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COLUMNS 6 First Drop How it all got started 8 Publisher’s Toast Vacation musings 32 Gerry’s Insights Big deal, big ramifications
DEPARTMENTS 10 BevScape More deals than Monster 18 New Products Dry discovery 28 Channel Check It’s crafty 28 Brewbound Key craft beer offerings for the fall 82 Promo Parade Nina gets a Lenny
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Contents • Volume 12 • No. 6
44
FEATURES
ON THE COVER
36 The Experts Who owns what
40 Pressed for Wholesale Change How HPP, cold pressing and alternative retailing strategies are changing the juice game
44 Going Pro? There’s more than one way 64 Drink Your Milk New school rules for kids’ beverages 70 Repackaging the Standards Packaging trends
SEPTEMBER 11, 2014
CONFERENCE PREVIEW 76 NACS National Association of Convenience Stores 80 Expo East Natural Products Expo East
BevNET Magazine (ISSN 2165-6061, USPS 24-552) is published bi-monthly except monthly in March, June, September, and October by BevNET.com, Inc. 44 Pleasant Street, Suite 110, Watertown, MA 02472. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to BevNET Magazine, Subscriber Services, 44 Pleasant Street, Suite 110, Watertown, MA 02472
PRESSED FOR SUCCESS How HPP, Cold Pressing and Alternative Retailing Strategies are Changing the Juice Game
NACS TRADE SHOW GUIDE
DECENTRALIZED MOMENTUM FOR PROBIOTICS
PACKAGING TRENDS
cover.indd 1
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COVER PHOTO ©iStock.com/dremesov
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The First Drop By Jeffrey Klineman
BevNET’s dogged reporting has unearthed the document chain that seems to reveal the machinations that led to the recent sale of 17 percent of Monster Energy to the Coca-Cola Co. for $2.15 billion and the swap of the Hansen’s portfolio in exchange for Coke’s suite of energy drinks. To: Mukhtar Kent, CEO, Coca-Cola Co., Inc. From: Sandy Douglas, President Coca-Cola North America RE: Strategic Objectives Mukhtar, I can’t help but think we’re in a tight spot. We bought the bottlers back, we printed all those names on the Diet Coke bottles, we even bought that hippie’s tea company. But the projections aren’t great. Our core products are in decline, Wall Street’s turning on us -- and did you SEE what Bloomberg did to Santa Claus? It’s time to shake things up a bit. Love to the family, Sandy To: Sandy Douglas From: Mukhtar Kent Re: Strategy Objectives Sandy, I hear you. Do you know that Jim Cramer gave me the razzberry on-air? I’m also worried Indra’s going to get my spot at Davos. But are you on The Facebook? There’s this thing called the ice bucket challenge, where if you’re on the winning side in a golf match, they dump a bunch of Gatorade on your head while you give your money away. What if we started doing that but with, say, a proprietary package? Like a super-size bucket of Coke – but we could monetize it differently? We could spin the bottlers back out, sell them the buckets, and then charge them for the icewater. It’s the old razor and cartridge approach! Let me know your thoughts. Regards, Mukhtar To: Mukhtar Kent From: Sandy Douglas Re: Buckets Mukhtar! Despite your fundamental misunderstanding of American Football, you’re a genius. Let’s buy Gatorade! To: Mukhtar Kent From: Sandy Douglas RE: Buying Gatorade So, I did some research. Turns out we, uh, passed on that deal.
Inside a Monster Deal
ITALIC LONGHAND TRANSLATED FROM THE TURKISH:
Dear Chairman Kent, Thanks so much for your generous offer of a trip on the Coke airplane and most of Northwest Atlanta in exchange for my shares of Body Armor. You know, I’ve won five championships and a million MVP awards, but there’s no way I’m selling. Here’s the thing: no amount of basketball, no cars, not even four “mythic rare” Magic the Gathering cards can compare to the daily affirmation I receive from being the third-largest shareholder in a small sports drink company. Best, KOBE AOL INSTANT MESSENGER To: MREPOLESTJOHNSJOCKEY From: LCOLLSESQUIREDONTYOUFORGETIT Hey, Mike, sorry about naming you in that Ice Bucket Challenge. Did you get that note from Kobe about that offer Sandy and Mukhtar made? To: LCOLLSESQUIREDONTYOUFORGETIT From: MREPOLESTJOHNSJOCKEY I did. I think a billion is undervaluing the company. Sure, we’re small, but we’re nimbler. For example, we’re using Instant Message! And you know me. You can’t outwork me. I haven’t slept in 16 days straight. To: MREPOLESTJOHNSJOCKEY From: LCOLLSESQUIREDONTYOUFORGETIT I think I’ll tweet something. Nimble! TRANSCRIPT: PHONE CALL
SD: Mr. Ferolito? Hi there. It’s Sandy Douglas. JF: Sandy! What’s going on? SD: Not much, John. How’s Florida? JF: Well, it was great until Don stopped sending the checks. These days, I spend my time wandering the beach with a metal detector. Of course, it’s my beach, and every night, nineteen servants run out and bury gold ingots, but still, at my age, it’s tough to stoop – and it’s getting harder to find a good proxy stooper these days. SD: Wanna make some money the easy way? Sell us the company! JF: Well, I would, but Don and I are a little behind on the paperwork right now. Give him a ring?
To: Sandy Douglas From: Mukhtar Kent Re: Buying Gatorade
TRANSCRIPT: MESSAGE ON SANDY DOUGLAS’ HOME ANSWERING MACHINE
Don’t worry. I have a Plan B. As in, Plan KoBe.
discuss a deal, as John and I are suing the pants off
Sandy, it’s Don. Got your message, but I can’t really each other. Have you thought about suing someone? It’s great fun, especially if you use a forklift to drop off your depositions in Manhattan. Have you thought about becoming a beer distributor?
6 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
To: Mukhtar Kent From: Sandy Douglas RE: Another Bright Idea Mukhtar – Don is stuck on traffic on the LIE but he gave me a great idea. Why don’t we buy Budweiser? Think about it – we could rope two bleeding, longstanding brands together and take on the whole countryside. It’ll be like Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine in The Wild Bunch! I’m sure we’ve got a Gatling Gun hidden in the World of Coke basement. To: Sandy Douglas From: Mukhtar Kent RE: Another Bright Idea I do love Ernest Borgnine. But listen, Kobe gave me an idea. Why buy the cow when the milk is available to the third-largest shareholder? To: Mukhtar Kent From: Sandy Douglas RE: Another Bright Idea You mean a partial? Like with Keurig? I love those. It’s like we own ‘em, but we don’t own ‘em, and everyone acts all nice to us because if they don’t, we’ll fire ‘em when we finally do own ‘em. We should do it with Bloomberg, too. That’ll show them! To: Sandy Douglas From: Mukhtar Kent RE: Another Bright Idea Forget buying media. And licensed clothing. Stick to beverage. Who out there is overpriced? To: Mukhtar Kent From: Sandy Douglas RE: Another Bright Idea Why does it matter? To: Sandy Douglas From: Mukhtar Kent RE: Another Bright Idea Let’s use Monster Energy as an example. Let’s say we bought a sixth of it. Everyone on Wall Street would get into such a frenzy over our deal that they’d bid the price up a third. We’d have paid for the deal on day one! Actually… that’s a great idea. Get me Rodney and Hilton! Attn: Monster Employees From: Rodney Sachs, Hilton Schlosberg, Mark Hall Re: Major Windfall Well, we’re not going to lie to you, folks. We just hit it big… and there’s even more good news! We might’ve lost Hubert’s, Hansen’s, and Blue Sky, but we’ve still got PRE! Ready to discuss Mark’s newest idea, Monster Regular?
Publisher’s Toast By Barry Nathanson
Barry’s Break’s Beverage Breakdown
MAGAZINE www.bevnet.com/magazine Barry J. Nathanson PUBLISHER bnathanson@bevnet.com
Jeffrey Klineman EDITOR-IN-CHIEF jklineman@bevnet.com
Ray Latif MANAGING EDITOR rlatif@bevnet.com
Max Rothman STAFF WRITER mrothman@bevnet.com
Jon Landis STAFF WRITER jlandis@bevnet.com
Chris Furnari BREWBOUND EDITOR cfurnari@bevnet.com
David Eisenberg STAFF WRITER deisenberg@bevnet.com
SALES John McKenna DIRECTOR OF SALES jmckenna@bevnet.com
Adam Stern SENIOR ACCOUNT SPECIALIST astern@bevnet.com
John Fischer ACCOUNT SPECIALIST jfischer@bevnet.com
I just returned from 10 days off in the Berkshires. There we recreated, relaxed, ate well and went to theatre, movie, classical, and rock venues (shout out to Jackson Browne, an old favorite from my sixties days). I averaged 2 ½ hours of tennis every day, and have the elbow, knee and back ailments to show for it. It was well worth the pain. I write this because I am a true believer in taking all the time off you’ve worked so hard for during the year. Many Americans think it’s a virtue to work endlessly, and neglect the body and soul. Europeans scoff at our obsession with working so hard, and our bragging about it. I agree with them. As I’ve written many times before, family, friends, health and enjoyment should be your priorities. You need to recharge your batteries, so do so. Work will always be there when you return. Again, as I’ve stated many times before, put down your devices while you’re off the clock. Before we left, I packed the car with dozens of beverages sent in to me for my opinions on their taste, packaging, positioning and overall quality. I had accumulated so many in the office -- too many for me to drink, in fact, so off to the mountains they went. We went for a potluck dinner and I supplied the beverages -- and the very best babka New York City could provide (note to Jones Soda: Babka Soda? You got the idea here, first). We had some very exciting beverages
8 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
that have come out over the past year, and also a bevy of favorites from years past. The categories are too numerous to mention, but they covered the gamut. My guests were enthralled and titillated by them. Almost every one was well received and greatly enjoyed. We beverage people are on the right track and that was validated by a discerning audience of New Yorkers-on-holiday. The sad part is that so many of these brands have never been seen by our friends. They ask where they can get these great brands, and I have no great answer. They’re hard to find. There’s a market is search of these terrific products. Distribution remains the greatest obstacle to achieving the success that these brands deserve. There are many who have opened up their bays and warehouses and taken a chance on them, but there are so many that are unwilling to venture past the traditional. That must change. As marketers, narrow your focus to a few select markets, and push hard to partner with the area’s retailers and distributors. You might not grow as fast as you like, but you’ll have committed partners, a receptive customer base, and a chance for success. My love and admiration of our industry knows no bounds, even while I’m galavanting in the hills. I see and feel your frustration in being stymied while you have something to offer. Keep the faith, we at BevNET will always support your efforts.
ART & PRODUCTION Matthew Kennedy CREATIVE DIRECTOR Aaron Willette SENIOR DESIGNER BEVNET.COM, INC. John F. (Jack) Craven CHAIRMAN jfcraven@bevnet.com
John Craven CEO & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR jcraven@bevnet.com
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DO YOUR PART: PLEASE RECYCLE THIS MAGAZINE
Bevscape The latest news on the brands you sell
ADM Acquires WILD Flavors for $3 Billion Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Company announced earlier this summer that it will acquire WILD Flavors GmbH for approximately $3 billion. According to a joint release, the transaction awaits regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of the year.
The agreement will diversify the portfolio of ADM, a global supplier of food ingredients, animal feeds and biofuels, among other products. Chairman and CEO Patricia Woertz added in the release that the acquisition expands the company’s ability to serve evolving consumer demands, which includes the quickly-growing natural flavor and ingredients markets. WILD Flavors, headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, serves as an ingredient supplier to more than 3,000 global clients in the food and beverage industries. The company has estimated 2014 net revenues of approximately $1.36 billion, according to the release. Woertz said in a statement that the acquisition complements ADM’s recent ingredient acquisitions, which include a protein complex in Brazil and a solublefiber expansion in China. The company anticipates that the WILD Flavors acquisition will have estimated cost and revenue synergies of approximately $136 million by its third year.
10 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
DEALTIME PART 1: BILLION-DOLLAR BONANZAS Coke Pays $2.15 Billion for 16.7 Percent Stake in Monster A long-discussed investment took place last month when the CocaCola Co. and Monster Beverage Corp. announced a long-term strategic partnership that resulted in Monster selling 16.7 percent of its shares to Coke in exchange for a $2.15 billion payout and a swap of smaller portfolio brands. The global soft drinks giant will also distribute Monster internationally and increase its role in U.S. distribution. According to the announcement, Coke will gain two seats on Monster’s board. The deal is expected to close late this year pending regulatory approval. Coke has an option to increase its stake to 25 percent via open market purchases or through a negotiated transaction with Monster, per the agreement, which stipulates that over the next four years, Coke cannot exceed an ownership stake beyond 25 percent without Monster’s approval. Coke has been Monster’s chief energy drink distributor since 2008, helping it become the most widely-sold energy brand in the country, one viewed a panacea for Coke’s declining core CSD business, with energy drinks growing to more than $10 billion and, for many younger consumers, a replacement beverage in the space that a soda might once have filled. Monster will, in the words of a joint statement regarding the deal, become a “pure play” energy drink company, adding such formerly Coke-owned products as NOS and Full Throttle, as well as international brands Burn, Mother, Play and Power Play, and Relentless to its portfolio while spinning Peace Tea, Hubert’s Lemonade, Hansen’s Natural Soda and Hansen’s Juices to Coke. Plugged into Coke’s massive global distribution network, Morgan Stanley analyst Dara Mohsenian sees the deal as having a tremendous upside to Monster’s international growth, and also noted that the swap in non-core portfolios plays very much in Monster’s favor. Monster may be losing its non-energy business, but it gains nearly $2 billion in annual retail sales of Coke-owned energy brands. Mohsenian contrasted the move with Coke’s side of the deal in which it acquires $165 million in wholesale sales of Monster non-energy brands, “with little profit contribution,” he added.
