Headlines

Press Clips: Philosopher Helps Kitu Life Super Coffee Diversify Team

When the founders of Kitu Life Super Coffee, makers of protein-enhanced RTD coffees and a recent BevNET Best of 2019 award winner, noticed “locker room” culture creeping into the start-up’s New York office last year, they sought to stamp it out by adding a new team member: a philosopher.

ROAR’s Evolution Continues With Powder Stick Launch

At the close of a year spent honing its image and messaging, electrolyte infusion beverage maker ROAR Organic is channeling its momentum into the launch of Electrolyte Powder Sticks, a three-SKU line of single-serving mix packets.

Investment Roundup: Grady’s Calls for Crowdfunding; JAB Forms Peet’s JDE

In this roundup of recent investment and M&A news, New York-based Grady's Cold Brew kicks off a crowdfunding investment campaign online, IFF and DuPont come together, and the merger of Peet's Coffee and Jacobs Douwe Egberts sets the stage for potentially the world's biggest publicly traded coffee company.

BevNET Live Winter 2019: How Wandering Bear Went Omnichannel from the Outset

In this video recorded at BevNET Live Winter 2019 in Santa Monica, California, Wandering Bear co-founder and CEO Matt Bachmann dives into how his early stage coffee brand has interwoven its multi-channel strategy with its marketing strategy and minimized dependence on traditional retail outlets in order to meet consumers at the office, on the shelf and directly in their kitchens through ecommerce.

Taste Radio Insider Ep. 65: The News, Trends & Innovation That Shaped 2019

This week, members of the BevNET and NOSH editorial teams joined us for a discussion of some of the major news stories, trends and innovation from 2019. Among the topics of conversation were developments in the burgeoning cannabis CPG segment, explosive growth in the oat milk and sparkling water categories and the evolution of frozen food and plant-based meats.

Distributors Sue Fiji Over Contract Dispute

In a complaint filed in Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County on September 11, three distributors — North Carolina-based Carolina Beverage Corp. and Dixie Riverside and Alligator Beverage, both headquartered in Georgia — claim Fiji Water broke their respective contracts by forcing retailers in their sales territories to stop accepting product deliveries and making no attempt to negotiate terms to service those accounts

New Barn Scales Back Retail Presence to Take Omnichannel Focus

Following a year plagued by out-of-stock issues and high shipping costs, plant-based food and beverage brand New Barn is scaling back retail distribution for its product portfolio to service only the West Coast as it focuses on integrating an omnichannel strategy in 2020.

BevNET Magazine Feature: Sacred (Cold) Space

While dairy will remain on top for the foreseeable future, the cold case is changing today. Dairy industry leaders, however, may be more prepared for that change than anticipated.

L.A. Libations Announces Slate of New Hires

CEO Danny Stepper said L.A. Libations has hired five new team members in an effort to create departmental synergies and help the company “deliver on [its] commitments” to serve as the non-alcoholic brand building arm for Molson Coors.

BevNET Live Winter 2019: CBD Beverage Leaders Tackle Regulation

In 2019, the beverage market saw a veritable flood of CBD-based beverage innovations. Although competition in the space may be tight, CBD beverage leaders are now looking to work together to take the category out of legal limbo and into the mainstream.

Elevator Talk: Hoplark HopTea Brews Up a Healthy Non-Alc Refreshment

Hoplark HopTea was born out of co-founder Dean Eberhardt’s desire to have a healthy and complex beverage while on a break from drinking alcohol. The company developed a line of zero calorie, zero alcohol teas brewed with hops, delivering a flavor profile similar to beer.

Taste Radio Ep. 193: Soylent’s Crowley On What High-Performing Leaders Get Right

Bryan Crowley, CEO of Soylent, spoke about how his career experience shaped his leadership style and helped frame his vision for the future of the fast-growing “complete food” brand. He also how the brand’s mission and growth strategy have each evolved, why it has embraced GMO ingredients and what the notion of “better for you” means for modern consumers. This episode is presented by Flavorman, the beverage architects.

BevNET Magazine Feature: Something’s Brewing

In kombucha, the story of the 2010s has been about the category’s rise from a niche beverage to a mainstream product. Having achieved that milestone, the question facing the industry at the precipice of a new decade is how to ensure that growth continues.

BevNET Live Winter 2019: La Colombe and Chobani on Overcoming Fear

In this conversation recorded at BevNET Live Winter 2019 in Santa Monica, California, La Colombe CEO Todd Carmichael and Chobani president Peter McGuinness discuss how fear of a changing marketplace is a necessary ingredient in forward-thinking innovations and how it led both companies roll out new oat milk product lines this year.