Carbonates will never return to the buzz of the 80s but beverage makers can inject life back into the category from side-stepping into the water aisle to bottling up retro-style or moving into new day parts, says Euromonitor International.
The holidays are fast upon us, so let’s put ‘business’ to one side and get into the festive mood. To keep in the spirit of things, we’ve got a ‘gift’ for you – enjoy. Happy Holidays!
Insect proteins and fruit-sweetened confectionery are two emerging trends food manufacturers should monitor, according to a list of top 10 food trends for 2015, revealed at the Health Ingredients Europe (HiE) event.
There has been huge growth in functional and fortified food and drinks in recent years, but experts suggest that the next few years could see industry take a ‘naturally healthy’ approach to formulation.
Premium bottled water producers must excite as well as hydrate consumers, delegates at the Zenith International Premium Waters conference heard last week.
Executives at the top carbonated soft drink firms are more positive on the future of the category in the US, but the decline of diet drinks shows no sign of abating, according to an analyst from Cowen and Company.
New flavors created for a wider variety of protein sources, made possible by advancements in masking research, is expanding the consumer base for and driving sales of high protein products, such as sports nutrition drinks, according to Synergy Flavors...
PREMIUM WATERS 2014, ZENITH INTERNATIONAL, DUBAI, DECEMBER 8-9
Waters connoisseur Michael Mascha believes hydration alone is boring and believes that premium water brands should push their epicurean credentials to emphasize distinctive terroir and taste.
From Bowser Beer for dogs and a Japanese sports drink targeting a moon landing, to CSDs with jelly and China’s ban on ‘vampire drinks’ – 2014’s seen its fair share of wacky beverage news.
Pope Francis got nostalgic yesterday when presented with two donkeys and baskets of donkey milk powder by Swiss firm Eurolactis - revealing he drank the milk as an infant.
WINE VISION 2014: TAYLOR'S PORT CEO ALSO WARNS OF RACE TO BOTTOM
Troy Christensen, CEO of Enotria Wine Cellars, warns the wine industry that spirits and beer have stolen its play book and says the industry needs to build ‘brand wine’ more effectively to attract consumers who can afford premium wines.
MARCH TOWARDS DEEP DISCOUNT RETAILERS 'BREATHTAKING', SAYS RESEARCH FIRM
Wine Intelligence warns that a bifurcating UK wine market means that more consumers are trading up, while more are also trading down, and predicts this will leave scant space for the mediocre in-between.
The global beverage sector is thriving - driven by dynamic and creative individuals around the world. But do you or a colleague have what it takes to be recognized by your industry peers?
Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) has launched Kool2GO an instant powdered drink that comes in strawberry, orange, pineapple, apple and mango flavours, in Africa.
High earners in Australia are not only more likely to drink more champagne, but also more beer, wine and spirits than their less affluent neighbours, according to Roy Morgan Research.
WINE VISION 2014: COMBATING THE 'NEW-AGE PROHIBITIONISTS'
Eminent wine writer and economist Mike Veseth warns that the wine world needs to combat the threat of ‘new age prohibitionists’ and authentic, interesting and affordable spirits and beers.
WINE VISION 2014: TYLER BALLIET COMPARES WINE LEXICON WITH THAT OF 90s PC
The brains behind the successful Wine Riot events in the US, Tyler Balliet, believes that winemakers should forget their own brands and simply focus on marketing wine to a new generation of consumers.
WINE VISION 2014: THE AGE OF OPPORTUNITY & DIVERGENCE
Direct Wines CEO Simon McMurtrie insists that bringing ‘some of the magic’ associated with movie and perfume launches into the wine world will entice a new generation of wine drinkers.
Over 1.5 million fewer Australians are drinking packaged fruit juice in an average week compared with just four years ago, analysis by Roy Morgan Research has revealed.
Sales of herbal and other teas increased by 5.9% in the United States in 2013, capping off a decade of solid growth, according to a market report by the American Botanical Council. It was ABC’s first such report on the tea sector.
