The Coca-Cola Company today announced the acquisition of premium sparkling mineral water brand Topo Chico through its Venturing & Emerging Brands (VEB) unit for a reported fee of $220 million. The acquisition of Topo Chico, founded in Mexico in 1895, gives Coke a leading brand with strong consumer affinity, particularly in Texas, within the rapidly growing $4 billion sparkling water category.
For this review, we’re taking a look at three of the four flavors, including Ginger, Berry, and Peach (Green was not yet available). The products are USDA Organic and packaged in a 15.2 oz. glass bottle. Plus, these being products from Suja, they contain cold-pressed juice that ranges from 3 percent to 8 percent in terms of volume.
CMO Heather MacNeil Cox leaves Suja after three years with company; Harmless Harvest VP of Marketing makes jump to outdoor apparel industry; Target adds new grocery-focused executives; DPS shuffles executives following departure of Bai CEO
This week’s episode spotlights a recent conversation with Jeff Church, the co-founder and CEO of Suja, who opined on the role of luck in business, why a thorough understanding of consumer demand is critical to success, and explained how “the rule of twos” helped steer the company through its growth and development.
Sunrise Strategic Partners, an investment firm with a focus on healthy and sustainable foods, announced Thursday that it has acquired a minority ownership stake in Kill Cliff. The deal marks the eighth investment for the young firm and the first beverage brand addition to its portfolio.
In developing a new line of 2 oz. apple cider vinegar shots, Ethan’s founder Ethan Hirshberg aims to create an appealing delivery system for an ingredient that’s not so appealing on its own.
This week’s episode of Taste Radio features a wide-ranging conversation with Krave Jerky and Sonoma Brands founder Jon Sebastiani. Recorded at the 2017 Summer Fancy Food Show, Sebastiani delved into his background in the food and beverage industry as an heir to a legacy wine family and talked about what spurred him to strike out on his own with Krave.
Episode 68 of the Taste Radio podcast features interviews with Jennie Ripps, the CEO and co-founder of tea-based cocktail mixer and beer brand Owl’s Brew, Pete Speranza, who is a New Business Development Principal with General Mills’ business development and venture capital arm 301INC, and the latest edition of Elevator Talk with Jason Petrou, the founder of Clean Energy Organics.
BevNET Live Summer 2017 got off to a billion-dollar start last month with a presentation from Scott Uzzell, president and general manager of The Coca-Cola Company’s Venturing & Emerging Brands division (VEB).
The San Diego-based brand will unveil a four-SKU line of organic kombucha at Costco stores in three regions later this month, with a broader launch in natural and conventional grocery channels set to commence this fall.
At first, suppliers weren’t sure what to make of the deal, with numerous food and beverage companies reserving their comments. Now, after more than a week’s reflection, many have told BevNET and sister site Project NOSH they are excited about the potential sales opportunities the partnership could provide, expressing enthusiasm for how it will maintain or even enhance Whole Foods’ reputation as a launching pad for small brands.
As the industry continues to mature, the manner in which individual brands choose to approach the issue of alcohol and sugar content in kombucha will likely play a significant role in determining the health of the category going forward.
The delivery of the message was softer, with a few jokes thrown in, but the connective lesson from presentations at Day One of BevNET Live Summer 2017 was quite clear and quite serious: In a rapidly changing world, your business needs to keep up the pace or get stuck in the past.
A list compiled by market research firm CB Insights of the 15 most well-funded venture capital-backed food and beverage startups reveals the increasing value placed on brands that are offering healthier choices and disrupting established categories like meat and dairy and innovating with plant-based offerings.
