Classic Soda Flavors Revival
As much as the beverage space may be brimming with brands that have positioned themselves as next-generation, functionally-superior alternatives to sugary sodas, those classic flavors don’t look like they’re going anywhere.
This year’s Expo West featured plenty of innovation in the red-hot functional CSD and enhanced sparkling categories, with probiotics, energy and immunity particularly prominent pieces within that mix. Yet as much as the beverage space may be brimming with brands that have positioned themselves as next-generation, functionally superior alternatives to sugary sodas, those classic flavors don’t look like they’re going anywhere.
For California-based Wave Soda, the introduction of a slate of five new soda flavors gives the brand a distinct second line to complement its existing family of juice-sweetened soft drinks. Founder and CEO Nat Noone shared samples of the new drinks — available in Cola, Root Beer, Cream Soda, Ginger Ale and “Dr. Diego” flavors, each with 10 grams of organic cane sugar (plus stevia) and around 40 calories per 12 oz. can — at the brand’s booth ahead of its scheduled retail launch (via KeHE and UNFI) this summer. The line is retailing for $1.49 for a single can or around $6.99 per 6-pack and Cola is also now available for order from the brand’s website.
While not exhibiting at the show itself, New Slice Ventures was on-site during Expo West to meet with potential retail and distribution partners ahead of its forthcoming launch. As previously reported, under the leadership of CEO Evan Holod, the resurrected brand is looking to tap into its still-high awareness amongst Generation-X consumers (around 80%, he notes) and position itself as a soda drinker’s soda: that means leaning into nostalgic SKUs like Lemon & Lime and Orange and away from any explicit better-for-you claims or halos, while still ticking boxes for taste and calories (around 20 per 12 oz. can). In search of stickiness from soda consumers, the brand will start by focusing on 6-packs (MSRP $5.99) rather than singles or fountain service, while looking to move branded merchandise via its website. Holod said the brand has high ambitions but is looking to build slowly, employing the likes of Presence Marketing, Power Digital and Rodeo CPG to assist in their respective areas of expertise.
Elsewhere, soda flavors could be found in less expected places — like juice. Suja’s line of organic sparkling cold-pressed juices, a BevNET Award winner in 2020, have since been repositioned as more function-forward products under the Elements banner, with a bigger callout for “supports immune & biome health” on the package label. The newest flavor is Nature’s Cola, which, at 13% juice and 5 grams of sugar, is not quite a soda replacement but rather an appeal to familiar taste notes. The entire line contains probiotics, adaptogens and vitamins.
Powder and Tablet Brands Carve Out Their Lanes
As we’ve reported previously, the industry is living through something of a golden age for innovative and function-forward powder beverage brands, as the confluence of factors — convenience, health and wellness, and sustainability, to name a few — have come together at just the right time to lift the category. However, as seen at Expo West, they’re not all using that momentum in the same way.
As one of the original category pioneers, Nuun’s approach has been largely to stay the course with its family of dissolvable tablets, spanning across a range of use occasions. The brand’s new release for Expo was more iteration than innovation: a four-SKU line of Daily Hydration tablets set to launch in April in flavors like Wild Strawberry and Lemon Splash. In contrast to its existing hydration line, this one will have zero sugar and feature less electrolytes (ranked 1 on a scale of 3, according to the label), and will be line-priced with the existing core product.
Elsewhere, Mantra Labs unveiled Super Greens as the newest addition to its line of functional powdered drinks designed to match consumers’ daily circadian rhythms with products for a variety of need states. With morning (Rise), midday (Go) and evening (Rest) already spoken for, Super Greens is positioned as a versatile, anytime option for getting a whole serving of organic vegetables (plus additional “superfoods” and more fiber than AG1, per the company). The new line will also help spearhead Mantra’s ambitions to move into brick and mortar retail; as of now, the company is still 100% direct-to-consumer.
For Austrian brand Waterdrop, fresh off closing a $70 million funding round in February, its dissolvable “micro drink” cubes are just the start of its larger mission. Next month will see the release of a water bottle for toddlers as well as smartphone-connected water bottle filter app LUCY in the U.S., along with two varieties of micro drink teas. The company has thus far balanced ecommerce with a handful of branded retail locations (including a soon-to-open permanent location in New York City), but it is also creeping into grocery stores by entering Erewhon this week. Further penetration won’t likely happen until Q2 or Q3 due to the lag time in category resets, according to reps at the company booth, but in the meantime bigger chains (Target, Bed Bath & Beyond) could potentially take on Waterdrop’s reusable bottles as well.
Celebrating Steltenpohl, Roell, New Awards Debut Around Expo
A pair of new awards launched this week to honor the memories of a pair of influential natural products luminaries, Greg Steltenpohl and Kara Cissell-Roell.
