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.
Charbrew founder Adam Soliman tells BeverageDaily.com his entrepreneurial brand is keen to take on Unilever iced tea Lipton with a healthier UK alternative launched into Holland & Barrett this week.
Coca-Cola Hellenic will release a reformulated version of Nestea RTD tea in Italy in 2015 as it seeks to grow the appeal of a global product by tailoring it to the nation’s tastebuds.
FIRST BOTTLED DRINKS LAUNCHED BY US CIDERIES INCLUDING REVEREND NAT'S HARD CIDER
The founder of Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider reveals that rustic pineapple-based street beverage tepache was the cidery's most successful launch ever, but doubts it will be the ‘next big thing’ in America.
Starbucks bought Teavana for $620m in 2012 and plans to take tea upmarket in the States, but one investor warns the price of success may be depressed margins and earnings.
Chr. Hansen claims its new wine culture is a ‘fantastic launch’ that will greatly increase the speed and predictability of malolactic fermentation and remove the need for producers to use sulfites as preservatives.
Vita Coco’s UK CEO Giles Brook tells BeverageDaily.com he doesn’t understand ‘brands that rubbish other brands’ following an attack by coconut water rival INVO on his product’s nutritional and health benefits.
CLEVER MARKETING CAN OVERCOME DIFFICULT EFSA SITUATION
Despite the presence of MIO Energy, Mintel warns that energy drinks brands could face problems if they try to conquer new territory in the US liquid water enhancer space due to safety concerns.
Premium coconut water brand INVO has justified its ‘slight attack’ on UK market leader Vita Coco and other rivals' nutritional and health benefits, insisting it needs to educate people on its own uniqueness.
US technology startup Next Glass says it has developed the first ‘universal language’ for beer and wine that tells consumers which drinks they’re certain to enjoy, and claims classical ratings systems such as Parker’s simply do not work.
Naturex has announced the acquisition of Chicago-based Vegetable Juices Inc., a move which sees the French botanical giant double the size of its US food and beverage operations.
“One question I like to ask an entrepreneur – usually when they’re really tired after presenting for an hour and a half, is ‘what keeps you awake at night?’ A good entrepreneur has to be a paranoid entrepreneur.”
ZENITH INTERNATIONAL GLOBAL SOFT DRINKS CONGRESS 2014, LISBON
The executive director of one of Europe’s biggest investment funds managing $1bn in assets insists that big brands like Pepsi and Coke are not cracking innovation and lag behind young beverage entrepreneurs.
Maverick Drinks insists that Bitter Bastards cocktail bitters break new ground via clarification using a centrifuge machine that subjects them to a force 5,000 times that of the Earth’s gravity.
Taste, price and style are the three most important purchase drivers for American beer consumers, a new survey says, while 63% of respondents prefer beer brewed by small independents.
This new BeverageDaily.com slot sees us scour the supermarket shelves for exciting NPD, with drinks scored for taste, texture, packaging, branding and price. Oatworks Oat-Powered Fruit Smoothies are first in the firing line!
EDITOR'S COMMENT: ZENITH & BSDA UK SOFT DRINKS CONGRESS 2014
Skeptical Englishman and former schoolboy squash drinker Ben Bouckley predicts that Vimto’s super-concentrated squash won’t wash in a market saturated with budget options, despite Mio’s US success.
ZENITH INTERNATIONAL & BSDA UK SOFT DRINKS CONFERENCE, MAY 7
Bottlegreen insists that premium glass cordial sales are booming in the UK as the brand – which counts Princess Anne as a fan – pushes new flavors including blackcurrant and coffee.
Drinkpreneur Live – the world’s first event devoted to unearthing the next generation of beverage industry entrepreneurs – will launch at a live event in London, UK on June 11.
BEVERAGEDAILY.COM SCORE: 88.75% - 'ZENITH HITS TOP GEAR'
We're starting up a new slot at BeverageDaily.com called 'Was it worth it?' to review beverage conferences and trade shows. First up is Zenith International's Innobev Global Soft Drinks Congress in Lisbon. The sun was shining there...
Fever-Tree CEO Charles Rolls insists Schweppes is no longer the ‘great old British company it was’ and insists the brand is scared by his firm’s giant steps in premium spirits mixers.
