Three companies — Bai Brands, Drink Chia and Double Cola — announced news of expanded distribution this morning. Drink Chia, a growing part of a hot category, and Bai, a coffeefruit-infused beverage, both claimed new distribution in major marketplaces. Meanwhile, Double Cola announced regional expansion.
Long a supplier of chai and lemonade concentrates to the natural products giant, as well as independent coffee shops and natural food stores, Colorado-based Third Street Chai has developed a new 1 Liter tea line for national launch in Whole Foods and has changed its name to Third Street Inc. as well.
Beverage School attendees will get an inside look at what it means to try to break through in the Bay Area during an exclusive interview with Mateo Sluder, the Northern California "Cebador" for the vitally innovative yerba mate beverage company Guayaki.
Marketed as “100% Natural Greek Mountain Tea,” Tuvunu is a product is made with sideritis tea, wild blossom honey and not-from-concentrate lemon juice. Despite the exotic-sounding tagline, the beverage tastes nearly identical to a standard sweetened black tea with lemon. Figuring out some way to make this drink’s flavor memorable -- while maintaining the enjoyment of the beverage -- is the obvious next step.
Sipp, which produces a line of organic sodas, recently revamped its packaging and is now marketed as “sparkling organics.” The new look, which moves the Sipp into a 12 oz. longneck bottle and features new label design, definitely makes a good brand even better.
Indeed, cold-pressed, super-premium juices, the majority of which are sold by natural retailers, have attracted a tremendous amount of attention and enthusiasm, and sustained growth appears to be a forgone conclusion. However, a deeper examination of the category reveals a potentially challenging path for new brands.
Shortly after announcing a boycott of Stolichnaya Vodka, LGBT organizations and activists dumped Coca-Cola onto the streets of New York’s Times Square Wednesday to protest the soda giant’s sponsorship of the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
Earlier this summer, Ayala’s Herbal Water debuted a new line of caffeine- and sugar-free herbal teas. Rolled out as an exclusive at Wegman’s and The Fresh Market, Ayala’s Herbal Tea…
Reed’s Inc., the Los Angeles-based natural soda maker, announced Tuesday that Kroger will take on four of its eight kombucha flavors in approximately 1,000 supermarkets across the country.
Psyche is a new line of all-natural and zero-calorie soft drinks marketed by White Rock Beverages. The beverages come in several classic CSD flavors, including Orange and Lemon Lime, which are the two varieties that we sampled. While we enjoyed the formulation of the products, we have to ask: why isn't there a stronger visual connection to White Rock?
Taking an expanding subcategory into a new package, Zola Fruits of the World has launched a 17.5 oz. can of Coconut Water with Espresso. The product started shipping to supermarkets earlier this month. It pairs Thai coconut water with espresso coffee to provide 125 mg of caffeine. The coffee is being added at the company's Thailand canning facility, according to Zola CEO Chris Cuvelier.
Starbucks has announced a new deal with Whole Foods that will take its Evolution Fresh line of super-premium juices nationwide. Evolution Fresh, which had been sold primarily along the West Coast and parts of the Northeast, will be carried in all eight Whole Foods regions, and Starbucks plans for the brand to be sold in approximately 8,000 of its cafes and other grocery locations by the end of the year.
While we like the choice of a tall and narrow 16 oz. glass bottle versus the standard glass package many non-carbonated beverages use, and think the company is on the right track with its flavors, the label design for Lori's Lemonade really needs help.
Beverage School attendees will get branding and design advice from one of the most accomplished designers in the business, Ian McLean – and will also hear from angel investors Brad Barnhorn and Brad Winegar about how to get the funds to support their products – during the Sept. 12 event in San Francisco.
