By Mark Seavy  

Food and beverage brands developed a serious taste for licensing this year. As the industry turns the corner into 2025, we’re reflecting on some of the most significant food-focused stories from the past 12 months.  

A Growing Appetite for Licensing  

Food and beverage brands expanded this year, launching products and partnerships to reach new grocery aisles and provide a ready-made recipe for licensing. That expansion resulted in staying power that would lessen brands’ reliance on the limited time offers (LTOs) that have been a staple of the food and beverage category for years. 

“Historically, food companies felt that they had the capabilities to make or source almost any type of food extension,” said Adina Avery-Grossman, Managing Director at Brandgenuity, which represents Mike’s Hot Honey as well as Sazerac’s brands. “Increasingly, even big, multinational brands are open to the idea that their brands can travel to other aisles and categories, and they do not have to be the ones to create, launch, and invest in new products and innovations. The pressure to maintain margins and be profitable has made it harder for brand owners to launch products internally.” 

Those collaborative and co-branded food products, which accounted for 5-10% of the food business five years ago, now account for 80-90% of the category (with LTOs making up the remaining balance), said Ross Misher, CEO at Brand Central. T. Marzetti Co., for example, launched Chik-fil-A sauce as an LTO but has since garnered permanent shelf space. 

Beverages Break New Ground 

Co-branding also shook up the beverage business in 2024 as drinks increasingly became seen as products with collectible potential.  

For example, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) developed blue-colored milk under its TruMoo brand to coincide with Disney’s takeover of New York’s Empire State Building as part of a promotion marking the 25th anniversary of the release of the film Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The blue milk itself is a cult classic, tracing its roots back to the first Star Wars film in 1977. In the past, DFA’s co-branding efforts have included Disney’s Incredibles and Avengers properties. 

Miraculous Corp.’s Miraculous brand, meanwhile, moved into beverages as licensee Surprise Drinks launched flavored water in North America and Europe in bottles that included a collectible toy hidden in a capsule. 

And candymaker Perfetti van Melle licensed South Korean food and beverage company Nongshim for its Mentos (sparkling water) and Chupa Chups (milk soda zero), while non-alcohol beer supplier Athletic Brewing Co. produced several co-branded versions with Netflix. 

Snack and Sauce Brands Get Serious  

Snacks and sauces have long been licensing fare, but this year they extended beyond typical pairings. 

The U.K.’s Shed Sauce, having gained distribution through 130 HMV stores in 2023 for a barbecue sauce inspired by Capcom’s Street Fighter 2 video game, gave the Atari brand some play this year with products that took their cues from the console supplier’s titles, including Asteroids, Berzerk, Breakout, and others. B&G Foods is bringing alcoholic beverage company Sazerac’s Fireball, Southern Comfort, and Buffalo Trace whiskey brands into barbecue and hot sauces that will initially be sold through the Hannaford grocery chain.  

And while the Mike’s Hot Honey brand got its start in sauces, it has since move into snacks under a licensing agreement with snack supplier Utz. Snax-sational licensed J.M. Smucker Co.’s JIF Smucker’s jelly brand for popcorn, which itself became a staple for licensing this year—including Gold Medal Products’ popcorn offerings under the Oreo, Snickers and Reese’s brands. Gold Medal also produced popcorn that theater chain AMC Entertainment is selling under its own brand through Kroger and Publix. 

“It is never easy to gain shelf space at retail, especially in popcorn where there is so much competition,” said Joseph Macaluso, VP of Sales at Gold Medal. “One of the ways to get it is by licensing a well-known brand that doesn’t require a lot of explanation. For the brand owners, it is a means to attract consumers in a new category.”