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American distilled spirits exports broke new records in 2013, crossing the $1.5 billion threshold, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), New York. This growth was driven by premium bourbon and Tennessee whiskey, which exceeded the $1 billion mark for the first time, it reported at its annual briefing for Wall Street analysts.

Ace Metrix, Mountain View, Calif., revealed the top-performing ads of Super Bowl XLVIII, which honed in on heroes, inspiration and patriotism with the least amount of humor in years, it reports.

Oakland, N.J.-based blk. Beverages announced a new distribution agreement with Big Geyser Inc., Maspeth, N.Y. Big Geyser now will act as the exclusive distributor of blk. Beverages’ fulvic-enhanced mineral water brands blk. and blk.+ with distribution throughout New York City and its  five boroughs  — Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island — as well as Westchester, Long Island, Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Epicurex LLC, North Miami Beach, Fla., announced that it will partner with natural and specialty food distributor KeHe to distribute its Cocozia 100 percent organic coconut water across the state of Florida.

Inspired by the signature coffees available at its doughnut shops, Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp. is bringing its iced coffees to retail store shelves in ready-to-drink (RTD) bottles. Starting Feb. 10, RTD varieties of Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Iced Coffee and Krispy Kreme Mocha Iced Coffee will be available at more than 900 Walmart locations throughout the United States.

Holland, Mich.-based New Holland Brewing Co. announced a collaboration with Carhartt, a Dearborn, Mich.-based work wear brand, to brew a craft beer in honor of the clothing manufacturer’s 125th anniversary. The new brew will pay tribute to the hard-working people who wear Carhartt clothing, the companies say.

To celebrate the creativity of Pinterest users and the launch of its new Real Inspiration Blend coffee, Minneapolis-based Caribou Coffee will unveil a 64-foot-tall Living Pinterest Board in the Mall of America on Feb. 3. Like the social media site, the display will offer interactive components with the goal of spreading inspiration to shoppers in the Bloomington, Minn., mall.

MillerCoors, Chicago, will launch Miller Fortune lager in mid-February to help the beer category regain share of the market that has been lost to spirits, wine and their drinking occasions, says Karina Diehl, communications manager for the Miller family of brands and multicultural brands.

Diageo plc, London, reported interim financial results for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2013. Following 2.2 percent growth in the first quarter, net sales grew 1.8 percent in the first half of the fiscal year, supported by 4.6 percent growth in North America, the company reports. Sales in emerging markets also were up 1.3 percent, but were negatively impacted by weakness in China and Nigeria, and sales in Western Europe were down 1 percent, continuing the improvement trend seen in the first quarter.

Powerade, a brand of Atlanta-based The Coca-Cola Co., is partnering with Spanish soccer player Andrés Iniesta for its “There’s Power in Every Game” campaign centered around the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Through the campaign, Powerade, the official sports drink of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, will tell stories about soccer players who have overcome adversity to lift their teammates, rally supporters, and inspire communities through their dedication and achievements in the sport, the company says.