New Age Beverages Corp. will seek to change its name, dropping the “Beverages” to become “NewAge, Inc.” according to a notice of annual meeting of shareholders filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday. The proposed name change comes as the publicly traded company seeks to divest several beverage brands from its portfolio and diversify its product offerings.
Organic protein beverage maker Orgain announced yesterday the first recipients of its new Grants for Greater Good program, which provides funds to startup brands with health and wellness oriented missions. The three winning startups include kolanut fruit-based energy drink Bissy, non-dairy ice cream maker Hakuna Brands and IncludeHealth, a maker of fitness equipment for the disabled and elderly.
Though the current market has been thoroughly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving uncertainty about how consumer behavior will shift long term, a new report by market research firm IRI showed that last year was marked by numerous “blockbuster” food and beverage launches. Also, Euromonitor predicts food and beverage to be lone growth sector in 2020 as pandemic impacts become clearer.
Shaka Tea, a Hawaii-based maker of ready-to-drink and bagged tea products, has raised $2.3 million in a funding round led by farming company Mahi Pono, bringing the brand’s total financing to $4.1 million. The round also includes investments from King’s Hawaiian, Gingerbread Capital, LDR Ventures, Allison Rose Culinary Ventures and Park Bench Capital as well as several angel investors.
Rowdy Mermaid Kombucha announced today it has raised an additional $3.5 million from investment firm KarpReilly in a “second and final tranche” of its Series A funding round, bringing the total financing to $7 million. In February 2019, KarpReilly led the Colorado-based brand’s initial Series A round and co-founder Allan Karp joined Rowdy Mermaid’s board of directors.
SOS Hydration, a California-based maker of electrolyte drink mixes, is the latest powdered beverage brand to take the leap to liquid, announcing today it will launch a ready-to-drink enhanced water line this summer. The line features Citrus, Fruit Punch, Mango and Watermelon flavors and will retail for $2.48 per 16.9 oz. bottle.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced a shutdown of all non-essential businesses, leading to both mass layoffs and a widespread shift to work-from-home for white collar workers, the growing space for cold brew coffee on draft has been effectively halted. The impact has forced coffee brands and distributors that had relied heavily on the office channel to make rapid changes.
Where trends such as ultra-filtered milk, grassfed and functional protein drinks have already given dairy a needed boost, national co-op Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is helping new brands to move ahead with its 2020 DFA Accelerator, which announced its class of nine companies last week.
New York-based hydration beverage brand HALO Sport announced today that it has received an undisclosed six-figure investment from Alabama-based Molson Coors DSD house Gulf Distributing Holdings Inc., in addition to a distribution partnership to service the Southeast market.
Aiming to create a better-for-you version of a nostalgic childhood staple, Boston-based Slate Milk is tackling the RTD dairy space with a new line of chocolate milks positioned to serve either as a functional protein recovery drink or as a sweet indulgence, depending on the use occasion.
OLIPOP adds Rainforest Distribution, expands Whole Foods and adds Sprouts with exclusive launch of new Cherry Vanilla flavor; So Good So You Adds Sprouts Chainwide with three SKUs of its juice shot line; Ugly Drinks Enters Kroger in Tennessee; NOCCO Adds GNC
After production issues hobbled growth last year, Reed’s Inc. reported in an earnings call yesterday that it has rebounded with 13% net sales growth to $9.5 million in Q1. Speaking with investors yesterday, Reed’s CEO Norman Snyder said the company’s volume growth was driven by distribution expansion and higher velocities.
Jones Soda Co. last month laid off nine employees and furloughed four others, including almost the entirety of its sales team, the company reported in its Q1 2020 earnings call on Thursday. Speaking to investors, interim CEO Jamie Colbourne said the layoffs were a result of financial constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but offered no further details.
Hydrant, the maker of a line of powdered hydration drink mixes, has raised $5.7 million in a Series A funding round led by Coefficient Capital, the company announced today, bringing its total funding to $8.8 million. In addition to Coefficient Capital, the round also included Rx3 Ventures and prior investors Soma Capital and Sixers Innovation Lab, an incubator program run by the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.
