Industry Issues
Gopuff unveils Powered by Gopuff platform
Gopuff, Philadelphia, announced the launch of Powered by Gopuff, a logistics and technology platform that enables brands to offer affordable delivery from its owned and operated online stores in as fast as 15 minutes.
“We’ve spent the last 10 years building and scaling our own hyper-local logistics network and operations to consistently meet customer demands for fast, affordable, and reliable delivery,” said Daniel Folkman, senior vice president of business at Gopuff, in a statement. “As a result of this work, we’ve established ourselves as the face of Instant Commerce. Now, with the launch of Powered by Gopuff, we’re also becoming the fabric of Instant Commerce by extending our proprietary fulfillment and logistics capabilities beyond the Gopuff app for the first time.”
The Powered by Gopuff platform will offer a suite of solutions that help brands deliver on consumers’ evolving expectations around delivery speed by leveraging Gopuff’s logistics network, instant fulfillment infrastructure and technology to power its own direct-to-consumer websites — all while driving profitable order volume and diversifying revenue streams for Gopuff, it says. With Powered by Gopuff, CPG brands can leverage online ads and marketing to drive sales from their own websites, bringing them more control over the customer experience and access to first-party data.
Gopuff launched its first solution under the Powered by umbrella: Storefronts Powered by Gopuff, a customizable Shopify theme integrated with Gopuff’s APIs. With Storefronts, CPGs can launch their own white-labeled DTC site in a matter of days, not weeks or months. Orders placed on a partner’s Storefront are automatically routed to the nearest Gopuff micro-fulfillment center, where they’re picked, packed and delivered to customers in as fast as 15 minutes.
As Gopuff works to enhance the experience wherever consumers shop online, it plans to expand its Powered by capabilities with the launch of Fulfillment Powered by Gopuff in Q2, a standalone warehousing and logistics service that gives brands the tools to integrate and promote instant delivery on its existing DTC website. At launch, this service will only be available to Shopify merchants whose products currently are available on the Gopuff consumer platform. BI
Daily coffee consumption at 20-year high, NCA reports
The number of American adults who have had coffee in the past day has increased by 37% since 2004, putting past-day coffee consumption at its highest level in more than 20 years, according to exclusive consumer polling published by the National Coffee Association (NCA).
NCA’s Spring 2024 National Coffee Data Trends (NCDT) report reveals that 67% of American adults had coffee in the past day (more than any other beverage, including tap or bottled water), compared with 49% in 2004. Seventy-five percent of American adults have had coffee in the past week, up by 4% since the Spring 2023 NCDT.
Increased past-day coffee consumption is driven by consumers ages 25 and older. The greatest increase is among consumers 60 and older, whose past-day consumption increased by 9% (from 67% to 73%). Consumers aged 25-39 and 40-59 both saw consumption rise by 4.5% (from 67% to 70% and from 66% to 69%, respectively). Consumption by 18-24-year-olds held steady at 47%.
Specialty coffee also experienced significant growth. Fifty-seven percent of American adults had a specialty coffee in the past week, up by 7.5% year-on-year. Among specialty coffees, past-week consumption grew the most for espresso-based beverages, up by 10%. Lattes are the most popular espresso-based beverage, enjoyed by 18% of American adults in the past week and followed by espresso (16%) and cappuccinos (14%).
Ready-to-drink coffee became the third most popular preparation method among past-day coffee drinkers, nearly doubling from 8% to 15% and knocking espresso machines to fourth place. Drip coffee makers (37%) and single-cup brewers (28%) continue to be the Top 2 at home preparation methods.
“NCA’s exclusive research has tracked coffee trends for more than 70 years, and America’s favorite beverage has only ever continued to grow in terms of overall popularity and in innovating to meet consumers’ evolving tastes,” said NCA President and CEO William “Bill” Murray in a statement. “This year’s two-decade high is only the latest proof of America's enduring love affair with coffee.” BI
Bacardi appointed spirits veteran Jeff Branson to the role of senior vice president and managing director of commercial for North America, in a statement. With more than 20 years of beverage industry experience, Branson takes on the promotion following a successful run leading the company’s business in Canada where he served as vice president and general manager. Branson reports to Tony Latham, regional president of Bacardi North America, and is based in Coral Gables, Fla. In this role, Branson takes on responsibility for delivering on the commercial plans for North America as well as maintaining strong relationships with distributor partners and key customers to expand the company’s presence and growth in the market.
BlueTriton Brands Inc., Stamford, Conn., applauded the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its announcement that sets strict limits on PFAS “forever chemicals” in U.S. drinking water. “At BlueTriton, we are committed to healthy hydration, providing quality, clean, crisp and safe water,” said Joey Bergstein, CEO of BlueTriton, in statement. “Safe, sustainably sourced drinking water is essential to a healthy future. That’s why we carefully manage and monitor water quality from all our springs and for all our brands. BlueTriton is proud to support policies that help protect drinking water and we encourage the FDA to adopt the EPA’s new regulation.” Long before the EPA issued this rule, BlueTriton adopted measures to address PFAS. “We have invested in our infrastructure to assure the safety of our products,” Bergstein stated.
Spritz Society, the sparkling wine cocktail brand founded by Ben Soffer and Claudia Oshry is launching in Target. The brand now is available in 180 Target locations across California, Florida and Texas. This launch is significant as it continues to speak to the growth and success of the brand, which has rapidly increased its presence in retail locations over the past year with major national and regional grocery chains, including Whole Foods, Walmart, Ralphs, H-E-B stores, and more, the company says. The brand is currently in 44 states through DTC and nine states in wholesale, with South Carolina launching this spring and plans to expand to 15 states by the end of 2025.
Celsius Holdings Inc., Boca Raton, Fla., maker of energy drink brand CELSIUS, announced plans to expand its sales and distribution to France beginning in the fourth quarter of 2024. “We’re pleased to introduce our refreshing and great tasting CELSIUS energy drinks to consumers in France,” said Tony Guilfoyle, Celsius Holdings Inc. chief commercial officer, in a statement. “We’re excited to initiate our strategic plan in the fourth quarter of 2024 and expand our distribution throughout France in 2025.” CELSIUS has selected Suntory Beverage & Food France as its exclusive sales and distribution partner in France. CELSIUS recently announced a manufacturing, sales and distribution agreement with Suntory Oceania, and sales in Australia and New Zealand are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024. Sales and distribution of CELSIUS are expected to begin in the United Kingdom and Ireland via Suntory Beverage & Food Great Britain and Ireland in the second quarter of 2024.