Hoping to avoid the snares that often bedevil entrepreneurs in the beverage industry, prospective drink makers and recent startups assembled Wednesday at the Greenhouse Loft in Chicago for BevNET’s Beverage School.

A new report on the market for fruit and vegetable juices finds that while dollar sales and consumption of juice drinks has since 2007 remained stagnant, consumers are increasingly embracing new and innovative juice products and flavors - and mainstream retailers are paying attention.

AQUAhydrate today announced that it has finalized distribution deals with the nation’s two largest grocery retailers, Kroger and Safeway. The agreements will bring the high alkaline and enhanced water brand into stores owned by the two chains and their subsidiaries in regions across the country.

While companies like PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Co. are able to devote millions of dollars in resources to develop and enhance a social media presence, most entrepreneurial beverage companies are faced with an extremely limited budget for any kind of marketing or advertising, much less a focused plan of attack online. However, there are some affordable options available to small companies looking to reach the growing number of socially savvy consumers.

New Leaf Brands has outlined a series of new cost cutting initiatives and reiterated plans to expand business operations via the acquisition of “brands, distributors and co-packers in our industry,” as part of its restructuring and turnaround efforts. While the company continues to face an upward struggle toward profitability, CEO David Fuselier stated that the company is attempting to reduce supply chain and corporate operating costs, and new strategic partnerships.