For many companies, monitoring trends with the darn kids these days is a futile effort. For others, like the winners of the 2012 Cass Awards, it’s a significant marketing opportunity. While Red Bull and Budweiser were the only two Cass Award winners from the beverage industry, the awards identify several other successful, millennial-based marketing ploys as discussed by Nick Shore, MTV’s SVP, at BevNET Live Winter 2012.
Looking for a co-packer or ingredient supplier? Need advice on a new distribution strategy? Think your brand could use a packaging refresh? BevNET's 2013 Supplier & Services Guide is the place to start. The guide is designed to help beverage marketers and manufacturers find the resources they need to formulate, design, package, produce, market, and distribute their product.
While the upcoming Natural Products Expo West show will undoubtedly showcase a throng of new beverages and product launches, the 2013 Winter Fancy Foods Show did feature a number of significant line extensions and packaging tweaks as brands looked to establish a solid footing and strong start out of the gate. In our video round-up of the event, we take a look at 19 brands each of which featured news and updates that fall in line with growing trends in the beverage industry.
As the market for chia products continues to thrive and expand, Drink Chia announced today that it has secured new deals with natural products distributors UNFI and KeHE, and dramatically increased the size of its footprint in the Northeast, Midwest, and throughout Florida. The company also announced that it has increased the package size for its whole chia seed beverage, moving it into a new 10 oz. bottle.
In yet another indication that the beverage industry continues to recover from recent lackluster years, the 2013 Winter Fancy Food Show packed the walls of San Francisco’s Moscone Center with thousands of suppliers, attendees, and buyers. While beverage marketers represented a small component of exhibitors at the show, booths were nonetheless bustling as brand owners indicated a positive view of the event and reported a steady flow of deals and opportunities.
Although obesity rates in African-American and Hispanic communities of New York City exceed the city average, the New York chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. and the Hispanic Federation is nevertheless supporting a lawsuit filed by the beverage industry that is aiming to block the so-called “Bloomberg ban” on large containers of sugary drinks. The ban would prohibit the on-premise sale of sugar-sweetened drinks that have more than 25 calories per 8 oz. serving in containers larger than 16 oz.
Out with the polar bears, in with the showgirls. On Tuesday, Coca-Cola launched an interactive campaign centered around its Super Bowl ad, which displays cowboys, badlanders (a biker gang), and a bus full of showgirls in the middle of the desert.
Hoping to swarm distributors, the maker of Killer Buzz Energy drinks is actively seeking an acquisition of one or two beverage companies - and could spend upwards of $10 million to do so. “There’s no cap and no floor,” said Jeremy Friedman, director of marketing for Killer Buzz. “It’s more about opportunity than the size of the investment. If an opportunity warranted a $10 million acquisition, that number is not too high.”
COGO, a new line of coconut milk smoothies, was the runner-up in New Beverage Showdown 4 at BevNET Live Winter 12. In our review of the two of COGO’s four…
Just in time for the Super Bowl, Kraft is adding a sports-centric SKU to its fast-growing MiO line of liquid water enhancers. MiO Fit, which was announced Tuesday in a press release, contains electrolytes, B vitamins and zero calories, and enables consumers to turn water into a sports drink. MiO Fit currently offers two flavors, Berry Blast and Arctic Grape, and is sold in two bottle sizes: 12 or 18 servings per bottle (along with 8 oz. of water per serving).
In an online plea, Oogave co-founder Gannon Merrell said the company needs to raise $500,000 to be able to reach positive cash flow in the next 18-20 months – or else it will have to liquidate.
ZUN founder Brian Stearns is pulling out of the energy and brain boosting business altogether, announcing that the brand is reinventing itself “as an all-natural ‘kid friendly’ beverage.”
Honest Tea recently launched Honest Fizz, a line of zero-calorie sodas. The four-SKU line, which uses stevia and erythritol as sweeteners, impressed the panel with formulations that showcase full flavors…
NASCAR driver Bobby Grewohl shaved his head and endured his first makeup session today in New York City. It was a bit of a change for the small-town racer. “My head’s shiny,” Grewohl said. “They’ve got to dim it down a little bit.” After a photo shoot, Grewohl, the Hollister, Calif. native, joined representatives of 989 On Demand, a hydrating enhanced beverage with its functional ingredients stored in a mix-to-drink cap, for a guerilla marketing effort in the city streets.
