Partake Brewing, a Canadian non-alcoholic beverage brand has raised $4 million in institutional funding as it banks on consumers turning towards alternative drinking options.
"I think the big reason for our success and for the renaissance of craft [non-alcoholic] is this drive toward healthier drinking and eating," Partake Brewing CEO Ted Fleming told Cheddar.
Partake is banking on more consumers choosing non-alcoholic options at moments usually associated with drinking beer or wine, such as a happy hour event or party.
"They can have it at lunch and be productive in the afternoon when they get back to work," he said. "They can have it at a business meeting and have that same social experience and connection that comes with those meetings and also then be able to go back and be productive."
Fleming said Partake aims to compete directly with alcoholic options, rather than soda or other non-alcoholic drinks, meaning it's shooting for a larger presence in bars as well as retailers.
While alcohol consumption grew during the coronavirus pandemic, Partake saw its sales rise as well, and now the company is anticipating an uptick thanks to health-consciousness.
"We're expecting there to be a bit of shift now toward healthier products as people get into September, back to school, some resemblance of back to normal," Fleming said. "It's a period where people will re-evaluate how much they're drinking and maybe look towards non-alc a bit more going forward."
Partake's products, which include beer varieties such as IPAs, stouts, pale ales, and blondes, contain zero carbohydrates and as few as 10 calories per drink.
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A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
