For many Americans, GMOs are like monsters under the bed. They don’t exactly know what GMOs are, but they’re worried about them. This sentiment has already influenced shopping habits, according to a recent write-up on hartbeat, the newsletter of The Hartman Group (HG), a consumer research firm.
Under new management and featuring a reformulated line-up and updated packaging, mix1 is set to make its return to the market. The company today announced that it will debut its new look at the upcoming Natural Products Expo West show, which will take place next month in Anaheim, Calif.
About a month after Michael F. Jacobson, the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), penned a polemic for The Huffington Post, his group is back at it, questioning former Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan for her endorsement of Coca-Cola and membership of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition.
With a new round of funding in hand, the company behind brain-boosting beverage Nawgan has launched a new brand of functional drinks intended broaden its reach to a wider range of consumers. Launched today, ON Powered Refreshment is a line of energy/refreshment beverages that are formulated with a blend of tea leaf-sourced caffeine and ornithine, an amino acid said to have several health benefits.
Rooibee Roo, a caffeine-free tea marketed toward children, will make its debut at the upcoming Natural Products Expo West show in Anaheim, Calif. According to the company, the tea is USDA organic, rich in antioxidants, gluten-free and has 100 percent of the recommended daily value of Vitamin C. Per 8 oz. bottle, the product contains 49 calories and 12 or fewer grams of sugar (the exact figures will be decided).
At the 2014 Winter Fancy Food Show, we spoke with several attendees & exhibitors about why the specialty channel is “more forgiving and less expansive” to enter than other channels and ways that food and beverage companies can manage an effective specialty retail strategy.
A bill introduced in Sacramento on Thursday, sponsored by State Senator Bill Monning, would require carbonated soft drinks and most other sugar-sweetened beverages sold in the state to carry warning labels for obesity, diabetes and tooth decay, according to reporter Sharon Bernstein of Reuters. The bill has been supported by several public health advocacy groups.
In a quarterly earnings call, Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) announced that it is planning to test market 60-calorie versions of its Dr Pepper, 7UP and Canada Dry soft drinks. While DPS executives offered few details about the new sodas, the products will be formulated with a mix of sugar and stevia and contain no artificial sweeteners.
Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW) and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group jointly announced on Thursday that Dr Pepper will soon be available at the fountain of all of the chain’s approximately 600 restaurants in 41 states. It makes for a good match in flavor diversity, too. Dr Pepper claims to be made with a blend of 23 flavors, unbeknown to non-corporate alchemists. BWW lists 22 flavors of wings on its menu.
Lots of shakeup here in the tea category as AriZona and Lipton’s core brands seem to have cooled a bit while Lipton’s PureLeaf is soaking up share. Even the vaunted Arnold Palmer has begun to slow, with small declines registering for the first time. Is it just a seasonal issue?
Organic and refreshing continue to be the plays for the company’s latest release, a coffee-tea blend in Original and Vanilla flavors, which will debut next month at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, Calif. And as far as ready-to-drink products go, Meghan Conboy, the marketing manager of Sweet Leaf, said that these products serve as the first of their kind.
Washington City Paper reporter Jessica Sidman writes that on Wednesday, with snow looming, lines stretched two lengths of the store. She also took photos of 12 items that, by 8 p.m., were out of stock or close to it.
On Tuesday, Eric Lipton of The New York Times summarized an extensive, recently-publicized lawsuit between beverage-sweetening rivals that outlines more than a decade of manipulation and wrangling. How have the corn refinery and sugar industries responded to waning sales and the jeremiads sprouting from each other, consumer advocate groups and politicians? Spend, spend, spend.
Fast-growing cold-pressed juice brand Suja is facing the potential of a class-action lawsuit that includes claims that the company has misled consumers by labeling its products, which are high pressure processed, as “raw.” Meanwhile, it appears that rival Blueprint, which was hit with a similar false advertising lawsuit last year, has dodged the legal bullet -- at least for now.
