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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

beverages

BrüMate Guzzles $20M in Funding for its Insulated Adult Beverage Containers

Summer parties may be over, but BrüMate, which makes insulated containers meant to keep adult beverages properly chilled, is probably celebrating today as it announced (registration required) that it has received a $20 million strategic investment from the San Francisco Equity Partners private equity firm.

Denver-based BrüMate creates various lines of multi-purpose, insulated metal koozies. BrüMate’s Hopsulator Trio holds a 12 or 16 oz bottle of beer with a removable, re-useable, freezable ice pack that sits at the bottom of vessel to keep the drink cold. There is also a removable lid that can be snapped on for drinking liquids straight out of the container. The company also makes insulated bottles and cups to hold wine and flasks for holding your spirit of choice.

BrüMate sells direct to consumer, and while the price depends on the make and model you get, the typical cost for a BrüMate seems to be somewhere in the mid-$20s price point. The company says that in 2018, it had 300,000 customers and sold one million units.

BrüMate is also another example of the D2C trend we’re seeing across the food tech landscape. By going direct to consumers, BrüMate is able to own the relationships it has with its customers. And while the company’s website gives off certain Fyre Festival vibes with its party branding, it’s definitely interested in fostering a drink-based community and creating a lifestyle brand around its products.

Whenever we get out of this pandemic, it’s easy to see where the BrüMate could come in handy. Being able to pour your pinot greeezhe into a stainless steel bottle would let you bring your booze to beaches and parks where glass containers aren’t allowed.

As a bonus for all you BrüMates out there, combine that special container with the Chilled Drink Caluculator and you’ve got the perfect mix for frosty beverages. Well, for next summer, at least.

Coca-Cola Launches Subscription Service That Gives a First Taste of New Beverages

Coca-Cola has figured out a way to get feedback on the more than 20 new drinks it plans to launch next year — and charge people for the privilege.

The company yesterday launched the Coca-Cola Insiders Club, which for $10 per month or $50 up front (with one month free), grants subscribers six monthly shipments of “three category-spanning beverages — from AHA flavored sparkling water to Coke Energy — plus a few surprises and swag,” according to a press release. Sounds appealing, right? Well, the 1,000 subscriptions on tap sold out in three hours, but Coca-Cola invites you to join its waitlist, which more than 8,000 people have already done.

While the company said it was inspired by the success of the ecommerce subscription market and the online excitement around Coke Cinnamon, it also seems to point out that the program is a great way to build buzz. “Coca-Cola North America is treating the program as a pilot as a proof point of the company’s entrepreneurial, test-and-learn culture,” the release says. “The team will monitor sales, feedback and social media buzz and consider expanding beyond the six-month trial.”

It’s a smart bet. If the company launches a product that Insiders Club members love enough to post about, it will create pre-launch buzz at a great discount. But on the other hand, if the Insiders bash a product, it will surely create curiosity. Research cited in Harvard Business Review showed that negative reviews of an obscure product actually led to increased sales.

If Coca-Cola, which calls itself a “total beverage company,” decides to further pursue a subscription service, the economics may be in its favor. As long as the shipping costs aren’t too great, $10 for three beverages could bring in some profits. And, if you’re like me, you may be more likely to subscribe to a service that lets you try new drinks rather than buy them a la carte in the store, if they even get to stores, that is.

If Insiders Club does prove to be a success, it could become like the Apple Arcade or Netflix of beverages, as long as Coca-Cola keeps rolling out variations of its products that keep people curious.

This Startup Uses Genetically Modified Probiotics to Alleviate Hangovers

Several products have sprung up recently claiming that they can prevent the worst next-day effects of drinking, but ZBiotics Company’s is the first to utilize genetically modified probiotics to help with hangover symptoms.

Launched on Aug. 15, ZBiotics claims its beverage — which the company proudly touts is derived from GMOs — mimics an enzyme in your liver that breaks down acetaldehyde, a byproduct of alcohol consumption that in part causes hangovers. Taken either before or during your drinking session, ZBiotics replicates this liver enzyme in your gut.

“It’s meant to support your body while drinking,” Zack Abbott, Zbiotics’ co-founder and CEO and a Ph.D. microbiologist, told The Spoon Friday. But, he warned, “it’s not a get-out-of-jail-free card.” Meaning, you still have to hydrate and get a good night’s rest to stave off a hangover (until there’s  hangover-free booze, that is).

ZBiotics recently debuted in brick-and-mortar stores via b8ta. The beverage will be found in the San Francisco, New York City and Chicago locations, and eventually a pop-up store in Miami opening in December. Abbott said that the store’s format, which presents information on the products on tablets that can be changed by companies in real time, “is a great opportunity” for ZBiotics to tell its story.

