New Beverage Showdown Judges Remarks and Winner Announcement

Speaker 1 [00:37] All right. You know why we're here, we're here to announce the winner of the New Beverage Showdown. Hand this trophy off to the winner. Give them $10,000 in an ad package. Add them to a shortlist of brands that have triumphed in this competition. Before we do that. Just gonna make a couple of housekeeping notes. Number one, registration for BevNET Live, summer 2025 is now open. There you go. So, uh, if it's even available on your mobile devices, all you do is you go to bednetlive.com and you can sign up. Also, I want to let people know that, uh, we're gonna invite the winner to come up here, take a few photos on stage. So if you do win the competition, come on up, they can take a few photos. We're also gonna do an interview in the Tas Radio studio downstairs. So live stream viewers, stay tuned for that. All right, Quick, quick, quick debrief with the judges, talk a little bit about that winner and the finalists as a whole. Suzanne, let's start with you. You know, in general terms, what did you really like out of the six finalists that presented today?

Speaker 2 [01:46] Um, I loved the creative use of, uh, of graphics as well as creative use of flavors, um, and especially the exploration on sweeteners. I think a few years ago. You know, everything had stevia in it a couple of years after that, everything had monk fruit in it a couple of years after that, you know, so on. So I thought it was really interesting the different, um, different ways in which the finalists chose to sweeten, um, and, and flavor their beverages.

Speaker 1 [02:13] Yeah, Ken, your thoughts on positives that you saw out of this group.

Speaker 3 [02:17] Sure. Um, I would say the courage and the enthusiasm, and then also that to me, everything is a work in progress, like there's nothing. Imminently ready for prime time in my humble opinion.

Speaker 1 [02:32] OK. Sabrina, uh, you know, let's talk about both things, you know, things that you saw that you really enjoyed seeing out of the presentations and brands and maybe where there's an opportunity to improve.

Speaker 4 [02:43] Well, first, to the contestants, congratulations for getting on this stage today. Um, I always say I have the easy part because you guys have this product and you commercialize it and you look at trends, you look at data, we saw all of that today and you bring it to market and all I have to do is sell it. So I actually have the easy part and so just um keep the energy up, um. Stay coachable. That that would probably be my biggest words of feedback is um this industry and your roles go up and down. Stay coachable, sink it in, learn from your mistakes. I, I love the presentation that was just up here. Learn from your mistakes and just keep kicking ass.

Speaker 1 [03:29] Yeah, John, last word of the competition.

Speaker 5 [03:31] Last word, jeez. Well, I, I would just again echo what's already been said. I mean, I think, uh, a lot of, you know, passion from the entrepreneurs, you know, it's awesome that they got up here and did this twice in front of the audience. And, you know, I think similar to what Ken said, I think, you know, there are products here and, and entrepreneurs here that feel like, you know, these balls of clay that. You know, as we've said at other, uh, new Beverage showdowns, you know, it's like they're so early in their journey, so it's wild just to, you know, watch and see where many of them go, whether they win or not. And, you know, I think, um, you know, one of our past winners, which was, uh, Poppy, you know, who presented his mother beverage, you know, it's amazing like what just focus and, and commitment to, you know, your brand can lead to. So I would just encourage. Everyone who participated, whether you win or don't, um, you know, just to take from this and build upon it,

Speaker 1 [04:27] so, absolutely. There was a time when Liquid Death, or at least the founder of Liquid Death took the stage. He didn't even make it to the final round, and look where they are now, Mike. All right. Uh, I just wanna once again thank all the finalists. Uh, just amazing job today. I wanna thank the judges. Round of applause for everyone, but well done. All right. The winner of the New Beverage Showdown and a $10,000 ad package is. Recoup, Susan, Buckwalter, Hartman, come on up. Congratulations. Very well done. Outstanding. The judges, we wanna thank you. We're gonna take a couple of photos here. Congratulations.

Speaker 3 [05:20] Nice job.

Speaker 4 [05:21] Congratulations.

Speaker 1 [05:23] All right, this is yours. Yeah. Let's take a photo with the judges here.

Speaker 5 [05:33] Oh.

Speaker 1 [05:36] Oh. All set. Alright, thank you all for coming to BevNET Live Winter 2024. We'll see you in New York in six months. Thank you again. Well done. Thanks everyone. Great job, great job.