Next week BevNET’s New Beverage Showdown 20, the leading business pitch competition for the beverage industry, will feature the founders of the hottest new beverage brands, all competing virtually. The semi finalists have been chosen, as well as the expert judges, who will be providing feedback and ultimately choosing the winner. So let’s meet the players.
Filipp Chebotarev, co-founder of venture capital firm Cambridge SPG, spoke about what he learned from developing an unsuccessful food brand, effective strategies for initiating and cultivating relationships with investors, why he’ll review a 70-page pitch deck under the right circumstances and the general rules that predict success in food and beverage.
Ouli, which is a sister brand of Dona Chai, is a line of super premium herbal teas that contain 10 calories or less with no added sweeteners. The product line presently includes three flavors: Turmeric Cherry, Cardamom Mint and Elderflower Fennel.
In this month's New Product Gallery, we highlight a handful of notable new product releases from a busy October, including Sparkling Ice's move into alkaline water, nutritional drinks from Kate Farms and Project Breakfast, plus new powder mixes from Kinderlyte, Liquid I.V., HidrateSpark, Cure Hydration and Nutrient Survival.
After launching several years ago, Golden Tiger is back with a new formulation and an updated package design for its line of turmeric-based juice drinks. The three-SKU line, which features 100 mg of bioactive curcumin per bottle, is also now USDA Organic certified.
Dean Eberhardt, co-founder & CEO of Hoplark, spoke about how getting fired from his own prior startup led him to a “lightbulb” moment and inspired the creation of the fast-growing hopped tea brand, his belief that he’s “a marketing textbook’s worst nightmare,” how the company has succeeded during the pandemic, and why he turned down a venture capital investment this past summer.
We’ve got a great panel on hand, including trendologist Kara Nielsen, who is the director of food and beverage insights with WGSN, David Lemley, the president of branding firm Retail Voodoo, and Flashpoint Strategy Consulting founder Kate Ruffing.
Jing Gao, founder & CEO of Sichuan-inspired sauce and seasoning brand Fly By Jing, discussed the origins of her passion for Chinese food culture and why she set out to create a brand that could elevate consumers’ expectations for the cuisine’s flavors. She also spoke about how she managed a surge in demand in 2020 and how she addressed racist comments posted on the brand’s Instagram page.
Hrbvor, which is short for “herbivore,” is a new sparkling beverage made with a cold-brewed infusion of organic leaves and flowers, including moringa, hibiscus, lemongrass and peppermint. The line is sweetened with raw honey, erythritol and monk fruit.
In this Spirits Gallery, we highlight a handful of notable new releases for this fall, including a celebratory expression to mark Kings County's 10th anniversary, the launch of Cincoro Tequila's "Number Series," and a new agave-based vodka from Crystal Head.
Nick Desai, founder & CEO of pea-based snack brand Peatos, spoke about why he’s taking direct aim at legacy junk food brands, how to achieve meaningful scale amid consumer skepticism about better-for-you snacking, why he believes that he’s doing the right thing regardless of the brand’s chances for success and his perspective that the American dream “is still very much alive.”
Each year, BevNET’s annual Best Of awards honor companies, brands, individuals, products, ideas and trends from across the dynamic and ever-changing beverage landscape. For the first time, the annual BevNET awards are accepting nominations for 2020. A nomination guarantees the person, company or product submitted will be considered for the category chosen by the nominator. All nominations will be categorized and published on BevNET.com once the application period closes.
Nicole Ledoux, co-founder & CEO of seed-based food company 88 Acres, spoke about the thoughtful process of scaling from a local to national brand, why she credits in-house production as a significant competitive advantage and how a successful Kickstarter campaign provided the foundation for the brand’s retail launch and successive fundraising initiatives.
Chirp is a line of zero calorie sparkling water drinks that are enhanced with L-theanine and 50 mg of caffeine from white tea. The product, which was announced in April, is available at Target. The lineup includes five flavors: Blackberry, Golden Mango, Pink Grapefruit, Black Cherry (which we did not sample) and Watermelon, all of which use natural flavors and have no sweetener added.