“The challenge for our product is it’s in a field where there’s a lot of snake oil,” he said. “The category has credibility issues. [With ZBiotics,] there’s a level of technology that hasn’t been brought to this part of the market.”

That tech, genetic modification, has its share of skeptics. But Abbott hopes that ZBiotics, a 3.5-year-old Y Combinator graduate that has raised $3.4 million in funding, will help create more GMO supporters.

“The problem has been that most people are only hearing one side of the story,” he said. “People walk down the aisle of the grocery store and see this ‘No GMOs’ label. So what are people to think? Our goal is to provide more information and be transparent. That’s the foundation of what we call GMO 2.0. We use the technology responsibly. We test our product and publish our results. We think consumers will be excited by the opportunities that GMOs provide.”

With Impossible Foods, which is made with genetically modified heme, becoming popular, Abbott is right in that perceptions seem to be changing. And if GMOs can prevent people from feeling miserable after a night of drinking, they may change even sooner.

CupCooler Promises to Chill Your Drinks Quickly

If you grew up reading comic books like I did, you might be inclined to call CupCooler the Anti-Ember. Whereas Ember mugs keep your drinks hot, the soon-to-be-Kickstarted CupCooler makes your beverages frosty, fast.

CupCooler is a new project from Dutch design firm, Allocacoc. The small device is a roughly five-inch cube that weighs 15 ounces. Plug the CupCooler directly into an outlet, pour a little water into the accompanying aluminum container and set your lukewarm can or bottle inside of it. A company spokesperson told me that it will cool a drink from 35 °C (95 °F) down to 15 °C (59 °F) in ten minutes.

You may wonder: why not just pour the drink over ice, which will cool it down much faster? A few reasons: ice can dilute your drink and there are certain beverages (like beer) that you might not want to pour over ice. Plus, the company is really going for an Ember-like experience, where the beverage stays cool for a long period of time so you can stay refreshed while you’re working at your desk. No melting ice means your drink stays cold, without the dilution.

Unlike Ember, however, you can’t manually adjust the temperature, and there is no accompanying app to control the product. In fact, CupCooler doesn’t stop at a particular temperature. It keeps lowering it, though the speed of the cooling slows down quite a bit after a certain point.

CupCooler will launch on Kickstarter on March 14 (Update: CupCooler’s launch was pushed back to April 3), with the earliest backers able to purchase one for $55. Once those are sold out, other backers will pay $65. If fully funded, the company says it will ship CupCooler this July.

Allocacoc says it can sidestep the manufacturing issues that tend to befuddle and hamper other Kickstarter hardware projects because it has its own manufacturing facilities in China. All they have to do is source the raw materials.

As someone who prefers cold beverages to hot ones, and with summer heat fast approaching, I’m interested to see if CupCooler lives up to its promises–and keeps me quenched as I sit back and read a stack of comics.

Will a Combined Keurig Dr. Pepper Bring Back the Kold?

We have banned the headline “X company hopes to become the Keurig for Y” here at The Spoon. But perhaps we should make an exception since it could literally be applied to today’s news that Keurig Green Mountain plans to buy Dr Pepper Snapple Group in a deal valued at $18.7 billion. Will the addition of Dr Pepper make Keurig the, uhhh, Keurig of sodas?

It wouldn’t be the first time Keurig tried to pop into the soda market. In 2015, Keurig launched the Kold to use its pod technology to create name brand sodas, even lining up Coca-Cola as a partner. But the Kold was shut down just ten months later in June of 2016 amidst complaints that the machine was too expensive, too loud, and too big.

By bringing on Dr Pepper Snapple, Keurig now has its own full stack soda solution, as it were, with brands like Dr Pepper, 7Up, Canada Dry Ginger Ale, A&W Root Beer and more. And according to the analyst call Keurig and Dr Pepper held today for the announcement, merging of the two companies will expand distribution opportunities for Keurig into new markets like convenience retail (7-Eleven, CVS, etc.).

But even if the two companies can create new efficiencies and better technology, has the opportunity for a soda spouting Keurig passed? Sugary sodas have been the target of new taxes, and consumption has been declining. Bottled water sales surpassed soda last year, and millennials love their LaCroix, which leads the $2 billion and growing carbonated water market.

Then there are other factors to consider. People are used to putting in some “effort” when it comes to brewing coffee, so popping in a K-cup and waiting is not that big a deal. But is it the same for soda, where people just grab a can and go about their day? Additionally, with the proliferation of same day grocery delivery options, it’s easier than ever to make sure that your soda selection is fully stocked at all times.

Perhaps Keurig will be able to make a more environmental pitch for conscientious consumers. During the analyst call Keurig said it will be expanding the roll out of its recyclable K-Cup pods and is on track to have that completed in the U.S. by 2020.

By then, we’ll see if anyone can become the Keurig of soda machines.

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