Co-founders Justin Guilbert and Douglas Riboud -- currently abroad to look at tea operations for their new product line -- confirmed to BevNET that they have begun checking a few new channels for their coconut water, which has grown a huge presence in Whole Foods over the past two years.
In its annual meeting held on Tuesday, the policy-making arm of the American Medical Association (AMA) voted to endorse a ban on the marketing of energy drinks and shots to people under the age of 18.
This category has been the hottest of the hot for the past couple of years, and it’s a place where entrepreneurial brands are fully engaged with the big guys in the fight for position. Note Calypso’s steady and sustained growth, along with Hubert’s and Cabana. Meanwhile, there are plenty of new launches – plenty of brands with no track record. We fear the “Golden Bear” – so should Minute Maid.
She was eating curds and whey back in the day, but Little Miss Muffet might look past milk the next time she’s searching for her protein boost. Advances in protein technology, rising raw materials costs, and lifestyle changes have combined with an overall upsurge in demand to create a broader set of proteins used in beverage than those derived solely from whey, the popular milk-based protein.
Over-the-counter liquid therapy is ready to explode. At least, that’s what Mary Page Platerink believes. A former executive at the Coca-Cola Co., Inc., Platerink is the founder and CEO of First Aid Shot Therapy (F.A.S.T.). Debuting in Seattle soon, F.A.S.T. has two SKUs — one targeted at pain, like headaches, and another that is supposed to relieve an upset stomach.
Fueled by rising interest on issues regarding health and wellness, and a perfect storm in the legal and political landscape, the U.S. has seen a five-fold increase in the number of class action consumer fraud lawsuits brought against food and beverage companies from 2008 to 2012.
There’s no excuse – it’s time for my annual office cleaning column, where I look around my beverage collection and mine it for insight. This year it will be especially poignant (for me, at least) as in July I’m moving to a new office a few blocks from my present digs. I have to clear out as much as I can before the move, and that makes for sober reflection of the huge collection of beverages I’ve amassed over the course of 21 years in the industry.
Last week, BevNET Live Summer ’13 turned New York City’s Metropolitan Pavilion into a networking and educational mecca for nearly 600 beverage entrepreneurs, suppliers, retailers, distributors. Below are five photo galleries from the event, each showcasing the range of premium content and opportunities offered to attendees of BevNET Live.
Filmed from within the cozy confines of the New Beverage Showdown lounge at BevNET Live Summer '13, we spoke with Justin Prochnow, an attorney with Greenberg Traurig LLP specializing in regulation affecting the beverage industry, who offered up a brief look at some of the most current and pressing legal issues facing beverage brands.
Seemingly every month, an energy drink company takes a black eye from a new, harrowing slate of news, another lawsuit, a demeaning study, a band of legislators with belts tied too tight and constituencies to appease. Whether justified or not, energy drinks have been painted as an evil that’s worthy of no more than the pariah life. But the industry isn’t exactly flabbergasted.
Accepting too many disparate offers has the potential to spread a brand too quickly or even to gut its identity. Therefore, several speakers at BevNET Live last week in New York City echoed Nancy Reagan, advising entrepreneurs to “just say ‘no.’”
As rising waves of demand attract new entrants into the probiotic beverage category, GoodBelly recently made a few significant moves to stand out from the crowd.
Neuro has found distribution in Target, and also killed Sun in favor of Daily. Although, since it's hard to have Daily without the Sun, it's kept the Vitamin D in Daily.
Simply put, the rapid emergence of Sparking ICE on the national stage has been nothing short of extraordinary. Yet, is it possible for the brand to sustain its stratospheric rise? Kevin Klock, the CEO of Talking Rain, has no doubt. In an interview at BevNET Live Summer ’13, Klock indicated that present sales of Sparkling ICE were just the tip of the iceberg and estimated that the brand would reach the $400 million mark by the end of the year.
