Sad news came in to BevNET Tuesday afternoon when we learned that Jack Shanker, the grandfather of current Canada Dry Bottling Co. of Lansing, Mich. owner Randy Shanker, had passed away at 94. Jack Shanker went to work for his father, the founder of the company, when he was just 15, and helped build an independent bottling company that has lasted for 75 years and is currently under its fourth generation of family ownership.
Concerned about the speed with which coconut water companies have extended their supply lines to meet skyrocketing demand, vendors working with Whole Foods are being asked to supply audited certification that confirms they have ethical and responsible sourcing.
As ZICO gears up for national distribution within the Coca-Cola Co. system, the coconut water marketer has announced that Scott Uzzell will join the company as Chief Commercial Officer and EVP of Sales. The change in leadership and shift in distribution follows a marketing and public relations shake-up for ZICO earlier this year.
And the rich (hope to) get richer. Aiming to capitalize on growing year-round demand for iced coffee – and extend its domination of the ready to drink coffee category - Starbucks has launched a new line of bottled coffee drinks. Quietly and with very little fanfare, Starbucks has introduced Starbucks Iced Coffee, a four-SKU line of blended coffee and milk products, at select grocery retailers in Boston, Hartford, New York and Philadelphia.
While most carbonated soft drinks face a decline in demand, a range of new and innovative of boutique and gourmet sodas has elicited renewed appeal in the category. One such brand is Brooklyn Soda Works, and in our review of two of its offerings, Root Beer and Apple and Ginger Carbonated Fresh Juice, we feel that the company has done an excellent job in formulation and packaging.
The man who has been dubbed “The Big Aristotle,” “Shaq Fu,” and “The Diesel” can now add a new nickname to his unrivaled list: “Big Blue.” BLUE04, which markets an oxygenated water, announced today that Shaquille O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion and 15-time NBA All-Star, has taken an ownership position with the company.
Jane Prior, who joined the coconut water company in 2010 as director of consumer marketing, has been promoted to vice president of marketing for the U.S. Prior moves into the role vacated by Jeff Rubenstein, who is now the vice president of global strategy for Vita Coco, working from Miami. Rubenstein will work closely with CEO Michael Kirban on the company's endeavors in Europe and Asia.
In case the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wasn’t paying attention, Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) sent a letter to the agency highlighting recent reports that emphasize the downsides of energy drinks.
When the original Coco Cafe variety came out, we knew that we were witnessing something that could take the RTD coffee category by storm. The product was simple in flavor, but super timely and innovative in its use of coconut water. However, there was a big question mark: how would they add additional flavors to the line? The answer is finally here as the brand recently introduced Mocha and Vanilla varieties, one of which garnered a rare five-star rating...
Major developments out of the Big Apple with news that Big Geyser has secured the exclusive rights to distribute Monster Energy and Sparkling ICE in all five boroughs of New York City, as well as Nassau, Suffolk County, Long Island and Westchester County.
Responding to a recent article in the medical journal Pediatrics in Review titled “Energy Drinks: What Teenagers (and Their Doctors) Should Know,” the American Beverage Association (ABA) slammed the authors of the article for “perpetuating sensational untruths.”
This $1.50 hot dog -- and about 99,999,999 more like it -- will now be served with Pepsi in the Costco food court. Costco foodservice locations will begin switching from Coke to Pepsi products at the retailer’s 400-plus U.S. locations beginning in April, and carried out globally over the next few years as vending contracts expire.
Raising money, buying factories, killing product lines, searching for distribution: The tale of a functional beverage company in disarray.
In a world where beverages are pretty much all about providing some sort of value add (in addition to flavor and refreshment), it’s always interesting to see a product that’s going in the other direction. And that’s how we’d sum up this product, Diet Double Cola, which, being a diet cola, is a product that’s about as pedestrian as it gets.
