Labeling changes are on tap for leading coconut water brand Vita Coco, which is conducting a line refresh that will migrate across the country throughout the summer.

TSG Consumer Partners, a private equity firm known for its profitable investment in a number of food and beverage companies including Vitaminwater and Voss Water, has sold its stake in San Francisco-based Pop Chips to Verlinvest, a Belgian-based private equity group. Pop Chips has a number of beverage investors, including Rohan Oza of Vitaminwater fame.

Single-serve offerings of coffee and tea led the way for the most successful new beverage launches in 2011, according to SymphonyIRI’s 2011 “New Products Pacesetters” report. The report, which compiles the top new food and beverage brands based on dollar sales, lists carbonated, sports and energy categories as having the second-most active launches within the beverage industry.

We are pleased to announce that Brewbound.com (that’s BevNET.com’s site for craft beer) will be coming to NYC in June with its second conference dedicated to the craft beer industry.…

And there's another one in the pool... AriZona has leaped into the growing sub-segment of coconut water/coffee combos with the introduction of CocoZona Espresso. The new beverage - the first product extension in AriZona's fledgling CocoZona line - is a 100 percent coconut water and espresso blend and contains 50 mg of caffeine and 70 calories per 14.5 oz. bottle.

PepsiCo tipped its hand on its innovation plans today, advertising for a position on a still-forming team designed to work with emerging beverages out of its Naked Juice offices near Los Angeles. The Beverage Growth Ventures team will be led by Chris Lansing, the General Manager of its Naked Juice and Izze division, BevNET has learned. Naked/Izze operates as a separate, West Coast entity, although it is owned by PepsiCo.