Cobá, a Los Angeles-based beverage company that produces a line of aguas frescas, will debut a new Horchata flavor at Natural Products Expo West. The rice water-based aguas frescas is made from all-natural ingredients and sweetened with 100 percent organic cane sugar. Cobá describes the new Horchata flavor as slightly creamy and light in body with notes of cinnamon and vanilla.
And the hits just keep on coming. A class-action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Feb. 24 accuses Rising Beverage Co. – the owner of Activate -- of dishonest and misleading statements in its advertising about the freshness of Activate’s key innovation, its “in-the-cap” reservoir of dry vitamins versus those pre-mixed in other beverages.
Guayaki Yerba Mate is expanding into another category format, releasing a trio of sparkling yerba mate beverages – including a cola flavor -- in 12.5 oz. slim cans. The company will debut the line extension at Natural Products Expo West next month. It’s part of a larger, ongoing plan to help turn yerba mate into a more recognizable ingredient – and one with a more easily understood purpose.
Rob's Really Good will launch "Pirate's Daughter," a new green tea and lemon blend, at Natural Products Expo West. Pirate's Daughter is made with 100 percent certified organic ingredients including green tea, peppermint, spearmint, lemon verbena, and lemon myrtle. The beverage is sweetened with organic cane sugar and contains 50 calories per 8 oz. serving.
Coca-Cola has begun to test distribution of Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta Orange and Mello Yello in its plant-based PET bottles, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The move marks the first time that Coke has used its PlantBottle, a PET container made from at least 30 percent plant-based materials, for any products other than Dasani.
Red Bull is set to launch Red Bull Total Zero in April, the company’s first line extension since the debut of its (now discontinued) energy shot in 2009. Aiming to tap into the growing market of calorie-averse consumers, the new product boasts a zero calorie/carb/sugar formulation and a “new twist” on the classic Red Bull flavor, according to the company.
In a new report on the global beverage market, Rabobank, an international financial services firm, states that greater consumer demand for health and wellness beverages, rising commodity costs, and growing demand from emerging markets will be key influencers of trends and innovation in 2012. Additionally, the report asserts that a combination of soft drinks and dairy beverages will emerge as a “megatrend” in the coming year.
Organic iced tea stalwart Honest Tea will debut a new tea in its glass bottle line at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim in two weeks. Honest Zero Passion Fruit Green Tea will be available nationally in March at natural food stores and other retailers, including Whole Foods Market, Sprouts and Earth Fare. It marks the first extension of Honest Zero into glass bottles.
The impetus to create an entrepreneurial beverage brand is often a simple one: profit. The genesis of Heart Juice, however, was inspired by - of all things - a heart attack. After hearing about an admired Rutgers professor who had suffered a heart attack, Ray Li and John Vitug, the creators of Heart Juice, set out to create a beverage that could help protect individuals from high cholesterol, a leading cause of heart problems, and support overall cardiac function.
Call it the class-action assault on the products at the end of the alphabet. Just days after news that rival coconut water company Vita Coco had settled a lawsuit surrounding the functional claims of its coconut waters, its chief rival, Zico, is facing a new lawsuit over the quality of its fast-growing concentrated line.
Due to Starbucks’ long and absolute dominance in the space, the ready-to-drink iced coffee category has been one of the most difficult segments for beverage companies to find success. Nevertheless, RealBeanz, a Brooklyn-based coffee company, is betting that its unique blend of all-natural ingredients and functional benefits will give it an edge that has eluded so many other companies in an effort to become a legitimate contender to Starbucks.
Adding to the growing ranks of lemonade/tea blends, Snapple has introduced Diet Half n’ Half Lemonade Iced Tea, a low-calorie extension of its popular Half ‘n Half flavor. Snapple is hoping that momentum for the burgeoning category will continue, and will promote the launch of Diet Half n’ Half with a national FSI campaign as well as new television advertising and a heavily promoted social media effort.
Probiotic fruit drink company GoodBelly will have a pair of new quart-sized juices for sampling at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim on March 8-11. The new products include juice blend Tropical Green and also Pink Grapefruit. The company also recently introduced a probiotic coconut water in a quart size.
With a recent $6 million investment, The Hershey Company now owns a controlling interest in mix1 Beverage Company. In its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Hershey revealed that it had made the investment in January and increased its ownership interest in mix1 to approximately 69 percent. Hershey’s investment was part of $7.25 million that mix1 had raised in two rounds of funding last month.
