Never Drink Alone

The food and beverage sector remains one of the most active categories in the licensing landscape, with no let-up in sight, and the beverage half of the equation has been particularly busy in 2022. While licensing and collaborations involving beverages are not new by any means, there is more white space for licensors to make a mark across most beverage segments than is the case in the food aisles, which are increasingly crowded with licenses.

Some examples of deals involving beverages of various types in recent months:

• In Australia, Robert Menz, owner of the Violet Crumble brand of chocolate bars, collaborated with Feminaè, a marketer of spirits and cocktails, for an espresso martini containing vodka, Australian cream, cold-drip coffee, and honeycomb-flavored Violet Crumble. The deal was brokered by Menz’ licensing agent, Asembl. Feminaè is known for its unusual flavor combinations and has done a number of other limited collaborations; one recent partner was reality show star and radio presenter Abbie Chatfield.

• The Emoji Brand, represented for licensing in Brazil by Lotus Global Marketing, paired with Saudabille, a Brazilian brand of healthy juices, for a line of apple, grape, orange, pineapple, and tangerine juices in 200-milliliter (6.8-ounce) boxes. The line is sold across the country in Pão de Açúcar stores. Each of the five boxes has a different Emoji-themed design.

• Hostess licensed its Twinkies and Ding Dongs brands to Trilliant Food & Nutrition for a line of ready-to-drink iced lattes. The product is available at national retailers including Walmart. Trilliant has said the license opened up more than 5,500 points of retail distribution for the company.

• Zag licensed Miraculous to Schreiber Foods for two flavors of co-branded yogurt smoothies sold under Walmart’s Great Value private label in the U.S. The characters Ladybug and Cat Noir will appear on the packaging of the two varieties, strawberry-carrot-beet and orange-mango-carrot. This marks the first time Great Value has incorporated a license in the smoothie category.

• Perfetti Van Melle licensed Chupa Chups to Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage and its Gabunomi brand for a limited-edition, co-branded strawberry-and-cream soft drink that replicates the flavor of the lollipop. The product, described as sweet and sour with a milky texture, is available in convenience stores and supermarkets in Japan. Gabunomi, whose regular flavors include melon cream soda, blue soda float, white cola, and lemon cream, is a frequent collaboration partner, including with a number of anime properties. It has also licensed its own brand to UHA Shigekix for sour melon cream gummies.

Note that this list features examples from a number of regions around the world and includes a mix of character-licensing and brand-extension deals across several different segments of the beverage industry.