Bai Bubbles

Founder Ben Weiss is reporting that the company is approaching $50 million in sales.

Bai Brands today announced the launch of Bai Bubbles, an innovative carbonated beverage that extends the company’s line of healthy, all-natural, five-calorie, antioxidant infusions.

At the Vallarta Supermarket on Whittier Blvd. in East Los Angeles, Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta Mexicana sell for 4 cents a bottle. But those aren’t the only beverages that the retailer offers with a price point below the market standard.

Continuing upon a quest to answer what it terms as “the diet dilemma,” Bai today unveiled a new carbonated line, its first brand extension since launching Bai5.

“We are honored to be included in the prestigious Inc. 500|5000 list among the country’s most successful and innovative businesses,” says Ben Weiss, CEO and Founder of Bai Brands.

Designed entirely in-house, the new site marks the first major initiative for the company’s newly formed Brand Experience Group – a full-service marketing team that blends strategic savviness with creative firepower.

Bai Brands Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ben Weiss, has been named a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 Award in the New Jersey region.

On Monday, Bai announced the release of Tanzania Lemonade Tea, the company’s tenth flavor. The product is Bai’s version of the “Arnold Palmer” or the “Half & Half,” depending on your vernacular, packs five calories and is sweetened with stevia and erythritol like the rest of the brand’s varieties.

Bai is currently distributed in 14 states, mostly in the Northeast, but with distribution from the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, the company plans to enter the other 36 via 12,000 new retail outlets by the end of 2014. They call it “hyper-growth” and claim it’s a pace that hasn’t yet overwhelmed them.

Bai Brands, the makers of Bai 5, today announced new distribution in Chicago, a significant component of the company’s plans to be a national brand by the end of 2014. Bai’s launch in the Windy City will be supported by distribution from the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which also works with the company in metro New York. Bai has also secured placement in grocer chain Jewel-Osco, which has a significant presence in the Midwest.

Sensing the opportunity to accelerate brand growth and eager to bring larger chain accounts on board in the New England region, Bai has switched its distribution contracts to giant independent Polar Beverage from a network of smaller DSD operations in parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Three companies — Bai Brands, Drink Chia and Double Cola — announced news of expanded distribution this morning. Drink Chia, a growing part of a hot category, and Bai, a coffeefruit-infused beverage, both claimed new distribution in major marketplaces. Meanwhile, Double Cola announced regional expansion.

Calling Bai Brands, LLC, a “game-changing company,” Strand Equity Partners yesterday announced the acquisition of a minority ownership stake in the coffeefruit beverage marketer. Headed by marketing and entertainment maven Seth Rodsky and Theodore Schwartz, founder and former chairman of APAC Customer Services, Strand was launched earlier this year with a focus on investment in “emerging and dynamic consumer brands.”

One week after Ben Weiss, the founder and CEO of bai, said at BevNET Live in New York that he expects his company’s sales to increase fivefold this year, he followed his words with an executive shift, announcing Tuesday that Ken Kurtz has been promoted to company president.