Jeff Hyde

Just a reminder: the early registration discount for BevNET Live Summer 2012 ends on March 30. BevNET Live, the industry’s largest conference for beverage entrepreneurs and executives, is being held at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan on June 4 and 5. The event features numerous networking events, including a half-day Expo and the popular New Beverage Showdown competition for start-up brands.

The Toronto Star is reporting that Swiss packaging giant SIG Combiblock is preparing to debut chewable drinks — cartons filled with a variety of fruits, nuts, grains, etc. — in Canada. As anyone who has worked through bubble tea, aloe drinks, or Orbitz knows, there is so far only a small market for heterogeneous beverages. So it’s really your call if you want to go into the biz.

Macrobiotic superfood drink Cell-nique is turning into natural foods conglomerate Cell-nique.
Owner Dan Ratner completed its second transaction in a year, this time in the non-beverage space, however.
Cell-nique announced today it had acquired Cherrybrook Kitchen, LLC. Cherrybrook makes allergen-free, gluten-free baking mixes, just six months after buying hibiscus soda manufacturer Hibix Corp.…

EAS has announced a voluntary recall of its new sports beverage, EAS Peak.

After a single consumer complaint, the company conducted quality testing to determine whether or not there was an issue with the product. According to a recent press release from divisional vice president, Jennifer M. Smoter, the testing revealed the “presence of foreign matter” in the beverage.

The products were made at a third-party contract manufacturer and currently come in 16 oz. bottles in Fruit Power, Peach Surge and Orange Spark flavor.  As of the time at which the release was issued, there have been no reports of…

Eric Schnell, co-founder and president of the Healthy Beverage Company and creator of the Steaz brand, has exited the company.
A perennial winner of BevNet’s annual “Best of” award, Schnell is the architect of Steaz’s triple-bottom-line business model. He is credited with creating the company’s tea-based product innovations including the first organic soft drink in 2002, first organic energy drink in 2007 and first complete line of organic and fair trade certified canned iced tea products in 2008. Recently, Schnell designed Steaz Zero Calorie, a line of stevia sweetened sparkling green tea products.
“I am very proud of the Steaz…