Despite a sensational and raucous booth befitting its brand name, Rockstar rather quietly unveiled a new line of energy waters at the 2012 National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) show yesterday. Although the new water line appeared to be somewhat hush-hush, Rockstar did showcase a new line of sour energy drinks and line extensions.
In this video, filmed inside massive Red Bull's booth at the 2012 NACS show, we take a first look at the company's “Red Bull Edition" line, a three SKU set of new cranberry, lime and blueberry flavors dubbed Red Edition, Silver Edition and Blue Edition.
In this video interview filmed at Marley Beverage Co.’s bustling booth at the recently held 2012 Natural Products Expo East show, BevNET founder and CEO spoke with Marley's Kevin McClafferty about the surging success of the brand, the decision to remove Melatonin from its relaxation drinks, and how transitioning its One Drop coffee line into cans, puts Marley in a better position to compete in the RTD coffee category.
In this video segment filmed at Grady’s Cold Brew headquarters in Brooklyn, BevNET founder and CEO John Craven sits down with Laird to discuss a range of topics, including the growth of cold brew beverages, and how having a home base in New York’s most eclectic borough is deeply tied to its success. Laird also addresses rapid crowding within the cold brew coffee category, and the importance of differentiation and education as a way to stand out among similarly branded products.
Fresh off a $3 million round of financing, Brooklyn-based Runa showcased its line-up of ready-to-drink and loose Guayusa products at last week's Natural Products Expo East show. In this quick video, BevNET CEO John Craven speaks with Runa co-founder Dan MacCombie about the company's rapid growth over the past year, plans for new distribution on the West Coast, and supporting Runa current retail presence, which is based mostly in the Northeast.
While Natural Products Expo East often gets overshadowed by its massive sister shows, this year's edition, which featured dozens of entrepreneurial beverage brands, certainly held its own. Offering a mild glimpse of post-recession recovery for natural beverage brands and the industry as a whole, Expo East featured a strong showing from beverage suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers, with many showcasing innovative ingredients and sweeteners seen for the first time at the show.
On a recent visit to Los Angeles, BevNET CEO John Craven and Andrew Guard, a beverage specialist, examined the growth of a number of nascent, higher-priced, better-for-you beverage categories, including cold brew coffee, high-pressure processed juices, and kombucha drinks. Craven and Guard also explore L.A.'s impact as a driving force behind the current health and wellness trends sweeping through the beverage industry.
In an interview filmed at Talking Rain headquarters in Preston, Wash., BevNET CEO John Craven spoke with Kevin Klock, the CEO of Talking Rain, about how the runaway success of Sparkling ICE is rooted in the company’s transition from one engrossed in beverage innovation to a more traditional beverage manufacturer focused on sales and marketing.
At BevNET Live Summer 2012, three beverage industry veterans who have had first-hand roles in establishing entrepreneurial beverage products discussed the roles and responsibilities of brand-building. The discussion featured a number of topics regarding the development of new brands and categories including an analysis of expectations for individual roles and key areas for collaboration between suppliers, distributors and retailers.
As one of the first all-natural energy drinks on the market, Hiball has steadily carved a successful niche within the natural channel, one whose consumers have slowly adapted to the booming energy drink category. Yet, Hiball, now armed with new packaging and an revamped formulation, is looking beyond natural retailers, and has set its sights on a dramatic increase in distribution throughout mainstream channels.
At BevNET Live Summer 2012, Tom Larsen, a longtime executive at Coca-Cola, and the current VEB brand manager for Illy Issimo, discussed the unit's approach to incubating the iced coffee brand in its attempts to find and develop the next billion-dollar brands for the cola giant.
Delivering the keynote presentation at BevNET Live Summer 2012, former Vitaminwater CMO Rohan Oza punctuated his high-energy presentation with a simple, yet powerful, message: "Everything is niche until it's not."
Focusing on lessons that beverage entrepreneurs could take from Red Bull and its marketing techniques, CNBC reporter Darren Rovell dazzled BevNET Live attendees with his talk on the intersection of sports, marketing, and beverages. Rovell, who has covered the sports business beat for CNBC since 2006, called Red Bull's promotions, endorsement deals, and advertising campaigns, “an active case study” in innovative marketing.
In this video, BevNET Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman speaks with Simpli founders Mika Manninen and Helena Lumme about their brand, and how oat-based drinks have become a legitimate category for companies to invest in. Lumme also discusses how Simpli plans to increase education about the benefits of oat drinks as a way to develop a more consistent consumer of its products.
