As Editor-in-Chief of BevNET, Jeff Klineman oversees the organization's reporting across all of its web sites, as well as BevNET Magazine. Jeff also plans, curates, and hosts the BevNET Live and NOSH Live conferences. Jeff previously worked as a newspaper reporter for the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, the Boston TAB and the Metrowest Daily News, and has freelanced for publications like Slate, Boston Magazine, Self, George, Commonwealth, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. He is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. A frequently-cited expert on the beverage industry, Jeff has also twice been named in Forbes as one of the 25 Most Influential when it comes to Consumer and Retail Companies.
With about six weeks to go before a scheduled appeals decision concerning the Federal Trade Commission in the agency's false advertising claims complaint against POM Wonderful, the agency -- and the companies it regulates -- may soon have a good handle on the kinds of evidence it needs to substantiate scientific claims, according to a legal blogger.
While energy drinks have received a considerable amount of scrutiny in recent months, mostly from individuals concerned that the products are unsafe for children, it's the sale of Marley's Mellow Mood at a Holmdel, N.J. middle school that has a school vending agency in hot water, after some students fell ill after consuming the product.
The Coca-Cola Co., Inc. completed its fast-moving courtship of the dairy protein drink Core Power, bringing former Coke employee Steve Jones’ two-year-old brand into the fold.
5-Hour Energy is disputing that its product played a role in any fatality, saying that it was nevertheless required to tell the FDA about the deaths -- and that it had fulfilled its statutory duties by doing so.
Kim Jeffery has announced that he will be leaving the top spot at Nestle Waters North America as of Feb. 1 to become non-executive chairman. He will be succeeded by Tim Brown, President and CEO of Nestle Canada.
Here’s the issue: GNC is a well-known retailer, but the process of rolling a beverage brand licensed from GNC into other stores presented a bit of a design problem for Shadow Beverage and Snacks, the company that licensed the right to develop the drinks. To begin with, there’s complexity – the company envisioned three kinds of products—an enhanced water, a sports drink, and a protein drink – covering both the average, aspirational grocery consumer and the highly involved athletic achiever.
It went unnoticed last week, but fast-growing BluePrint -- which makes raw juices and direct-to-consumer juice cleanse products -- has been scooped up by natural foods conglomerate Hain Celestial. Hain did not disclose the amount of money it was paying for BluePrint. Hain Celestial CEO Irwin Simon called BluePrint "an innovative leader." Huss declined comment to BevNET, saying through a spokesman that the deal was not yet finalized.
Lady Gaga's manager, Troy Carter, announced that he was launching Pop Water, a low-calorie soft drink with famed fashion photographer Terry Richardson as its design director. Activate Drinks co-founder Burke Eiteljorg is also attached to the project, bringing beverage industry knowledge and contacts to the team.
Arnold Greenberg, one of three friends who started the new age beverage revolution with the introduction of Snapple drinks, died on Friday, according to an obituary in the New York Times. It was known that he had been battling cancer for some time.
Kids are used to hearing they need to clean up their rooms. Now drinks aimed at kids are cleaning up their ingredients. It’s part of a broader cleanup of American lifestyles. Particularly in the CPG arena, there’s a growing awareness that the earlier the life stage, the easier it is to create a natural or organic foods consumer. And the kids themselves are aware, as well...
In his book The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida wrote about the function that cities have had in the rapid growth of an economy based on creativity. So how does that relate to the beverage business? Not necessarily directly – after all, much of the beverage industry is outsourced to factories that manufacture either centrally or regionally and then redistribute their production to wider areas. But on an entrepreneurial level there is an interesting relationship.
BevNET Live will feature an opportunity for entrepreneurs to check out their ideas with the experienced eye of noted designer Ian McLean, who will be on hand to answer questions and analyze proposed designs in a unique "workshop" format.
A Texas man has filed a class-action lawsuit against Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the makers of VPX Redline, claiming the product made him sick and was marketed deceptively. Redline, an energy drink known for having extremely high concentrations of caffeine, also contains a wide variety of ingredients beyond caffeine-containing compounds, including Yohimbine, 5-HTP, evodiamine, tyrosine, and vinpocetine.
Faced with a drumbeat of negative publicity relating to revelations that the FDA has reports of five deaths associated in some way with the consumption of Monster Energy since 2009, the company has issued a statement denying its products played a role in the death of 14 year-old Anais Fournier last December.
