New Beverage Showdown 23 - Semi-finals: NEOPOP

Ray Latif [00:14] All right, good afternoon. I am Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Bevnet's Taste Radio podcast, the number one podcast for the food and beverage industry, and the host of the new beverage showdown, Bevnet Live's signature beverage brand competition. We're gonna kick things off with the semi-final round of the showdown, which is sponsored by venturing emerging businesses and operating unit of the Coca-Cola Company. The competition gives 12 early stage and promising brands the opportunity to present their business plans and products to a panel of expert judges in the audience here at Bevnet Live. The winner of the two-day competition will receive a $10,000 industry awareness package and join a shortlist of brands that have triumphed in the showdown, including Health Aid Kombucha, Hop Lark, Rise Brewing Company, and Malk. Let's talk about the rules for the semi-final round. Each of the 12 brands presenting will have 2 minutes to present and receive 2 minutes of immediate feedback from the judging panel. The judges have already sampled the beverages. If the contestants attempt to go longer than the 2 minutes, they'll hear this dreaded sound. Obviously you don't want to hear that sound. After all the brands have presented, the judges will pick 5 brands to move on to the final round, which takes place tomorrow. The 6th finalists will be chosen by audience vote. At the end of today's semi-final round, we're gonna show a list of all the participants and a number next to the brand name. Audience members in attendance and watching at home on the live stream can vote by texting the number corresponding with their favorite brand to a phone number that we'll provide. We're gonna show that phone number at the end of the semi-final round. You'll have until 5 p.m. Eastern time to vote. All right, let's meet our panel of esteemed judges, beginning with our very own Jackie Bruglira, who is the director of marketing for Bevnet Nosh Brewbound and a co-host of the Taste Radio podcast. She's also the producer of Bevnet Nosh's Elevator Talk video series, which introduces emerging brands to the industry. She could also whip anyone here on the basketball court. Jackie was the tournament MVP when Bentley University won the NCAA Division 2 national championship, going undefeated in the process. Up next we have David de la Garza who's the senior manager for Tobo Chico at the Coca-Cola Company. Since 2017, David has led marketing for Tobo Chico at Coca-Cola and has developed and implemented a methodical multi-year brand building plan that has achieved a number one sub-segment share in the United States. He's also won, which also won Ad Age's America's hottest top brands in 2019 and was rolled out in, excuse me, Latin America in 2020. He's also a super fan of Formula One. Who's your favorite driver?

Speaker 2 [03:07] A no brainer. I'm from Mexico.

Ray Latif [03:09] There you go, Checo

Speaker 2 [03:09] Perez,

Ray Latif [03:10] right on. Uh, next, yeah, you can clap for that. There you go. Next up we have Alison Ellsworth, who's the co-founder and chief brand officer of Poppy, a better for you soda made with clean ingredients. Struggling from a variety of health issues, she created Poppy after discovering the health benefits of apple cider vinegar and experimenting in her kitchen to make it taste great. From the farmer's market to winning new beverage showdown 12 to a shark tank deal and now in retailers nationwide, Poppy quickly became one of the fastest growing non-alcoholic beverages in the United States. Lastly we have Brittany Jacobs, who is a senior account executive at Instacart supporting beverage brands. Her passion is elevating ad strategy to the next frontier. Prior to her time at Instacart, Brittany spent over 7 years at Pinterest in both national and global roles, supporting large scale CPG companies, and before that spent 5 years at Hulu, leading various operational teams. Alright, fantastic jogging. Alright, I'm very excited to hear from our first semi-finalists. That's Adamya Sharma, who is the founder and CEO of Neopop. Come on up. Are you? Very good. You can use either one of these mics. Please keep an eye on your timer.

Speaker 3 [04:42] Can I start? Hi. Hi, everyone. I'm Adday, founder and CEO at Neopop. It goes back to almost March of 2020, right at the start of the pandemic, when I was trying to work, I was, when I was working for an Indian CPG brand, trying to grow the brand in the US remotely. It did teach me a lot of lessons trying to navigate, you know, the early-stage brand environment during the pandemic, but it came at huge personal cost, stress. I tried using stress supplements, but I was not very happy with the overall experience. I felt the need for an accessible and a convenient product that could help me relax, yet not put me to sleep in a work from home environment. This is what inspired me to create Neopop. Neopop is a relaxation beverage infused with new tropics and adaptogens like L-theanine and Ashwagandha. We just use 6 g of organic cane sugar and have 30 to 50 calories per can. Neopop is vegan, non-GMO, and gluten-free. We have three flavors, classic cola, ginger lemon, and lemon lime. We specifically chose these flavors to drive mainstream adoption as they have a huge nostalgic importance in the American consumers' lives, and we thought we could get more consumers into the relaxation category by having mainstream flavor options. At Neopop, we aim to be a convenient, delicious, and an accessible product for consumers to manage day to day stress. Packed with full flavor and high carbonation, NOop is targeted towards millennials and Gen Z consumers to manage day to day stress, particularly during the lunch, post lunch, and evening consumption occasions. We spent over 12 months in formulation and finally did a pilot launch in Brooklyn in Feb of this year. After the success of the pilot launch, we continue to grow week on week and are currently in 50 to 60 stores in the New York City region. We continue to have a very highly. Thank you.

Ray Latif [06:54] Well done. Brittany, let's start with you. Um, a relaxation beverage sort of positioned as a soda. What do you think of that concept?

Speaker 4 [07:02] I love it. I think that there is such a trend and a focus on mental health and well-being right now that I think it resonates with consumers and what they want. And also I'll just add on to that that the flavor was there for me, especially the ginger lemon was delicious.

Ray Latif [07:16] Yeah, let's stay on that. Alison, you know, as someone who makes beverages taste great, what did you think of the flavor?

Speaker 5 [07:21] I think it was great taste and full flavor to be able to call itself a pop, so I think they did a really good job there. And I also think the packaging is really amazing and it just screamed flavor, which I think is important.

Ray Latif [07:35] David, in terms of the, uh, you know, educational initiatives that Neopop may have to take, um, do you think it's a good foundation they have for letting people know what this is and why to use it?

Speaker 2 [07:44] Uh, yeah, I think, um, I, I think the claim on the front, um, does support that looking at the back and the type of ingredients, um, and what the function is, is clear on the back. I also like that it utilizes the category codes, um, and yeah, it does seem refreshing.

Ray Latif [08:05] In terms of label hierarchy, Jackie, um, do you think Neopop has it right in terms of where things should be called out, where the brand name sits, where some of the imagery sits? Yeah,

Speaker 6 [08:14] I think they could improve a little bit about, um, their logo. The logo kind of blends in with the other information. It looks just like additional text on the on the can. Um, I think they're a little bit literal too with like the cola, the clinking of the cans. They could get a little bit more creative with that and really boost the supports relaxation because I think from his story that was his main focus was the functional aspect.

Ray Latif [08:36] Mhm. David, I want to go back to you for a 2nd. 6 g of sugar, only 30 to 50 calories depending on variety. Is that the, is that the sweet spot for these types of beverages at this point?

Speaker 2 [08:45] I think it is. I mean, um, you know, if you have less, obviously less than 100 calories, you're, you're, um, on, on, on the more healthier side, um, but 6 g of sugar and putting it right on the front, is, is very transparent, which I'm, I'm sure consumers would appreciate.

Ray Latif [09:04] Absolutely. All right, well done.