Aaron Dentel-Post

Recent news that big soda companies like PepsiCo and the Coca-Cola Co., Inc. are planning to take price increases to compensate for supplier costs has left smaller companies wondering how they should keep up.

BevNET.com spoke with several entrepreneurial beverage firms who face a tough choice: increase pricing or shrink margins. And while many seem to believe that there’s strength in their higher-end retail markets, there’s always the possibility that either they will want to expand – or the bigger fish will decide to spawn in the smaller specialty ponds, as well.

It seemed like a perfect fit: an all-natural zero-calorie sweetener, the first of its kind, cutting into the sugar and calories of juices without losing any of the sweetness.
Even with their complementary natural auras, stevia-sweetened mid-calorie and low-calorie juices been were slow to get off the ground. But it looks like they’ve finally arrived.…

Americans drink too many sugary drinks, if you buy the exhaustive coverage of the obesity problem in the United States. But 50 percent of Americans don’t drink sugary drinks on a daily basis at all, if you buy another study. So what’s the story?
The problem, which is illustrated in a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is that while an overall trend toward encouraging healthier eating and drinking practices is reaching more consumers, some groups are left conspicuously behind — and there’s approximately 25 percent of U.S. consumers who are drinking enough to make…

Beginning in 2012, the Coca-Cola Co., Inc. will invest $4 billion in China over a three-year period for new infrastructure and capabilities, partnerships, brand building and the development of new products, according to an article on rttnews.com.
Since 1979, when it returned to China, Coke has invested more than $5 billion there, with much of that investment coming in the last three years, when Coke and its Chinese bottling partners, Swire Beverages Ltd. and COFCO Coca-Cola Beverage Co., Ltd.  put more than $3 billion into the market.…

Innovation Ventures LLC, the makers of 5-Hour Energy, are claiming $90,000 in damages over stolen trade secrets in a U.S. District Court lawsuit against Aspen Fitness Inc., which makes On Go Energy Shot, according to an article on crainsdetroit.com.
Reinvigorating the claims of a 2008 lawsuit that was dismissed by the Oakland County Circuit Court, the suit claims that Kevin Zwierzchowski, formerly Innovation Ventures’ controller and operations manager, took trade secret formulas along with a customer and vendor list when he was terminated from the company. According to Innovation Ventures, Zwierzchowski then shared them with Derrick George, the president and…

The employees of Parallel Products have turned the old adage inside out. To them,  one man’s trash is another man’s… ethanol?
The Louisville, Ky-based company turns discarded beverages that didn’t quite work out — either in the co-packer’s facility or on-shelf — into the desired, industrial-grade ethanol by distillation.…

It soothes scorched and sunburned skin and takes the rage out of a rash, but now aloe vera is taking an even juicier role on the summer stage as an increasingly popular drink. Awash with speculation on a plethora of rumored health benefits, aloe nevertheless may fall short of a miracle cure, but producers say it does help with digestion and vitamin absorption. While there may not be enough clinical data to say for sure on many of the wilder claims, the fact remains that it’s a fast-growing ingredient, and beverages made with it are finding increasing acceptance.
While the…

Citing the increasing popularity of energy drinks and other dietary supplements, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has introduced legislation that could require marketers to register their products with the Food and Drug Administration.
Despite the increased layer of regulation the Dietary Supplement Labeling Act would entail, energy drink manufacturers contacted by BevNET remained sanguine about the measure.
“Overall, I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” said Andy Schamisso, founder and president of Inko’s, which makes Inko’s White Tea Energy. Shaiamisso said the extra paperwork — marketers would  be required to provide a list of ingredients and a copy of the…

By 2020, PepsiCo hopes to double its healthier food portfolio to $30 billion with the help of Dr. Mehmood Khan, who is now PepsiCo’s chief scientist and CEO of its Global Nutrition Group, according to an article from the Chicago Tribune….
The story profiles Khan, a scientist and doctor who has studied nutrition and agriculture, and worked at the Mayo Clinic on diabetes issues, as well. Khan’s mission will be helping Pepsi make its soda- and chips-focused portfolio marginally healthier. In doing so, he might also give Pepsi a much need boost in the current health-driven market, according to

The findings from a recent study released by the American Academy of Pediatrics indicate that energy drinks and sports drinks can be dangerous for children. While sports drinks are often marketed to kids, and energy drinks are occasionally consumed by athletes of all ages, the AAP says children often can’t tell the difference between the two types of products.  Mixing them up means children may drink unnecessary amounts of caffeine while attempting to re-hydrate. These categories are often marketed for kids, but caffeine isn’t good for children, according to the AAP.
Caffeine has been linked to problems with children’s developing…

In a case that many are looking to for direction with regard to future food and beverage health claims, a Federal Trade Commission action against POM Wonderful began yesterday in Los Angeles, according to an article on Bloomberg.com. The case is a testing ground for treating food and beverage health claims more like those of the pharmaceutical industry. But it is also an opportunity for companies to argue that their claims are supported by the first amendment and cannot be censored, even if they are found to be untrue.…