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Bevscape DEALTIME PART 2: MILLIONS ON THE MOVE
FORMULATION
Vita Coco Coconut Water Sells 25 Percent Stake to Red Bull China
Lassonde Industries to Acquire Apple & Eve for $150 Million
Vitaminwater Reverses Course
Reignwood Group, the parent company of Red Bull China, has purchased a 25 percent stake in All Market Inc., the owner of Vita Coco, the top-selling coconut water in the U.S. The investment is based on a valuation of $665 million for All Market. The agreement includes distribution of the brand’s portfolio throughout mainland China.
Lassonde Industries Inc., a North American food and beverage conglomerate, will acquire Apple & Eve, LLC, a fruit juice company with a national footprint, for $150 million.
Less than two months after Vitaminwater changed its formula with a new sweetener blend of cane sugar and stevia, the brand has brought back its original formula. Immediately after Vitaminwater announced the stevia addition on June 12, fans littered the brand’s social media pages with harsh, often vulgar repudiations. On July 31, Vitaminwater announced on its Facebook page that it would revive the old formulation: “We tinkered with the taste of vitaminwater. And our fans haven’t had the greatest things to say about it. So we’re changing back to the taste you know and love. We’ll be sharing regular updates with you as we ramp up production. We tip our bottle caps to you, vitaminwater drinkers.” Fans responded to the Facebook post with praise for the move. One consumer exclaimed, “WE WON, my childhood has been restored.” The revamped beverages will hit shelves in the fall and will be available nationwide by the winter, according to Vitaminwater.
Michael Kirban, CEO and co-founder of Vita Coco, said that his company wasn’t shopping the brand or looking for the highest figure. Rather, he sought a partnership that gave shareholders liquidity and kept them aligned with the company on a global level. “We’re not looking to sell the whole business until we’re able to prove what this business is really capable of,” Kirban said. In China, through Vita Coco’s own sales and marketing team and with the approximately 2,000 employees of Red Bull China, Kirban expects the brand will launch in about 130,000 stores in the first quarter alone. Kirban said that the Vita Coco team will work closely with Red Bull China to execute detailed business and distribution models in the country. He said that the arrangement will be very similar to a standard distribution agreement. He will continue to act as CEO and run the business at a global level, and board members Kirban, co-founder Ira Liran, beverage industry veteran Ken Sadowsky and Verlinvest will maintain their role in overseeing key decisions while adding a seat for the Reignwood Group. Meanwhile, Red Bull China will manage the brand with its existing accounts.
12 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
The Quebec-based company entered a definitive agreement through US Juice Partners, LLC, a subsidiary, to enact the agreement. According to the release, the deal will give Lassonde 90 percent equity interest in the brand and its distribution. The other 10 percent will go to members of the Lassonde family through their existing equity interest in US Juice Partners and a contribution toward the acquisition. Apple & Eve, based in Port Washington, N.Y., was founded by the Crane family in 1975 and has since become one of the more pervasive ready-to-drink juice brands in the mainstream market. Its portfolio includes more than one hundred different juice products under the Apple & Eve brand name, as well as a variety of sub brands — Sesame Street, Fruitables, Waterfruits, Organics and Quenchers. The company also owns and markets juice products under the brand names Northland, Seneca and The Switch.
Bevscape COCO-INNOVATION Vita Coco Vaults Into the Sports Drink Category Having invested heavily in the rollout and marketing of its mainstream-oriented lemonade flavor, Vita Coco is making an even bigger push to reach everyday consumers with the introduction of a new sports drink line. Vita Coco Sport is the culmination of the brand’s partnership with Target, which was announced in April as part of the mass retailer’s “Made to Matter” program, one that aims to increase its customers’ access to natural and organic products. Packaged in 18 oz. slim grip PET bottles, the beverages are made with coconut water, filtered water, sugar, natural flavor, citric acid, sea salt, fruit and vegetable juices (for color) and come in five varieties: fruit punch, orange, dragon fruit, lemon lime and black cherry. Each beverage contains 50 calories and 10g of sugar per 8 oz. serving. As for electrolytes, the beverages feature 120mg of sodium and 210mg of potassium in each serving. As for wider distribution of the line, Vita Coco will evaluate the performance of the program at Target before making a decision for a broad rollout, Kirban said.
ZICO Unveils New Coconut Water Blends Meanwhile, competing brand ZICO has introduced Chilled Premium Coconut Water & Juice Blends, a new line of 100 percent juice products from the Coca-Cola-owned brand that is set to debut this month. Packaged in 1.5 L Tetra Paks, the products are aimed at reaching mainstream consumers who want to make better choices when it comes to healthy eating, but are not willing to compromise on taste, according to Lorna Peters, Chief Marketing Officer, ZICO. The new ZICO Chilled Juice products are made with not from concentrate coconut water and, in the case of the blends, fruit juice with no added water. Initially available in three SKUs –Orange, Pineapple Mango and “Natural” — the beverages contain five electrolytes and are touted as having “up to 50% fewer calories than regular fruit drinks.” ZICO has laid out a retail strategy in which the new products, priced at $7.99, will be marketed and sold at conventional grocers, specifically in the refrigerated cases of natural food sections.
14 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
CRAFT BEER BY THE NUMBERS Brewers Association: U.S. Brewery Count Eclipses 3,000
Mintel: Sales of Craft Beer Could Eclipse $20 Billion in 2014
There are now more than 3,000 breweries in the U.S., according to Bart Watson, staff economist with the Brewers Association’s (BA), a trade group representing craft breweries.
Bart Watson, Staff Economist, Brewers Association
Through the end of June, the BA counted 3,040 breweries, which marks the first time the U.S. has crossed the 3,000-brewery threshold since the 1870s. Watson said the sustained rise in the number of U.S. breweries represents a “return to the localization of beer production.” The BA count is based on the number of brewing facilities actively selling beer in the marketplace, but does not include breweries-in-planning, alternating proprietorships or contract brewers who do not possess a brewers notice. The count also only includes brewing facilities that are not counted as “someone else’s facility” in an effort to prevent double-counting, which would otherwise inflate the figure.
Sales of craft and craft-style beer will likely eclipse $20 billion in 2014, according to a new report from market research firm Mintel. Of the $20.4 billion in craft sales that Mintel has predicted for this year, the firm believes more than 84 percent ($17.2 billion) will come from Brewers Association-defined craft brewers. Mintel had originally forecasted that craft beer sales could exceed $18 billion by 2017, but now believes that figure could actually double in the next five years. Citing consistent year-over-year growth trends, an improving economy, product innovation and an engaged consumer base, the firm said that combined sales of craft and craft-style beer could surpass $36 billion in 2019. Despite the positive growth predictions, however, Mintel found that a “relatively low percentage” of beer drinkers (23 percent) regularly consume craft beer. Still, amongst 25-34 year-olds, the segment’s heaviest users, 29 percent of the survey’s respondents said they drink craft beer.
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Bevscape LAWSUITS Red Bull to Pay $13 Million for False Advertising Settlement
California Judge Dismisses Hain Celestial Suit
Three States Sue 5-hour Energy, Allege Deceptive Marketing
Red Bull GmbH has agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges false advertising of its energy drinks. The plaintiff representing the class, Benjamin Careathers, said he had been drinking Red Bull since 2002 as part of the lawsuit he filed on Jan. 16, 2013 in U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York. The suit argues that Red Bull misleads consumers about the superiority of its products with its slogan “Red Bull gives you wings” and its claims of increased performance, concentration and reaction speed. The suit states that a 7 oz. cup of drip coffee contains approximately 115 to 175 milligrams of caffeine, depending on the blend, and a 12 oz. serving of Starbucks coffee costs $1.85 and “would contain far more caffeine than a regular serving of Red Bull.” An 8.4 oz. can of Red Bull contains 80 milligrams of caffeine. Despite Red Bull’s denial of wrongdoing, the company has voluntarily withdrawn and revised marketing claims challenged in court, according to the plaintiff’s motion. The settlement could include millions of individuals who purchased at least one Red Bull can over the past 10 years, offering class members the option of a $10 cash reimbursement or two free Red Bull products with an approximate retail value of $15 (Red Bull would cover shipping costs). “Red Bull settled the lawsuit to avoid the cost and distraction of litigation,” the company wrote in an e-mailed statement to BevNET. “However, Red Bull maintains that its marketing and labeling have always been truthful and accurate, and denies any and all wrongdoing or liability.”
Claiming that studies submitted as evidence against BluePrint juice actually contradicted plaintiffs’ allegations against the brand’s ads and labels, a federal judge has tossed out a potential class-action lawsuit involving the brand. It marked the second dismissal since February of a suit alleging that BluePrint ads and labels are misleading. The lawsuit’s dismissal was based on the fact that scientific arguments in favor of the effects of high-pressure processing (HPP) as a way of deterring bacterial growth were cited in the very same documents that the plaintiffs were using to prove HPP’s lack of effectiveness. A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Samuel F. Alamilla and Colleen King, had argued in their complaint that HPP is “similar to those of cooking and pasteurization, namely the destruction of vitamins, nutrients, live enzymes, nutritional value, and health benefits.” In seeking a class action against BluePrint, Alamilla and King had alleged the company had misled consumers by claiming on BluePrint bottles and the company’s website that it was “100% Raw,” “Raw and Organic” and “Unpasteurized.” The suit also compared high pressure processing (HPP) to pasteurization and claimed that Hain misled consumers by not disclosing information about nutritional deprivation. In an odd twist, however, the plaintiffs submitted two articles which noted that the HPP process has “little or no effects on nutritional and sensory quality aspects of foods,” according to U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria. “The articles the plaintiffs cite thus contradict the allegation upon which their entire complaint hinges — namely, that pressure treatment deprives juice of nutritional value to a similar degree as pasteurization,” Chhabria wrote in an order dismissing the case. “To the contrary, both articles repeatedly make the point that pressurization has less impact on nutritional value than pasteurization.”
If their own products don’t do the job, a pile of lawsuits should be enough of an afternoon pick-me-up for the makers of 5-hour Energy. Oregon, Washington and Vermont have sued Living Essentials, which markets 5-hour Energy, and parent company Innovation Ventures for deceptive and misleading advertising. The suits question the product’s marketed sources of energy, alertness and focus. The company states that these effects are derived from a blend of ingredients, but the suit alleges that these effects are a result of caffeine consumption alone. The suits also question if 5-hour Energy is appropriate for adolescents aged 12 years and older. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, no stranger to targeting 5-hour Energy, filed the suit in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland. At the end of December, in response to marketing claims, Rosenblum asked the company to prove that doctors recommend the product and that users don’t experience a post-caffeine crash. The three states seek a permanent injunction that would prohibit the company’s allegedly deceptive advertising, along with civil penalties and restitution to customers. A 5-hour Energy representative said the Oregon suit is “grasping at straws” and is a form of “civil intimidation,” according to Reuters. In January, Northridge, Calif.-based Medicus Research conducted a study on the product’s efficacy and found that it sharpens cognitive function for six hours. The cross-over study was randomized, double-blind and placebocontrolled.
16 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
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Baltimore, Sept. 17–20
New Products The newest options for cooler and shelf
CSDs DRY Soda Co. has launched a new multi-pack. DRY Soda’s Summer Discovery Pack is a 12-pack of 12 oz. slim cans featuring four of DRY’s best-selling flavors: Vanilla Bean, Blood Orange and Cherry. The sodas are lightly sweetened and carbonated with four all-natural ingredients: purified carbonated water, natural fruit, flower and herb flavorings, pure cane sugar, and a natural preservative. The products contain 45-70 calories and 11-19 grams of sugar per package. The new multi-pack is sold on Amazon.com for a suggested retail price of $17. For more information, please call DRY Soda at (888) 379-7632. Leaf Brands LLC has launched new zero-calorie versions of its Astro Pop sodas. The beverages are made with the manufacturer’s proprietary, all-natural and sugar-free sweetener blend called ‘Ultrasweet.’ Packaged in 12 oz. glass bottles, the products are sold at Rocket Fizz and other specialty stores nationwide for a suggested retail price of $1.69. For more information, please call Leaf Brands at (949) 424-1664. Jones Soda Co. has launched a new Peanut Butter and Jelly variety, the company’s latest Limited Edition product. A spin on the classic sandwich, the soda contains no actual peanuts nor has it been in contact with any peanut materials. The soda is available in the United States in Harmons, Hastings, Associated Food Stores, Cost Plus World Market and independent accounts throughout North America that carry Jones Soda. The product has a suggested retail price of $1.49-1.98 per 12 oz. bottle. For more information, please call Jones Soda at (206) 436-8711.
