Sure, ready-to-drink tea remains a growth category, but the number of brands entering the space or extending current lines is increasing by the day. Crowded shelves makes branding and packaging of critical importance for brands to stand out amongst competing products. And the lack of a polished or innovative look is the most significant problem facing Pure Leaf, a line of iced tea drinks marketed by PepsiCo.
Filmed from within the cozy confines of the New Beverage Showdown lounge at BevNET Live Summer '13, we spoke with Justin Prochnow, an attorney with Greenberg Traurig LLP specializing in regulation affecting the beverage industry, who offered up a brief look at some of the most current and pressing legal issues facing beverage brands.
Seemingly every month, an energy drink company takes a black eye from a new, harrowing slate of news, another lawsuit, a demeaning study, a band of legislators with belts tied too tight and constituencies to appease. Whether justified or not, energy drinks have been painted as an evil that’s worthy of no more than the pariah life. But the industry isn’t exactly flabbergasted.
A semifinalist in the recently held New Beverage Showdown 5 at BevNET Live Summer '13, Minta is a new line of mint-flavored sodas. The brand comes in original and diet varieties, each of which are packaged in a proprietary 12 oz. bottle. While the drinks could use some minor tweaks in formulation, Minta has done a great job overall.
Accepting too many disparate offers has the potential to spread a brand too quickly or even to gut its identity. Therefore, several speakers at BevNET Live last week in New York City echoed Nancy Reagan, advising entrepreneurs to “just say ‘no.’”
As rising waves of demand attract new entrants into the probiotic beverage category, GoodBelly recently made a few significant moves to stand out from the crowd.
Neuro has found distribution in Target, and also killed Sun in favor of Daily. Although, since it's hard to have Daily without the Sun, it's kept the Vitamin D in Daily.
There are a number of energy drink companies that have incorporated coconut water into their products, but, generally speaking, it is an ingredient that often gets overpowered and lost among stronger flavors. Fortunately, that’s far from the case with this Hiball Energy's new Coconut Water variety. Instead, the beverage tastes, first and foremost, like a coconut water drink.
Simply put, the rapid emergence of Sparking ICE on the national stage has been nothing short of extraordinary. Yet, is it possible for the brand to sustain its stratospheric rise? Kevin Klock, the CEO of Talking Rain, has no doubt. In an interview at BevNET Live Summer ’13, Klock indicated that present sales of Sparkling ICE were just the tip of the iceberg and estimated that the brand would reach the $400 million mark by the end of the year.
Vita Coco, the number one-selling coconut water brand in the U.S., has introduced Vita Coco Kids to the market. Made with coconut water, filtered water, natural fruit flavors and vitamin C, the beverages, which come in wedge-shaped 6 oz. Tetra Pak containers with an attached straw, will hit shelves beginning in July.
One week after Ben Weiss, the founder and CEO of bai, said at BevNET Live in New York that he expects his company’s sales to increase fivefold this year, he followed his words with an executive shift, announcing Tuesday that Ken Kurtz has been promoted to company president.
Yes, the market has -- seemingly overnight -- become flooded with new cold-pressed, high pressure processed juice brands. Most, if not all, utilize extremely high quality and/or organic ingredients, but does that mean the products taste good? Look good? Not necessarily, but in the in case of South Florida-based OnJuice, the company has done an excellent job with the formulation and packaging of its juice blends.
With Mike Kirban’s new-age-y approach to management, which he shared on stage during BevNET Live Summer '13 last week in New York, he revealed that he had established Vita Coco as a state of both mind and business.
It's not quite a Vitaminwater-sized payday for the company's former president, Mike Repole, but for nearly $200 million, Repole and the other investors in snack food company Pirate Brands should keep the horses Repole loves deep in hay and alfalfa for quite a while.
