Ray Latif

Rob’s Really Good Beverages will debut Rob’s Fizz, a line of zero-calorie sparkling drinks, at this week’s Natural Products Expo West show in Anaheim, Calif. The new products follow the company’s transition last year to an entirely zero-calorie portfolio of drinks. The three-SKU line is sweetened with a blend of erythritol, monk fruit extract and organic stevia extract.

Attention grocery and convenience store retailers: you may soon find yourself having a face-to-face meeting with the celebrity rapper, actor, and fashion maven known simply as “Diddy.” In short, he wants to sell you water. On Wednesday, Sean “Diddy” Combs and actor/producer Mark Wahlberg took the stage at a recent press conference to officially announce their involvement in enhanced water brand AQUAHydrate and their roles in driving business strategy and retail development of the brand.

The plan is simple: leverage the brand strength and distribution gains of NEO Water in the natural channel to launch an energy drink where few products currently exist. The execution? It’ll take some time, but the strategy appears to – excuse the expression – hold water.

With Natural Products Expo West just over a week away, Sambazon has unveiled two new varieties to its line of organic superfood smoothies and a new line of cleanse products. While Sambazon will debut its Energy Mocha Java and Blended Breakfast smoothies at the upcoming show, the company will hold off on an official launch for Purifying Cleanse, a line of three organic superfood beverages, which is being test marketed exclusively at Costco stores in California and Texas.

Sneaky Pete’s has completely overhauled the packaging for its line of oat-based drinks and will debut the new look at the upcoming Natural Products Expo West show. The revamp comes amid growing consumer awareness of oat beverages, a nascent category that – according to one industry expert – appears primed for a breakout year.

Amway (yes, that Amway) has opened up its first U.S. storefront in a rather odd place: Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. The multi-billion dollar direct seller of household and consumer goods, including XS energy drinks and shots, announced that The Amway Business Center at Citi Field will be “a dynamic, one-of-a-kind facility” that will allow its sales agents “to freely connect, learn new valuable insights, and share the exciting Amway opportunity with prospects.”

A couple years ago, Janie Hoffman was blending chia seed and juice drinks in the kitchen of her home. Today, Hoffman is at the helm of one of the fastest growing natural beverage companies in the U.S., and following a breakout year for Mamma Chia, the company announced three moves aimed at supporting and extending that growth.

Less than four years after acquiring the brand, Beverages Holdings, LLC, the parent company of Sunny Delight Beverages Co., has discontinued Bossa Nova, the line of açai and superfruit juice drinks that was once pegged as a rising star in beverage industry. Bossa Nova is the latest casualty of 2013 following the shutdown of protein drink line Mix1, Bean & Body coffee drinks, and beverage incubator Brain-Twist.

Following PepsiCo’s fourth quarter earnings call last week in which CEO Indra Nooyi announced that the company will lead the cola category via “disruptive innovation,” its CFO stated that its work with new natural sweeteners could “fundamentally change some of the elements of the core product offering in carbonated soft drinks.”

In the midst of rising demand for iced coffee products, Califia Farms announced that it will throw its hat into the ring with a new line of natural coffee drinks designed for vegan and non-soy consumers. Califia Farms, which markets a line of natural juices and almond milk products, will introduce Califia Farms Iced Coffee with AlmondMilk at the upcoming Natural Products Expo West show.

Extending its reach in the kids’ beverage category, Honest Tea has introduced Honest Splash, a new line of 70-calorie juice drinks. In a statement, Honest Tea called the products an “evolution of the Honest Kids brand” that is designed for older children. Honest Splash will be sold exclusively at Target from mid-March until the end of June, when the drinks will roll out to other retailers.

Opponents of New York City’s impending ban on large format sugary drinks appeared in court today in hopes of delaying its enforcement until a lawsuit filed against the city is settled. Beverage marketers and retailers attempted to persuade Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling that if ban does go into effect as planned, companies risk losing sales if the ban is ultimately deemed unlawful.

After months of vociferous criticism from elected officials and consumer advocates who allege that its products are inadequately labeled, Monster Beverage Corp. will begin using a “Nutrition Facts” panel on its energy drinks and introduce labeling that includes the caffeine content of its products, according to the Associated Press.

