🍹 Sober-curious summer

…and Instant Pot loses its steam   Mocktails: 2. Hangovers: 0. (Annette Riedl/Getty Images)   [Sponsored by]( Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 34,212 (+0.43%) S&P 500 4,369 (+0.69%) Nasdaq 13,573 (+0.83%) Bitcoin $25,850 (-0.21%) Dow Jones 34,212 (+0.43%) S&P 500 4,369 (+0.69%) Nasdaq 13,573 (+0.83%) Bitcoin $25,850 (-0.21%) Hey Snackers, Yesterday isn’t so far away after all: The Beatles will [release]( a final record this year with a little help from AI. While Paul McCartney says the tech is “kind of scary,” it could help the band and its fans come together (right now) one last time. Stocks jumped after news that US consumer prices were up 4% in May compared to a year ago — the slowest inflation growth since 2021. Traders upped their bets that the Fed won’t hike rates at its big meeting today. Curious Alcohol alternatives are heating up as Gen Z leans into the sober-curious lifestyle The drink of the summer… The internet’s predicting that the season’s hottest beverage will be the Hugo Spritz. Plot twist: it might actually be a mocktail. Non-boozy drinks are booming as alcohol consumption continues to fall among younger folks. Gen Zers, who have a rep for being tuned into mental health and wellness, are leading the sober-curious shift. - MokTok: On TikTok #sobercurious has 833M views as people share favorite recipes and expound on the benefits of a sober lifestyle. - Nearly 7 in 10 US consumers said they follow or would follow a sober lifestyle for health reasons, a recent [survey]( suggested. - Clear-headed: Drink-delivery app Drizly said last month that the desire to try zero-proof beers, wines, and spirits continues to climb, led by young adults. - The no- and low-alcohol category surpassed $11B last year, and sales of no-alcohol bevvies are expected to grow by 25% through 2026 — faster than the rest of the US drinks market. Zero proof, zero hangover… Drizly recently said, “Consumers are more than just sober curious, they’re going all in on the nonalcoholic category.” That could pose a threat to Big Alcohol companies like Bud maker [AB InBev]( and Smirnoff maker [Diageo](. It’s already [hurting]( owners of small bars and concert venues, who’ve noticed that Gen Z is drinking less, in a hit to key cocktail revenue (ahem, $15 tequila sodas). Now businesses are catering to the shifting trend: - Budweiser is betting big on nonalcoholic beer (Bud Zero), and in recent years brands like Corona, Peroni, and [Heineken]( have launched zero-alcohol brews. - Mocktails and other alts are gaining real estate on menus, from botanical canned aperitifs like De Soi and Ghia to waters like Liquid Death. THE TAKEAWAY Marketing norms can get flipped… For decades, alcohol use has been normalized (and glamorized) in commercials and movies, and Big Alcohol has benefited. It was the same with cigarettes for Big Tobacco, which leveraged movie stars and cool cowboys (picture: [Marlboro man]( billboards). But just as the tobacco trend was reversed, norms could be changing for alcohol. Cooked Instant Pot’s parent files for bankruptcy as the latest cooking gizmo loses steam From wish list to White Elephant regift… Instant Pot maker Instant Brands filed for [bankruptcy]( on Monday. Instant Brands, which also makes CorningWare and Pyrex, says a whopping 90% of US kitchens have at least one of its products. But its sales have fallen for seven straight quarters. Overall sales of electronic multicook devices (think: air fryers, Instant Pots) dropped by half from 2020 to last year, as the pandemic home-cooking boom cooled. Kitchens = gizmo stocked. Instant Brands’ CEO also pointed fingers at higher interest rates as a biz challenge. Pressure rising… The Instant Pot became a cult favorite (picture: dedicated blogs, Facebook groups) after its 2010 debut. On the back of instant success, Instant Brands intro’d an air fryer in 2019, but struggled to unseat competitor SharkNinja's dominance. By 2020 it was prepping for the Instant Pot “product phenom”’s decline with new gizmos: - Gadgets: Instant Brands released an air purifier in 2021 (which flopped). As of March it was ideating less trendy products, like an electric Dutch oven and a stand mixer. - Sealed fate? Meanwhile, Instant Brands’ CorningWare and Pyrex could be facing [Tupperware-like troubles]( as consumers opt for genericized and vintage versions. - Reheating: Instant Brands said it’s secured $132M to keep its biz sizzling. THE TAKEAWAY One-hit wonders rise fast and fall hard… While the Instant Pot is still a kitchen staple, even the biggest bean makers aren’t likely to need a new one very often. With consumers reining in spending on “nice to have” home gadgets like fancy blenders and flat screens, it could be a tough time for makers of one-time "it" appliances. What else we're Snackin' - [Sunny]( [Oracle]( shares hit a record after the enterprise tech beat estimates, fueled by bright demand for its cloud services. Wall Street sees its partnership with chipmaker [Nvidia]( as an AI growth opportunity. - [Burnt]( Zume, the robot pizza startup once valued at $2.3B, has mechanically tossed its last dough. It’s the latest big startup to shutter as higher rates (and less risk-taking) dry up VC funding. - [Struck]( The weekslong WGA strike has entered a guerrilla-tactics phase. The union is setting up picket lines at shoots, stopping production and causing delays for major projects from [Disney]( [Apple]( and others. - [Jam]( A deadly I-95 overpass collapse in Philadelphia will likely take months to repair. The bridge carried 160K vehicles/day and its failure will disrupt shipping and commuting across the region. - [Fog]( Mall operator Westfield is leaving the San Francisco Centre after 20+ years. Sales and foot traffic have plunged, and SF’s business exodus has seen office vacancies hit a 30-year high. 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. Snack Fact Of the Day Inter Miami FC ticket prices jumped 28X on secondary markets after news that Messi was joining [Read more]( Wednesday - Fed rate-hike decision - Earnings expected from Lennar Authors of this Snacks own shares of: AB InBev, Apple, Disney, and Nvidia Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... [See more]( [Sherwood Terms and Conditions]( • [Our Editorial Principles]( • [Contact Us](mailto:hellosnacks@sherwoodmedia.com) • [Privacy Policy]( • [Advertise with us](mailto:advertising@sherwoodmedia.com) [Unsubscribe](