Missouri Monthly: June 2026

Missouri Monthly

Date: June 2026

Cool Campaigns

IKEA X Chupa Chups

For a furniture company, it’s pretty impressive to be famous for a food, but Ikea is famous for their meatballs. And Chupa Chups is famous for their lollipops. Two famous brands, two spherical foods - a natural combination? Apparently, yes!

The two brands have collaborated to create a meatball, gravy, and lingonberry-flavoured lollipop. Limited edition, and only available in IKEA stores between 19-21 June, this was originally an April Fools joke, now turned real.

We love: In our latest trend report on the future of food, we noted that consumers are increasingly looking for more challenging and experimental flavours, and this absolutely taps into this theme. The wackiness of the combo is sure to make it jump off shelves with one (rather ambitious) eBay seller flogging one for £37,034.08!

Strawberries & Cream Lager

Celebrating their long-standing partnership with The Championships, Wimbledon, Stella Artois has created a limited edition Strawberries and Cream flavour of their lager.

Flavoured beer is one of the fastest-growing trends in the category, currently seeing growth of +15% as consumers are seeking lighter and fruiter serves alongside their traditional favourites, so this serve perfectly taps into the trend.

We love: This is a great way to breathe new life into an established partnership. Taking the iconic strawberries and cream tradition of Wimbledon and giving it a novel twist, this is something we’re sure people are queueing up for (even after the hours-long grounds-pass queue).

Levi’s

World Cup Stadium Logo

It may not technically be a campaign, but it went viral anyway - everyone’s talking about the Levi’s logo on the San Fransisco Stadium at the World Cup.

According to FIFA rules, brands not sponsoring the tournament cannot have their logo shown and need to cover it up on stadiums where matches are played. Levi’s practiced malicious compliance and tightly wrapped their iconic ‘batwing’ logo so the outline was still very clear - there’s no doubt which brand usually sponsors the stadium.

We love: The dream for any brand is to have assets so iconic people recognise them instantly. Levi’s showed that their logo is part of that class. Taking it further, the brand also changed their social media icons to be the covered logo, showing they’re in on the joke.

Out & About

Star Wars

To celebrate the release of the latest instalment in the Star Wars franchise, The Mandalorian and Grogu, we visited the Grogu Café in Shoreditch.

Dubbed ‘the cutest cafe in the universe,’ the space was painted head to toe in Baby Yoda green and featured themed sweet treats and drinks. We sampled the glittery green bubble tea and a donut.

The pop-up also had a Miniso stand selling stuffed toys and a claw grabber game to win a custom Grogu Pez dispenser. Tickets for the event sold out quickly, and it was a fun trip, although definitely more of a pop in than sit and stay.

The Whiskey Exchange

Tequila & Mezcal Show 2026

We visited the 2026 edition of the Tequila & Mezcal Show in London Bridge.

The event features stands from agavebased spirits of all kinds, from the big names to brand new launches. We got to try lots of great spirits and cocktails. It was particularly great to see the inventor of the Tommy’s Margarita at the Altos stand, shaking up his original recipe for guests to try. We also noted the increase of brands talking about the specific agave they use. Our key takeaways are collected in a short deck.

SXSW

London 2026 Edition

We popped down to SXSW London 2026 for the day, which was conveniently right on our doorstep!

Despite running around between venues that were quite awkwardly placed, the event itself was packed full of inspirational talks and immersive technologies. A lot of AI, as expected, though the more interesting conversations were less about AI specifically and more about what it's forcing brands to confront.

One that really stuck with us was George Eid's "From Attention to Presence: When Brands Start Behaving".

Eid put it plainly: a brand is not its campaign, it's what its systems actually do. True presence, in his words, means "being genuinely, consequentially there when somebody needs you.”

The real promise of the intelligence era isn't artificial intelligence. It's the return of human intelligence to the places where value is created.

Booze News

Hydration Stations

Alcohol brands need to compete with heatwave hydration.

