The calendar flip from 2024 to 2025 heralded several new packaging regulations, rulemaking updates, and bills with significant implications for consumer packaged goods in North America and Europe. Recent packaging legislation is reshaping packaging requirements for waste reduction, recyclable materials, circularity, and sustainability. However, actions by the Trump Administration may defer regulatory action at the U.S. federal level and shift packaging-related policies. EPR Packaging Laws Five U.S. states—California, Colorado, Oregon, Maine, and Minnesota—have passed extended producer responsibility laws for packaging. While each state's requirements vary, they share common goals of reducing packaging waste, enhancing recycling efforts, and holding producers (e.g., brand owners) accountable for the life cycle of their products. Since the start of the year, nine states have introduced or re-introduced EPR packaging bills. They include Washington, Tennessee, Hawaii

Afternoon Brief: Wine Maker Duckhorn to Be Acquired by Butterfly Equity in $1.95 Billion Deal

Premier luxury wine maker Duckhorn Portfolio (NAPA.N), opens new tab said on Monday it would be taken private by Butterfly Equity in an all-cash deal worth $1.95 billion...

Afternoon Brief, June 7th

Bars and Nightclubs Beware! The Drug Testing Regime Starts on July 1st and You Must Be Ready: Starting July 1, 2024, holders of a Type 48 (bars and nightclubs that do not sell food) license issued by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) must be able to provide drug testing devices to customers, as stated in Business and Professions Code § 25624...

Afternoon Brief, May 24th

Wine Hits Back at Negative Headlines: The Wine Market Council is leading the charge against pessimistic wine stories about the US market...

CGA’s New OPM Wine Data Shows the Category Contracts but Pockets of Growth in US on Premise

CGA by NIQ’s exclusive On Premise Measurement (OPM) solution, now providing wine data, reveals that the wine category contracts in the last year, but there are opportunities for sales growth […]

CGA by NIQ | Beer and Spirits Outperform Last Year’s St Patrick’s Day Weekend Sales

April 15th – CGA’s BeverageTrak solution combines powerful datasets to provide a view of how brands and categories are being consumed, when and at what price. Featuring day and daypart […]

Afternoon Brief, April 4th

NBA and Kendall-Jackson Winery Announce Multiyear Partnership: The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Kendall-Jackson Winery today announced a multiyear partnership, making Kendall-Jackson the Official Wine of the NBA and USA Basketball and La Crema the Official Wine of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)...

Afternoon Brief, March 5th

More Bad News: SipSource Report Pulls No Punches: 2023 numbers tell a story of wine's continuing decline and provide little hope for a quick turnaround...

Afternoon Brief, January 2nd

France Buys Back Bordeaux: China's love affair with Bordeaux properties is ending as more investors bring châteaux back into French hands...