Amid a flurry of holiday- and seasonal-themed beverages to hit the market, Stumptown has launched a new "Winter Cheer" variety. The limited-release flavor is an extension of the company's line of ready-to-drink cold-brew coffee and milk blends.
The position had been vacant since May, 2013, when John Cochran left the company to become CEO of Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine.
From our perspective, Purps approach, which is to play in variety of beverage categories with a specific functionality for each product, is way too wide to be successful. Nailing one product type in one segment -- perhaps with a few SKUs -- seems like a much better approach.
“In earlier stage companies, there’s a lot of excitement around what we might be creating -- but you have to channel some of that into what the world’s ready for,” said Califia Farms CEO Greg Steltenpohl.
Beverage companies big and small have reached agreements to broaden their distribution across several channels, including grocery, convenience, club and online.
After two days of animated and inspirational presentations, Tio Gazpacho, an RTD version of the famous Spanish soup, took two titles: Audience Favorite & winner of New Beverage Showdown 8.
Sprizz-O is a new brand of juice and seltzer water blends that comes in six varieties. Packaged in 12 oz. long-neck bottles, each beverage is also sweetened with can sugar and contains 50 calories. We've seen similar concepts come and go, but we think Sprizz-O is off to a good start.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported on athletes incorporating soft drinks into their diets.
The question is whether brands should try to present themselves as an alternative category to the average Starbucks drink – which some describe as a dairy type of beverage – or as another part of the coffee mix.
“These nutso ideas are what everybody’s looking for right now” Primozich said. “Weirdo ideas like putting soup in a bottle and throwing it in the beverage case.”
Two common threads link this year’s best: One, brands have maintained a focus on health-driven trends, initiating timely innovation in both formulation and packaging. Two, companies have executed on multi-channel retail and distribution strategies at a time when mainstream consumers become increasingly aware and actively pursue beverages in natural-focused categories.
Pickle Juice Shot is a 2.5 oz. product that was designed to help alleviate cramping during exercise. This functionality comes from a blend of vinegar, salt, potassium, vitamin C and vitamin E. The pickle flavor comes from dill flavoring and appears no bearing on whether this product works or not; it appears to be a marketing ploy (or perhaps placebo) more than something that actually needs to be there.
The round is the third in the past 18 months for the company, taking the total amount invested in the brand to $45 million.
There’s an increasing number of people questioning the whole premise for dairy milk, either because they’ve embraced non-dairy paleo lifestyles, have environmental concerns associated with a dairy-centric agricultural system, or just plain don’t like the taste as much.
