Mind & Mood on Display, MAHA vs. MAGA

Episode 194

Hosted by:

Oct. 8, 2026 at 9:30 am

In this episode:

This week, podcast co-hosts Brad Avery and Lukas Southard kick up their feet and sip on the growth of the relaxation beverage category. The episode also covers a developing rift between Make America Healthy Again advocates and the White House, more lawsuits over sweeteners and RIND Snacks' pivot deeper into co-packing.

Show Highlights:

0:30 - Relaxation and cognitive function are at the center of functional beverages these days after Walmart announced a set devoted to mood drinks. Brad and Lukas discuss how the category has become a broad tent for many modern beverage trends.

5:30 - Lukas describes reports that MAHA is getting increasingly confrontational with MAGA, and how GAHA fits into the equation.

10:15 - Allulose continues to be at the forefront of legal challenges to zero-sugar claims. Brad explains why more brands are facing class action lawsuits over sweeteners.

12:15 - Lukas goes through RIND’s decision to discontinue all but one of its branded products as its parent company, Keep It Real Foods, emphasizes private-label and co-manufacturing.

14:15 - Brad and Lukas debate if bringing a coffee to a job interview disqualifies an applicant.

Episode Transcript

Note: Transcripts are automatically generated and may contain inaccuracies and spelling errors.

[00:00:05] Brad Avery: Welcome to the CPG Week podcast by Bevne and Nash. I'm Brad Avery here with my co-host, Lucas Southern. On this week's episode, we cover the internal struggle threatening the future of Maha, fresh allulose class action cases, and the rationale behind Ryan's pullback. Last week, we talked about some of the big new hires over at recess, who are preparing the relaxation beverage drink for its next stage of mainstream scale. Well, we had barely had published on that episode when Walmart announced that it's carving out shelf space for a set of mood in mind beverages, dedicated to functional relaxation focused drinks. And who should be at the forefront of this new program, then our pals over at recess. Of course, they're not alone in this new showcase. Recess is one of 7 brands, that will be featured in nearly 1000 stores nationwide. They're accompanied by Breeze, Hio, Juny, New Tonic, Trip, and Unwind, with 48 products selected between them. Relaxation may make up the core proposition of the products here, but the set appears to be a broader focus on overall brain health, given the presence of productivity drink Newtonic, a UK based brand whose energy drinks contain 120 mg of caffeine, along with a nootropic stack featuring ingredients like L-theanine and alpha-GPC. Mental functionality is a category that has been slowly building momentum for over a decade, and we've seen innovations in the space come from brands like Life Aid and Magic Mind in the past. Walmart's mood and mind now appears to be one of the biggest affirmations of the category to date.

[00:01:43] Speaker 2: This is really important as we've tracked this category pretty extensively recently. One thing that has popped out is it's overlap with other functional categories. Broadly, we're seeing relaxation beverages intersect with demand for adult non-alcoholic alternatives. And most specifically, the THC beverage set. Our colleague and Brewbound editor Justin Kendall covered a recent webinar that cited data stating that THC drink consumers were returning to the category for stress relief and relaxation. Many of the brands in hemp drinks have launched mood-based portfolio extensions or even new brands. Most notably in the last week was the aforementioned unwind brought to you by the founding team of Nowadays. There has also been on the bright side from the folks at Cantrip, as well as a new line of Cava and Canna drinks from Vermont Cannabis Company Upstate Elevator. And looking at this category in depth, as we both have, as well as many of our, our colleagues, has been kind of this introduction of cava, well, I would, I should say the reintroduction of cava and the introduction of ka into the functional beverage set. These two functional ingredients are popping up at the intersection of mood and relaxation drinks and alcohol-free alternatives pretty often now. Just this last week, I wrote about a NA spirit brand, NKD or Naked Distillery, who has launched a Kna infused RTD line called Nike's. I love that name. This brand is positioning along the same lines as the others that I listed above, and is kind of using Kna as a way to blur the lines between mood beverages as well as alcohol alternatives.

[00:03:40] Brad Avery: There is this big conversation that is intertwining physical health and mental health together, and a lot of these beverages are hitting two elements of it. There's the non-intoxicating approach of, this is gonna take the edge off, this is going to help you focus, this is going to do something for you and change your mental function versus, as you alluded to, THC or other products that can be intoxicating. Do serve the same function just in a different way and for a different time of day. So, I, I do think this is all connected. I, I pulled up a report here from Statistics Market Research Consulting, who are saying that the global cognitive wellness beverages market accounted for $6.3 billion this year in 2026, and it's expected to reach $12.7 billion by 2034. That's a Keger of 12.3%.

