Press Clips: Soda Giants Tea Off; Resqwater Survives Coachella

glass_lemonSoda Giants Tea Off

Soda rivalries aside, the battle for control of the ready-to-drink tea category is beginning to brew over. CNN recently explored the offerings of the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo in the category, with PepsiCo’s Pure Leaf facing off against Coca-Cola-owned Golden Peak and Honest Tea. Unlike carbonated soft drinks, the bottled tea segment is one that continues to grow at an impressive rate. Over the last decade, sales of RTD tea have more than doubled, reaching $5.3 billion in the United States and over $50 billion in sales globally.

But for PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, it’s less of a competition than one might expect. By way of its partnership with Unilever, the parent company of Lipton, PepsiCo holds a 40 percent market share compared to Coca-Cola’s 5.5 percent. Sales of PepsiCo and Lipton-owned Pure Leaf tea shot up by more than 49 percent in 2014.

Resqwater Survives Coachella

Fortune put anti-hangover drink Resqwater to the test during last weekend’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Contributing writer Sheila Marikar couldn’t recall just how many Resqwaters or Mexican mules she consumed over the course of the weekend, but did report waking up “feeling not unlike myself, and with my watch,” which we’re going to interpret as a good thing. Meanwhile, Resqwater CEO Troy Michels seemed to be striking a strong balance between work and play at the festival, reportedly zooming around on his skateboard hangover-free after a night of booze, Red Bull, and of course, Resqwater.

Chocolate + Milk = Muscles?

Chocolate milk is — once again — getting a heavy push as the workout recovery drink du jour. In March, Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love was tapped to be the face of the milk industry’s “Built With Chocolate Milk” ad campaign, and now ABC News has dedicated a segment to covering the trend. Clint Wattenberg, Cornell University’s Coordinator of Sports Nutrition, has been recommending chocolate milk to the university’s student athletes, calling it “the gold standard for a recovery beverage.” Yahoo Health Editor in Chief Michele Promaulayko concurred that the drink was “great for endurance athletes,” but that “the average person working out for 30-45 minutes will probably be OK with some water and a healthy meal.”

vernonInvest in Juice Alongside NFL Star Vernon Davis

Everybody knows that the only thing cooler than investing in Jamba Juice is investing in Jamba Juice alongside San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis. Buzzfeed recently profiled Silicon Valley startup Fantex, which is giving fans/investors the opportunity to put their money alongside the investments of their favorite professional athlete. Davis has invested in three Jamba Juice franchises, and for Fantex investors with shares in the NFL star, they’ll see any gains or losses related to the stores’ value.