Long Island City, N.Y.-based Hella Cocktail Co., a brand of botanically inspired mixers and cocktails, announced a $5 million investment from a fellow BIPOC-owned company, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, Shelbyville, Tenn.

The McBride Sisters SHE CAN Fund announced its support of women in the food and wine industries as the prime focus of its Professional Development Fund in 2022. The SHE CAN Fund also reveals the results of its Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Initiative and Academic Scholarship Program in partnership with Southern University, which awarded $50,000 to Southern University's Agricultural Research and Extension Center and College of Agricultural Family and Consumer Sciences (SU Ag).

The Jack Daniel's Distillery and the Nearest Green Distillery announced that Minneapolis-based Du Nord Social Spirits, a small batch distillery producing gin, vodka, liqueurs and whiskeys, is the first graduate of the Business Incubation Program, one of the core pillars of the Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative. 

Napa Valley, Calif.-based fine wine importer Demeine Estates is solidifying its commitment to leadership in the wine industry with the launch of its Dream It, Live It campaign, an annually selected professional partnership opportunity aimed toward wine entrepreneurs. 

In celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month, Miller Lite, a brand of Chicago-based Molson Coors Beverage Co., is partnering with historian Eric Cervini for the release of “Beers and Queer History,” a brief history guide detailing how bars and bar culture have played a crucial role in empowering the community to live authentically and freely, the company says. 

Birmingham, Mich.-based Happi, introduced its signature, cannabis-infused sparkling water: Happi. With all-natural, vegan ingredients and a microdose of 2.5 mg of THC in each can, Happi is Michigan’s first-to-market cannabis infused water, as it aims to redefine happy hour with a better-for-you alcohol alternative, the company says.

Founded by innovators in the beer industry and rival gang leaders of the Bloods, Crips, GD and BD, TRU Colors, with its mission statement to unite communities to stop violence and divisiveness, created a sustainable business model that provides active gang members with economic opportunities, the company says.

The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) officially launched the Building Relationships and Empowering Women (BREW) initiative at its 84th Annual Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas. Through the BREW initiative, NBWA is committed to offering a robust forum for women leaders to grow professionally within the beer industry. This initiative has been long in the works, with the official launch put on hold by the COVID pandemic.