[00:04:39] Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a lot of money and uh it's not surprising, people are looking to be more efficient in their workflow and are turning to Beverages like Newtonic or Magic Mind to help with productivity while also giving you that kind of relaxation or uplifting mood, and at the same time, those same consumers or others, maybe those that are trying to limit their alcohol, are looking for an alternative to A cocktail, or a glass of wine or a beer, and, but instead of just grabbing a non-alcoholic version, they want maybe a non-alcoholic drink that also helps them feel something, or, or has a, has a tangible effect on the body and the mind.

[00:05:24] Brad Avery: I'll try any of these, but I'm keeping my Lexapro, Vyvanse stack in the morning. But you know who doesn't approve of my morning medication routine? Robert F. Kennedy Jr. What's going on with him, Lucas?

[00:05:36] Speaker 2: Well, uh, I have a rhetorical question for you, which is what happens when Maha squares off with Maga? A recent article published last week in the Wall Street Journal tracked how RFK Junior's crusade to improve health outcomes through food system regulation has run up against one of its prime supporters, that being the Trump administration, which it is a part of. The story chronicles a recent meeting at the White House in July, where RFK Junior's Health and Human Services team presented its case for regulating and, and more importantly, defining what ultra-processed foods are. The HHS proposed defining UPFs as processed food that contains ingredients such as artificial colors, non-nutritive sweeteners, or chemical preservatives. Apparently White House staffers were concerned the definition would cover most food in grocery stores and open food companies up to extensive legal challenges over. Bad health outcomes, and it also could significantly impact international trade. Now one of Kennedy's top aides in the meeting went on to accuse the White House that they were catering to special interests. Soon after this Wall Street Journal story came out, a separate article was posted on The Guardian, tracking how large food companies and large agriculture companies have pushed back on Maha rhetoric using online influencers. The paid campaign is called Gaha, that is short for Growing a Healthy America. Now this campaign enlisted influencers to post messages counter to Maha aim, the Maha aims of reducing the use of seed oils, pesticides, high fructose corn syrup, and generally big ag. The campaign was seen as a way to push back on misinformation coming out of the HHS. So it all gets very confusing. I, I have one suggestion which would be to propose a cage match, maybe on the White House lawn that pits Maga versus Maha versus Gaha. Three groups enter, maybe no groups leave.

[00:07:58] Brad Avery: Fighting for control of those letters. And they're, they're right to put them in whatever order they want to put them in. Well, this is a fascinating development and, and I gotta say, I'm not surprised about industry pushback. I'm a little surprised about White House pushback, given how gung-ho they've been and supportive they've been last year of Kennedy's agenda. But there are some issues that do need to be sorted out here. I mean, we know the science behind seed oils suggests that they're really not that bad for you, at least not nearly as bad as the anti-seed oil movement is saying. You know, some of these positions are going a little far. However, I personally fully endorse, you know, cleaning up the food supply and, you know, pulling out some of these ingredients. We know high fructose corn syrup is an issue and have known for a long time. We know pesticides are an issue and have been for a long time. And I think some of these moves are strong. That said, I'm not shocked that there's now, you know, counter campaigns coming out. I am surprised that it just took this long.

[00:09:00] Speaker 2: The claims that RFK Junior and now through his role as Secretary of Health and Human Services, the positions he's taken on ultra-processed foods generally, but more specifically some of these. Things like seed oils or high fructose corn syrup or artificial dyes. are definitely going to dramatically impact what food is in store shelves, how it's packaged, what food labeling laws are. It gets really complicated and it's gonna take a long time to unwind. And

[00:09:37] Brad Avery: this is happening at the same time that a lot of companies have issued. strategies for pulling out dyes, for pulling out some of these ingredients, for releasing it at the very least, more healthy products in addition to products that are ultra-processed. It's not as though the industry hasn't been playing ball to some degree. Well,

[00:09:58] Speaker 2: as always, we will continue to track all of the four-letter acronyms that are determining the fate of our food system, whether it's Maha, MAGA, or Gaha.

