As more consumers begin to seek beverages with sugar substitutes, scientists aim to solve the massive puzzle of sweeteners. What’s all-natural (whatever that means), calorie-free and tastes, you know, good? In an article for The New York Times that has the meat of War and Peace, Slate.com columnist Daniel Engber writes about the widespread, ongoing journey toward an answer that may or may not exist.
A new Wells Fargo Securities report covering Nielsen xAOC (expanded all outlets combined) sales data over a four-week period ending on Dec. 21 indicated that sales of carbonated soft drinks saw a minor decline in sales growth as compared to the same timeframe in the previous year, but that the category is still facing a difficult road ahead as consumers continue to shift to other beverage categories.
A new stevia sweetener jointly developed by The Coca-Cola Co. and said to have a closer taste to table sugar than other stevia products has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On Monday, the FDA issued a No Objection GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) letter to Pure Circle, one that will allow the stevia producer to supply its Rebaudioside M (Reb M) ingredient for use in food and beverages.
Aloe Gloe’s “Coconut” variety takes the brand into a new — and much more successful — beverage segment. For this product, the company blends 15 percent coconut water with its base aloe water, which definitely makes it taste like a hybrid product. But will crossing into the coconut water category boost awareness among consumers that are still unfamiliar with aloe beverages?
Tumeric Alive’s Brooklyn Beet Elixir is the company's first product to use beets, and the most bright-looking of its tumeric-infused drinks to date. The beverage -- which is being made exclusively for the opening of Whole Foods' new store at Third and 3rd in Brooklyn -- blends beets with a base liquid that appears to be the same as that of TumericALIVE’s core flavors. Of the limited selection of beet drinks on the market, this one is quite good.
WTRMLN WTR (aka “Watermelon Water”) is a cold-pressed watermelon juice beverage that is made with watermelon flesh, watermelon rind and lemon. It is high pressure processed (HPP), which gives it an extremely fresh and refreshing flavor. And it certainly tastes like watermelon -- there’s no question that the company nailed that part of the product. From our perspective, this could be either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the consumer.
From Southern California, Juiceology is two years into a marketing push that saw a cattle family from Brazil try its hand at a branded product in the U.S. Founded by Brazilian national Felipe Davila, the products include flash-pasteurized, aseptically-filled refrigerated juices that are blended with whole grain extracts for a higher fiber content to promote satiety. Another juice company, New Jersey-based Mojo Organics, recently launched behind a line of juices licensed from Chiquita Brands.
When Americans dislike an ingredient, they do more than take their business elsewhere. With blogs and online petitions as the vehicles, they're dissenting the standards and altering the contents of products from major companies, according to Candice Choi of The Associated Press.
Who wants to look at some pictures? Earlier this month, BevNET Live Winter '13 transformed the Loews Santa Monica Hotel into the nexus for networking and learning in the beverage industry. We have compiled the following five galleries from the entire two and a half days of BevNET Live & Beverage School, each showcasing the premium networking opportunities and content presented to attendees, exhibitors and sponsors of BevNET Live.
While Red Bull represents an uncommon distribution network to consider, emerging beverage brands have long been familiar with UNFI, the independent distributor of organic and specialty foods and beverages in the U.S. and Canada. On Friday morning, Epicurex LLC announced that it will partner with UNFI to distribute its coconut water, Cocozia.
Little Miracles, a line of tea-based, organic energy drinks that are distributed in 21 European countries, is aiming to make its U.S. launch next month, beginning in the Southern California market. The drinks, which are formulated with tea, fruit juice, Panex Ginseng, acai and agave, took in € 8 million (approximately $11 million) in 2013 sales.
When we asked attendees of BevNET Live Winter ’13 to describe their reactions to New Beverage Showdown 6, we heard a lot of the “same old, same old” about the beverage brand competition: compelling; dramatic; inspiring; nerve-wracking; sensational. Boring stuff, indeed.
Schnell, the CEO of outsource consulting firm MetaBrand, has teamed with 6Pacific Capital, a West Coast private equity fund, to make investments in early-stage health and wellness companies doing business in food, beverage, and nutrition.
Hiball’s latest addition to its for its line of organic energy drinks comes in the form of a new ginger ale flavor. We can't say that we've had too many ginger ale-flavored energy drinks, but we really like that Hiball has taken a classic flavor and successfully made it feel new and enjoyable in a way that hasn’t been done in the past.
