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.
The Coca-Cola Co., Inc. and PepsiCo, Inc. both said they will change the way they add caramel coloring to their flagship sodas after a study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest revealed the presence of a carcinogen in some containers. The changes were made to avoid a California law requiring products that contain known carcinogens to put a cancer warning on their labels.
It's a coffee brand that's done a fine job of accelerating in the past year, and it's gone from 2500 outlets in 2009 to more than 20,000 by 2012, but Coke Venturing and Emerging Brands group's licensed Illy Issimo has retained a fairly low profile. Now, in an attempt to grab a bit more space in the grab and go realm, Tom Larsen, the brand's general manager, revealed that he is moving three of the brand's varieties -- Cappuccino, Latte Macchiato and Mochaccino -- into 9.5 oz. teardrop bottles.
Investment bank Silverwood Partners has released a lengthy overview of the natural products just in time for valuations to hit at Natural Products Expo West.…
Acquired by Texas-based soda company Big Red last fall, Premium CSD brand Thomas Kemper has begun a period of geographic expansion.…
Up and coming relaxation product Dream Water is launching into the natural channel, but it will be doing so without co-founder Adam Platzner. The 2.5 oz. “sleep shot” has moved…
That ConsumerLab.com report from last August continues to dog coconut water category leader Vita Coco, which settled a class-action lawsuit in New York last month for $10 million. Word from…
Forget your typical models and himbos handing out product samples. Here’s the way one company will be trying to get distributor attention at Expo West this year: by handing out…
The FDA has taken a strong step toward remaking the relaxation drink category, warning a Georgia-based marketer that his product has the appearance and representation of a conventional food item…
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.