Leigh Keith, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Perfect Snacks, was honored with the first Kara Roell Achievement Award, presented on Wednesday night at a dinner celebrating women in the CPG industry.
The annual award, named after the former general partner at investment firm VMG who passed away in November 2021, was created to recognize a female executive or leader who has demonstrated “a focus on growing others within their companies and providing mentorship to other women,” said Allison Roseman Hagey, a partner at law firm BraunHagey & Borden and a member of the award selection committee. The honoree will be selected by a committee of women spanning private equity, law, banking and media.
“The Kara Roell Achievement Award recognizes significant contributions in furthering the voice and impact of women leaders in the consumer industry,” Hagey said. “Kara was an inspiration to so many of us, with her deep intellect and fierceness she trail blazed a path for many and mentored and lifted up women into leadership positions.”
The prize includes a small monetary component where the recipient can donate the award proceeds to a charity focused on empowering women.
Speaking about this year’s winner, Hagey noted that Keith is being honored for her dedication to mentoring and promoting women, but also that Roelle was Keith’s mentor, a relationship begun when VMG invested in Perfect Snacks in 2015. Keith will now join the selection committee for next year’s award recipient.
“We are thrilled Leigh is the first recipient of the Kara Roell Achievement Award,” Alisa Williams, Partner at VMG, told NOSH. “Leigh had the opportunity to grow under Kara’s leadership and we are continuously impressed by Leigh’s perseverance and continued support of women within her company.”
The following night, the family and friends of Odwalla and Califia Farms founder Greg Steltenpohl announced the creation of an annual $100,000 grant for entrepreneurial ventures in the food and beverage space.
Speaking at the annual Community Purpose and Impact Awards on Thursday, Steltenpohl’s son Eli Steltenpohl noted the grant’s launch came on the first anniversary of his father’s passing.
While business rolls on, Eli Steltenpohl said, he appreciated “a moment of pause on behalf of the industry.”
“The path of the entrepreneur can be a lonely one,” he continued, noting the healing effects of “being able to be here in person and experience shared values” with the natural products community.
The grant, called the Greg Steltenpohl Pragmatic Visionary Award, will now be part of the ceremony, given annually to entrepreneurs seeking to build a more positive, plant-centric food system. The award is intended to serve as a way to continue the work powered by Steltenpohl’s own passion for creating a more sustainable and health-oriented CPG industry.
The award was organized and advised by Greg Steltenpohl’s friends and family, as well as many of his colleagues in the natural food business, with anchor funding coming from the Steltenpohl Family Foundation and Califia Farms.
Part of the award’s administration is the Plant Futures Initiative, a non-profit social venture founded by Steltenpohl that connects college and graduate students with the opportunity to learn from innovative and progressive food and agricultural enterprises.
The award is intended to serve as a way to continue the work powered by Steltenpohl’s own passion for sustainable, healthy food systems; the Steltenpohl Family Foundation and Califia Farms provided anchor funding.
Jones Soda Flexes Connections, Including in Cannabis
Just over six months since announcing its intent to launch cannabis-infused products, Jones Soda Co. revealed the first products from its Mary Jones division last week, which include a full range of cannabis-infused sodas, syrup and gummies in the brand’s most popular flavors.
The sodas were not part of the brand’s Expo West showcase, but according to press materials the line will be marketed in single use (10mg THC per 12 oz. bottle) and 10-serving (100mg THC per 16 oz. can) — configurations when they launch in California this April. Meanwhile, the syrup is designed as a small-format, convenience-oriented mixer for other drinks, packing 1000mg THC per 4 oz. bottle. Finally, the soda bottle-shaped gummies will be sold in 20-count (5mg THC per piece) bags.
“The portfolio uniquely fills a gap that exists in the market between micro-dose health claim driven brands and the high-potency terpene flavor profile brands by offering both new and experienced users a welcome alternative optimized for their existing consumption occasions,” the company wrote in a press release.
Jones is betting big on its move into cannabis with investment partner SOL Global, announced last July; according to the brand’s Q4 and full-year 2021 earnings report, net loss widened to $1.3 million in the quarter, primarily due to the roughly $400,000 spent preparing to enter the cannabis industry. The shift itself is one piece of a three-year rebuilding plan put forth by CEO Mike Murray upon his arrival at the company in December 2020.
Last year was “a transformative year spearheaded by strategic partnerships and increased sales across all channels,” Murray said in a press release announcing the company’s Q4 2021 earnings last week, which saw the brand increase revenue 18% ($2.9 million) while incurring a net loss of $1.3 million for the quarter.
Rather than THC, though, Jones’ attention was focused on its previously announced functional sodas at this year’s Expo West. As Murray alluded to, the two-SKU line of nootropics-boosted CSDs is the result of a strategic partnership with Canadian health sciences corporation Wesana and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who’s backing the mission of promoting “focus, clarity and brain health.”