WATER Nestlé Waters North America has expanded its Nestlé Pure Life line with the introduction
18 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
of Nestlé Pure Life Exotics Sparkling Water, a line of unsweetened sparkling water with all-natural, exotic fruit flavors. Available in four varieties – Mango Peach Pineapple, Strawberry Dragon Fruit, Tangerine and Key Lime – Nestlé Pure Life Exotics Sparkling Waters are calorie-free and contain no artificial colors or sweeteners. The water is sold in an 8-pack carton of 12 oz. cans and sold nationwide at Target stores for a suggested retail price of $2.99. For more information, please call Nestlé Waters North America at (888) 747-7437.
Tea AriZona Oak Reserve is the first tea steeped with real American oak, according to the company. The tea is 100 percent natural, brewed with American oak chips and available in three flavors: Unsweetened, Lightly Sweetened and Lemon. Unsweetened contains zero calories per serving while Lightly Sweetened and Lemon are made with a sweetener blend of honey, cane sugar and pure maple sugar and have 30 calories per serving. The line is available in the New York metro area and will roll out nationally throughout the year. The suggested retail price is $1.75-$2 per 20.5 oz. bottle. For more information, please call AriZona at (516) 812-0208. Zone 8 is a new beverage brand intended to appeal to millennial consumers. The company launched with four ready-to-drink bottled teas: Agua de Jamaica Hibiscus Tea, Honey Lemon Tea, Red Rooibos Pomegranate Tea and Black Tea. Packaged in 16.9 oz plastic bottles, the teas contain 0-88 calories per 8 oz. serving and have a suggested retail price of $1.99. The products are sold in the Chicago market. For more information, please call Zone 8 at (855) ZONE-800.
Liquid Water Enhancers BYB Brands, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, has introduced Tum-E Yummies Kids Water Enhancers. The products offer 100 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin C, B6 and B12 and contain no calories, sugar caffeine or sodium. Coming in Fruitabulous Punch and Very Berry Blue varieties, the water enhancers are packaged in packaged in a 1.62 oz. bottle, which each making 24 servings. The products are available at most supermarkets and mass centers in the Southeast U.S. and have a sug-
VITAMIN C
Contact your HONEST kids representative | 800-865-4736
New Products gested retail price of $2.99. For more information, please call BYB Brands at (704) 319-0390.
Energy Shots LXR Biotech has launched Eternal Energy TR, a new energy shot that provides energy and focus for up to 10 hours, according to the manufacturer. The product contains a new patented time-released energy blend called Nutratheine which works synergistically with caffeine to provide a jitter-free energy and focus experience which is controlled and effective, according to LXR. The shots come in 1.93 mL bottles and are sold nationwide and online where the product comes in a 12-pack for a suggested retail price of $35.99. For more information, please call LXR at (248) 860-4246.
Functional Beverages CytoSport has launched Muscle Milk Organic ready-to-drink shakes exclusively into nationwide Target stores and online at Target.com. Packaged in 8.25 oz. Tetra-Paks, the readyto-drink shakes contain 15 grams of USDA certified organic protein, 120 calories and are gluten-free. Sweetened with organic cane sugar and organic stevia, Muscle Milk Organic is also low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Muscle Milk Organic is available at in chocolate and vanilla flavors and is priced at $8.99 per 4-pack. For more information, please call Cytosport at (504) 234-9077. Agro Innova has relaunched Suavva, which now has a new formulation. The cacao pulpbased smoothies are made with fruit juice and contain antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. The products are high pressure processed and come in four varieties: Amazing Cacao, Chocolatey Cheer, Merry Mango and Blissful Berry. Packages in 10.5 oz. bottles, the drinks have a suggested retail price of $4.49 and are sold in select retailers. For more information, please call Agro Innova at (954) 384-3090. NUWI Quinoa Drinkable Snacks has introduced three new varieties: Carrot & Ginger, Split Pea and Tomato. The products contain zero refined sugars, are low in fat and have as much as nine grams of protein per 10 oz. bottle. NUWI beverages are gluten-free, vegan, non-
20 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
GMO and USDA certified organic, and are made by blending certified organic quinoa with real fruits and vegetables, organic low-glycemic agave nectar and Himalayan pink salt. The products are available in Whole Foods Market, Gristedes, Fairway and 220 other independent stores in the New York metro area and Miami at a suggested retail price of $2.99 per bottle. For more information, please call NUWI at (305) 668-2333. FAL Healthy Beverages, a FAL Group brand, has launched Coco Joy, a new coconut water brand. With liquid sourced from Southeast Asia, the drinks contain only not-from-concentrate coconut water and no preservatives. Coco Joy is available in 8.4 oz. cans for a suggested retail price of $1.90 and in 42 oz. bottles which retail for $3.90. The products are available at major retailers across the U.S. For more information, please call 5W Public Relations at (646) 625-7765.
Coffee Inspired by the company’s handcrafted iced coffee, Starbucks Iced Coffee – Brewed to Personalize beverages are designed to let consumers customize coffee to their tastes and preferences. Made from 100 percent Starbucks Arabica coffee beans and ranging from 10 to 60 calories per 8 oz. serving, the drinks are available in Lightly Sweetened, Unsweetened and Caramel varieties. Each 48 oz. bottle will make about six 8 oz. servings of iced coffee. The products are available in the chilled section at major grocery stores nationwide for a suggested retail price of $4.99. For more information, please call Starbucks at (800) 344-1575.
Wine W. & J. Graham’s has released a special edition of its Six Grapes Old Vines Port, a small quantity batch of wine made exclusivly from the oldest vines on Graham’s five Quintas. The Six Grapes symbol originated in the 19th century as the code that W. & J. Graham used to identify the barrels containing the very best wines made at each harvest. The presentation of this Special Edition Six Grapes Old Vines Port pays homage to the original Six Grapes label that helped
D rink it in. The sun.
The science. The focus to find calm in the energy all around.
Suntheanine improves focus, attention and clarity while reducing the negative effects of caffeine *. To learn how we can partner together to help give your beverage a clear advantage, visit suntheanine.com/beverage.
Š2014 Taiyo International, Inc., Taiyo Kagaku Co., Ltd. *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
New Products make the wine famous so many years ago. This wine is available in very limited quantities at fine retailers with a suggested retail price of $40. For more information, please call Calhoun & Co. at (415) 346-2929. Double Canyon, a winery located in the Horse Heaven Hills region in Washington, has introduced its inaugural release of Double Canyon Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2012 vintage is blended with fruit from several vineyards throughout Horse Heaven Hills. The wine, crafted with Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet and accented by 13 percent Syrah and a small percentage of Malbec, is characterized by rich floral aromas, followed by a smooth and luscious palate offering flavors of red plum and cherry, and balanced by a mouthwatering acidity, according to the winery. Only 700 cases were produced, and each 750 mL bottle has a suggested retail price of $25. For more information, please call Double Canyon at (800) 711-0044. Delicato Family Vineyards has launched Gnarly Head Authentic Black, a limited release red wine blend for the fall season. The wine is a Petite Sirah-based blend designed to stand up to the season’s heartiest dishes, according to the winery. Fruit for this new, limited time only offering was sourced from Lodi, Calif. with choice lots aged on oak for 12 months.The inaugural 2012 vintage is available nationwide for a suggested retail price of $11.99. For more information, please call Delicato Family Vineyards at (707) 265-1700.
Whiskey Laphroaig has introduced its newest expression, Laphroaig Select Scotch Whisky. The spirit is a blend of casks representing various styles of Laphroaig – Quarter Cask, PX Cask, Triple Wood and Ten-Year Old Casks – creating a subtle blending of peat, oak and sweetness, according to the distillery. The whisky is matured in new American Oak casks, and in the last six months of aging, Laphroaig Select rests in the highest, warmest reaches of the warehouse throughout the Scottish summer. The 80 proof spirit is available at fine retail locations in select markets nationwide with a suggested retail price of $55.00 per 750 mL bottle. For
22 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
more information, please call Beam Suntory at (847) 444-7844. Jim Beam Single Barrel is the first ever single barrel bourbon from Jim Beam. The hand-crafted Kentucky Straight Bourbon is bottled at 95 proof to commemorate the first barrel of Jim Beam made in 1795. According to the distillery, less than one percent of barrels qualify to be chosen for Jim Beam Single Barrel with each producing more than 200 bottles that are individually bottled and hand-numbered with care to ensure a unique taste profile and premium quality for a perfectly crafted bourbon. Barrels are carefully selected from a range of racks that excludes the top and bottom to ensure taste, consistency and color of the new, super-premium expression. Priced at $39.99 for a 750 mL bottle, the whiskey is available nationwide. For more information, please call Beam Suntory at (847) 444-7657. Coppercraft Distillery has launched its first whiskey products. Based in Holland, Mich., the distillery has a focus on local ingredients and production and its High Rye Malt Whiskey, High Wheat Whiskey, and 100% Corn Whiskey. The three whiskeys have been aging for nine months to produce very distinct flavors, according to the distillery. For more information, please call Coppercraft at (616) 510-5410.
Vodka Grey Goose has introduced Grey Goose VX (Vodka Exceptionnelle) to the U.S. market. The exclusive edition of Grey Goose is inspired by the spirit-making traditions of its creator and Maitre de Chai Francois Thibault, according to the company. The new product is finished with a hint of Cognac that is crafted with grapes from the Grande Champagne region and aged in hand selected old cask barrels made of Limousin oak for up to two years. The vodka is available in select markets at fine restaurants, nightclubs and bars and has a suggested retail price of $74.99 for a 750 mL bottle and $97.99 for a 1L bottle. For more information, please call Harrison & Shriftman at (917) 351-8664. VEEV Spirits has unveiled a full brand repositioning and reformulation of its vodka, which is
New Products now formulated at 70 proof. The spirit is complemented by a redesigned bottle with a bigger logo that showcases the iconic VEEV leaves which, along with the word “VEEV,” according to the manufacturer. The vodka is distributed nationally and has a suggested retail price of $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle. For more information, please call VEEV at (323) 937-0345. Smirnoff has expanded its Sorbet Light line with the addition of two new varieties: Summer Strawberry and White Peach. The spirits are infused with the natural flavorings of fresh-tasting, juicy white peach, ripe strawberries, and other natural fruit flavors. Each 1.5 oz. serving of contains 78 calories, 1.3 grams of carbohydrates and no fat. The 60 proof vodkas have a suggested retail price of $15.99 and are available nationwide. For more information, please call Diageo at (646) 223-2314. Beam Suntory’s Pinnacle Vodka has introduced a new amaretto variety. Pinnacle Amaretto Vodka offers a full-bodied almond flavor with undertones of cherry and a smooth, lingering cocoa finish, according to the company. The spirit is available nationwide at a suggested retail price of $12.99 for a 750 mL bottle. For more information, please call Beam Suntory at (847) 444-7844.
Tequila Patrón Spirits has launched Roca Patrón, the company’s first line of tequilas produced entirely from the labor-intensive, centuriesold tahona process. Made from 100 percent Weber Blue Agave, each tequila in the new Roca Patrón family – Roca Patrón Silver, Roca Patrón Reposado, and Roca Patrón Añejo – is traditionally handcrafted at a specific proof, higher than the core line of Patrón tequilas. Ranging from 84 to 90 proof, the new tequilas are sweeter, earthier and more vegetal – with distinctive notes of roasted agave – than other Patrón varietals, exhibiting more complexity and slightly less citrus, pepper and fruit. The aged variants are rested in single-use American bourbon barrels – Reposado for five months and Añejo for 14 months. The suggested retail prices for each 750 mL bottle of Roca Patrón line of tequilas are $69.99 for the Silver, $79.99
24 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
for the Reposado and $89.99 for the Añejo. The spirits are available nationally. For more information, please call Patrón at (817) 328-8214. Brown-Forman has launched the first two flavor extensions for its el Jimador Tequila line. Mango Mango and Mexican Lime are new offerings that not only leverage the trend in flavored spirits, but also the popularity of mango and lime margarita flavors, according to the manufacturer. The products are available at chain liquor and grocery stores locations throughout several states and available in 750 mL bottles at a suggested retail price of $19.99. For more information, please call (502) 774-6981.
