Headlines

Roughly six months after departing premium water brand Voss of Norway as CEO, beverage industry veteran Jack Belsito has joined private equity firm First Beverage Ventures as a managing partner.

As it develops a network of regional co-packer partners for its proprietary RAIN extraction system, beverage technology company Bkon is first focusing on cold brew, a category in which the company believes RAIN can hone in on the subtle flavors and notes of specialty coffees to recreate the diversity and sophistication seen in third-wave hot coffee.

Once derided as the scourge of America’s youth, cannabis is now being touted as one of the country’s biggest potential cash crops. As of 2018, 18 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana use and sales, with a further eight states allowing for recreational use.

FORTO Adds Juice Press Stores for On Premise Growth; Tio Gazpacho Hits Walmart; KonaRed Accelerates National Growth; Celsius Announces Deeper C-Store Penetration; Ito En Partners with Kimball Distributing

Mooala launched in 2016, and has since gained distribution through UNFI and placement in more than 1,500 stores, primarily focused in the Southwest close to the company’s Texas base, but with retailers in the Midwest and Northeast as well.

The Seattle-based brand, which markets a purified alkaline water with a pH of 9.5 or higher, is hardly the newest or shiniest brand to claim a piece of the premium water market. Founded in 1998, Essentia enjoyed modest but consistent growth as premium water slowly expanded from a niche sub-set of the water category into one of the fastest growing segments in beverage.

Twenty is the lucky number of the day as two fast-growing brands -- High Brew Coffee and Rebbl -- kicked off the weekend by announcing $20 million investment rounds.

Even before its acquisition by Nestlé last year, the Austin-based coffee company has been active in exploring ways to translate its brand identity into new formats and styles, both in ready-to-drink and dry packaged coffee.

Brynwood Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm with existing investments in a variety of food and beverage companies, yesterday announced that Cold Spring Brewing had purchased Carolina Beverage Group.