News & Analysis for the Beverage Industry
Reformulate
In an 'industry-first', stevia leaf ingredients producer PureCircle and flavourings, extracts and essences company Synergy Flavours, team up with Skinny Drinks Group to create zero-sugar tonics sweetened with PureCircle Reb M stevia extract.
Sustainable Food & Drink Podcast
Thousands of child labourers work in coffee, but the true levels remain under-researched. Lumina Intelligence speaks to the Sustainable Coffee Challenge about the worst forms of child labour.
Entrepreneur insights
The world’s first beer brewed from cannabis will be ready when Canada legalizes cannabis beverages later this year. But preparing for a new product for a new market is no small challenge: “You’re setting sail in a ship that is totally not built yet, you...
Podcast
There’s a trend towards smaller pack sizes in the soft drinks industry, offering more choice for consumers and opening up new avenues of innovation for packaging companies. In this podcast we take a look at a big shift towards small packs.
Global Bottled Water Congress 2018
With Coca-Cola announcing it will launch smartwater alkaline next year, it looks like the alkaline water category could be poised to leap to the next level. So what are alkaline waters, and what’s all the fuss about? In this special podcast we speak to...
After years of steady growth in the high single-digits, consumption of water in the US has finally surpassed carbonated soft drinks to become the largest beverage category by volume in the United States, according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation.
The UK has announced a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. But how hard will it hit the industry? How effective will the tax be at tackling childhood obesity? And could the tax be extended to other food categories? We take a look at the big questions...
Dispatches from FiE, Paris
Consumers want more information about the products they are drinking: from the ingredients in products to the nutritional value. But does this curiosity extend as far as the processing technologies used to create the beverage?
Our teams of journalists were out in force at Food Ingredients Europe (FiE) last week. We’ve picked out some of our highlights from over one thousand exhibitors, a packed conference programme and talks on industry insights.
Dispatches from Vitafoods, Geneva
Probiotic fruit drinks face different challenges to their dairy counterparts - but both face the same requirement to taste good.
Tetra Pak is a B2B company but it invests above the curve in shopper and consumer insights, and Michela Vallalta, the company’s director of consumer intelligence, tells BeverageDaily.com why.
IN DISCUSSION WITH...FABIO THOMAZELLI, TETRA PAK
Tetra Pak says it’s vital for its customers to strike a balance between ideal package functionality and carton cost, with liquid milk one segment where consumers tend to favor a lower product price.
MONTHER T. AL HARTHI, CEO, CHATS WITH BEVERAGEDAILY.COM
The CEO of Saudi Arabian food and beverage giant Al Rabie Saudi Foods tells BeverageDaily.com that the company is keen to expand beyond its powerbase in MENA to the Europe and the US.
WINE VISION 2014: FOCUS ON...SMART VIRAL MARKETING
Mirabeau En Provence owner Stephen Cronk says the desire for a direct consumer connection inspired him to record a 50 second YouTube video that's won the Rosé producer a staggering 8m+ views to date.
BRAU BEVIALE 2014: FOCUS ON...GLUTEN-FREE BEER
DSM Food Specialities claims that, far from being cautious, craft brewers are embracing the possibilities its enzyme to create gluten-free beer offers.
BRAU BEVIALE 2014: IN CONVERSATION WITH...REXAM
Rexam tells BeverageDaily.com it is pursuing business in the dairy drinks segment and says one notable success to date was lemonade flavored milkshake MIO in Russia.
In late 2013 US beer brand Yuengling started shipping bottles in Tite-Pak, a solid fiber carton designed to reduce glass breakage, and Graphic Packaging says soft drinks brands could also benefit.
PACK EXPO 2014: PODCAST WITH BRIAN KENNELL, TETRA PAK
Tetra Pak’s new CEO and president for USA and Canada tells BeverageDaily.com that the firm sees rich regional growth potential in added-value functional beverages.
CANADEAN BEVERAGE PACKAGING 2014, BRUSSELS
Scandinavia’s top-selling smoothie manufacturer Froosh has called for ‘trade not aid’ in developing countries and insists beverage brands should do more to understand their supply chains.
From tea yoghurt to coffee fruit energy, portable water enhancement to Milo’s brand expansions, Mintel shared category-busting innovation at Food Ingredients-Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia, this week.
Food producers should look at the current obesity crisis as an opportunity to do good business and do good for public health through the reformulation of mass-market products, says one nutrition policy expert.
SPORTS NUTRITION 2014: A STARK WARNING FOR ENTREPRENEURS
Beverage brand development guru James Tonkin has warned wannabe entrepreneurs that going up against established brands such as Red Bull and Coca-Cola without some kind of ‘silo vertical’ protection is fruitless.
Caffeine does not have a diuretic effect on regular coffee drinkers and is safe to use, says sports nutrition researcher and consultant in elite sport.
Already one of the most widely-used stimulants in sport, recent research suggests there may be greater scope for caffeine to be used in a wider range of sports as well as during exercise, says sports nutrition researcher and consultant in elite sport.
BEVERAGEDAILY BASEMENT TAPES: TYLER BALLIET, SECOND GLASS
Dubbed the 'Prince of Boston's Wine Revolution' by Stuff magazine, Second Glass founder Tyler Balliet tells us how to start a wine riot and his excitement about speaking at Wine Vision in London this November.
THE BEVERAGEDAILY BASEMENT TAPES: CHRIS HANNAWAY, OVERLY SPORTS DRINK
Young entrepreneur Chris Hannaway and childhood friend Will Hammersley launched frozen yogurt brand Arctic Farm into Sainsbury’s at the tender age of 19. Now they’re back with sports drink Overly. This is Chris’s story…
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: SIMON SPILLANE, BREWERS OF EUROPE (BRUSSELS PRESS CLUB)
Brewers of Europe insists that ending 'discriminatory' tax breaks on small EU brewers exporting to the US remain a vital issue in ongoing talks around the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP).
