jnl spins a yarn about expensive effort by youthful creators of Orka Energy Water to offer clear plastic can for caffeinated carbonated water that had drawn consumer interest when it debuted on TikTok in that format in 2023. Tho that's an established packaging format in many parts of world, the new-to-bevs founders went thru most of their $355K in seed money learning the hard way that American plants just aren't geared up to handle them. The main problem, as Journal reported, was that "most machinery used to can beverages is built to handle aluminum. Sensors proved unreliable at detecting plastic coming down the line. Manufacturers struggled to find a way to seal the metal top to the plastic bottom." Still, as they were depleting their stash during factory-hopping process, the youthful founders documented whole process for their fans to see. (You can watch here.) Based in Venice, Calif, the founders are former Georgetown Univ classmates Michael Moriarty and Nash Hale.

Bigelow tea maker has gotten its hand slapped for false claims of being 100% manufactured in US with jury finding that awarded purchasers $2.36 mil in damages. Calif jury reached verdict on Apr 8 after 5-day trial in which US District Judge Dean Pregerson pulled no punches in finding that claim to be "literally false" because great majority of its tea is imported from overseas, as Top Class Actions website reported. Class action plaintiff had claimed to have been bamboozled in purchasing a box of Bigelow Earl Grey Black Tea in 2020 that carried statement that item is "MANUFACTURED IN THE USA 100% AMERICAN FAMILY OWNED" as well as "AMERICA'S CLASSIC." Those claims were carried on range of Bigelow items, from its well-known Constant Comment Black Tea to Earl Grey Black Tea, English Teatime Black Tea, Green Tea with Ginger, Matcha Green with Turmeric, Green Tea with Pomegranate, Green Tea Decaffeinated and Vanilla Chai Black Tea. Action had been brought in US District Court for Central District of Calif.

PepsiCo enjoyed slight uptick in revenue in its Q1 but volume in its North American Beverages segment declined 3% and co cut its earnings guidance as it navigates tumultuous environment in which tariff onslaught might be pushing economy into recession. On investor q&a this morning, chmn/CEO Ramon Laguarta indicated that it hasn't been settled yet whether Alani Nu brand acquired by PEP's energy partner Celsius Holdings will move into Pepsi system. "We're having conversations with Celsius after they acquired new brands and are in early discussions on finding ways to participate or not," he reported. But "it's still too early to make any public comment."