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With its most recent launch, NEO North America is doubling down on its bid to become a significant player in natural beverages. Among Expo West’s vast sea of products, NEO North America debuted NEO Energy, a certified organic energy drink made with guarana, ginseng, green tea extracts and B-vitamins, fused with electrolytes and sweetened with cane sugar.

Whether a first-time attendee or grizzled veteran of Natural Products Expo West, there was a singular feeling felt throughout: the 2013 show was simply mind-boggling in size and scale. Within the cavernous halls of the Anaheim Convention Center, a keen sense of excitement and opportunity filled the air as beverage companies, retailers, distributors and investors looked to take advantage of the rising tide of consumer demand for natural products.

BevNET's Beverage School is an on demand video based learn tool that covers a variety of key industry topics. Designed to help people get up to speed on the beverage industry and avoid common mistakes, Beverage School features hundreds of video clips that are all accessible for a nominal subscription fee.

It was nearly two years ago when Harmless Harvest launched a first-of-its-kind “raw” and organic coconut water, in which the company utilized high pressure processing (HPP), instead of pasteurization, as a means of delivering not only a safe product, but one that retained the flavor profile and nutrients of the liquid closer its original form. Today, Harmless Harvest has once again turned to HPP to launch an innovative line of organic, cold-brewed tea drinks.

On the eve of the 2013 Natural Products Expo West show, ZICO has unveiled a number of new package sizes and products designed to expand its reach among a range of new consumers and retail placements. BevNET visited the company at its headquarters in El Segundo, Calif. to get a first look at its updated line-up of coconut water drinks.

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.

In this short video, we’ve compiled a month by month timeline of the headlines and news stories that shaped our coverage in 2012 and look to have a significant impact on ingredient trends, marketing, government regulation, and financing deals in the months to come.

With chia category leaders Mamma Chia and GT’s – which makes a chia seed and kombucha blend – continuing to grow in natural in hybrid retail channels, and an expanding field of chia beverage brands and established beverage companies such as Lifeway Kefir introducing chia-infused line extentions, Chia\Vie is hoping that two recent moves will be key to maintaining momentum for the brand, while at the same time keeping up with competition.