Other Spirits Flor de Caña, the self-proclaimed “Slow-Aged” rum of Nicaragua, has launched Blanco Reserva 7, a super-premium aged white rum. The spirit is slow-aged for seven years and then filtered for a crystal-clear color. The taste is full-bodied, smooth and creamy, with a sweetly floral nose and a hint of vanilla, according to the manufacturer. The rum is sold at duty-free stores for a suggested price of $25. For more information, please call Murphy O’Brien Public Relations at (310) 586-7181. Berkshire Mountain Distillers has launched Greylock Gin & Tonic, a ready-to-drink cocktail, to its line of award-winning craft spirits. Produced and bottled in small batches at the distillery, the product is the first to offer consumers a handcrafted, ready-to-drink gin and tonic, according to the company. The spirit is produced using the distillery’s award-winning Greylock Gin and house-made tonic, which is made using cinchona bark and a unique blend of spices. The drinks are 13.33 percent ABV and available in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia and Massachusetts at a suggested retail price of $15 for a 4-pack of 200 mL bottles. For more information, please call Berkshire Mountain Distillers at (413) 229-0219. ROK Stars, the consumer products company co-founded by US billionaire John Paul DeJoria and UK entrepreneur Jonathan Kendrick, has partnered with the Humphrey Bogart Estate to launch Bogart’s Gin. The small batch, super
premium distilled English Gin is crafted in Cambridgeshire, England using copper pot stills. Botanically infused with fragrant juniper berries, five varieties of coriander, crushed macadamia nuts and freshly prepared citrus zests. The gin is will be distributed in liquor stores beginning in November or December and has a suggested retail price of $34.99. For more information, please call ROK Stars at (424) 672-2922. Imperial Brands, Inc., best known for Sobieski Vodka, has partnered with Irish dairy products brand Kerrygold, to launch Kerrygold Irish Cream Liqueur. Blended with natural Irish cream, aged Irish whiskey and premium chocolate, the product is packaged in a 750 mL bottle and is sold in Illinois and Florida for a suggested retail price of $19.99. For more information, please call Imperial Brands at (561) 624 5662.
Mixers Ritual Wellness has launched Ritual Mixer juices, a line of USDA certified organic, non-
GMO certified, cold-pressed, raw juices that are designed to pair with alcohol. Available in three varieties – Sol Margarita, Rio Mojito and Calcutta Lemon Drop – the blends are sold direct-to-consumer and at Ritual JuiceBox retail locations in Costa Mesa, Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach, Calif. Each product is packaged in a 32 oz. plastic bottle and has a suggested retail price of $14-16. For more information, please call Ritual Wellness at (949) 954-6522. American Beverage Marketers has developed a new line of Bloody Mary mixes in collaboration with award-winning Food Network Chef Anthony Lamas. The Master of Mixes Chef Inspired Gourmet Bloody Mary line is available in three different flavors: Classic, Loaded and 5-pepper. The products are available in major retailers across the country, and are $3.99 for a 1 L bottle and $6.99 for a 1.75 L bottle. For more information, please call American Beverage Marketers at (812)944-3585.
BEVNET MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2014
25
Improve your bottled water pro Genuinely green and retail friendly Introducing Ice River Green, a new brand of pristine, refreshing water that is genuinely green. How? The bottles are made of 100% recycled green plastic that might otherwise be “downcycled�, ultimately going to landfill. No coloring or dye is added to make them look environmental. No new plastic is used. The brand won a DuPont Award, a world-leading competition, for innovation in responsible packaging.
SPECIAL
INTRODUCTORY PRICE:
4 Gallon:
$2.25 FOB per bottle MRSP $3.99
18 pack x 500mL:
$1.05 FOB per case MRSP $1.79
ofits through green innovation In-house closed loop recycling • The only beverage company in North America with recycling operation. • Sorts and processes used bottles to produce food grade plastic flakes to make new bottles in a closed loop. • Company established in 1995. Recycling bin • Over $100 million in capital investment in the last 5 years in:
Green, blue & clear flakes
Recycling facilities 10 bottling plants Ice River Springs is now a leader among bottled water companies with efficient, vertically integrated recycling and bottling operations delivering tremendous value to brand and private label customers.
Bottles
Advantages of Ice River Green Available in 1/2 liter and 4 gallons, the bottles are made of 100% recycled plastic, are BPA free, and are fully recyclable in a never ending loop. The water cooler bottles have other advantages over traditional multi-use bottles: They are new every time No troublesome multi-use deposits Eliminates storing and handling of bulky empties No scratched and worn bottles
Benefit from growing demand for bottled water with an innovative and environmentally friendly brand.
Call 1-844-SO GREEN (764-7336) Email sogreen@iceriversprings.com www.iceriversprings.com
Ice River Springs Inc. Phone 1-844-764-7336 Email sogreen@iceriversprings.com Plants: Kentland, IN, Allentown, PA, Pittsfield, MA, Morganton, NC, Marianna, FL, High Springs, FL, Shelburne, ON, Feversham, ON, Grafton, ON, Halton Hills, ON, Calgary, AB.
“In everything we do we have a passion for good health and preservation of the earth”
Channel Check
SPOTLIGHT CATEGORY
Craft Beer 52 Weeks through 7/13/2014 SOURCE: Symphony/IRI Total food/drug/c-store/mass. 52 Weeks through 7/13/14
What’s hot & what’s not in stores now
The numbers have been all over the news: craft is up nearly 18 percent this year; in what analysts call “Take-Home Channels” like grocery, club, and convenience, numbers are even better in craft world. Worth noting is that a lot of the new growth is a result of the pipeline increasing: Shiner, New Belgium, Lagunitas, Deschutes, Stone, Bells, etc. have all moved into new territories over the past year. Meanwhile, some older brands like Widmer, Magic Hat, and Pyramid are being left behind. Also, Goose Island continues to grow under Bud’s tutelage; new offices in Chicago for AB/Inbev “family” brands bode well for that label.
Brand
Dollar Sales
Change vs. year earlier
Samuel Adams
$352,388,576
13.18%
Sierra Nevada
$201,023,168
11.04%
New Belgium
$167,028,160
30.97%
Shiner
$123,141,456
12.53%
Lagunitas
$74,837,784
78.26%
Deschutes
$56,736,956
13.56%
Redhook
$42,553,732
7.53%
Goose Island
$39,430,420
51.93%
Stone Brewing
$38,834,400
27.00%
Widmer
$36,862,896
-10.44%
Kona
$36,610,400
18.09%
Bells
$34,347,580
34.37%
Magic Hat
$31,443,272
-1.03%
Sweetwater
$31,044,104
40.12%
Great Lakes
$29,465,956
26.21%
Dogfish Head
$27,735,102
37.11%
New Glarus
$26,648,332
20.01%
Boulevard
$21,687,900
18.59%
Pyramid
$21,432,510
-16.03%
Abita
$20,021,224
11.71%
TOPLINE CATEGORY VOLUME BEER
$30,799,120,384
4.47%
BOTTLED JUICES
$6,803,644,416
-1.74%
BOTTLED WATER
$11,964,196,864
4.12%
ENERGY DRINKS
$10,243,000,320
4.60%
DRINK MIXES
$1,161,065,344
-2.79%
TEA/COFFEE
$4,359,750,144
5.53%
SOURCE: Symphony/IRI Total food/drug/c-store/mass. 52 Weeks through 7/13/14
28 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
Channel Check ENERGY DRINKS Brand
HOT! Monster Zero Ultra Dollar Sales
Change vs. year earlier
Red Bull
$3,558,614,016
Monster
$1,290,080,896
7.78%
Monster Rehab
$328,238,016
-10.95%
NOS
$315,802,336
15.34%
Moster Lo Carb
$298,991,104
-11.47%
Java Monster
$294,811,744
9.50%
Monster Zero Ultra
$293,958,336
63.50%
Rockstar
$279,667,488
-4.35%
Monster Mega
$242,434,304
6.69%
Monster Absolute Zero
$176,549,888
-22.02%
SOURCE: Symphony/IRI Total food/drug/c-store/mass. 52 Weeks through 7/13/14
NOT! Monster Absolute Zero
BOTTLED WATER Brand Private Label
HOT! Fiji Dollar Sales
Change vs. year earlier
$1,913,950,848
8.70%
Dasani
$934,100,352
3.18%
Nestle Pure Life
$897,290,496
-3.04%
Aquafina
$875,513,024
1.47%
Glaceau Smartwater
$580,713,728
9.52%
Poland Spring
$575,468,096
2.78%
Glaceau Vitaminwater
$512,067,648
-16.06%
Deer Park
$418,445,472
4.12%
Ozarka
$330,643,712
4.24%
Fiji
$256,420,352
13.33%
SOURCE: Symphony/IRI Total food/drug/c-store/mass. 52 Weeks through 7/13/14
NOT! Glaceau Vitaminwater
TEA
HOT! Pure Leaf
Brand
Dollar Sales
AriZona
$660,492,416
Lipton
$350,862,336
-1.21%
Lipton Brisk
$275,331,424
9.44%
Lipton Pureleaf
$259,352,080
46.10%
Snapple
$209,362,336
2.54%
Diet Snapple
$184,152,560
-5.40%
AriZona Arnold Palmer
$167,780,256
-6.17%
Gold Peak
$145,149,328
12.26%
Diet Lipton
$116,444,512
-17.19%
Pure Leaf
$97,489,856
75.46%
SOURCE: Symphony/IRI Total food/drug/c-store/mass. 52 Weeks through 7/13/14
30 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
8.95%
Change vs. year earlier -0.94%
NOT! Diet Lipton
SPORTS DRINKS Brand Gatorade Perform
HOT! Powerade Dollar Sales 3,329,049,600
Change vs. year earlier 3.50%
Powerade ION 4
$793,267,328
-13.66%
Gatorade G2 Perform
$463,646,592
-13.45%
Gatorade
$332,162,752
62.46%
Powerade Zero ION 4
$209,353,152
-3.74%
Powerade
$180,714,544
365.65%
Gatorade Fierce
$99,386,400
336.73%
Gatorade Frost
$53,862,704
-3.74%
Gatorade G2
$42,745,848
-14.04%
Gatorade All Stars
$26,260,884
-45.93%
SOURCE: Symphony/IRI Total food/drug/c-store/mass. 52 Weeks through 7/13/14
NOT! Gatorade All Stars
SPARKLING WATER Brand
HOT! Glaceau Fruitwater Dollar Sales
Change vs. year earlier
Sparkling Ice
$358,019,040
59.73%
Private Label
$276,597,920
6.73%
Perrier
$170,007,760
13.55%
San Pellegrino
$142,321,024
13.84%
La Croix
$81,592,672
24.57%
Glaceau Fruitwater
$48,934,056
156.63%
Topo Chico
$34,412,020
10.20%
Poland Spring
$24,753,530
1.80%
Cascade Ice
$24,376,656
2.21%
Arrowhead
$22,338,044
3.08%
SOURCE: Symphony/IRI Total food/drug/c-store/mass. 52 Weeks through 7/13/14
NOT! Poland Spring
DOMESTIC BEER Brand Bud Light
HOT! Michelob Ultra Light Dollar Sales $6,002,961,408
Change vs. year earlier 1.30%
Coors Light
$2,350,554,112
1.11%
Budweiser
$2,090,195,328
-1.09%
Miller Lite
$1,886,015,232
-0.01%
Natural Light
$1,102,021,120
-4.12%
Busch Light
$852,184,128
2.59%
Michelob Ultra Light
$827,004,416
12.42%
Busch
$661,037,696
-3.33%
Keystone Light
$484,169,664
-2.21%
Miller High Life
$468,872,512
-4.97%
SOURCE: Symphony/IRI Total food/drug/c-store/mass. 52 Weeks through 7/13/14
NOT! Miller High Life
BEVNET MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2014
31
Gerry’s Insights
Big Deal, Big Ramifications
By Gerry Khermouch
OK, even a beverage geek like myself will admit that the deal Coca-Cola and Monster Beverage recently announced may not quite rise to the status of those momentous “where were you when it happened?” events – though in my case the answer is, “right in the middle of my week of summer vacation,” insuring that I (and my family!) will remember it a long time. Thanks, Coke. Thanks, Monster. Still, it’s an extraordinary transaction, on many grounds. Beyond its general outlines, I wonder whether you realize quite how extensive the ramifications may be? To briefly summarize the deal, Coca-Cola, which has distributed Monster Energy in about half of the U.S. and in several overseas markets, spends $2.15 billion to acquire a 16.7 percent stake in the company, with the right to gradually take this up to 25 percent. In the process it becomes Monster’s “preferred” global distribution partner, meaning the companies now will terminate the Budweiser wholesalers who manage the brand in the other half of the U.S. and seek, wherever optimal, to ride the Coca-Cola bottling network into overseas availability, with China the top priority. The deal also includes a massive brand swap: Coke cedes its energy drink portfolio to Monster, including the likes of Full Throttle, NOS and Burn, while Monster sends to Coke its non-Monster brands, several of which, under the Hansen’s name, go back to the inception of the company decades ago. That portfolio includes the Peace Tea brand that Monster (and its AriZona alumnus Mark Hall) devised expressly for Coke as a deftly branded alternative to an AriZona Iced Tea line that Coke has long coveted. Those of you who read my newsletter, Beverage Business Insights, will know that by now we’ve teased out a dozen or more threads that make this deal fascinating. For the rest of you, I’ll spotlight just a few. Coke’s strategy seems novel on several grounds. Unlike the case with brands like Honest Tea, Zico Coconut Water and even Keurig Green Mountain, where Coke initially took a minority stake in a relatively undeveloped brand and left the entrepreneurs relatively unfettered to continue to build their business, the Monster Energy brand has had a run of over a decade now, in a pretty mature category dating back in North America to 1997, when Red Bull launched here. So Coke’s hands-off strategy is not an incubation ploy. Rather, the company seems to be implicitly acknowledging that, in segments outside its core CSD competency, even mature brands in mature categories may be better off in the hands of inspired marketers who’re immersed in the 32 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
particular dynamics of the category. (Coke reaps an ancillary benefit in somewhat shielding itself from the criticism on safety grounds that energy drinks have reaped in some quarters, though I seriously doubt Coke would have done this transaction if it thought there were any skeletons in that closet.) On the energy side, Coke has proved a good steward of the NOS energy brand it
acquired as part of Fuze Beverage, but its main, internally devised U.S. play, Full Throttle, has never been particularly convincing as a brand. Now it’s left to Monster to sort out these brands’ roles and devise the marketing to support them. So the inmates will be running the asylum, which I mean as a compliment. It’s interesting strategically for Monster, too. It dispels the notion that, in setting up Coke and Budweiser as rival distribution partners, Monster Beverage’s honchos Rodney Sacks and Hilton
Schlosberg had been a bit too clever and ended up not with two ardent suitors but rather two partners with a concrete disincentive to elevate their partnership. The lesson here seems to be that if you run your business for the long term and create undeniable value, a serious suitor will emerge regardless. The deal is also a mildly embarrassing admission on Monster’s part that maybe the marketing genius it’s exhibited so consistently in energy drinks doesn’t really extend to the legacy categories within the company, the natural sodas, lemonades and teas that it’s devoted a fair amount of management attention to trying to ignite. It will also be fascinating to see how the deal plays out on the execution front. In theory, it’s brilliant: each company doubles down on categories that are most familiar to it, in a partnership strengthened by the addition of an equity tie. And yet: there’s evidence that, to date, the Bud network that’s about to be terminated has out-executed the Coke network on Monster, meaning we’ll need to see a step-up in execution by the bottlers for this move to be vindicated. Coke’s move to refranchise the network to more agile outside partners should help, but that’s going to take a while. Monster’s energy drink rivals surely will be hoping that the brand sputters in the interim. Nor is it clear how much the non-energy brands will benefit from going over to Coke. It seems an obvious upgrade for Peace Tea, a natural fit within the bottlers, but it’s murkier for items like the glass-bottle Hubert’s Lemonade line or modest-selling Blue Sky sodas. All these caveats are in no way
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meant to deny that it’s a brilliantly conceived deal, only to stress that its ultimate success will depend heavily on execution. Not least, there may be serious ramifications for the Budweiser beer network that’s about to lose the brand, and for beverage marketers who hope to cultivate that network as a channel for their own brands’ distribution. Once my colleagues at Beer Marketer’s Insights and I penciled in the arithmetic, we were surprised to see how reliant the Bud network has become upon the Monster brand for its profitability, at a time that their beer profits are under pressure. For many it’s 10 percent of their cash flow – for some, as high as one-third or even half. For those with major exposure to the departing Monster brand, this could actually trigger a decision to exit the business, hastening the network’s consolidation. For those who stay, it could prompt a stampede into other brands to replace that lost volume and profit. Craft beers and imports, surely, but NAs? Some wholesalers enjoying success with brands like Sparkling Ice and Jarritos could double down, but others may decide that, with their best NA brand gone, they’ve simply had enough of a segment in which brands flee at will, for paltry buyout prices that don’t approach the value the wholesalers created for the brand owner. That, too, could be a considerable aftershock. Longtime beverage-watcher Gerry Khermouch is executive editor of Beverage Business Insights, a twice-weekly e-newsletter covering the nonalcoholic beverage sector.
