With established footholds at natural and conventional grocery retailers, healthy energy drink maker Hiball has set its sights on expanding distribution in convenience and drug stores. The company recently landed a major deal with CVS and is wading faster and further into the C-store channel.
This week the conflict took a more personal turn, with the dissident stockholders’ committee leader, Edwin Lozano, and Reed each questioning the other’s professional backgrounds, and a former board member who had tried to mediate the dispute joining Lozano’s faction.
Amid surging demand for unsweetened sparkling water, Sparkling Ice marketer Talking Rain is planning a major distribution push for its “essence of sparkling water” line. Launched in April, the new beverages are lightly flavored and, unlike other Sparkling Ice products, contain no sweeteners, artificial colors or preservatives.
Speaking with BevNET, Matt DeWitte, vice president of marketing, said the company’s sustainability message and strong social media presence was helping drive growth amid a crowded water set in convenience stores.
The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) 2016 show came to a close today, but our coverage of event is just beginning. In this Instagram photo gallery, we revisit new products, line extensions and brand updates introduced at the NACS show.
For this week’s episode of the BevNET podcast, we’ve crossed the Atlantic to explore a beverage market that’s outside of our usual coverage area: London. Joining the podcast are Hugh Thomas and Joe Benn of Ugly Drinks, which is a U.K.-based startup that produces unsweetened flavored sparkling water.
Speaking with BevNET at the NACS 2016 show in Atlanta, Alana Radmin, vice president of communications for Bai, said the partnership came together after Timberlake met founder Ben Weiss through another investor in the company.
Sparkling Ice maker Talking Rain has announced the hire of Brian Kuz as its new CMO. Kuz’s career spans over 30 years with CPG companies. Kuz was most recently the Global Head of Trade Marketing and Insights at Red Bull GmbH in Austria.
The 2016 edition of the National Association of Convenience Stores show is in full swing and BevNET is on hand to cover the massive event, held from Oct. 19-21 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga. This photo gallery covers new products, brand intros and news on trends in the convenience store channel that we saw on the first day on the convention.
Dunn, most recently the president of Campbell Soup’s Campbell Fresh (C-Fresh) division, takes the reins from Juicero founder Doug Evans, who will retain his role as chairman of the company.
Charlotte-based organic kombucha and beer brewer Lenny Boy moved into a new 29,000 square foot production facility in September, while Buchi is preparing to relocate to a similarly sized space near Asheville by the end of 2016.
Speaking with BevNET after the earnings call, Reed said that four independent board members with expertise in marketing, supply chain, governance and finance, respectively, would be announced in about a week and a half.
Sources have confirmed that a deal for PepsiCo to acquire KeVita is nearing the end stages, with the larger company paying between $400 and $500 million for the brand.
In this edition of the BevNET podcast, we’re joined by Gerry Khermouch, a longtime beverage reporter and the editor of email newsletter Beverage Business Insights. Khermouch shares insights from over two decades as a beverage journalist, including what he calls the “dirty secret” about successful beverage brands.
