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In this food and beverage news roundup, frozen treats and alt-meats notched wins, and Bud Light faced a tough defeat.
Nipped in the Bud: Bud Light lost its spot as the top-selling beer in the US—a position it held for over two decades—to Modelo Especial. The changing of the guard comes as the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand continues to face a dip in sales after conservative backlash from its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
- Bud Light sales fell 24.4% during the four weeks ending June 3, while Modelo’s rose 12.2%, per NielsenIQ data analyzed by consulting firm Bump Williams, CNN reported.
Freezing over: CPG giant Unilever announced it will acquire frozen yogurt snack brand Yasso, which was founded in 2009, for an undisclosed amount. Yasso will join Unilever’s Ice Cream Business Group, which features Ben & Jerry’s, Talenti, and Magnum. Unilever said it anticipates the deal will close in the third quarter.
Unilever President of Ice Cream Matt Close said in a statement that the deal “is a great step in the evolution of our Ice Cream portfolio in North America towards high growth spaces.” Yasso said it reached $200 million in retail sales last year, and was on track to reach $300 million in 2023.
Alt-meat beat: The Department of Agriculture said two brands of chicken made from lab-grown animal cells will be labeled as “cell-cultivated chicken,” answering the long-asked question of what the emerging protein form would be called (alternatives included cell-based or cell-cultured meat). The USDA approved the label for Upside Foods and Eat Just's Good Meat this month, and will now inspect their facilities before approving the alt-meats' sale.
Meanwhile, former baseball star Derek Jeter hopes to hit a home run in the alt-meat space by joining Meati Foods, maker of mycelium meat (made from mushroom roots), as an investor and advisor, which President and COO Scott Tassani said is a “huge validation” for Meati’s products.