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Brewbound By Chris Furnari
Key Craft Offerings
What’s the easiest way to tell that fall is upon us? Pumpkin beers are already cropping up at your local bottle shop. As the warm days of summer give way to cooler fall evenings, retailers are beginning to arrange their sets with a raft of new
Sierra Nevada is known for its hop-forward offerings and the company’s fall release is no exception. Featuring a ruby-red hue, restrained malt body and abundant tropical fruit and citrus hop flavor, Flipside Red is the perfect fall accompaniment. Available in all 50 states, Flipside Red checks in at 6.2 percent ABV. 6-packs have a suggested retail price of $8.99 and the beer is also available in 12-packs and on draft. Troegs Hop Knife Harvest Ale is the third of four seasonal beers that are part of the company’s new Hop Cycle series. Inspired by the cyclical nature of the four seasons, the series celebrates the annual hop harvest. Hop Knife recognizes the meticulous, time-honored tradition of hand-harvesting hops at the peak of maturity. At 6.2 percent and 87 IBUs, Hop knife packs a bitter punch. The beer is available in Washington D.C., DE, MA, MD, NC, NJ, OH, PA and VA through October. Hop Knife 6-packs have a suggested retail price of $9.99 and the beer is also available on draft. The Bruery turned to a different fall ingredient for its Autumn Maple. Instead of adding pumpkin to its Belgian-style brown ale, The Bruery makes Autumn Maple with 17 lbs. of yams per barrel. Autumn Maple is the company’s take on a pumpkin beer and is also brewed with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, molasses and maple syrup. Autumn Maple is available in 750 mL bottles and on draft for a suggested retail price of $11.99 across The Bruery’s 25 state distribution footprint. The Traveler Beer Co., a subsidiary of Boston Beer Company, commemorates fall with its shandy-inspired “Jack-O” Traveler. Representing the “darker side of Shandy,” Jack-O Traveler strikes a balance between bright refreshment and seasonal spice. Jack-O Traveler is a 4.4 percent ABV wheat ale brewed with 2-row malted barley, malted wheat and, yes, fresh pumpkin. 6-packs are available in 28 states for a suggested retail price of $8.99 - $10.99.
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craft products, especially those brewed with a variety of seasonal spices and ingredients. These days, pumpkin beers are ubiquitous and that’s why BevNET Magazine suggests you skip the gourds and test out some alternative fall flavors.
Harpoon Brewery’s Grateful Harvest is a beer brewed with the Thanksgiving holiday in mind. This 5.9 percent ABV offering combines a rich malt character with the subtle sweetness of locally harvested cranberries. But the beer’s most enjoyable characteristic isn’t on the ingredient list. For every 6-pack that is purchased, Harpoon donates $1 to a local food bank. Grateful Harvest is available, in 6-packs, across Harpoon’s 22-state footprint for a suggested retail price of $8.99 - $9.99. Woochuck Hard Cider’s Fall Harvest brings farmers and communities together to celebrate another year of fruitful labor. This gluten-free cider has a complex and elegant character full of apple, cinnamon and nutmeg, balanced with a hint of American whit oak. The 5 percent ABV Fall Harvest is available in 6-packs and on draft in all 50 states and has a suggested retail price of $8.99. Anchor Brewing was inspired by a native California tree when it first brewed BigLeaf Autumn Maple Red in 2013. At 6 percent ABV, BigLeaf is a quaffable, well-balanced red ale brewed with a hint of maple syrup. BigLeaf Maple Autumn Red is available through October in 6-packs for a suggested retail price of $9.99. The beer is also sold in 22 oz. bottles and on draft in select bars and restaurants. New Belgium Brewing’s love for beer, bikes and benefits is best witnessed through its efforts during the Tour de Fat national campaign. To celebrate the benefit tour, which has raised more than $3 million in 15 years, New Belgium created Tour de Fall. The 6 percent ABV pale ale boasts piney, fruity and bready aromas and a bitter taste that will leave drinkers wanting another sip. 6-packs are available in 38 states for a suggested retail price of $8.99. Tour de Fall is also available in 12-packs and on draft across the company’s wholesale footprint.
the transforming healthy beverage landscape: Who Owns What
Part 1 of a two-part series // By Michael Burgmaier
As sales of traditional Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSDs) continue to fall and Americans look for healthier alternatives, large beverage companies have responded by both acquiring emerging brands and innovating from within. Interestingly, however, consumers (and even beverage entrepreneurs) often do not know which brands are owned by the large Beverage Companies, nor do the entrepreneurs appreciate the sheer number of potential buyers for their own companies. As an investment banker in this space for many years, it is always interesting to take a company to market; so often, we find that a buyer who had been viewed by the seller as a “non-starter” can be the ultimate buyer. Coke and Pepsi have made several acquisitions in the healthier, emerging beverage brand space: Honest Tea, Zico, Izze, Naked, Odwalla and ONE, for example – and my money is solidly in the
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camp that the acquisitions have still really just begun. Through these acquisitions, the large strategics bring healthier alternatives to the mass of consumers through more retail channel exposure. Additionally, acquisitions help fuel investment in additional emerging brands. It creates a virtuous cycle. This is all good. This month, BevNET asked me to lay out this transforming landscape and discuss which beverage companies own which “healthier” (a subjective term, I agree) brands. It turned out to be an interesting exercise. In this article, I also discuss some of the larger, independent beverage companies as well as sizeable, Private Equity-backed ones – perhaps the next wave of brands
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to be acquired. The exercise unveiled trends, helped solidify thoughts around why certain brands get acquired – and why others do not – and perhaps most importantly, can serve to remind us that the buyer universe for beverage entrepreneurs is far greater than just Coke, Pepsi and Nestle Waters. First, let’s take stock of the buyers: To simplify things, I divided them into four buckets: (1) The big three “high profile beverage buyers”– Coca Cola, Pepsi and Nestle Waters; (2) other high profile beverage (and food and beverage) companies: Dr Pepper Snapple, Campbell’s, Hain, Starbucks, Pfizer, Hormel, ITO EN, Sara Lee, Sunsweet, Danone, TATA and Hershey; (3) other companies – a very long list that we put as over 100 companies capable of buying – like Apple & Eve (before they were acquired by Lassonde in June) who acquired The Switch Beverage Co. earlier in 2014; and (4) financial buyers – an important group, as there is over $320 billion of private equity out there looking for a home – or a place to plant a transactional trophy.
Chart 1 below highlights some recent deals by buyer type. What jumps out there? Nine juice deals: Innocent, Bolthouse, Blue Print, Evolution, The Switch, Apple & Eve, Route 66, Juicy Juice and Zola. Four tea deals: Honest Tea, Sweet Leaf, Teavana and Tea Forte. Three coconut water deals: Zico, ONE and Zola. Within this group, the most notable transactions are Bolthouse ($1.55 billion), Teavana ($620 million) and Cytosport ($450 million); they cover companies in juice, tea, and protein – all hot areas. Compared to those bigger deals, Evolution ($30 million) and Blue Print ($25MM plus earn-outs) seem like the bargains – or premature sells.
So Who Owns What? Large beverage companies have been very busy over the last 10 to 15 years with both acquiring and developing their heathier/ alternative beverage brand portfolios. Charts 2 and 3 on page 40 depict which large beverage companies own which brands (the year indicates what year the brand was acquired – or started internally).
Which Large Brands are Still Out There Solo? Not every large beverage brand is owned by one of the large, public players though. Although many young companies love to quote the Vitaminwater multiple (as a reality-based investment advisor, I ask you to please stop doing that) or imagine they will be the next Seth Goldman, there are other options out there besides selling. In fact, there are several large independent beverage companies of scale in U.S., and quite a few have more than $50 million in sales, as well as PE-backed companies and smaller public beverage companies as well. Chart 4 on page 40 lists just a few examples of the healthier beverage brands of note. Interestingly, just a few months ago the “Large (>$50MM) PE-Backed” list would have also included Apple & Eve and Muscle Milk. But PE-Backed also means “must sell.” Over the past four years, at Silverwood Partners we’ve been involved with more than 10 beverage transactions – both sales and investments – with many of those fall-
CHART 1. RECENT BEVERAGE ACQUISITIONS BY BUYER TYPE HIGH PROFILE BEVERAGE BUYERS
OTHER HIGH PROFILE F&B COMPANIES
OTHER COMPANIES
FINANCIAL BUYERS
BUYER
TARGET
BUYER
TARGET
BUYER
TARGET
BUYER
TARGET
Coca Cola
Zico
Hormel
CytoSport (Muscle Milk)
Apple & Eve
The Switch
Brynwood
Juicy Juice
Coca Cola
Innocent
Campell’s
Bolthouse
Lassonde
Apple & Eve
The Yucaipa Companies
Brew Hub
Pepsico
ONE
Hain
Blue Print
Healthy Brands Collective
Tempt
Horizon Capital
Bolstavan Wineries Group
Nestle Waters
Sweet Leaf
Starbucks
Teavana
Sun Orchard
Fruit 66
Emigrant Capital
Zola
Coca Cola
Monster (1/6 of company)
Starbucks
Evolution Fresh
White Rock
Fizzy Lizzy
Emigrant Capital
Boylan Bottling
Pfizer
Alacer (Emergen-C)
Big Red
Hydrive
Kainos Capital
Slim-Fast
Sara Lee
Tea Forte
Big Red
Thomas Kemper
Sunsweet
Function
38 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
ing under the “not publicly known” category. To be successful, emerging BevCo winners need differentiate and show a path to becoming very large. The beverage data out there is helpful: yes, people need to drink; they want healthier alternatives;
Michael Burgmaier is a Managing Director with Silverwood Partners, an investment bank specializing on the healthy/active living and premium consumer space. 2013/14 announced beverage transactions for Silverwood include The Switch Beverage Co., KeVita, Essentia Water and Spindrift.
