Todd Berardi Exits Hiball; Rowdy Mermaid Names VEB, PepsiCo Vet as VP of Sales & Marketing; Mad Tasty Names Dan Holland as COO; Sprig CEO Michael Lewis Exits Company; Scott LaPorta Joins Sugarfina as CEO; Lemon Perfect Names VP of Sales, VP of Operations; Apple Rush Adds Randy Ornstein to Advisory Board
In this slideshow gallery, we highlight some of the notable new coffee and tea products from Expo West 2019, including new shelf-stable cold brew lines from Chameleon and High Brew, a nitrogen-infused Thai iced tea with oat milk, and Hiball’s return to the cold brew category.
Speaking with BevNET assistant editor Martin Caballero at Natural Products Expo East 2018 in Baltimore earlier this month, Brian Sedra, senior director of head of sales for A-B’s non-alcoholic business unit, discussed A-B’s top line non-alcoholic beverage strategy, how the company is aiming to capture new use occasions, and about Hiball’s new line of non-dairy cold brew coffee products.
After highlighting a handful of new drinks in our show preview last week, check out the following gallery for a look at some of the other new and forthcoming innovations we saw at Natural Products Expo East 2018.
Whipstitch Capital’s Mike Burgmaier, Blueberry Ventures’ Arif Fazal, and Green Circle Capital Partners’ Stu Strumwasser weigh in on hot topics in the beverage industry including the future of the DPS allied brands portfolio, new competition for natural energy drinks, and why alcohol companies are interested in kombucha.
Michael Taylor, the vice president of non-alcohol at Anheuser-Busch who oversaw the acquisition of the Hiball and Alta Palla brands last year, has left the company to join Green Flash Brewing as CEO.
As 2017 comes to a close, we recap the top five investments and acquisitions in the beverage market over the past year.
This week’s episode of Taste Radio features a captivating interview with Joth Ricci, a veteran beverage executive with one of the most diverse, interesting and impactful track records of anyone in the industry. Over a 17-year career, Ricci has held roles as president of Stumptown Coffee, president and CEO of Jones Soda and managing director with beverage investment and advisory firm First Beverage Group. We recently traveled to Portland, Ore. to meet with Ricci, who is currently the president/CEO of Adelsheim Vineyard.
Founded by Todd Berardi in 2005, the acquisition of Hiball — which markets a line of organic energy, coffee and protein drinks as well as Alta Palla, a line of organic sparkling juices and waters that debuted in 2016 — marks A-B’s return to the energy drink category after a three year absence.
The four-SKU line will be flavored with USDA Certified Organic flavoring and will be offered in Grapefruit, Wild Berry, Lemon Lime and Peach.
With established footholds at natural and conventional grocery retailers, healthy energy drink maker Hiball has set its sights on expanding distribution in convenience and drug stores. The company recently landed a major deal with CVS and is wading faster and further into the C-store channel.
Earlier this month, PepsiCo introduced a new packaged format for its Stubborn line of craft sodas. Scott Finlow, vice president of innovation and insights for global foodservice at PepsiCo said that the company views craft beverages as an important part of the company’s future, telling Fortune that “Craft is not a fad. It is here to stay.”
Having extended Hiball into caffeinated coconut water, cold brew coffee and protein drinks, Berardi is set to launch a new line of caffeine-free refreshment drinks as well.
The list, which ranks companies based on revenue growth over the past three years (and at least $2 million in 2014 revenue) included just a handful of non-alcoholic beverage brands, but most of those that did make the cut are featured in the top fifth of all included companies.
