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.
Sambazon will be sampling a couple of new products at its booth at Expo West. The two new smoothies will be a Chocolate Almond Coconut Milk Protein Superfood Smoothie made with vegan, organic protein and acai, and a Supergreens Superfruit Smoothie that included grasses, kale and sea greens along with acai, mango and banana. Both will kick off in Whole Foods this week with an SRP of $2.99.
Hot on the heels of the announcement that Zico has gone into the coconut latte business that Coco Café pioneered, the new Vita Coco property has found a home for its products in Fresh Market, a 100-plus store specialty/natural retail chain that is gradually becoming an important launch point for new beverages.
Zico will be introducing its first caffeinated product when it unveils Zico Latte at the Natural Products Expo West show later this week. The product, a blend of coconut water from concentrate, sugart, coconut cream, coffee and vanilla, weighs in at 120 calories and has 85 mg of caffeine. The product is expected to officially launch in June.
The big news at O.N.E. today might have been the departure from day-to-day operations of founding CEO Rodrigo Veloso, but the company is also facing a potential long-term issue in the face of a class action civil lawsuit filed Feb. 29 in California concerning some of the company's nutritional claims. The suit centers on electrolyte claims made by the company and a nutritional study released by testing firm ConsumerLab.com last summer.
The founder of O.N.E. Coconut Water, Rodrigo Veloso, is giving up his day-to-day operational role at the company. Veloso, who had been CEO of the company since he started it with his wife - and former president, Emilie Fritz Veloso -- is moving into a position he calls "Chief Visionary Officer," or CVO. In that job he will be more focused on international growth and supply chain objectives, as well as other broad goals, he said.
Zola, long known as a purveyor of Brazilian superfruit juices like acai, mango, and cupuacu, has turned to trendy coconut water to broaden out its portfolio. The company is launching a canned 17.5 oz. pure (not from concentrate) coconut water at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim next week. While acknowledging there has been something of a run on the category in recent months, Zola founder Chris Cuvelier says the company is promising a great tasting product to consumers.
Entrepreneur-turned-investor Tom First is apparently going into the oat drink business with a product called Oatworks, a new health and wellness drink that uses a water-soluble form of oat fiber to provide nutritional benefits, satiety, and energy. The product, which uses a Swedish ingredient called PromOat, currently has two flavors, pomegranate and blueberry, and mango and peach.
Guayaki Yerba Mate is expanding into another category format, releasing a trio of sparkling yerba mate beverages – including a cola flavor -- in 12.5 oz. slim cans. The company will debut the line extension at Natural Products Expo West next month. It’s part of a larger, ongoing plan to help turn yerba mate into a more recognizable ingredient – and one with a more easily understood purpose.
Organic iced tea stalwart Honest Tea will debut a new tea in its glass bottle line at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim in two weeks. Honest Zero Passion Fruit Green Tea will be available nationally in March at natural food stores and other retailers, including Whole Foods Market, Sprouts and Earth Fare. It marks the first extension of Honest Zero into glass bottles.
Call it the class-action assault on the products at the end of the alphabet. Just days after news that rival coconut water company Vita Coco had settled a lawsuit surrounding the functional claims of its coconut waters, its chief rival, Zico, is facing a new lawsuit over the quality of its fast-growing concentrated line.
Probiotic fruit drink company GoodBelly will have a pair of new quart-sized juices for sampling at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim on March 8-11. The new products include juice blend Tropical Green and also Pink Grapefruit. The company also recently introduced a probiotic coconut water in a quart size.
Call it long-tail CSD manufacturing. Call it Jones Soda crossed with Threadless. Call it a virtual Freestyle machine. Call it the world's biggest Sodastream. To use the parlance of the entrepreneurial world, you can just plain call it disruptive. The basic idea? Put a bottling plant inside a small machine, and let everyone start contributing flavor and ingredient combinations.
New coconut water/hydration beverage Power Coco debuted recently, and it's got a set of investors who might sound familiar. The four-sku line, which is out of Arizona, is the product of former minor league baseball player Tyler Beuerlein and Stephen Vasquez, a former sales executive with O.N.E. and Glaceau.
It only rolled out a few months ago, but with experienced hands behind the wheel, Aloe Gloe is making an impression on its retail neighborhood. The “aloe water” brand, which was started by L.A. Libations partners Danny Stepper, Pat Bolden and Dino Sarti, has added several significant new retailers in recent weeks, including placements in stores belonging to important national chains like Target and Costco.