Fourteen months after acquiring the brand, Starbucks today launched Evolution Fresh products in its cafés in New York City and Boston. The company said that while East Coast availability of Evolution Fresh will initially be limited to its stores in the two cities, the expansion “furthers growth plans to be in approximately 8,000 Starbucks and grocery locations by the end of the year.”

Shedding the Asian-themed elements of the product in favor of an ingredient-focused name and package, Gourmetti Brands has rebranded ChanTea as TEAloe. The new label will place greater emphasis on the tea/aloe combination brand’s brewed tea content in hopes of eliciting stronger consumer awareness and connection to the brand, as well as a more robust presence alongside other tea beverages.

It’s fair to say that a grape-flavored beverage with an orange-colored liquid is a strange combination. However, the question of aligning color with flavor becomes slightly more muddled when considering the brightness of a carrot juice, or a clear-colored cola. In this BeverageSchool.com video, Kate Ratliff, the technical director at Flavorman, discusses important factors that beverage companies should consider when deciding on the color of the liquid in their products.

As ZICO gears up for national distribution within the Coca-Cola Co. system, the coconut water marketer has announced that Scott Uzzell will join the company as Chief Commercial Officer and EVP of Sales. The change in leadership and shift in distribution follows a marketing and public relations shake-up for ZICO earlier this year.

And the rich (hope to) get richer. Aiming to capitalize on growing year-round demand for iced coffee – and extend its domination of the ready to drink coffee category – Starbucks has launched a new line of bottled coffee drinks. Quietly and with very little fanfare, Starbucks has introduced Starbucks Iced Coffee, a four-SKU line of blended coffee and milk products, at select grocery retailers in Boston, Hartford, New York and Philadelphia.

Major developments out of the Big Apple with news that Big Geyser has secured the exclusive rights to distribute Monster Energy and Sparkling ICE in all five boroughs of New York City, as well as Nassau, Suffolk County, Long Island and Westchester County.

A Texas state representative is calling for a new tax on the sale of sugary and high calorie beverages in order to fund new public health initiatives aimed at curbing rising obesity rates and related health problems. Rep. Joe Farias (D-San Antonio) filed a proposal that would add a $0.01 per ounce tax on “certain sweetened beverages and ingredients used to make certain sweetened beverages.”

After nearly a dozen years developing some of the most innovative and off-the-wall products ever seen in the beverage industry, Brain-Twist is closing its doors. Company founder Larry Trachtenbroit confirmed to BevNET that the beverage incubation house, which is partly owned by The Coca-Cola Co. Inc., is in the process of winding down operations.

The Coca-Cola Co. Inc. announced yesterday that it has signed pop country singer Taylor Swift to a long-term endorsement deal for its Diet Coke brand. The deal will make Swift the centerpiece of Diet Coke’s “Stay Extraordinary” campaign and “will be integrated into all key marketing efforts for the brand,” including TV, print and digital advertising, according to the company.

While the upcoming Natural Products Expo West show will undoubtedly showcase a throng of new beverages and product launches, the 2013 Winter Fancy Foods Show did feature a number of significant line extensions and packaging tweaks as brands looked to establish a solid footing and strong start out of the gate. In our video round-up of the event, we take a look at 19 brands each of which featured news and updates that fall in line with growing trends in the beverage industry.

As the market for chia products continues to thrive and expand, Drink Chia announced today that it has secured new deals with natural products distributors UNFI and KeHE, and dramatically increased the size of its footprint in the Northeast, Midwest, and throughout Florida. The company also announced that it has increased the package size for its whole chia seed beverage, moving it into a new 10 oz. bottle.

In yet another indication that the beverage industry continues to recover from recent lackluster years, the 2013 Winter Fancy Food Show packed the walls of San Francisco’s Moscone Center with thousands of suppliers, attendees, and buyers. While beverage marketers represented a small component of exhibitors at the show, booths were nonetheless bustling as brand owners indicated a positive view of the event and reported a steady flow of deals and opportunities.