A New York state court judge has rejected a request for profit distributions from AriZona Beverages by co-founder John Ferolito.
In court with his partner, Domenick “Don” Vultaggio since 2008, when he tried to sell a share of his company to an outside investor, Ferolito had made a motion to compel Vultaggio to distribute some of the profits from the company. Citing a lack of any clause in the ownership agreement about distribution of profits, the court refused the motion, saying the release of the profits would amount to allowing Ferolito to claim damages before the suit’s outcome is decided.…

PepsiCo, Inc. has announced it will begin bringing Gatorade directly to Dollar General’s 9,200 stores on Monday in a move that the company expects will bring double-digit growth in sales volume. The change means that PepsiCo is extending its shift to Direct Store Distribution from warehouse pickup to another sales channel, with the stated advantage that it will give the company more control over in-store promotions, cooler and shelf placements.…

In a vote that garnered national attention, town meeting members in Concord, MA narrowly rejected a resolution that would have banned the sale of water in single-serving plastic bottles. According to an article in the Boston Globe…, the final tally was 265 to 272 against the ban, with dissenters claiming it would negatively impact local businesses and limit freedom of choice for consumers.

So if five beverage companies were to disappear from the face of the earth tomorrow (the horror!) which one would consumers miss the most? Turns out to be Coca-Cola, according to a new survey by the strategic communication company, Brodeur Partners.…

Facing tea prices that jumped 29 percent last Tuesday and similar commodity price increases like coffee, gas or sugar, smaller Niche beverage companies and startups say they need to be quick on their feet to maintain high profit margins.
Steven Prato, founder of Joe Tea, says that small businesses like his are generally able to cope, but it can mean that profits aren’t quite as high as usual.
“They can certainly squeeze profits,” he said. “Small companies don’t have the economies of scale that big businesses do.”
For Joe Tea, which is stocked in New York area Whole Foods and…

Reports that Pepsi will be launching a new mid-calorie cola, Pepsi Next, has been met with skepticism by a leading beverage industry analyst.
In a research note filed by Bill Pecoriello of Consumer Edge Research LLC., the analyst cited decreased interest in colas, a failure of previous mid-calorie cola products and a consumer base that is more interested in natural sweeteners and better taste.…

Michael Washburn is convinced, at least. Having put his green credentials on the line in leaving The Wilderness Society to work for a bottled water company, he’d better be.
“This is my first job in a corporation and there’s a certain amount of skepticism coming into it,” Nestle Waters’ new director of sustainability said. “I asked a lot of hard questions in my interview.”…

The battle for discovery and distribution is one of the oldest problems to plague beverage entrepreneurs — and that battle has spilled over into the courts in Louisiana, where a dispute between a marketer and one of his distribution partners has resulted in a lawsuit.
Dewmar International, producer of LEAN Slow Motion Potion, is being sued by Corey Powell of Diversified Beverage Group, LLC., a company Powell formed primarily to distribute LEAN.
Filed on Jan. 19 in a Louisiana district court, the lawsuit seems to be based largely on a disputed verbal contract; the only sure thing in the case…

The food giant Cargill says it has sweetened the diet soda dilemma by introducing a new approach to formulating better-tasting diet beverages, a system called TasteWise. The product of seven years of research, TasteWise and its texurizing blends, which will be commercialized as Trilisse, rely on a deepened understanding of mouthfeel, taking flavor, sweetness and texture into account simultaneously.
“When you modify one of these you throw the others out of whack,” said Andy del Rosal, team leader of Cargill’s North American beverage applications scientists. “We’ve really come up with a way to change the way the industry feels about…

In a remarkable swap, Diet Coke will leave Pepsi Cola in the dust: its sales are expected to fall more slowly than those of regular Pepsi-Cola, which would leave Diet Coke as the second most popular carbonated soft drink, behind full-calorie Coca-Cola Classic. PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co., Inc. have had an extensive rivalry but PepsiCo has seen its share of the market slip in recent years. With overall cola sales dropping, Coke began to pull ahead with 17 percent of the market share in 2009, according to Beverage Digest and The Wall Street Journal.… Pepsi-Cola fell 0.5 percent last

Two legendary American beverage brands – Coke and Jack Daniel’s – will be featured on the upcoming National Geographic Channel series “Ultimate Factories.”
On Thursday, March 10, at 10 p.m., hosts will explore the Jack Daniel’s Distillery, which produces 150 million bottles of whiskey a year and uses yeast descended through 140 years from the yeast used in the original batch.
The following Thursday, the focus will be on the Coca-Cola Company, which supplies their product to more countries than belong to the United Nations, and whose recipe is kept as a notoriously closely guarded secret.…

Having finally acquired full distribution rights to Seagram’s, Coca-Cola is now using its powerful distribution system to push the ginger ales and mixers nationwide.
“We’ve had rights to their brand since 2002, but not full distribution rights,” says Susan Stribling, a spokesman for Coca-Cola Refreshments.…