Mere months after picking up an $8 million investment at a valuation of $100 million from Boulder Brands’ venture capital arm, the cold-pressed juice company has pulled in another, undisclosed investment from investment fund Alliance Consumer Growth (ACG), a consumer-product focused group that tries to find next-generation versions of existing categories and deploy minority growth capital as fuel for their growth.
At BevNET Live in Santa Monica earlier this week, retailers restated the theme: they understand the potential for emerging brands and they’re looking for partnerships. Representatives from 7-Eleven, Costco and Life Time Fitness, Inc. were on hand to discuss their interest in identifying the next wave of innovation and stocking their shelves with the buzzworthy brands of the next few years.
The idea that a beverage company can spike or sink at any time carried over at the conference, indicating that entrepreneurs recognize the often uncontrollable factors at play. CEO Jeff Church knows that, even now, Suja could continue to reach new levels of prominence or have about the same shelf life as the juice itself.
BevNET Live Winter ’13 is finally here! Over 500 attendees have joined us for the two-day event, which is being held the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif., and is the tenth consecutive sold-out BevNET Live conference. Leading things off on Day 1 of BevNET Live will be the semifinal round of New Beverage Showdown 6. Twenty early-stage beverage companies will have two minutes to make their best “elevator pitch” to a panel of industry veterans and land a spot in the finals of the competition.
The teams tasked with taking the 20-entry field of New Beverage Showdown 6 down to six finalists and one ultimate victor has a mix of entrepreneurs, investors, executives, marketing and design experts, and BevNET’s own founder and CEO, John Craven.
BevNET Live’s second set of Breakout Sessions take place between 2:50 and 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 9 at the Loews Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif. The second round of breakouts will be followed by the BevNET Expo.
Suja has added a few more varieties to its Elements line of juice smoothies. Like all Suja products, the new Elements flavors are cold-pressed and high-pressure processed, and while we have mixed feelings about some of the new varieties in terms of packaging and branding, the formulation and flavor of the products are excellent.
An article in The Wall Street Journal by reporter Mike Esterl notes that food and beverage products labeled as “natural,” such as PepsiCo’s Naked juice, are beginning to shed the hazy modifier. Also, last Thursday, the FDA proposed measures that would “all but eliminate” artificial trans fats, a major contributor to heart disease in the U.S., from the food supply.
Suja has released two new varieties to its recently launched Suja Elements line: Mango Fuego and Blutrients. As with the first round of Elements, the products are organic, cold-pressed and high-pressured processed, and, in our opinion, very well-executed in formulation and packaging.
If the number of brand launches, line extensions and new products seen at the 2013 Natural Products Expo East show is any indication, consumer demand for natural products is as strong as ever. After navigating our way through dozens of aisles at the Baltimore Convention Center, we’ve compiled a sizable photo gallery of many of the new brands, products and revamps featured at the event.
Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore last week confirmed that High Pressure Processing is indeed the hottest trend in beverage business on the natural side – the next proof point will likely fall to consumers. Still, pricing remains an issue.
SAN DIEGO — Suja Co., known for its fresh fruit and vegetable juices and premium cleanses, is extending to the fresh smoothie category with the introduction of Suja Elements™. Co-developed and sold exclusively in Whole Foods Markets nationwide starting today, consumers can experience this new line of non-GMO organic smoothies from the leader in cold-pressed High Pressure […]
New Hope Natural Media’s annual Natural Products Expo East show returns to the Baltimore Convention Center this week. Expo East, along with its sister show Expo West, are the leading venues to see and sample all-natural and organic products. BevNET.com will be on hand to cover and report on the beverage-related exhibitors at the show – nearly 115 in total this year.
BevNET Live attendees will hear Church discuss the issues frequently faced by start-ups across the business environment and the ways that his experiences of a “serial entrepreneur,” have helped fuel the fast start at Suja.