WINE VISION 2014: INTERVIEW WITH Jean-Guillaume Prats
Jean-Guillaume Prats, Moët-Hennessy Estates and Wine CEO, says he believes great wine produced in California’s Napa Valley will rival the finest Bordeaux in future years.
With sales of $176.7 billion this year functional foods are a hot growth sector. But which ingredients, sectors and countries are the best bets for product launches?
To understand Functional Foods you must see it as a strategy to add value to processed foods, says the president and founder of the HealthyMarketingTeam, Peter Wennstrom, in this guest article.
While mainstream food retailers discovered kombucha later than their counterparts in the ‘natural’ channel, they are playing catch-up now, says natural soda maker Reed’s, which entered the market in 2012 with its Culture Club kombucha range and now claims...
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.
Mintel says European consumers have a growing thirst for non-alcoholic beer, and analyst Jonny Forsyth suggests big brewers should work harder to hit this sweet spot, particularly among older consumers.
With Wine Vision 2014 set to start at Shangri-La at The Shard in London on November 17, you could win a place at the show by taking part in the Big Debate on retailer and supplier relations.
Liqui-Box has closed down its factory in Shenzhen, north of Hong Kong (under its former DuPont ownership) and relocated to a plant in Taizhou, on the eastern coast of China's Zhejiang province, facing the East China Sea.
Jaime Crespo, senior brand manager, Lipton North America, says research suggests consumers are 59 times more likely to engage with brands on Instagram than Facebook, while millennials measure wealth more by experiences.
Coffee manufacturers could boost sales by developing the broader variety of products that consumers buy elsewhere in Europe, according to Carlos Diaz, food director at Food Innovation Solutions (FIS).
A new energy drink is seeking a middle path in the sphere, trying to find space between the shot market and bigger serving size cans. Called Last Shot, the product is the subject of a distribution agreement between EQ Labs and Liquid Health Labs, Inc.
Australia’s biggest multi-brand retail food franchiser, Retail Food Group (RFG), will become a “global franchising powerhouse” following its purchase of Gloria Jean’s Coffees at an initial cost of A$163.5m (US$144m).
Once upon a time there was China tea. If you were Chinese and liked hot drinks, the local tradition in tea led the way. If you preferred coffee, especially the brewed kind, you were plain out of luck, as until recently, Nescafé was one of the very few...
Researchers in Germany are working on a 3D-printed food for elderly people with chewing and swallowing problems, which looks and tastes like ‘real food’.
A Canadean survey of 2,000 UK consumers found that 41% think liquid water enhancers from the likes of Robinsons, Oasis and Vimto are too pricey, casting doubt on the category’s growth prospects.
With high-level conference Wine Vision fast approaching our sister publication Harpers Wine & Spirit is offering a Rising Star Grant to help rising industry stars attend the event.
By Shane Starling at FI-Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia
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.
HOW SHOULD WINERIES TWEAK PRICES TO OPTIMIZE PROFITS?
The price of a bottle of wine has a critical impact on the positioning and profitability of a wine brand but marketers are often unsure when they should tweak price to optimize profit.
Zenith International includes cocktail flavors and cognitive enhancement within a list of 13 top trends it says have driven innovation in energy drinks on the basis of post-2012 product launches.
As the news broke yesterday that Pepsi had launched a new craft cola, or 'kola' as the hipster spelling has it, we run the rule over a launch that excites us greatly - albeit not as much as the moon landings or the end of apartheid.
Wine Vision organizer Andrew Reed says the 2014 conference will explore how to attract new consumers to wine and tap emerging market growth with margins are squeezed elsewhere.
Elderly consumers are an untapped market for soft drinks manufacturers, who must use functional ingredients and easy-to-open packaging to win them over, according to a leading industry analyst.
UK energy drinks consumption has reached record levels, but manufacturers must react quickly to the negative publicity about their products, a leading analyst has warned.