they are abandoning traditional CSDs; extending legacy brands further and further no longer works; and almost always, the best innovation comes from outside. Build it, grow it and they will come…
CHART 2. BRANDS OWNED BY THE BIG PLAYERS COCA COLA
PEPSI
NESTLE
CAMPBELL’S
DPSG
2014 Monster (partial ownership)
2012 ONE
2011 Sweet Leaf 2009 investment
2012 Bolthouse Farms
2002 Snapple (acquired by Cadbury)
2013 Zico
2007 Naked
2010 Tradewinds (acquired by Sweet Leaf)
1948 V8
2000 Nantucket Nectars (acquired by Cadbury)
2012 Core Power
2000 SoBe
Many water brands. Notables include Poland Spring and Resource
2011 Honest (Aid, Kids, Fizz, Tea)
1998 Tropicana
2009 illy issimo (RTD only, JV with illy)
1994 Acquafina
2007 Glaceau (Smartwater, Vitaminwater)
1994 Starbucks (RTD coffee drinks, JV with Starbucks)
2007 Fuze
1991 Lipton (RTD only, JV with Unilever)
CHART 3.. OTHER NOTABLE STRATEGIC OWNERSHIP SUNSWEET
ITO EN
KRAFT
MONSTER*
WHITEWAVE
OCEAN SPRAY
KELLOGG’S
2011 Function
2013 Jay Street (created)
2011 MiO (created)
2011 Pre
2004 Horizon Organic
2011 Ocean Spray 100% Premium
2013 Kellogg’s To Go
2010 C2O (investment)
2002 Tea’s Tea (created)
1981 Capri Sun (created)
2009 Peace Tea* (created)
2002 Silk
2008 Cran Energy (created)
2009 Kellogg’s Special K Protein Shake
2010 Ayala’s Herbal Water (investment)
1989 Oi Ocha
1975 Country Time (created)
1935 Hanson’s*
*Now owned by Coke; Peace Tea, Hanson’s
CHART 4. HEALTHY BEVERAGE BRANDS OF NOTE LARGE, INDEPENDENT PRIVATE WITH SCALE
LARGE (>$50MM) PE-BACKED
SMALL PUBLIC CO.’s
Arizona
Sunny D (J.W. Childs)
Reeds
Talking Rain (Sparkling Ice)
Sambazon (Verlinvest
Jones
GT Kombucha (Millenium Products, Inc.)
Vita Coco (DPSG distribution)
KonaRed Corp. Healthy Brand Collective (non-trading – Cell-nique, High Country Kombucha, Tempt)
40 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
GOING PRO? There’s More than One Way By Jeffrey Klineman
For probiotic beverages, rising interest in both gut health and overall natural health have led to increased attention on the tiny bacterial strains embedded within the bottle. Mainstream growth is starting to come, with conventional retailers expanding the presence of brands like GT’s Kombucha, Lifeway Kefir, even newcomers like KeVita Sparkling Probiotic Drink and Goodbelly juices. But it’s not cohesive growth. And don’t look for these products together. There’s no real unified probiotic category; rather, beverages with probiotic attributes tend to be scattered throughout the store. Kombucha, for example, will be found everywhere from a dedicated refrigerated juice and functional beverage set in the produce department, its own cooler, or the grab-and-go section at the front of a Whole Foods. Goodbelly tends to fight for space in the dairy set – when it isn’t set up against chilled juices. Meanwhile, leading kefir maker Lifeway is entrenched in dairy – except for line extensions that put it in the cheese department, or in frozen foods,
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among other locations. KeVita looks to the produce set where it can sit next to other high-margin functional items like a Pom Wonderful or Mama Chia. At times, founder Bill Moses said, he’ll tell retailers they’re not ready to go into the store until they’re in the right department. Still, that disparate footprint isn’t holding things back for brands or for retailers, notes Bill Weiland, the founder of Presence Marketing, the largest independent food and beverage broker servicing natural and specialty accounts. “It’s got great bandwidth in both dairy and nondairy applications,” Weiland said. “Yogurt was the first major application, but it took a while for the beverage messaging to break through. People are more familiar with it now.” And those products are all growing: publicly-traded Lifeway just announced a record quarter; KeVita has just raised another $6 million following two years of greater than 100 percent growth; Goodbelly has grown steadily at a rate of 20 to 30 percent annually; GT’s has swarmed
out of the natural and specialty channel and is far and away the largest kombucha brand in the country, in a category that has grown nearly 30 percent in the past year, according to SPINS. But as the products become more important in conventional retail channels, new thoughts are emerging on the types of products that will win those types of consumers. Brands for whom digestive health is merely one of a suite of potential benefits are maintaining their first mover lead, but they are finding themselves in competition for consumers with products that have introduced probiotics as a kind of upgrade of a more mainstream product. Additionally, issues of positioning remain – while probiotics are growing quickly, they’re still part of an emerging trend in functional foods. While the industry may be rife with discussions of the particular benefits of various foods or drinks, consumers aren’t completely dialed into that trend. “In terms of explaining that cultured foods are a healthy option, we’re trying to take out the fear quotient,” said Derek
BECAUSE NOT ALL KOMBUCHA IS CREATED EQUAL.
Miller, Lifeway’s vice-president of communications. “We are still in the mode of always having to pursue potential consumers. It hasn’t hit that ascent like Greek Yogurt.” Nevertheless, the heat around probiotics is palpable: their connection to gut health means they are widely regarded as one of the fastest-growing health trends on both a global and domestic basis, with total overall sales of probiotic food and supplements are expected to reach more than $32 billion by the end of this year, and they’re expected to grow by 17 percent in the U.S. this year, according to a report from MarketsandMarkets, a research firm. According to Weiland, the lack of a true “probiotic category” for food and beverage – supplements are a bit different and are often grouped together – hasn’t hurt the growth those products that carry the probiotic imprimatur. In fact, it’s only become more important for them. Still, the marketing strategies – and the assessment of the core probiotic consumer – varies from brand to brand. “Our consumer isn’t just the buyer of fermented probiotic beverages,” says Bill Lange, the chief marketing officer of KeVita, which nevertheless features label copy that calls it a ‘sparkling probiotic beverage.’ “It’s the super-premium functional beverage buyer. It’s not like they’re only buying Mamma Chia, Blueprint, or others, it’s that they’re buying all of us.” Others are interested in showing that probiotics represent functional benefits beyond what is available in their unenhanced counterparts. “We’d rather be sitting next to a Simply or a Tropicana, or next to the soy or dairy alternatives,” says Goodbelly CEO Alan Murray. “We want to be where people are looking to upgrade.” On the kombucha side, the variety of uses transcends probiotics, although it remains a key part of the sell for many brands. GT Dave, the founder of kombucha category leader GT’s Kombucha, said he doesn’t want his product to be thought of as only having probiotic benefits – and while probiotics are one of the words on his labels, there are many other descriptive terms in the design. Growing consumer awareness of probiotics may be a factor in the overall growth of kombucha, Dave said, but “I wouldn’t say it’s a primary factor. The overall 46 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
growth is because consumers are looking closer at how much of their food or drinks are processed and they’re trying to minimize that. There’s kind of a crafted-bynature aspect that those products have.” That might be true, but for many beverage brands, the word “probiotic” is shorthand for much of that functionality, says Hannah Crum, a kombucha expert who co-founded Kombucha Brewers International (KBI) with her partner Alex LaGory, an organization to represent commercial kombucha makers. “I think that hook has been well established,” Crum said, citing the road plowed by earlier brands like Danon yogurt’s Activia. “It’s using the vernacular that the public understands to get consumers on board.” In fact, many kombucha brands are relying heavily on the probiotic attributes of their products to make that introduction.
Take Health-Ade, a brand lauded for the simplicity of its message – and one that calls itself “A Bubbly Probiotic Tea.” That direct approach to probiotic marketing is one that has evolved alongside the category, notes Derek Miller, the vice president of communications for Lifeway, the country’s largest maker of Kefir, a fermented milk drink. “It’s certainly something that is important and is a trend and is worth conveying to the consumer,” Miller said, “but it’s hard to predict how that’s going to fit in the future. How much emphasis to put on the probiotic aspect, if that’s simply the sole reason for a product to exist, that is something that could fall into tension with just a probiotic supplement.” Lifeway calls out its own probiotic content on the front of its packages with a bright swoosh of text, but Miller said the company said that while it’s “probably still the first element, we’re seeing a lot of attention due to the lower lactose, gluten free aspects. And of course that interest in high protein and low-sugar products, we hit those markers and we’re doing a decent amount of messaging behind that trend.” Then there’s the trade-up: Obi, which bills itself as a “probiotic soda” is one of two, alongside kombucha brand Live Soda, that have taken up the guise of a CSD with benefits. And there’s demonstrated appeal to that approach: Live Soda recently landed distribution in mega-retailer Target. For these brands, the approach is one that focuses not on the maturity of the probiotic market, but its immaturity. According to the Obi team,
the kombucha/KeVita/kefir axis is too far removed from the mainstream. “If there’s a functional benefit but there’s no great taste, there’s no way to make it appeal to the mass market,” said David Lester, one of the founders of Obi, which is aligned with beverage incubator L.A. Libations. The idea behind a probiotic soda is that “there are things that can easily be incorporated into their diet. There’s no occasionality, we just need to convince them of the benefit.” But slapping a probiotic label – or injecting probiotic strains – into mainstream products and expecting them to appeal is more complicated than that, notes Murray, of Goodbelly. “One of the difficulties with that is that it has to be believable,” Murray said. “It has to work, people need to feel the benefit, but it has to be in accepted healthyfor-you categories. Pizza? No.” That’s a fine line that Murray lays out, and one that his company has had to walk from its inception – convincing consumers that a probiotic version of a mainstream product like their morn-
ing juice is a worthwhile enhancement. His company has had some success in establishing its bona fides by offering a “12-day challenge,” but it’s also selling smaller “shots” – a much more traditional format for ingesting probiotics and one that’s common with Yakult, a Japanese company that recently announced it was expanding to the U.S. To date, the product types that have most directly benefitted from the growth of consumer interest in probiotics are the kefirs and the kombuchas – those traditionally associated with gut health in particular and simple healthfulness overall. “I think kombucha is kind of a ‘thing,’ at this point,” notes Wieland. “If you ask some
hipster under a tree on a college campus why they’re drinking it, and they could give you 40 different answers. Ask 10 people, and eight wouldn’t say it’s probiotics.” Still, he adds, that makes room for more of the mainstream focused products, like KeVita, Goodbelly, and, yes, Obi to attract consumers. “There’s this more specifically gearedup probiotic bent to categories that I think you’ll see more of,” he said. Still, the value of the traditional methods for getting consumers their living bacteria remain attractive, even to brands that have grown up leaning closer to the mainstream. Shortly before this story went to print, Bill Moses, the founder of KeVita, let it be known he would be launching KeVita Master Brew Kombucha. The stated expectations for the line extension are that it will be 25 percent of the company’s revenue next year – no small task for a brand that has grown triple-digits for three years straight. In case you were wondering, on the label? Alongside “Live” and above “Naturally Energizing,” it says ”Probiotic.”
