Channel Check: Ready-to-Drink Coffee

Among the new and intrepid, Coco Cafe is the tallest of the small, while Illy is showing positive growth and also indexing in the refrigerated section with another $3 million or so not included here. Still, it’s a long way to the top.

Review: CideRoad Organic Switchel

Made with a USDA Organic blend of water, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, cane syrup and ginger juice/puree, CideRoad’s switchel starts out with a pretty traditional formulation. It’s definitely not as strong as some of the other brands that we’ve sampled, but it does feel as though it’s something that’s geared towards the mainstream.

WSJ: PepsiCo Confirms SodaStream Test

The Wall Street Journal reported that PepsiCo and SodaStream have agreed to a “small-scale, limited-time test” that will begin in the coming weeks.

Distribution Roundup: Premium/Specialty CSD Brands Gain Momentum

Amid a downturn in consumption of legacy soda products, upstarts like Minta, Sipp, Something Natural and POP Water are gaining steam in variety of regions across the country and in retailers ranging from single-store grocers to regional giants.

When Using Novel Ingredients, Are All Co-Packers Created Equal?

In the following video on BevNET Food and Beverage University, Mamma Chia founder Janie Hoffman discusses the process by which she was able to identify and partner with co-packers that could mass produce a beverage that incorporated a novel and often challenging ingredient to work with, which in her case, is the chia seed.

Review: BluePrint’s New Seasonal Variety

BluePrint’s attempt at a seasonal flavor is this product, which is a blend of everything that you’ll find in the flavor name: orange juice, organic cranberry juice, organic apple juice, organic agave, organic ginger and organic cinnamon. Rather than being spicy, we’d describe the flavor as having a “holiday spice” that’s similar to what you’d find in homemade cranberry sauce. However, we’d like the product to be a bit less sweet than it currently is (it has 59g of sugar per bottle).

Four Waters. Four Functions.

As various kinds of water innovation continue to surface in the beverage marketplace, broad modifiers are becoming harder to use. “Functional” or “Enhanced” water means a lot of things these days.

Body Armor’s “Upgrade” Slogan Faces FTC Hearing

Body Armor, the upstart sports drink brand that hopes to topple Gatorade from its long-held category leadership, may have to face an FTC hearing over its tagline, “Upgrade Your Sports Drink.”

Press Clips: Study Links CSDs to Aging

A study recently published in the American Journal of Public Health, summarized by Time, found that daily consumption of carbonated soft drinks can age white blood cells by almost two years.

Review: Up Mountain Switchel

Up Mountain Switchel is another rendition of the classic beverage that is the product’s namesake. It blends water, Vermont maple syrup, raw organic apple cider and fresh ginger root into a product that is loaded with flavor. On the outside, it’s hard to miss the 16 oz. mason jar that the company has chosen. Rather than make it look fancy with a custom cap or custom bottle, it seems intentional that it looks like a stock mason jar.

Coke Announces Expanded Cost-Cutting Strategy

Coke’s numbers for the three month period fell short of analyst expectations and elicited what company Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent described as a “hard look at our progress to date.”

NACS Video: Here’s Why Sparkling Ice Launched Tea

Even with the presence of major players like Lipton, Nestle, AriZona, and Coke in the category, Talking Rain CEO Kevin Klock said, there was an opportunity to bring in a new, single-serve brand that could add to the company's volume. "We're between categories," Klock told BevNET during a videotaped interview on the floor of NACS. "That's where the white space is."