ON TOP
- Evolution Fresh plans to fuel its growth with capital from Fireman Capital Partners Link and staff with experience from Naked Juice and Odwalla. Link
- Video: Visit with New Leaf Tea – Eric Skae and his team at New Leaf have shown a remarkable ability to turn intimidating circumstance into focused brand-building. Link
- The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, a coalition of food and beverage firms, joined First Lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America in announcing its new pledge to reduce 1.5 trillion calories by the end of 2015. Link
ON THE SHELVES
- Açai Roots announced the launch of Açai Roots Pure Açaí Juice in 10 oz. and 32 oz. bottles
- Hansen's Beverage Company announced the introduction of its newest flavor, Original Cola and Diet Original Cola. Link
DISTRIBUTION
- Blue Gem Enterprise placed Title Sports Drink and Xingtea Albertsons stores. Link
- Reed's, Inc. announced that Meijer, Inc. has agreed to carry select Reed’s and Virgil’s beverages direct through its warehouse. Link
- Neuro Brands LLC announced distribution partnerships with Paradise Beverage for Hawaii and Bill’s Distributing for Alaska. The company also announced distribution with Pepsi Cola Bottling Company for the New York City area. Link
- RelaxZen, Inc. announced a distribution agreement with High Grade Beverage Corp. for Central and Northwestern New Jersey. Link
- HINT Inc. announced the launch of HINT Water in more than 365 Sheetz locations. Link
LAW, POLICY, AND ADVOCACY
- Toronto may ban CSDs and energy drinks from vending machines in community centers and arenas, reported Canada's National Post. Link
- Philadelphia's city council rejected a proposed 2-cent per ounce tax on sugar-sweetened sodas in favor of a 9.9 percent increase to the city's property taxes. Link
- The Natural Products Association took issue with the Institute of Medicine's suggestion that the FDA treat food and beverage functional claims that same way it treats medicines' functional claims, calling it "unwise." Link
BRAND MARKETING & PROMOTION
- Vita Coco announced that it signed a sponsorship deal with Spanish soccer star Jozy Altidore. Altidore will participate in an integrated marketing campaign including at-retail promotions in New York and California, social media, local soccer clinics and other grassroots programs.
- POWERADE will feature Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa, goalkeeper for the Mexican National Team in a marketing campaign created exclusively for U.S. Hispanic consumer. Link
- The Polar Beverage Company will join the New England Aquarium on June 7th in Boston for the Ocean’s Day Festival. Link
IN THE MEDIA
- In an effort to drive store traffic, Wal-Mart has cut the price of carbonated soft drinks to holiday levels, which could undermine beverage companies' efforts raise soft drink prices over time, CNBC reported. Link
- Central Ohio's 10TV news questioned how drank, composed mostly of water and sugar, can calm its consumers. Link
- Celsius' sales are tiny and the company is losing money, but it expects sales to jump to $25 million this year, reported the Palm Beach Post. Link
- The Boston Globe released a video report on Polar Beverages in which Chris Crowley, the distributor's vice president, said a soda tax in Massachusetts could bankrupt his company. Link
FINANCIALS
- Jones Soda Co. announced results for the first quarter ended March 31. The Company reported a net loss of $2.1 million for the quarter, a decrease of 18 percent from the first quarter 2009 net loss of $2.6 million. Link
- GLG Life Tech Corporation announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. For the quarter, revenue increased 174 percent, to $8.2 million from $3.0 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2009. The increase in revenues, which were derived entirely from stevia sales, was driven by more shipments of higher-value stevia extract against existing purchase orders when compared to the first quarter a year ago. Link
- Reed’s, Inc. announced that Chris Reed, founder, chairman, and CEO, will present at the Source Capital Group Small Cap Virtual Conference on Tuesday, May 18th, at 2:00 p.m. Link
- Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz's Trian Partners reduced its investment in the Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc, Dow Jones Newswire reported. Trian held 1,599,034 shares of the beverage giant as of March 31, down sharply from the 5,144,004 the investment firm held as of Dec. 31, 2009. Link
SUPPLIER SIDE
- Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc said it will continue to operate its Mott’s apple products plant in Williamson, N.Y. with a wage reduction for its union workers there, the Rochester Business Journal reported. Link
- A fifth bottling line is expected to begin running at the Dr Pepper Snapple manufacturing plant in Victorville, Cali. within weeks, according to the Victoryville Daily Press. Link
PEOPLE
- ZUN announced that Robin Allin has taken a seat on ZUN’s advisory Board. Allin previously worked for National Beverage Corp, Nantucket Nectars, Snapple Beverage Group, PepsiCo/IZZE and OBeverage Inc.
ETC.
- A police dog's false hit for explosives on a truck that had been driven erratically by a man who did not speak English attracted a horde of law enforcement personnel to a rural road in Wisconsin, who discovered a load of energy drinks. Link
- French fries exposed to energy drink staple taurine prior to frying contained 96 percent less acrylamide — a chemical that has been investigated as a potential health hazzard — than control fries, according to new data published in Food Research International. Link
- Movie goers attending MacGruber this weekend can apparently thank Pepsi. New York Magazine reported that studios became interested in creating a big-screen adaptation of the Saturday Night Live sketch following its Super Bowl appearance in partnership with Pepsi. Link