The Growth of Moderation - Issue #10

PLUS: More Spirits M&A, Once Upon A Farm S1 Review

Author

Matt Rice
October 06, 2025

Welcome to Issue #10 of The Quench Report, the Beverage Alcohol newsletter that delivers the latest and greatest in Beverage Alcohol. We’re hoppy to see you.

What’s on tap for today:

  • 🥃 Sazerac Acquires Western Son Vodka

  • 🍺 The Rise of Moderation in the On-Premise

  • 🧑‍🌾 Once Upon a Farm Files for IPO - What It Means To You

  • ♨️ This Week’s Hot Jobs in Beverages

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WHAT’S ON TAP THIS WEEK

📊 Oct 7
• Nielsen data through Sept 27
• Circana data through Sept 28
• Constellation Q2 FY’26 Earnings Conference Call

📊 Oct 9
• Pepsi Q3 FY’25 Earnings Conference Call

📊 Oct 15
• Brown-Forman Investor Day

📊 Oct 16
• Pernod-Ricard Q1 FY’26 Sales Update
• Treasury Wine Estates Annual General Meeting

📈 Sept 30
• U.S. Consumer Confidence Update (September)

🥃 SAZERAC ACQUIRES WESTERN SON

Another week, another acquisition. This time, Sazerac has scooped up Western Son Vodka, a Texas-based distillery known for its 10x distilled, gluten-free vodka made from 100% American corn. Founded in 2011, the brand has carved out a space in the premium craft vodka segment.

See how Western Son compares to the top Vodkas in the U.S. 👇️ 

🧠 The deal is a little puzzling, as Sazerac recently acquired Svedka, which is a similar price point and 10x larger. It’s likely the acquisition was about more than the brand, as Western Son provides some production capacity and flexibility.

🍺 GROWTH OF MODERATION IN THE INDEPENDENT ON-PREMISE

Our friends at SommAI shared some incredible data recently showing off their industry leading on-premise tracking technology. The data shows the increased availability for “moderation” options over the past 5 years in the on-premise. Check it out 👇️ 

🧠 Our takeaways:

  • Non-Alc Beer is booming. More on-premise accounts added non-alc beer to their menus in the last 12 months than in the prior 4 years combined!

  • Spirits non-alc is not far behind - showing the increased attention and menu space for mocktails and non-alc spirits options. There is real category momentum here now.

  • Around 1% of U.S. accounts are now selling THC beverages - although small, that is up over 700% vs a year ago!

🧑‍🌾 ONCE UPON A FARM - IPO FILING

It’s not every day that a CPG brand files for IPO, so although this newsletter is focused on Beverages, we thought we would dive into One Upon A Farm’s S1 filing so readers can compare how OUAF compares to their brand.

Check it out 👇

Our key takeaways from the filing:

  • 🔥Revenue growth is extremely strong - growing from $8m in 2018 to $157m in 2024 - with TTM coming in at $202m. That is strong growth in a challenging category.

  • 🔥Gross Margins are a bit low but have improved over 400 bps since 2022 - again showing nice improvement over time.

  • 😧 Where the story goes sideways is bottom line profitability. OUAF has extremely high SG&A costs (like 50% of Net Sales high) to support their growth - as a result the company consistently losses money.

  • 😢 As a result of unsustainable costs - OUAF has subsidized their company based on investor funding. As of today they have only $100m of cash on hand and have a quick ratio under 1.

  • Our Take: This doesn’t look like a company truly ready for public markets. It’s widely speculated that investors are more or less forcing the company to IPO. If it’s reality or not, it’s a reminder regardless to founders: understand the implications of investor terms like redemption rights early on. They can shape your company’s future more than you think.

THIS WEEK’S HOT JOBS IN BEVERAGES

These roles came to us via first-degree contacts (not public job boards). Want your open role featured? Email: [email protected] 👇️ 

THANKS FOR READING

The Quench Report is a free weekly newsletter from Thirsty Insights, a beverage consulting company that serves top clients in strategy, insights, analytics, and funding prep.

Any questions, please email us at [email protected]