In the past 18 months Zola has launched a two-pronged attack on the RTD beverage world, growing both its acai-centric lines while also turning its coconut water concept into an in-demand product line that has growing shelf placements and fast turns.
There’s evidence all around us – whether it’s watching someone gush over the sleek design of a new phone and then seek out the perfect hand-carved, petrified-jungle-wood case to put it in or the proliferation of farmers markets in big cities – people are looking for, and need, realness. There is a powerful urge to get in touch with what they believe is a more “real” world and it’s leading us to a place where signs of realness take on greater value.
Known for its super premium line of organic coconut waters, Harmless Harvest recently launched an innovative line of tea products that are made with “raw” tea leaves. The three-SKU line,…
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According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the company is applying for a patent for a high-fiber concentrated product that can be made with artificial sweeteners and turned into a variety of frozen beverages, both carbonated and non-carbonated.
Fuel cost is a major deterrent to our national recovery. I see and hear how it impacts our beverage universe. Yet, there are no clear answers or policies to address the spike and no coherent way to bring it down.
Continuing to expand with new and on-trend ingredients while remaining true to its core as a marketer of Amazonian "superfoods," Sambazon launched Energy Mocha Java and Blended Breakfast smoothies at the recently concluded Expo West show. The unique formulation and packaging of each product impressed our review panel.
A couple of interesting brands debut in our spotlight category this month: Starbucks Refreshers, which seem to be pulling in convenience and grocery. Also appearing in the rankings is Body Armor, which is close to $6 million here but is likely showing equal growth in uncharted, up and down the street channels. Still, after a long year-plus of pushing, the numbers have to come in as something of a vindication for its founders.
HiBall recently launched a pair of new products to its line of organic energy drinks and sparkling waters. From our perspective, Hiball Organic Pomegranate/Acai – a 120-calorie blend made with organic juice and organic sugar – and Hiball Peach Sparkling Energy Water – a zero-calorie product made with the company's certified-organic energy blend are both well-crafted line extensions for the brand.
According to Center for Public Integrity reporter Dave Levinthal, an expert on lobbying and lobbyists, the flock of nine skilled operatives from the top-tier Podesta Group represents a move that will take an “all-of-the-above” approach to trying to work the levers of power in D.C. at a time when politicians – particularly Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have been holding regulatory agencies’ feet to the fire when it comes to investigating their concerns about the beverages.
It’s been proven time and time again that in blind taste tests, under equal conditions, the average person is rarely able to distinguish between tap water and bottled water. So if taste isn’t why consumers are drawn to high-end water brands, what is it? Like a fancy car, it’s the packaging, and not what’s under the hood (or bottle cap), which most people crave. In the $10 billion plus world of bottled water, branding is everything. And for premium waters, everything begins with the bottle.
ZICO recently debuted a 1.5 L Tetra Pak, the first package of its kind in the U.S. The package will be positioned in grocery coolers within the premium juice category and comes in three flavors: Original, Chocolate, and a new Strawberry Banana variety, one made with 20 percent juice. We think that ZICO has done a great job with both the new package and the new flavor, which has a lower calorie profile than competing juice products.
The country's largest supermarket company has formed a strong internal strategy under VP of Natural Foods Mary Ellen Adcock to try to remake itself in the minds of natural and organic consumers as a place where they can go to discover new, on-trend drinks and other products, partnering with L.A. Libations on the beverage end.
John Lenore & Co. – which has distributed Monster for the brand’s entire existence – will no longer carry it as of April 1. The energy drink volume sales leader is moving to a pair of wholesalers affiliated with Anheuser-Busch, including an AB-owned affiliate in the south half of the city and Markstein Beverage Co. in the north.