The June heatwave took over headlines all over Europe, with temperatures in the UK climbing into the mid 30s, and higher on the continent. In Paris, the mercury rose to nearly 41C, record highs.

In an attempt to keep people safe in the heat, Paris banned drinking alcohol in public. With people flocking to the banks of the Seine and fountains in front of the Eiffel Tower in an attempt to keep cool, this ban had two benefits: reducing drunken water-related incidents, and reducing dehydration from hot weather.

Alcohol is a diuretic, so heavy drinking alongside sweating can quickly lead to dehydration. It is estimated that every 1ml of alcohol causes the body to produce 10ml of urine.

It’s expected that at least one more heatwave is likely this summer, if not more, so staying cool and hydrated will be increasingly important. But

hydration isn’t just about drinking water; we also need electrolytes to help maintain fluid balance.

In a timely moment for the brand, Kylie Jenner launched hydration sachets range her vodka soda brand Sprinter. Combining drinking, wellness and skincare, this is a fascinating look at where the category might be going.

It doesn’t have to be new releases, though. Alcohol-free beer is isotonic, meaning it’s a great hydration drink. Brands like Erdinger Alkoholfrei already bill themselves as a sportsrecovery drink; heatwave hydration is a natural next step. Classic electrolyte brands are also recommending the use of their flavoured sachets to add to cocktails - such as this mango chilli margarita recipe from LMNTbalancing hydration with drinking.

Strategic takeaway: hydration is key in the heat; so smart brands should either leverage their low-alcohol SKUs or find novel ways to add electrolytes to recipes so consumers feel they’re taking care of their wellbeing. How about an electrolyte powder cocktail rim?

Pickle Soda from Three Cents

Casamigos launches the Quarterita Buzzballz gets in on the World Cup

Tequila and mezcal brand Casanigos is offering frozen Tommy’s Margaritas in bespoke quarter pint glasses ‘designed for modern match days.’

With the World Cup taking over pubs for the next month, and more heatwaves on the cards, this is well timed for summer drinking moments.

The drink was created by presenter and food writer Laura Jackso who said “It takes something familiar, the ritual of going for a pint while we watch the football –and gives it a fresh energy for how people are socialising now.”

Greek mixer brand Three Cents has created a pickleflavour soda water.

While flavoured gin and vodka has been making big headlines for years (just look at the Absolute tabasco launch earlier this year), mixers are now getting into the game with unusual and trendy flavour variations.

Pickle flavour is also very popular at the moment, with consumers increasingly looking to savoury cocktails and umami flavour. The brine and vinegary flavour of pickle is particularly compelling for bartenders and drinkers alike.

Sazerac-owned RTD cocktail brand Buzzballz is also getting in on the World Cup hype with their release of eight limited edition ‘Soccerballz.’

With flavours like Goaaaaaal-Melon and Pip Pip Punch, these special editions utilise the brand’s iconic round container shape to turn each flavour into a football lookalike.

Anticipation for the tournament is sky high, so brands of all kinds are looking to take advantage of the moment, whether as an official partner or through more clever associations like this.

Spotlight of the Month

Verdor

Venezuelan Agave Spirit

Cocuy is Venezuela’s answer to tequila. The spirit is made from the rare Green Agave (Agave Cocui Trelease), found only in the country’s semi-arid regions. The agave is aged for at least eight years before harvesting, resulting in a rich, intense and herbaceous spirit.

They say: “Verdor Cocuy is more than a spirit - it’s the finest expression of Venezuelan craftsmanship and cultural pride. Verdor Cocuy is crafted from agaves grown on a 120-year-old family farm and distilled in small quantities. It stands as a tribute to heritage, authenticity, and taste — a celebration of what patience and tradition can achieve.”

We like: The explosion of tequila in the last few years has created a broader consumer appetite for agavebased spirits. With Mezcal now more mainstream, eyes are turning to more niche areas and refined palates. With its heritage and unique flavour, we think cocuy is well placed to take advantage of this moment.