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47
Brand News
Probiotics
NessAlla Kombucha, based in Madison, Wis., recently landed on shelves at select Whole Foods stores in its region. According to the company, which is woman-owned and operated, NessAlla Kombucha is one of the first craft brewed kombuchas in the nation. The company, which believes in supporting local communities, has incorporated social, cultural and environmental considerations into its business model. The kombucha is also available at most co-ops and grocery stores in the Midwest, according to the company. Lifeway Foods has launched its new Veggie Kefir, a cultured dairy product blended with vegetable juice. The product has no sugar added, is naturally probiotic and contains high-protein kefir. The line is available in three flavors — beet, cucumber and tomato, and comes in 8 oz. bottles. Veggie Kefir is available in Hy-Vee, Ingles, Fairway and other retailers. Ibex Drinkable Yogurt introduced a new organic formula with probiotics and a natural prebiotic fiber. Like previous Ibex formulas, the organic products contain considerably less sugar than competitive yogurts, according to the company, with 5 grams of added cane sugar per bottle. The company has recently retained a natural/specialty broker and will be pitching Ibex to premium retailers for a broader launch on the East Coast. Kore Kombucha’s newest flavor, Coffee Kombucha, is made with a high grade ceylon black tea base. The coffee brew is a cold water extract of an organic fair trade, dark roast blend, added before the second fermentation. Check out Coffee Kombucha or one of the company’s other six flavors at more than 100 Safeway locations in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, or one of its local locations in Eugene, Ore. Kombucha Wonder Drink is newly sold throughout the Northwest in Haggen Food Grocery Stores, Natural Grocers and Fred Meyer via Green Shoots Distribution. The company also recently signed a deal with Azure Standard, which will sell the brand in the West. The company makes a probiotic kombucha
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that focuses on premium ingredients inspired by those of Tibet, India and Japan. Clearly Kombucha will be rolling out a new 14 oz. bottle and two new flavors in the fall of 2014. The product is brewed with whole-leaf green tea, fermented with a scoby and is then cold filtered for clarity. Shaktea Kombucha, recognized nationally as one of 12 grant recipients by Chase Bank’s Mission Main Street Project, has completed construction on a new brewery and bottling facility. The facility will allow the family-run organic kombucha and soda microbrewery to pick up new distribution regionally and expand their product line this fall. Humm Kombucha, formerly Kombucha Mama, rebranded in April. Humm is now available in 14 oz. resealable custom bottles, 12-packs and nine flavors. It is now distributed throughout the Pacific Northwest and has plans to soon enter California. GoodBelly StraightShot offers a daily dose of 20 billion live and active probiotic cultures in a non-dairy base, according to the company. The product has no added sugar and 30 calories per serving. It is sold in packs of four 2.7 oz. shot servings. Barefoot Bucha recently launched a new flavor, Bluegrass Bucha, which is made with blueberries and cascade hops. Barefoot Bucha is a certified organic craft kombucha that is brewed in Virginia from Blue Ridge Mountain water and infused with organic and fair trade ingredients. Committed to a low waste business model, Barefoot Bucha offers its kombucha exclusively on draft through refillable bottles. Bellabucha is Costa Rica’s first artisan probiotic beverage available at a national level, according to the company. Bellabucha is based in Samara Beach, Costa Rica, and brews with local ingredients, such as mineral-rich water sourced from Nicoya Peninsula. Bellabucha has relaunched its kombucha with a new transparent label that highlights the product’s colorful array of flavors. The relaunch also includes
a more resistant bottle that will encourage wider distribution. Trickling Springs Creamery, which makes probiotic yogurt smoothies, has moved production to its second creamery in Koshkonong, Mo. The company has gained 100 percent grass-fed AGA Certification and Non-GMO Project Verification. The company won 1st place at the American Cheese Society awards for its unsweetened plain yogurt smoothie. Trickling Springs Creamery purchases its milk from a community of family farmers who grass feed their cows. The smoothies are made with lowfat milk, buttermilk and cultures, and contain no stabilizers or thickeners. Búcha recently added a new flavor, Yuzu Lemon, to its line of probiotic kombucha products. Paired with Meyer lemon, this Asian citrus flavor has ventured far from its association with Japanese Ponzu sauce. Health-Ade Kombucha has added a pair of beverage veterans to its roster — Christine Perich, the CFO and COO at New Belgium Brewing Company, Inc. and Ramon Canek, the former COO and VP of operations at GT’s Kombucha. Perich will sit on the brand’s board of directors while Canek will monitor the company’s manufacturing and will work closely with Vanessa Dew, the CFO and director of sales. GT’s Kombucha recently exhibited at the Unique LA Summer Market, an upscale market that features design, fashion, art, food and beverage. Other beverage brands in attendance included Joia and Honest Tea. GT’s is available in four different lines — Enlightened Kombucha, Enlightened Synergy, Classic Kombucha and Classic Synergy. KeVita, which markets a line of sparkling probiotic drinks, has launched KeVita Master Brew Kombucha. Sold in Safeway stores nationwide along with select Whole Foods regions, the kombucha line is available in six flavors: Ginger, Grapefruit, Lavender Melon, Pineapple Peach, Raspberry Lemon and Tart Cherry. The products are also USDA Organic, gluten-free, non-GMO Project Verified and vegan.
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DRINKING FOR WHOLESALE CHANGE BY RAY LATIF
The opening salvo came in 2011, when Whole Foods introduced a new retail juice line launched by BluePrint, one developed at the urging of the natural foods giant. Until then, bottled cold-pressed juices were almost wholly an online business predicated on sales of popular cleanse-inspired raw juice packs, which proved to be a reliable – and highly profitable – business model for a handful of brands, including BluePrint. Some companies have stayed online, or even relied on word-of-mouth to create direct-to-consumer or neighborhood drop-off locations, their own small networks, that allow them to deliver unpasteurized products. Some, like Juice Press, have augmented that model by building their own brick-and-mortar stores or kiosks, creating a scene around their products that defies the traditional retailing model. But for companies seeking sales in supermarkets, where juices are almost invariably purchased, technology, as it often does, changed the dynamic. Soon after Whole Foods started selling BluePrint, the brand adopted high pressure processing (HPP), a safety method that employs intense pressure instead of heat as a way to suspend bacterial growth in raw foods and beverages.
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HPP offered brands a viable alternative to pasteurization – and with its advocates claiming that HPP also significantly extends shelf life while maintaining the raw nature of juice, the technology went on to change how cold-pressed brands would be promoted and sold. Often marketed as “raw,” brands that undergo HPP offer a much more retail-palatable shelf life of 4-6 weeks than the few days an unprocessed product can sustain freshness. And with the debut of the high pressure processed BluePrint Juice, Whole Foods effectively wrote the first line in what would become a groundbreaking edict: the future of the bottled super-premium juice category is rooted in cold-pressed, HPP products. Despite the prohibitive price of the juices – commonly in the realm of $8-9, they command a premium that can be regarded as a barrier to brand ubiquity, demand has nonetheless spilled over into conventional channels. Lured by sustained interest for the high margin items, traditional grocers like Safeway, H-E-B and Kroger have gradually embraced cold-pressed juice. And the brands have, too. “When I started this company, it was to make green juice available to the masses,” said Daily Greens founder Shauna Martin, whose products undergo HPP. “Almost two years ago, it wasn’t available anywhere. You could go stand on-line at a juice
bar – if you were lucky enough to live in a city with a juice bar – but [it wasn’t] not true, cold-pressed juice.” Now, the race is on to lower the price and bring that freshness to the masses. Yes, Naked, Bolthouse, and Odwalla, each a blended, pasteurized brand, continue to hold the majority market share the high-end segment (despite sustained declines in yearover-year sales, according to SPINS, a leading market research provider on natural and specialty products). And, yes, some storefront- and online-based brands scoff at the notion that an HPP juice is still “raw.” Nevertheless, it’s clear that cold-pressed, HPP juices have ushered in a wave of change at retail, and are the drivers of an evolution that is slowly, but surely, changing the way that consumers look at their juice drinking occasions overall.
ONCE HOT LEMONADE COOLS Positioned as an ingredient, lemonade has been one of the hottest trends in recent years, with the liquid infused into everything from new flavored malt beverages and energy shots to, in recent months, chia drinks and coconut water. As a standalone drink, however, it appears that demand for lemonade is in the midst of a downturn. Recent retail sales data provided by IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm, shows dollar sales for shelf-stable bottled lemonade up 8.13 percent in the 52 week period ending on July 14, 2014. Contrast the growth with a similar timeframe ending on June 26, 2013 in which dollar sales of the products surged by 13.15 percent. With the exception of Coca-Cola-owned Fuze (up over 41 percent) and Hubert’s (a brand soon to be owned by Coke, thanks to its recent deal with Monster), the big brands, including Lipton Brisk and Calypso seem to be hitting the skids. In the meantime, upstart brands like Sunny D’s Chilled Lemonade, AriZona’s Golden Bear and Snapple’s Lemon Daze continue to be shining spots in the category, though combined sales numbers for the brands equal less than $15 million. Refrigerated lemonade products fared a little better (up 3.87 percent in 2014 data versus 2.41 in last year’s numbers), led by Simply Lemonade, which holds a 55 percent share of the segment. The brand continues to pump cash into Coke’s coffers with sales rising by nearly 10.7 percent in the recent period. And while the cola giant’s other big-time juice brand, Minute Maid, is seeing some turmoil in its full-calorie lemonade product, its “Light” and “Just 15” varieties are picking up the slack and then some.
National Brands Certainly, quality is critical, yet price is the element key to amassing – and maintaining – market share, something evident in the development in other beverage categories, such as enhanced water and energy drinks. But achieving scale usually comes with a heavy dose of red line-inducing promotional sales, and as a result, contenders sitting on the biggest bankroll (or, at least, teamed with powerful strategic partners) usually have a significant leg up on the competition. Evolution Fresh and BluePrint, are owned and armed with the financial backing and distribution muscle of Starbucks and Hain Celestial, respectively – and they are two of the most well-known and widely distributed brands in the segment. While Evolution Fresh has gained some momentum with national distribution in Whole Foods, it’s leaning on a highly visible presence in Starbucks stores in hopes of shining a light on the brand, and aiming to clear a path for greater awareness and wider retail placement of its products. And though BluePrint was certainly the first to capture lightning in a bottle, it is apparent that, outside New York, the brand has struggled to stretch its availability beyond Whole Foods.. Meanwhile, Suja, another brand, has shown rapid growth since its inception. Like BluePrint, Suja began as an online brand, hawking pricy juice cleanse regiments to locals in Southern California. Yet within months of its launch, the company entered Whole Foods and has been on a torrid pace ever since. Having achieved $18 million in 2013 revenue (with gross mar52 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
While Coke‘s lower-calorie products are its saving grace (when it comes to lemonade, anyway) similarly positioned products from PepsiCo’s Tropicana unit aren’t doing the company any favors. Sales of Trop50 Lemonade, which is sweetened with sucrose and stevia, plunged by nearly 45 percent in the period. Brand
Dollar Sales
Change vs. year earlier
Minute Maid
$63,103,352
1.11
Lipton Brisk
$45,511,764
(11.84)
Calypso
$35,945,084
(6.32)
Private Label
$30,449,476
16.75
FUZE
$18,329,820
41.11
Huberts
$17,239,968
13.46
Country Time
$14,591,584
1.23
Santa Cruze Organic
$13,447,180
3.02
V8 Splash
$7,760,810
SunnyD
$6,401,704
766.47
Hawaiian Punch
$5,247,763
(11.40)
AriZona Golden Bear
$4,457,612
91.18
Cabana
$3,874,064
37.86
Snapple Lemon Daze
$3,658,059
218.21
Sun Fresh
$2,430,148
34.16
Nantucket Nectars
$2,091,879
6.20
Tropicana
$2,015,327
148.26
Langers
$1,988,367
79.43
Honest Kids
$1,875,734
454.09
Honest Ade
$1,579,330
(33.39)
gins of 40-50 percent), Suja became something of an overnight sensation with Forbes ranking the company third in its 2014 list of “America’s Most Promising Companies.” The brand picked up $10 million in an investment round led by Boulder Brands’ venture capital arm and another $17.5 million from Alliance Consumer Growth, a fund focused on emerging consumer brands. A majority of the funding went to capital expenses such as pressing equipment and the purchase of an HPP machine, which went online in July. Church said the company is now producing 275,000 bottles of juice per week, on average. Taking advantage of what Church calls “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Suja has, quite simply, moved faster than anyone
could expect from a two-year-old brand, often employing a flexible “what does the retailer want?” strategy to new product innovation. “Unlike in the past when you’d take your time and build the brand and incubate the concept, it’s a bit of a rush,” said Suja CEO Jeff Church. “Either you jump in and build that distribution out or somebody else is going to jump ahead of you.” In January Suja introduced Essentials, a line of products which feature simpler formulations as compared to its Elements and Classic lines. Priced at $3.99 per 12 oz. bottle, Church described Essentials as intended to be a “scale driver” for the brand, which debuted at Kroger and Safeway stores.Two months later, Suja unveiled a Costco-exclusive Essentials “3 Day Fresh Start,” added a new cold-pressed tea line, and in August, the company unveiled a new six-SKU 49 oz. multi-serve package that is part of its Elements line. This month, Suja is set to enter 1,200 Target stores with single-serve bottles of Essentials along with a smaller subset of its classic line set. “[It’s] been super challenging,” Church said. “We have now over 40 SKUs between the three different lines. And because it’s all fresh, there’s no inventory build. We make every single product, every single week.” Production complexities aside, the ever-expanding size of Suja’s portfolio is all about creating “the right value proposition” for consumers, Church said, noting that “you can’t try competing against pasteurized juice brands on the market and have a product that’s placed to price.”