[00:10:10] Brad Avery: Speaking of federal regulations and health and wellness claims, back in August, we reported on a string of class action lawsuits targeting food and beverage brands that use the low calorie sweetener allulose, while maintaining zero sugar claims on their labels. These brands included David Protein, Liquid Death, and WK Kellogg. Well, the lawyers do not sleep, as several more lawsuits have since been filed, including cases against Magic Spoon and Costco for its Kirkland's signature drink mixes. Allulose is a form of sugar found naturally in ingredients like maple syrup, figs, and wheat, but the FDA has, since 2020, when it issued guidance, said it will exercise enforcement discretion for excluding allulose from sugar declarations. However, a court decision in a proposed class action against Chobani, who was making similar claims, has now opened the door for new lawsuits to be filed against brands who, for all intents and purposes, have been following the FDA guidance. The case against Magic Spoon accuses the cereal brand of, quote, health washing its products, deceiving consumers into believing that the brand's products are healthier than they truly are. In related news, Starbucks is facing a Sweden class action lawsuit of its own. However, rather than Allulose, this lawsuit, which was filed October 2nd in Washington, takes aim at the coffee chain's protein beverages line and their use of lactose. The drinks are advertised as being sugar-free, but actually, so claimed the plaintiffs, contain 13 to 21 g of sugar from the added milk in the recipe.

[00:11:40] Speaker 2: And we'll see if there's kind of a reformulation backlash that comes out of these allulose lawsuits. We saw this when Eythritol was on the chopping block, and a lot of brands pivoted away from that.

[00:11:54] Brad Avery: Well, you've got two options, either reformulate and remove allulose, or Redesign the packaging, and remove the zero sugar claim, make sure the labeling on the nutrition facts panel reflects the allulose sugars, and Technically, that's, that's what this issue is about. So, you might be able to get away with not having to reformulate your product, just you might have to drop the zero sugar claim if you don't want to be on the receiving end of one of these cases.

[00:12:23] Speaker 2: Moving on, in manufacturing news, dried fruit brand Rind Snacks is pulling back from branded products to focus on its production business. Now, for a little background, Rin was founded in 2018, building a foundation in dried fruit and nut snacks using co-manufacturing partners to produce its products. In October 2023, the brand acquired Vermont-based granola brand Small Batch Organics. As part of the deal, Rind moved into self-manufacturing its products, as well as expanding into the private label and co-packing business that Small batch Organics had already established. Earlier this year, Rind, along with Small batch, merged with three other brands, Oak House Bakery, Magi Foods, and Whirly Bird granola, to form Keep It Real Foods. So returning to the recent announcement from Rynd, the brand announced it will be discontinuing all but one of its branded products. Its apple chips will remain in retail, but Ryan's online store is shutting down as well as discontinuing its two remix skews and its other dried fruit snacks. The emphasis is shifting to production, obviously. Keep It Real is working to bring another new production space online. It's a 140,000 square foot facility in Wisconsin, and that will hopefully open next year. This seems like a situation where the business is leaning into its strength and providing more options for early stage brands or retailers to have an experienced co-manufacturer to use in these categories.

[00:14:10] Brad Avery: Well, before we sign off for the week, Lucas, there has been a raging debate for a couple of weeks now online. And I wanna pose this question to you because it's apparently been taking over TikTok and also now taking over headlines in the New York Times and The Guardian. Is it inappropriate to bring an iced coffee to a job interview?

[00:14:32] Speaker 2: It really depends on uh where the iced coffee comes from. I, I, I would say it's, it's not inappropriate if it's a local craft roaster from the neighborhood that you are going to the office to interview for the job. If it's just a generic like Dunkin' Donuts, like, you know, tall plastic container of Light and sweet,

[00:14:56] Brad Avery: you think they're gonna be making judgments on you about your brand choices?

[00:15:01] Speaker 2: Definitely, most definitely. I know I would. I mean, that's, that's just me personally.

[00:15:05] Brad Avery: You sound in favor of the people saying it's inappropriate. It's, it's sounding like you're mostly against this.

[00:15:11] Speaker 2: Broadly speaking, I would say, don't come and do a job interview holding a drink, it's too casual.

[00:15:17] Brad Avery: I believe strategically, you're right, you should not. Morally, I think you should have every right to. That's my take.

[00:15:28] Speaker 2: It's a free country, I suppose, but, uh, I know I, if I was the employer, I'd be passing judgment.

[00:15:34] Brad Avery: Well, thank you all for listening. Make sure to tune in next week where we will have show coverage of the National Association of Convenience Stores show happening this week. We have reporters on the ground, and we'll be talking about many of the new products featured at the trade show. On next week's episode. For the stories we discussed today and more, become an insider at Bevnet and Nosh. If you enjoyed the show, please like and subscribe on your listening platform of choice. Thank you for listening, and we'll see you again next week.

[00:16:05] Speaker 2: Adios

About CPG Week

CPG Week is the podcast that explores the latest happenings in the consumer packaged goods industry. Join our seasoned reporting team as they dish out the week’s stories in quick, easy-to-digest episodes. Catch up on the top headlines of the week, dive into exclusive insights with the BevNET and Nosh teams, and set yourself up to make more informed business decisions. Tune in to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in the dynamic world of packaged food and beverage.

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