Boston-based functional shot brand DrinkTru has secured $1.5 million in new funding, founder James McNamara told BevNET last week. According to founder Jack McNamara, the company had been in talks over a potential investment with a venture capital partner for about four months before they pulled out in March, requiring the brand to quickly change gears.
Waterloo names three new hires as the brand shifts focus; The Alkaline Water Company names director of operations; Regatta Craft Mixers adds four new members to marketing and sales teams; Alan Murray named chairman of the board at Sambazon; Brian Pear joins PUSH Agency as CMO.
SOS Hydration, a California-based maker of electrolyte drink mixes, is the latest powdered beverage brand to take the leap to liquid, announcing today it will launch a ready-to-drink enhanced water line this summer. The line features Citrus, Fruit Punch, Mango and Watermelon flavors and will retail for $2.48 per 16.9 oz. bottle.
On this week's Office Hours, Jordan Gaspar, managing partner at AF Ventures and Ben Mand, CEO of Harmless Harvest field questions from food and beverage industry entrepreneurs about investor and brand relationships and how they can evolve in a crisis climate.
Brendan Brazier, co-founder of pioneering plant-based protein brand Vega and “hard” cold-pressed juice brand Pulp Culture, spoke about how his passion for plant-based nutrition culminated in Vega, why the company embraced the saying “ignorance is our only competition,” how he assessed the opportunity for a better-for-you alcoholic beverages and his perspective on the evolution of plant-based foods.
In the first quarter of 2020, thanks to Covid-19, the investment landscape for spirits—and literally every other category—quickly devolved into something unexpected. So what does this mean for investors and entrepreneurs looking for venture capital funding?
GT Dave, founder & CEO of GT’s Kombucha, spoke about the brand’s recent packaging refresh and what he viewed as significant problems in how consumers perceived each of the company’s product lines, how his perspective as a category creator impacted the moves, why he’s embraced a more public persona than in the past and reacted to the provocative “Forbes” profile of him.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced a shutdown of all non-essential businesses, leading to both mass layoffs and a widespread shift to work-from-home for white collar workers, the growing space for cold brew coffee on draft has been effectively halted. The impact has forced coffee brands and distributors that had relied heavily on the office channel to make rapid changes.
Cindy Glick is the co-founder of Oregon Hop Springs, the makers of non-alcoholic and calorie-free carbonated water infused with select hops from the Pacific Northwest.
Office Hours, BevNET and NOSH’s weekly live call-in show, returns Tuesday, May 26 at 3 p.m. ET. Jordan Gaspar, managing partner at AF Ventures and Ben Mand, CEO of Harmless Harvest will field questions from food and beverage industry entrepreneurs about investor and brand relationships and how they can evolve in a crisis climate.
In this gallery, we highlight some of the notable new gin, rum and whiskey releases, including a Caribbean-inspired creation from a scotch label, Sagamore Spirit’s second collaboration with brewer Sierra Nevada, plus a pair of releases which will direct proceeds to charitable organizations.
The twelfth round of Elevator Talk Livestream features leaders from Goldthread, Pink and Blue, Twisted Alchemy, Capuli Drinks and more. This week's special co-host is Sebastian Dreher of Doehler Ventures, who will share his thoughts, questions and feedback with the participants.
Though preventative medicine is routinely of consumer interest, the onset of the coronavirus has made immune support a hot topic, particularly as no treatment, cure or vaccine currently exists. Until they are found, supporting a healthy immune system is seen-- and shopped -- widely as one of the ways individuals can be proactive in the fight against the virus.
Where trends such as ultra-filtered milk, grassfed and functional protein drinks have already given dairy a needed boost, national co-op Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is helping new brands to move ahead with its 2020 DFA Accelerator, which announced its class of nine companies last week.
