Activate President: Major Innovation on Tap for 2013

The battle for dispensing-cap supremacy is expected to rage on into the New Year, as brands like Karma Wellness Water, 989 and V-Blast continue to battle for turf and legitimacy; one company planning to bring some new ammunition to the battle is Activate.

“We are going to commercialize behind a very clear set of benefits,” Mirza told BevNET.

Mirza said one source of product development ideas will be Tata itself, a byproduct of tighter cooperation between the two companies. “You’ll see products that are truly functional in terms of beverage technology,” he added.

Reza Mirza, President of Activate

After a period where the company’s early edge in gaining distribution seemed to flag with added competition, Mirza said, Activate’s sales have begun to pick up. With Gourmet Guru as its New York City distributor, Activate is working on an influencer account strategy: it launched in Zabar’s in November and at other retailers like Whole Foods in Manhattan as well.

Meanwhile, sales have returned to double-digit growth over the past 12 months, Mirza said.

While its first few years saw the brand bolt out of the gate to distributors across the Southwest, marketing strategy will be massed behind the West Coast and the Northeast, Mirza said. A planned push in the Southeast will involve “a slower build,” he added.