Headlines

Over the brief history of the gut-friendly soda category, much of the competition for new consumers has happened online, where leading brands like Poppi and Olipop have leveraged social media and user-generated content to build their brands. But, at least for the next few weeks, the action is moving offline with Olipop and Poppi both launching pop-up experiential activations in Columbus, Ohio and New York City, respectively.

Following Tuesday’s announcement that it had acquired HPP juice brand Evolution Fresh for an undisclosed sum, Bolthouse Farms said today that it wants to quickly scale the brand in new channels nationwide after the deal closes later this year.

To say that Chamberlain Coffee is built around its eponymous namesake is to belabor the obvious. At just 21-years old, vlogger Emma Chamberlain has built an audience of 26 million followers across Instagram and YouTube without much of a gimmick to speak of; her videos include activities like driving, cleaning her apartment and making lots of coffee.

Starbucks Coffee has agreed terms with Bolthouse Farms for the sale of its cold-pressed juice brand and business Evolution Fresh, the two companies announced late on Tuesday. Financial details of the transaction, expected to close later this year, were not released.

Long-admired entrepreneurial beverage brand Honest Tea is being phased out by its corporate parent, the Coca-Cola Company, according to a statement from the compnay released on Monday.

As leading mass retail chains Walmart and Target face excess inventory and margin pressures amid high inflation, food and beverage emerged as one of the strongest CPG sectors during the retailers’ Q1 earnings reports last week.

Food tech-focused company Tomorrow Farms is bringing its first product line to market with the launch of Bored Cow, an animal-free dairy milk produced in partnership with Perfect Day. Bored Cow is made with Perfect Day’s animal-free whey protein, which is produced via a precision fermentation process that creates replicas of dairy products without the use of animals.

The summer heat has already hit much of the U.S. and brands are meeting the weather shift with a variety of new beach-friendly flavor extensions, including lemonade-inspired offerings from Monster Energy and Sunwink, seasonal sparkling drinks from Levia and Waterloo, and Pride Month bottles from Pressed.

How can a brand offer a unique personalized experience to an increasingly diverse consumer base if the people developing and marketing products aren’t also diverse? TaChelle Lawson, Founder and President of FIG Strategy & Consulting, examines the connection between people and product.