According to Emily Schildt, “We’re living in an age of too much stuff.” With the goal of cutting through this clutter, Schildt, a CPG marketing consultant, founded Pop Up Grocer, a traveling food and beverage brand activation spotlighting a curated selection of emerging natural brands, offering them exposure to consumers, influencers and industry professionals in a candy-colored Instagram-friendly setting.
This week’s episode focuses on how two food companies are evolving to meet the needs of modern consumers. In our first interview, we spoke with Alden Blease and Emma Frelinghuysen, the founder and CEO, respectively, of R.E.D.D. Bar, who discussed the reasons for and execution of a rebrand and reformulation. Later, we sat down with Arnold Coombs of top-selling organic maple syrup brand Coombs Family Farms, who discussed how the company has built consumer loyalty through education about the product’s health benefits along with the development of an innovative package.
PepsiCo beat analyst expectations in its fourth quarter and full year 2019 earnings report yesterday, with its beverage division posting its growth rate since 2015. The company overall reported Q4 net revenue growing 5.7% to $20.64 billion and 3.9% for the full year to $67.16 billion; meanwhile, organic revenue grew 4.5% for the full year versus 3.7% in 2018.
Chris Hollod wants to be known as one of the most active angel investors in the alcohol space. After about a decade of making investments with billionaire Ron Burkle and actor Ashton Kutcher, Hollod, a Los Angeles-based venture capitalist, struck out on his own in 2019 and has shifted his focus from investing in tech companies such as Airbnb, Uber, Spotify and Warby Parker, to investing in consumer packaged good companies, specifically “alternative alcohol” companies.
Edelman, a three-time Super Bowl champion, initially partnered with Perfect Hydration as a brand ambassador in June. Speaking with BevNET in January, the wide receiver said he has “always been an advocate of alkaline water,” which he credited with helping him recover quicker from workouts and games.
Ignite Beverages, led by "King of Instagram" Dan Bilzerian, will debut its first non-alcoholic products this spring: an alkaline water, labeled as “Water Powered by IGNITE,” and a nootropic-infused performance energy drink called ZRO by IGNITE.
Soylent announced yesterday that CEO Bryan Crowley has been replaced, naming former CFO & COO Demir Vangelov to the chief executive role. In a blog post, Soylent chairman and co-founder Rob Rhinehart said the leadership change comes as the company looks to make changes to its strategy and product.
Lea Feghali is the co-founder and chief brand officer at Yumix, a beverage brand with a fresh proposition for cocktail consumers. Instead of offering a premixed ready-to-drink cocktail, the brand’s unique packaging gives the user the experience and ability to mix spirits and fruit juice immediately before consuming.
Functional beverage brand Dirty Lemon today announced it will be making the jump from direct-to-consumer sales to mass retail this spring through a national retail partnership with Walmart. The launch will bring three of the brand’s most popular SKUs — +Charcoal +Collagen, +Ginseng, each in 16 oz. bottles — to 500 store locations nationwide.
As The Coca-Cola Company turns toward flavor innovation to grow its core CSD portfolio, Sprite is the latest brand to receive a permanent addition to its lineup with Sprite Ginger, launching this month in original and Zero Sugar varieties.
Minnesota-based CBD health and wellness brand BLNCD Naturals (pronounced Balanced) is making its first step into the beverage space, partnering with Big Watt Coffee to produce a line of CBD-infused sparkling waters launching this month.
Sam Dennigan, founder of innovative plant-based brand Strong Roots, spoke about the company’s focus on making sustainable food that appeals to the next generation of health-conscious consumers, how thoughtfully planned demos can be the best path to trial and its “top down/bottom up” strategy for becoming a global brand.
This breakout session from BevNET Live Winter 2019 examines the developing RTD beverage alcohol segment from both a macro-economic level -- with Brandy Rand, COO, Americas, IWSR, -- as well as a personal perspective, with Sean Venus of Venus Spirits.
Energy drink maker Outlaw Beverages is shutting down, according to the brand’s VP of sales David Martin. Martin announced on LinkedIn yesterday that the company had been unable to find outside financing to fund operations. As well, president and CEO Jesus Delgado-Jenkins left his position last month, according to his LinkedIn profile.
