Congrats to the entire BevNetLIVE team for another great event (#31) !
A special thank you to John McKenna and Kendra Cooper at BevNet, and all the attendees that joined our “Finding Liquidity in Beverages” workshop on Thursday. Our workshop focused on how business owners should plan for a liquidity event – including strategic objectives, due diligence, QofE, and legal considerations. If you’d like to learn more or receive a copy of this presentation reach out to me on LinkedIn.
My key takeaways:
1 – Innovation Continues to Drive Growth – The non-alcoholic beverage sector continues to be driven by a high-level of new product innovation in functional beverages, especially in gut health, energy, relaxation and focus/cognitive. Most founders and business owners are scrambling to maintain the right balance between meeting short term funding needs while fulfilling long-term strategic goals of building scale and distribution .
2 – Capital and Talent Remain Key Challenges – For Founders of early-stage companies, having adequate working capital and attracting HR talent are their biggest constraints to growth.
3 – Resilience Through Uncertainty – The past three years has really tested the beverage industry, but despite tariffs, inflation and MAHA disruptions, non-alc drinks has proven to be extremely resilient.
Lastly, BevNetLIVE 2026 reminds me that the future success of the beverage industry depends on the next generation of Founders – and I’m excited to think about what BevNetLIVE 2030 (and beyond) will be showcasing… LET’S GO!