Headlines

In this People Moves roundup, ex-AQUAhydrate CEO Hal Kravitz starts anew as chairman of the board at Certified Management Group; also, Kona Red expands its management team, Bill Meissner is named CEO at Dunn's River Brands and Voss CEO Jack Belsito confirms he has left the company, as of last summer.

Ample Foods has closed a $2 million round of seed funding led by San Francisco-based venture capital group Slow Ventures.

Hood River Juice Company, owner of Ryan’s brand apple juices and ciders, says a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month was “completely unexpected” and that it has taken action to correct past violations.

Monster Energy reported a rise in net sales in the first quarter of 2018, but a significant drop in gross profits has left investors pessimistic about year-end margins for the energy drink company.

Ugly Drinks, an United Kingdom-based sparkling water brand, is launching in the U.S. on May 14 via a direct-to-consumer ecommerce platform and at independent retailers in the New York metro area.

The New York-based flavor and fragrance giant announced on Monday its plans to acquire Israeli flavors and natural ingredients firm Frutarom for $7.1 billion -- its biggest purchase to date. The deal would boost IFF to a second-place spot in the global natural flavors market, seeing as 75 percent of Frutarom’s sales are in natural.

Non-prescription sleep aid Dream Water has been acquired by Vancouver, Canada-based cannabis company Harvest One for approximately $26.7 million (C$34.5 million).

Nestlé S.A. has acquired the global rights to sell packaged retail products from coffee giant Starbucks Corporation for $7.15 billion plus additional royalties.

The USDA published a proposed rule to establish standards for the disclosure of bioengineered foods on packages in places where consumers can easily find them. However, the long-awaited proposal leaves industry leaders with just as many questions as it does answers.

As the sparkling water and protein drink categories both continue to expand, David Jenkins, a former Olympic sprinter and founder of protein products brand NEXT Nutrition, is looking to marry the two with his latest venture.

Irvine, Calif.-based True Drinks Holdings, Inc., the maker of the children’s flavored water beverage AquaBall has lost its president and CFO and reduced its staff to two full-time employees as it explores a potential sale of its remaining assets, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Massachusetts-based botanical essence water brand Blossom Water has unveiled new packaging and a reformulation reducing the amount of sugar from 11 g to 5 g per bottle, removing erythritol and agave, and adding probiotics.