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.
It wasn’t slowed by the downturn, it has benefited from health and wellness trends and has been the category into which many exciting new brands have launched and grown. For each of those reasons, RTD tea is a category that remains at a rolling boil: total sales of RTD in the U.S. were up by 7 percent in 2011, according to Euromonitor International – and have moved from just over $5 billion to just under $8 billion since 2006.
Sports and nutrition brand FRS announced it is terminating its deal with PepsiCo at the end of the year and turning much of the responsibility for its chain account management to sales/distribution organization L.A. Libations. FRS uses PepsiCo’s distribution system to reach major grocery and drug chain accounts, however, the system is also employed by Gatorade and the arrangement has resulted in FRS failing to receive the kind of support it felt it needed, according to CEO Carl Sweat.
Energy Drink juggernaut Monster Energy revealed yesterday that it is facing a subpoena from an unnamed state attorney general concerning the brand -- and also received notice it was being sued by a well-known rap group.
Regular readers of this column (all nine of you) are aware that I’m not one to blast regulation. In fact, my knee tends to jerk the other way, believing that, grandstanding aside, the social obligations of a business mean that most regulations are worthy of strong consideration and adoption.
One Drop is unlike the rest of the Marley’s Mellow Mood line in that it is not a “relaxation beverage.” The Marley brand has been growing – it’s up to more than 65,000 stores in the U.S. and 10,000 internationally, according to company president Kevin McClafferty, but so far One Drop is only in about 10,000 of those domestic accounts.
It's probably too late to put together a company before Expo East, but according to the New York Times, a lot of the athletes at the Olympics this year are drinking beetroot juice and tart cherry juice to improve their performance.
According to the FDA, disease claims made on the Lithia site include that the product can help lower LDL cholesterol levels, can help lower blood pressure, and fight fungal and viral infections. And that's just for starters. The product also claims that the lithium bicarbonate in the product can help with everything from Alzheimers to headaches, cancer and strokes.
Expect GNC end-caps in Safeway stores’ non-carb aisles up until February resets, according to Shadow COO Sam Jones. The brand has largely incubated in Arizona through Kalil Bottling in Tucson, along with New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and parts of Minnesota in smaller chains and convenience stores, but the Safeway move gives it national authorizations.
Vita Coco announced that as of yesterday, the former Red Bull executive has gone from VP of Sales at Vita Coco to President. He joined the company 11 months ago. It's not surprising that Vita Coco would go to a veteran to keep the trains running on time as the company's distribution network becomes both larger and more centralized via its ongoing relationship with DPSG.
Bossa Nova co-founder Palo Hawken – the company was eventually purchased by Sunny Delight -- helped develop the soon-to-launch REBBL tea line, which seeks to provide indigenous tribes in the Peruvian rainforest with the means to create a stable business that will allow them to protect themselves from enslavement.
The founders of entrepreneurial Southern California distribution company Gourmet Purveyors International have left the business and started LA Distributing Company, a new Los Angeles-based enterprise. By focusing primarily on LA – where the pair have developed strong ties to independent and chain accounts, they say – they hope to be able to help small brands reach critical mass.
FOSTER CITY, Calif., July 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — The FRS Company, manufacturer of the Healthy Performance(TM) line of products, is proud to announce that it will be an official sponsor…
A look at how the energy drink category continues to grow by expanding its footprint horizontally into other categories, including coffee and sports. The cause of this varietal explosion? Competition,…
CHICAGO – July 11, 2012 – As Rexam announced last week in its divestiture of its Personal Care plastics operations, the company will be restructuring parts of its business to…
