Amid growing interest in more “functional” alcoholic beverages, one of the country’s pioneering hard kombucha brands is undergoing a makeover in an effort to appeal to younger female consumers looking for boozier versions of the fermented tea beverage.
Boston-based tech startup Bevi, which produces a line of “smart” beverage dispensing systems sold in office and food service channels, has raised $35 million in a Series C round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Past investors Horizon Ventures and Trinity Ventures, who had led the company’s Series A and Series B rounds respectively, also participated in the Series C.
Ryan Armistead, the co-founder and CEO of Happy Moose Juice, is on a mission to make the best juice in the world, using a variety of beloved and unique ingredients. Armistead works directly with farmers to co-pack the freshest produce, providing a premium and organic cold-pressed product straight from the farm.
In this clip Matt Jimenez, founder of food and beverage portfolio company MindFull, explains how his previous industry experience is informing the launch, why he chose to partner with wellness brand Gaiam, and how MindFull will develop lifestyle brands around functional products.
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson is scaling back founder and former CEO Howard Schultz’s plans for luxury coffee shops, according to The Wall Street Journal. Schultz’s growth strategy included 1,000 Starbucks Reserve cafes selling premium coffee and artisanal bakery items, as well as 30 more locations of its Starbucks Roastery, experience-oriented stores aimed at increasing traffic and improving declining sales.
Tofurky CEO Jaime Athos discussed the origins of the plant-based meat brand and how it has evolved over its nearly four decades on the market. Athos also spoke about current challenges in the plant-based meat category/market, executing and learning from a brand revamp, the reason that Tofurky has resisted acquisition offers and why he believes that plant-based ham has to taste great, but doesn’t have to taste exactly like... ham.
Roughly one year after joining Forager Project as the company’s chief marketing officer, Alex Matthews has departed the plant-based food and beverage brand to launch Here Studio, a multi-faceted branding, design and CPG product development house in Los Angeles.
During the Winter Fancy Food Show 2019 in San Francisco last week, BevNET caught up with James Moss, managing director for North America at BOS, to discuss the brand’s progress since launching its ready-to-drink rooibos line in five SKUs in the Southern California last March.
Monster Energy is poised to take on rising rival Bang in the emerging “performance energy” category, one of several new product innovations for 2019 showcased yesterday during an investor meeting and business update.
HFactor expands in the Northern California and Texas markets while Liquid I.V. adds 516 Costco stores nationwide. Additionally, cold brew coffee maker Madrinas has picked up more than 700 Walmart stores and CELSIUS announced placement in DICK's Sporting Goods.
Winter Fancy Food Show 2019 was not only an opportunity for brands to launch new innovations, but new initiatives as well. The annual trade show hosted by the Specialty Food Association earlier this week in San Francisco saw beverage brands announce comprehensive rebrands, acquisitions, and new sales strategies. This is some of what we saw.
Austin Allan has been named Senior Director of Special Projects for Iris Nova, the parent company of direct-to-consumer beverage platform Dirty Lemon.
From artisanal foods to craft spirits, this episode explores the evolving landscape for speciality food and distilled beverages. Rabobank’s Steven Rannekleiv discussed the emerging market for craft spirits and how the the investment community is evaluating the space. Specialty Food Association President Phil Kafarakis spoke about how specialty food has evolved in recent years and the ingredients and formulations that are shaping the future of the industry.
In this interview recorded at the Winter Fancy Food Show 2019, Califia Farms co-founder and CEO Greg Steltenpohl shared his thoughts as to why oat milk has captured the interest of consumers (and particularly coffee lovers) and the potential for oat milk to be integrated into Califia’s portfolio of RTD coffee drinks.
