After getting ghosted, Anheuser-Busch puts together a deal that no one saw coming [well almost no one]. But maybe why this deal news announcement by Anheuser-Busch caught so many off guard was that (even being in market more than two years now) the trailing twelve months of tracked channel retail sales for the 1st Phorm Energy drink would rank them just inside the Top 50 energy drink brands in the U.S. market. But as you'll hear in the content, even if comparative growth rates were sharply increasing (proving that the thoughtful independent DSD network buildout and retail go-to-market plan was working), those retail sales metrics weren’t going to be one of the primary reasons behind the new partnership announced a few weeks ago. In the press release, it noted that the new partnership aimed at fueling new innovations within the rapidly growing energy drinks and related functional beverage segments. And the partnership’s initial energy product was expected to come to market by this upcoming summer 2025 and to be distributed by the Anheuser-Busch network of wholesaler partners. Moreover, a fun little extra detail was that the partnership would also include sports and entertainment mogul Dana White…who if you didn’t realize has had success in the beverage world (selling minority interest of his Howler Head whiskey brand a few years ago to Campari Group). But for my latest first principles thinking content, I'll analyze what this announcement means for all involved stakeholders (including the U.S. energy drinks market implications).