From the Vitafoods Europe 2014 vault
Exotic and functional fruits and vegetables like cashew nut fruit, chu chu and their extracts are set for an easier passage into European Union markets if mooted simplifications to EU Novel Foods laws come to fruition, according to a UK-based expert.
PROMISING START FOR BEVERAGE STARTUP ACCELERATOR
Green-tea based drinks brand OOb took first prize at the inaugural DrinkPreneur event in London yesterday, winning high praise from judges including Tesco soft drinks buying manager David Beardmore.
INTERPACK 2014: LIVE FROM THE SHOW FLOOR
Paolo Ventrelli from GEA Procomac tells us that the firm’s White & Safe bottle now on trial in Italy will overcome light barrier problems that have hampered PET uptake in ESL/UHT white milk.
Jens Winkler, business development manager, CCL Label
CCL Label tells BeverageDaily.com that Coke’s successful Christmas holiday promotion using its sustainable TD shrink sleeve material will spur the market still further and assist hard-pressed recyclers.
Welsh farmer turned entrepreneur Laurence Harris tells BeverageDaily.com about his nationwide distribution ambition for the UK’s first organic flavored milk brand Daioni.
INNOBEV GLOBAL SOFT DRINKS CONGRESS: THE FUTURE FOR WATER ENHANCERS
DreamPak’s international sales director tells Ben Bouckley that brands must differentiate to grow in a crowded US beverage enhancers fixture and tips tea, coffee and smoothies to lead the charge.
INNOBEV GLOBAL SOFT DRINKS CONGRESS: FINAL THOUGHTS
Zenith International chairman Richard Hall tells BeverageDaily.com that he thinks the beverage industry is regaining its faith in functional products.
INNOBEV GLOBAL SOFT DRINKS CONGRESS: ANDREW GIBB, COLDPRESS
Cold Press MD Andrew Gibb reveals the HPP juice and smoothie brand’s sales could hit circa. $5m in 2014 and is unfazed about taking on the might of Innocent Drinks and Tropicana.
dispatches from Analytica 2014
Refractometers can be used as a final check to ensure everything has gone right in the production process, according to a UK firm.
Business software specialist CSB-System says it is keen to expand in English-speaking markets such as the US and UK, and claims it offers beverage firms a level of system integration that rivals cannot.
Google Glass, glasses which contain tiny computers on their frames, will shape the wines people buy in the future, predicts Arnaud Daphy of wine marketing consultancy Triptiq.
INSIDE...VOLAC
British consumers would “absolutely not” have been ready for a product like Upbeat - Volac's liquid whey protein concentrate, fruit juice hybrid - five-years ago, the company’s human nutrition chief has claimed.
Food manufacturers, retailers and other food industry players are failing to connect with consumers who are tuning out of mainstream messaging and infesting their own comms channels, says angel investor, business mentor and philanthropist, Mike Greene.
INSIDE...TETRA PAK MODENA
Consumer feedback on the functionality of packaging is increasingly important for Tetra Pak as it expands into new markets, according to the company's head of user experience research.
EXCLUSIVE: 150TH ANNIVERSARY FACTORY VISIT
Perrier site manager Bernard Rouger insists that there are no supply limitations as Nestle Waters’ iconic French sparkling water brand breaks the 1.1bn unit barrier in 2013.
Dispatches from #FIE2013
James Collins, bespoke nutritionist at Arsenal Football Club and with other elite athletes, says food supplements and sports nutrition products are highly important to top athletes - so important their use is now near-on ubiquitous.
ANUGA TASTE THE FUTURE 2013: TAKE-HOME TRENDS FROM THE SHOW
Tanja Krüger from WILD Flavors notes the emerging trend in energy drinks towards ‘fusion energy’ - products that pair energy with other global success stories including tea and malt-based ingredients.
'BIGGER FIRMS WOULD NOT HAVE DEVELOPED AWARD WINNER': CEO
Klaus Dörrenhaus, CEO of German company KDM, tells Ben Bouckley why he chose to persevere in developing his award-winning, all-natural Orang-Utang soft drink.
X-ray inspection adoption is increasing with it being an accepted process but finer and more contaminants remain the target to increase its use, according to Eagle Product Inspection.
ANUGA TASTE THE FUTURE 2013: 'You must think differently to compete in cola', CULT founder
CULT Energy founder Brian Sørensen explains why the world’s most caffeinated cola outsells Pepsi in convenience channels and supermarkets in the brand’s native Denmark.
ANUGA TASTE THE FUTURE 2013: 'IT'S NOT ABOUT BEING THE FIRST, BUT THE BEST'
Moshy Cohen from RCCI promises that the firm’s mid-calorie Neo cola with stevia - which took three years to develop - is the ‘best solution’ for regular cola drinkers.
DRINKTEC 2013: NOVEL GLUTEN-FREE BEER FLAVOR PROFILES
DSM says a possible US rule change allowing brewers to label barley-based beers ‘gluten-free’ would be fantastic for both brewers and consumers, and open up the market to new, more mainstream taste profiles.
DRINKTEC 2013: HEUFT TEAMS UP WITH AMANDA TAPPING
Martina Frey, product manager, HEUFT InLineII IXS, explains why the bottle inspection machine breaks ground, while the firm unveiled a unique tie-up with Stargate-SG1 actress Amanda Tapping.