Yes, the rollout of Body Armor has featured some missteps; yes, people have noticed. But founder Lance Collins, as grizzled a beverage veteran as any, is determined to achieve success with his multi-function, “superdrink” brand. But the current ultra-competitive pricing environment for beverages, in which new products face off against highly promoted brands made by bigger companies, has made that road tougher than ever, Collins said.
Three companies — Bai Brands, Drink Chia and Double Cola — announced news of expanded distribution this morning. Drink Chia, a growing part of a hot category, and Bai, a coffeefruit-infused beverage, both claimed new distribution in major marketplaces. Meanwhile, Double Cola announced regional expansion.
Long a supplier of chai and lemonade concentrates to the natural products giant, as well as independent coffee shops and natural food stores, Colorado-based Third Street Chai has developed a new 1 Liter tea line for national launch in Whole Foods and has changed its name to Third Street Inc. as well.
Indeed, cold-pressed, super-premium juices, the majority of which are sold by natural retailers, have attracted a tremendous amount of attention and enthusiasm, and sustained growth appears to be a forgone conclusion. However, a deeper examination of the category reveals a potentially challenging path for new brands.
Shortly after announcing a boycott of Stolichnaya Vodka, LGBT organizations and activists dumped Coca-Cola onto the streets of New York’s Times Square Wednesday to protest the soda giant’s sponsorship of the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
Reed’s Inc., the Los Angeles-based natural soda maker, announced Tuesday that Kroger will take on four of its eight kombucha flavors in approximately 1,000 supermarkets across the country.
Taking an expanding subcategory into a new package, Zola Fruits of the World has launched a 17.5 oz. can of Coconut Water with Espresso. The product started shipping to supermarkets earlier this month. It pairs Thai coconut water with espresso coffee to provide 125 mg of caffeine. The coffee is being added at the company's Thailand canning facility, according to Zola CEO Chris Cuvelier.
Starbucks has announced a new deal with Whole Foods that will take its Evolution Fresh line of super-premium juices nationwide. Evolution Fresh, which had been sold primarily along the West Coast and parts of the Northeast, will be carried in all eight Whole Foods regions, and Starbucks plans for the brand to be sold in approximately 8,000 of its cafes and other grocery locations by the end of the year.
In a statement, The Center of Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), an influential consumer advocacy group, cited “carefully conducted studies by the U.S. government [which] found clear-cut evidence that aloe vera extracts caused intestinal cancers in male and female laboratory rats,” as reasoning for its decision to give aloe vera an “avoid" rating in its Chemical Cuisine guide to food additives.
Despite sustained criticism of the category by government regulators and consumer health advocates, energy drinks continue to sell at a strong rate in convenience stores, according to recent Nielsen data released in a new Wells Fargo Securities report.
BevNET’s New Beverage Guide is the most comprehensive collection of non-alcoholic beverages compiled annually. The guide will be promoted to 19,000 readers in BevNET Magazine and 100,000 monthly visitors via BevNET.com. BevNET’s Best of 2013 Awards, which will be announced in December, will feature winners in over 12 categories.
Kevin McClafferty, who presided over a highly successful launch and rapid growth of Marley’s Mellow Mood, has resigned as president and CEO of Viva Beverages, which markets the Marley brand, according to a report in Beverage Business Insights (BBI).
For L.A. Libations, the introduction of its Aloe Gloe brand in 2011 marked a significant turning point for the three-year old beverage incubator. Until then, the company had developed sales and distribution strategies for a host of other entrepreneurial beverage brands, including Zico and Neuro, and had little experience with manufacturing.
While overall sales of carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) remain weak, plummeting sales of diet CSDs represented perhaps the most intriguing revelation from a rather gloomy Wells Fargo Securities report covering Nielsen xAOC (expanded all outlets combined) sales data over a four-week period ending on Aug. 13.
