Jeffrey Klineman

Story jumped into the paper likely on the rumors of Coke’s potential for a play for Monster Energy, but despite some analysts squawking that the company needs to take leadership in all categories, there’s an equal number of claims that the company, with 500 brands, has trouble focusing as well.

Hot on the heels of Pepsi NEXT, the Coca-Cola Co. is rolling out a pair of mid-calorie CSDs of its own, taking Sprite and Fanta into 70-calorie cans sweetened with a mix of sugar, stevia and erythritol.

Here’s another interesting look at the way things shake out when you deal with class action lawsuits filed against beverage companies: the terms of the settlement of the lawsuit against Vita Coco have appeared online.

Wm. Bolthouse Farms, one of the country’s largest independent beverage makers — and a strong competitor to PepsiCo’s Naked Juice company — is up for sale, according to a recent report from Bloomberg News.

It didn’t take long to get a reply from Body Armor founder Lance Collins on some of the allegations in at trademark infringement suit filed against Body Armor by the folks at the athletic clothing company Under Armour, which we wrote about on Friday. Note that Collins, who is an attorney, has been extremely nimble in the realm of beverage trademarks and rather outspoken on the topic when it comes to giving advice to future beverage entrepreneurs.

While we haven’t been able to reach out to founder Lance Collins about the trademark infringement lawsuit filed against him and his new brand, Body Armor, by well-established athletic clothing brand Under Armour, the suit itself does offer some awesome insight into brand building itself.

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Whether your celebration calls for the traditional pitcher (or two) of margaritas or a date with The Most Interesting Man in the World, The Hangover Recovery Shot is the quickest and most effective way to help you get up and go the next morning.
The only morning-after recovery shot on the market designed specifically to relieve hangover symptoms,…

Monday’s speculation that the Coca-Cola Co., Inc., was possibly taking a swing at acquiring Monster Energy sent the New York Post off in search of further energy drink company speculation. What it came away with was something else entirely, however — an analysis that both Monster and its fierce competitor, Rockstar, might be too racy to be purchased by any of the big beverage companies.

Pepsi’s half-billion advertising push should take about two years to work, according to an article in the Financial Times. If it does, according to CEO Indra Nooyi, the company will be as well known for the “total liquid refreshment market” instead of the CSD competition known known colloquially as the “cola wars.”

Cott shares beat both Wall Street’s and investment bank Morgan Stanley’s quarterly earnings forecast yesterday by a wide margin on better than expected gross margins. The private-label soft drink maker also announced a $35 million share repurchase program over the next year.

They managed to hold it off last year — partially due to an impassioned plea from resident and longtime beverage entrepreneur Tom First — but that quirky town of Concord, Mass., finally passed a ban on the sale of single-serving plastic water bottles at its Town Meeting last night.

Phoenix-based beverage incubator Shadow Beverages has launched drinks co-developed with retailer GNC into its stores in Nevada and Arizona.

The line has 14 different SKUs, ranging from sports nutrition and enhanced waters to protein drinks.

Web Site The Daily Meal has chosen Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz as the “Most Powerful Person in Drink,” presumably because without Starbucks such a list wouldn’t have gotten written at The Daily Meal. We, of course, are disappointed that they forgot US… but if that doesn’t extinguish your burning desire to look at it, here’s the list.

Labeling changes are on tap for leading coconut water brand Vita Coco, which is conducting a line refresh that will migrate across the country throughout the summer.

PepsiCo tipped its hand on its innovation plans today, advertising for a position on a still-forming team designed to work with emerging beverages out of its Naked Juice offices near Los Angeles. The Beverage Growth Ventures team will be led by Chris Lansing, the General Manager of its Naked Juice and Izze division, BevNET has learned. Naked/Izze operates as a separate, West Coast entity, although it is owned by PepsiCo.

Today Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog released research derived from a poll of beverage retailers.The survey represents “tens of thousands of convenience store locations across the country” and offers some interesting insights into the overall performance of many individual beverage categories.

Had to squeeze one last headline out of that one.

Neuro, which has finally been spotted in the Boston area, has softened the brand messaging on one of its more memorable SKUs.

Ending months of waiting, the Coca-Cola Co. has finally purchased a majority stake in Zico Coconut water, consummating a deal that has lingered in the final stages since the early Fall. Independent shareholders of the brand began to receive checks for their stakes in the company earlier this week. Coke’s initial stake in the company, acquired in 2009, was part of a combined $15 million stake that also included a group of entrepreneurs, distributors, celebrities, and others.

Having helped grow brands like Vitaminwater, Honest Tea and Zico – and before that products like Nantucket Nectars, among others — Big Geyser has deservedly earned a reputation as one of the best distribution partners for emerging brands in New York City. The company has also leveraged its skill at growing new products into a brand development laboratory, or sorts, for Coca-Cola’s emerging brands group, giving test runs in the city to products like Illy Issimo.

Xyience’s management team issued a statement today distancing the company from founder and former owner Russell Pike. Pike, who was found guilty on income tax evasion charges earlier this week, left the company in late 2006. The company is now owned by the Fertitta Brothers, who also own the mixed martial arts association UFC.

In recent years Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) has pushed for increased oversight of the food, beverage and supplement industry on many fronts; yesterday he sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to investigate caffeine content in energy drinks. Durbin said the letter came after he learned the story of 14 year-old Anais Fournier, who died last December of a cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity after drinking two 24 oz. Monster energy drinks over a 24-hour period.

Sometimes the opportunity to write about this business is pure joy. This is one of those times.Once struggling to meet its financial obligations, early energy drink company Bawls Guarana announced today that it had acquired a pair of energy brands, CRUNK!!! and an outsdoorsman-focused energy shot called “Strut & Rut.”

BevNET has confirmed sightings of Jarritos moving through the DPSG system in Southern California, part of a strategy that the company will make public in the near future. The brightly-hued, sugar-sweetened 11-flavor Mexican CSD line has suffered from wide-ranging but fractured distribution via a DSD and broker network that includes licensing partner Novamex.

Russell Pike started the brand, but if he drinks a Xyience Xenergy now it’ll probably have come from his canteen account after he was convicted on federal tax evasion charges in U.S. District Court in Nevada earlier this week.…

Cherries have always had a strong association with Valentine’s Day, but last Feb. 14 was especially sweet for the team at CherryPharm, the company behind the line of tart cherry juices that are now known as Cheribundi. That’s because the company consummated a deal of a different kind on the holiday, closing a $4.5 million equity round led by Greenwich-based Emil Capital Partners, along with its previous lead investor, Cayuga Venture Fund, and other shareholders.