Victoria's Almond Water is a line of all-natural drinks made with a base of purified water and cane sugar and infused with natural extracts (almond, vanilla, rose). The brand recently introduced coconut and licorice/mint varieties, each of which are nice complements to the original product, however, we feel more needs to be done in terms of differentiation in packaging.

While the market for beet juice has traditionally been quite small, the beverage is finding a growing number of enthusiasts, and in particular, serious athletes. That being said, it’s hard…

“ok.-” Energy Drink is a full-calorie energy drink that is made in Switzerland. Although the product's 16.9 oz can offers a point of differentiation from most other energy drinks, the rest of ok.-'s branding and formulation offers little in the way of innovation and significant separation from the pack.

As new juice cleanse brands continue to emerge, companies are stretching to find niche appeal with varying formulations and marketing messages. Z.E.N. (Zero Effort Nutrition) Pure Pressed, which markets a line of juice cleanses that are packaged as multi-bottle daily regiments, is one such company, and while we found the products enjoyable from a flavor standpoint, the branding needs significant refinement.

Miami-based Opreme Energy bills itself as a product that was "developed using only the finest ingredients with 50% less sugar than most energy drinks." While we applaud Opreme for using a lower calorie formulation, the brand - like many others in the jam-packed energy category - offers little in terms of true differentiation from competing products.

Spartos is a line of all-natural, protein-infused waters that recently underwent a packaging revamp. As the sports/nutrition beverage category continues to embrace protein as an added ingredient, the company has done a good job with formulation, although it might want to go back and take another shot at improving its labels if the brand is to have a chance at success on the market - which we think it does.

Billed as a seasonal release, Boylan’s Shirley Temple is a great adaptation of the classic “mocktail.” They’ve really hit the nail on the head in terms of flavor, delivering a blend that has a nice dose of cherry flavor and a refreshing lemon lime base. Moreover, it’s a cleanly designed product that is easy to understand and certainly exudes quality.

As we reported a couple weeks ago, PepsiCo has launched Mountain Dew Kickstart, a new morning-oriented product that the company markets as a “flavored sparkling juice beverage from concentrate.” Overall,…

Rage Aid, a line of non-carbonated energy drinks from Canada, recently launched two new varieties: Lemonaid and Teabagger. While the overall execution of the drinks is good, it's the name Rage Aid that has us a bit confused about what the brand is trying to communicate.