While it may be clear that people should probably cut down on their intakes of salt, sugar, and fat, the best way to achieve this has always caused a bit of a headache. Is quiet reformulation the most pragmatic solution?
FOUNDER MOLLIE OPENSHAW CHALLENGES US 'SKINNYGIRL' CULTURE
‘Why not celebrate, laugh at, and even make fun of the challenges that the menopause brings?’ asks California’s Hot Flash Wine, which opposes America’s Skinny Rita diet drink culture.
Free Drinks insists consumers have been trapped between ‘sugary sweet and water’ in adult soft drinks with little in-between, as it ramps up distribution of its ZEO brand across the UK in 2014.
Zenith International chairman Richard Hall has expressed skepticism over RTD coffee’s credentials as the ‘next big thing’, despite impressive growth since 2003.
GEA Procomac insists its main focus at Interpack 2014 will be sensitive dairy products, with machines and packaging on show designed to handle milks, milk-based drinks, drinkable yogurt and probiotics.
We’re in the business of telling stories, in the best possible sense. So if you have one to tell us about your job in the beverage industry – please get in touch with BeverageDaily.com!
Sangria has a ‘golden opportunity’ to shed its image as a cheap party drink and go upmarket, says Mintel analyst Jonny Forsyth, who sees exciting growth prospects in the US, Europe and China.
'WE'LL NEVER GIVE UP ON HAWAIIAN PUNCH' - CEO LARRY YOUNG ROARS
Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) CEO Larry Young insists his firm will ‘never give up’ on Hawaiian Punch after one financial analyst suggested that the brand might be a busted flush.
Tropical flavors may help US juice brands stem sales losses, according to Mintel, which notes a raft of recent launches using tastes popular in exotic destinations where some consumers have roots.
Longtime friends and film and television industry colleagues Matt McKee and Melissa Reed’s plans for a locally sourced juice bar in downtown Los Angeles morphed into a beverage company whose flagship product is ready-to-drink prickly pear cactus water...
Zenith International says that 19 supermarket and other retail buyers have registered to attend its 2014 UK Soft Drinks Conference slated for May 7 in Central London.
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.
Carlsberg hopes that its new ‘hard lemon drink’ Seth & Riley’s Garage will attract young men aged 25+ seeking a transitional drink that moves them from sweet beverages to beer and wine.
INNOBEV GLOBAL SOFT DRINKS CONGRESS: FINAL THOUGHTS
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.
San Diego-based flavor innovator Senomyx has entered into a collaborative agreement with PepsiCo to identify flavors with "modifying properties intended to restore the desired salty taste in products with reduced salt".
INNOBEV GLOBAL SOFT DRINKS CONGRESS, LISBON, APRIL 7-9
Flavor ‘enhancers’ have already spread beyond water to milk and have potential to conquer categories such as coffee and cocktails, according to Zenith International.
MINTEL'S BIG CONVERSATION: MILLENNIALS DON'T CARE FOR TRADITIONAL CATEGORIES
Beverage concepts that seem wacky or weird right now could sparkle in the future, says Mintel analyst Jonny Forsyth, who notes strong sales for Kirin’s fiber-fortified cola in Japan since 2012.
Winemakers could use bees to accelerate the ageing of wine, according to two English researchers, who could have hit upon an interesting new sideline for the insects’ keepers.
Canna Energy says it has sold around 150,000 cans of its hemp oil infused energy drink in its first 100 days and is hot on the heels of Red Bull and Monster in terms of sell-through in many Colorado locations.
Beverage brands can blur the lines both within the category and steal outside cues to create novel products such as beer-flavored ice cream that arrest the consumer’s attention, according to Mintel.
The energy drinks market has become more segmented in recent years, but relentlessly negative PR, a flurry of lawsuits and an FDA-probe have not dampened consumers’ enthusiasm for the original caffeine-fuelled formulas, says one beverage industry veteran.
PepsiCo was the biggest loser in US carbonated soft drinks in 2013, according to Beverage Digest, with worrying volume and market share loss data contrasting sharply with Monster’s stellar sales.
ASEPTIC PROCESSING PRESERVES BREWED TEA NATURALNESS - TETRA PAK
Tetra Pak’s US and Canada VP of marketing and product management is warning tea brands that the ‘acid plus sugar’ production method will not satisfy the region's growing need for premium natural products.
