As of April, Sparkling Ice’s growth was up an almost-unheard-of 2000 percent, to more than $43 million, according to SymphonyIRI, which named the brand a “Rising Star” in April. And that’s not counting accounts like Wal-Mart, where the brand also thrives.
In what has become one of the most compelling parts of BevNET Live, the New Beverage Showdown once again rocked the conference, dazzling attendees with a range of innovative and on-trend products, and offering some pulsating drama to end the show. The competition, ultimately won by Grady's Cold Brew, gave companies the opportunity to showcase their brands in front of a judging panel of beverage veterans and experts, and an audience of 500 industry professionals.
A letter sent to stockholders of the long-struggling Adina beverage company seemed to indicate that the new age beverage shop's doors are about to close for good. The company is selling through its remaining stock but is also liquidating its assets in order to satisfy debt obligations.
BevNET.com, Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of BeverageSchool.com to its lineup of resources and media geared towards beverage professionals. Beverage School is an on-demand, video-based learning tool especially designed for newcomers to the beverage industry.
Rob Ehrlich, of Rob’s Really Good, has always been fast on his feet when it comes to rolling out on-trend products, but this has to be something of a record. One day after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched his latest salvo against the beverage industry by attempting to severely restrict the sale of sugary beverages larger than 16 ounces, Ehrlich announced plans to release three zero-calorie Kola-nut based sparkling beverages.
Only nine months after its launch, Coco Café is going national. The company recently revealed that it will enter the Dr Pepper Snapple (DPSG) system beginning in early June, a key piece of a national DSD network that the company hopes to complete later this summer. Acute beverage watchers will note that Coco Café is mirroring the same growth path as parent company Vita Coco, which has begun transitioning most of its distribution to national DPSG houses.
BevNET has learned that former Muscle Milk marketing chief John Blair has joined shot-and-a-beer brand Bruvado as President after a slow exit from the protein drink's parent company, Cytosport.
Corn refiners suffered a defeat yesterday as the FDA rejected an industry petition to rename high-fructose corn syrup as “corn sugar” on nutritional labels. The Corn Refiners Association (CRA), sought the name change as part of an effort to reverse years of controversy and negative publicity about the health effects of the sweetener. However, the FDA decided that "corn sugar" does not "accurately identify or describe the basic nature of the food or its characterizing properties."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg officially proposed the ban during a City Hall briefing this morning, but word leaked out last night, at which time the ABA sent an e-mail to members stating it would “challenge this latest example of government overreach.”
Few brands launch with the cash and reach of the Mark Wahlberg-backed AQUAhydrate, which was featured in many public forums, including the TV show Entourage, but it has been a slow build for the electrolyte-infused water brand. Still, new CEO John Cochran has announced that the brand is re-launching and has staffed up his sales force with beer and water industry veterans to carry the load.
Following an FTC Judge’s recent ruling that POM Wonderful deceptively marketed health claims in ads for its pomegranate juice products and must end all claims about the health benefits and performance of its drinks, the company has launched a new media campaign touting "its right to legally advertise the general health benefits of its products."
BevNET is now accepting listings for the 2012 Water Guide. BevNET's Water Guide is the beverage industry's largest guide to bottled waters and powders. The guide is a key resource to beverage retailers and distributors. The guide is sent to 19,000+ subscribers in BevNET Magazine's July/August issue and made available to over 100,000 unique monthly BevNET.com readers as a downloadable PDF. The guide also contains a section for Supplier/Service companies.
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.
Coca-Cola CEO Mukhtar Kent told Wells Fargo Bank's senior beverage analyst Bonnie Herzog that the company is not in the market for major purchases, but he did leave the door open to what he called "bolt-on" acquisitions.
