2025 was the year the beverage and CPG industry stopped being able to blame external disruption for structural problems. The data was clear, the consumer had changed, and the brands that acted on that clarity built something durable. Here is what the year produced.

Diageo built the most powerful spirits portfolio in the world and then watched it contract. The reasons why, and what the company is doing about it, contain lessons that apply directly to every founder building a premium beverage brand today.

George Clooney didn't set out to build a billion-dollar brand. He set out to make a tequila he and his friends actually wanted to drink. That distinction is exactly why Diageo paid $1 billion for it.

The Diddy-Diageo lawsuit is working its way through New York courts heading into 2024. The conversation it opened about how the spirits industry structures celebrity brand partnerships is bigger than the case itself.