Smaller Competition Despite operating in the midst of an overall shift toward healthier consumption habits, the cold-pressed craze seems to have caught conventional retailers somewhat flat-footed. As a result, large 54 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
retailers have reached out to the largest HPP brands looking for reliable supply as they build out their natural foods presence. But alongside the national brands has come an explosion of newer regional, wholesale-focused, cold-pressed juice brands, with natural retailers realigning shelf sets and carving out new space in a nod to high demand for the products. Amid a super-premium juice category roiled in revolution, scores of upstart companies have taken arms in a battle of one-upmanship, claiming differentiation via premium ingredients, freshness and unique formulations, bidding to secure expanded – yet still coveted – shelf space. “We are in many ways competing against corporate-owned or private equity-backed companies,” said JC Hanley, the co-founder of Forager Project, which operates on the West Coast. “But it’s good, because when you don’t have a lot of money to spend you become more efficient about how you deploy it.” By delivering fresh juice to retail customers within hours of production, Vital Juice is one such brand attempting to separate itself from the pack. In order to do so, the company is in the process of creating a network of “micro-juiceries” spread across several densely populated cities, according to CEO and founder Edward Balassanian, a former Microsoft executive and technology entrepreneur, who is funding the juice company via his incubation outfit Be. Labs. Vital Juice is currently in the process of moving its headquarters from Seattle to New York City, and the transition comes as Vital Juice is readying the launch of a new juicery in the city, a critical step in Balassanian’s plan. The New York facility is expected to be fully operational by late September and follows the launch of a temporary juicery that Vital Juice opened in Orange, Calif. earlier this month. Balassanian said that the facility offered Vital Juice an opportunity to test out a new partnership with Amazon Fresh, which distributes its products in the Los Angeles area. The online food delivery service operates in Seattle, Northern California and Southern California, and recently expanded to New York City. Vital Juice products will also soon be distributed in Gelson’s supermarkets, natural grocer Jimbo’s and several independent retailers in L.A., Balassanian said. “We’re trying to be as good as the local juice shop, but a much safer product because we’re HPP’d and not pressed by... mediocre equipment that’s not cleaned properly or maintained properly,” Balassanian said. For some companies, the establishment of a hybrid retail model with a focus of marketing products to affluent consumers – a demographic key to the growth of the category – is the road paved with potential. While direct-to-consumer e-commerce is the lifeblood of Urban Remedy’s distribution strategy, the company also operates two brick-and-mortar storefronts in Northern California, and three weeks ago launched a pop-up cart on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade. Certainly, the stores are intended to be revenue drivers and profitable, however CEO Paul Coletta sees a more critical purpose, that of “3-D billboards” for the company. Focusing on small spaces with light build-out costs, Coletta, who came on as CEO of the company in June, sees the goal of the storefronts as driving the trial and awareness of Urban Remedy in “high-traffic, high-influencer locations.” The hope
is that consumers “come and experience Urban Remedy at one of these pop-up carts or non-traditional retail storefronts, and migrate online, where we do an even better job of servicing” the customer, Coletta said. Coletta explained that because Urban Remedy has been more successful targeting customers online than off – and found the strategy more cost-effective – the company has no plans to begin wholesaling with distributors. “I own the customer experience,” Coletta said. “I’m not paying slotting fees, and I’m not competing with four other coldpressed juice companies, or beverages in general.” That said, he noted that the brand’s products are also sold in non-traditional distribution outlets “where the customer is and the competition isn’t,” offering yoga studios and day spas as examples. “It’s a page out of Red Bull’s playbook,” he said, comparing Urban Remedy’s strategy to the energy brand’s point-of-sale buckets at hardware stores. Like Urban Remedy, San Francisco-based Project Juice leans on a well-heeled following, though in a reversal, it’s focus is primarily on the development and growth of its brick-and-mortar storefronts and “store-within-a-store” kiosks, which are spread across the Bay Area. It’s an effective way to give new consumers an education about the perceived benefits of raw juice and insight into how the products are made, according to co-founder Rachel Maslin. “It’s definitely important, especially when you have a product that’s retailing for $9-10,” Malsin said. “People have a lot of questions, and I think they want to come in and sample the product and see who’s behind the brand.”
Though Project Juice launched as an e-commerce brand, currently, less than 10 percent of the company’s sales are onlinebased, a factor surely tied to the growth of its off-line presence, but also perhaps customer repudiation of the high cost of overnight shipping for cold-pressed juice. “I think that the shipping cost is a tough thing for people to swallow,” co-founder Greg Maslin said. “Spending $50-60 on juice and then another $50-60 on shipping, it goes against everything that people believe in when purchasing online. It’s definitely a challenge and something we’re working on.” In the meantime, Project Juice is looking to round out its distribution strategy with delivery of its juices to local corporate offices via a specialty DSD operator, as well as sales in other nontraditional channels, including coffee shops and fitness clubs. As for future wholesaling of its juices, Greg Maslin sees a possible expansion into grocery “down the line,” but noted the already highly competitive set in natural grocers has, for now, made traditional retail an uninviting option. “We always knew that it was going to be a game of marketing spend if we were to go the Whole Foods route, and there were some big players ahead of us,” he said. “And we didn’t want to compete with who looked prettier on the shelf.” If it seems like the race to cold-pressed glory is coming fast and furious, it’s because the category is one that, despite the presence of established players, remains full of possibilities for success. “This is one of those displacement opportunities, disruptive opportunities that, frankly, doesn’t come around more than once in a career, for most people,” Church said.
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Brand News UCE Juice is a juice blend from Polynesia. The company says it hasn’t been able to keep up with consumer demand, so it’s looking to partner with new distributors that can promote and distribute the naturallycaffeinated beverage. The Fave Juice Company is the only juice maker with three full daily vegetable servings in each 8 oz. glass, according to the company. Fave contains 60 calories per serving with no added sweeteners and low sodium content. The brand’s national distribution continues to expand, with new availability in America’s heartland at high-performing chains serviced by Associated Wholesale Grocers, including Price Chopper. Found recently gained distribution through Haddon House, Sysco in New York and European Imports in Illinois. The brand also recently opened DSD markets in Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut via regional distributors. The beverages can be found at Caffe Bene, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, TJX Canada, Hilton Hotel and Loews Hotel. aam Mango Company is preparing to launch the first pure premium mango juice brand in New York City, according to the company. The product is made with alphonso mangoes and has no added sugar or flavoring. aam is the Hindi word for mango, while the brand’s logo is a paisley originated from the shape of a mango. It contains Vitamins A, B and C and fiber from the mangoes used to make the juice. Carolina Wild was recently written up in Garden & Gun, a national magazine that covers the South. The product is a muscadine juice, which American natives used for food, beverage and medicine long before explorers discovered the taste. Carolina Wild is loaded with antioxidants and polyphenols, according to the company. “It’s also as Southern as a julep on Derby Day — and it tastes great, all by itself or mixed with a splash of liquor,” the magazine writes. The secret family recipe in Carolina Wild’s ‘vine’ bottle can be found online. Smart Juice annually plants new organic fruits trees around the facility to minimize fuel costs, while water-conserving drip irrigation systems are used on all the farms. The product 56 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
Juice & Lemonade is made with organic fruits and prepared from premium, organically-grown, tree-ripened fruits and vegetables that are never from concentrate. Smart Juice has no artificial sweeteners and is bottled in glass to preserve nutrients. Suavva’s range of newly-launched cacao smoothies are made by gently extracting the pulp of the cacao fruit to maintain the health benefits of the vitamins and minerals inside. The natural energizing properties of each smoothie come from the theobromine in cacao, which has a chemical makeup similar to caffeine. This past August, Suavva launched its line of smoothies in four flavors — Amazing Cacao, Merry Mango, Blissful Berry and Chocolatey Cheer. ‘tude Juice has entered into a distribution agreement with Dora’s Naturals to service the metropolitan New York market and the New Jersey market. The brand recently introduced 10 new specialty blends — Marionberry, Ginger + Turmeric, Blueberry, Ginger, Cranberry, Lemonade, Raspberry and Lemon, Cucumber and Mint, Berry Red and Berry Blue. The brand has five single-varietal apple juices — Fuji, Cripps Pink, Gala, Honeycrisp and Granny Smith. All juices are cold-pressed and high-pressure processed with three fresh, unpeeled Pacific Northwest apples. ‘tude began in 2010 in the kitchen of two friends and cofounders Andy Knowlton and Cedric Chastenet. Inspired by home juicing, Andy and Cedric were determined to make a fresh juice that taste like the fruit it comes from. They wanted the juice of an apple, not just apple juice. Honeydrop’s two new cold press juices, which are made with medicinal honey, recently launched in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The Lemon Cayenne Cleanse is made with cold pressed organic lemons and packed with a tablespoon of raw local honey sourced from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut beekeepers. Honeydrop’s Apple Ginger Booster is made with cold pressed organic apples, ginger and lemon and fortified with Manuka Honey. American Juice Company makes artisanal juice blends and syrups out of seasonal fruits, vegetables and spices for bars, restaurants and hotels. This year, Danny Meyer and Daniel Boulud have picked up the products for their
THE TRUTH BE TOLD AND ALL THE FACTS ANALYZED........
CALYPSO BRANDS ARE BLOWING THROUGH THE CEILING! AND THATS THE REST OF THE STORY
Brand News Michelin star restaurants. All products are made in small batches with no preservatives or flavor enhancers. The company encourages using the juice as a cocktail mixer. Back to Nature Foods Company, known for its cookie, cracker, granola and nuts/trail mix lines, has nationwide distribution for its juice in major retailers including Whole Foods and Publix. The company notes that it will expand juice distribution in two of the nation’s top retail chains in the fall. The 100 percent juice comes in 8-packs of 6 oz. pouches, which are brightly packaged to stand out on the shelf. The Non-GMO Project Verified juices are available in three flavors — Berry, Fruit Punch and Apple. Big Island Organics recently gained distribution at Foodland, KTA Super Stores and Nugget Markets to go along with several new national chain stores. The juice is certified organic, vegan and GMO- and gluten-free, and is made with fresh pressed ginger and lemonade. Big Island Organics is available in four flavors — Gingerade, Gingerade Maté, Agave Lemonade and Noni Lemonade. The mass suggested retail price is $2.59 for the 16 oz. bottles and $4.89 for the 32 oz. bottles. Healthy Wonders is a New York-based juice company with plans to distribute across the country in 2015. The company specializes in homemade frozen juice products that promote good health. All products are hand-made one at a time, delivered to stores within 12 hours of production and have an eight-month shelf life. The juices are gluten-free, preservative-free, non-GMO and vegan with a low-glycemic count and no added sugar. Healthy Wonders’ flagship product, “Greens,” contains nine different vegetables and fruits and was rated “best” and “freshest” in 2013-2014 during consumer demonstration days at a top health food store in New York City, according to the company. RAAW Juice is celebrating its fifth year of making fruit and vegetable juice blends with promotions and giveaways throughout the year. RAAW, which stands for “Refreshing Anything AnyWhere,” has its nine juice blends available throughout North America. The products are non-GMO Verified, kosher, vegan and gluten-free. Daily Greens, a cold-pressed juice company based in Austin, Texas, has introduced Re58 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
plenish, a chocolate hemp milk. The organic product is made with hemp seeds, Madagascar vanilla, coconut nectar, camu camu and raw cocoa. The company encourages consumers to use Replenish as a post-workout recovery drink. The product contains calcium, iron, protein, omega-3 and -6, amino acids and high levels of electrolytes such as magnesium, according to the company. Daily Greens products are available for delivery nationwide through its online store and specialty grocers and retailers across the country. Juicology has expanded into North California in Whole Foods and Lucky’s locations. According to the company, the line is the first blend of juices and nutrients from whole grain extracts (wheat free), and the products are selling out in Southern California. The company has also announced the introduction of Green Essentials, which features a blend of green apple, cucumber, kiwi, pear, banana, spirulina, blue green algae, spinach, wheat grass and oat grass. The juice contains no added sugar. Pichuberry Infusion Juice is now available in Northern California at Whole Foods, Safeway and Mollie Stone’s Markets. The company is also working on bringing the juice to Texas via Central Market and H-E-B stores. Genesis Today has released a new superfruit beverage line that features 50 percent juice to offer more nutrients without extra sugar. The 85-calorie beverages include Acai, Goji or Resveratrol along with Vitamins B12 and C and minerals. Elite Naturel has released Jasmin, the company’s newest organic juice, which contains melon and jasmine. The product is available at Fairway Market, Wild by Nature and Key Food, among others. Naked has released a duo of chia smoothies — Chia Sweet Peach and Chia Cherry Lime. The products contain omega-3s, fiber and one to two grams of protein. The brand has also introduced Protein & Greens, which contains 30 grams of whey and soy protein and a blend of fruits, wheat grass, spinach and parsley. Naked Juice Kale Blazer, another new product, contains 20 combined leaves of kale and spinach, cucumber, celery, ginger and lemon. It also has potassium and Vitamins A and C. Also under the PepsiCo umbrella of brands, Tropicana has released
Brand News Farmstrand Orange Pineapple, which contains Vitamins A & C from one fruit serving and one vegetable serving per bottle. POM Wonderful released a 48 oz. bottle in the spring to meet increasing consumer demand. Like the 12 oz. bottles, the larger bottles are found in the produce aisle and have a curved design with tropical graphics. O2Living has a new look for Fresh Start, a blend of cold-pressed lemon, apple and ginger that can help reduce pH and acidity while encouraging a healthy heart, according to the company. The product will be distributed in the Hamptons and New Jersey to go along with its current distribution in Westchester and New York City. Fresh Start has pectin, flavonoids, caffeic acid and phytonutrients. It also has potassium, folic acid and Vitamin C and B6. Rawpothecary unveils Lemon Oasis, a handcrafted tonic that has 15 calories and no sugar. Lemon Oasis offers lemon, ginger, hibiscus, safflower, licorice and sea salt. With the purpose of igniting your metabolism, Lemon Oasis is a key player within Rawpothecary’s full spectrum — a line of cold pressed juices and tonics, fiber-rich blended greens and vegan seed and protein milks. Currant Affair is a black currant juice produced and bottled by Connecticut Currant from berries grown in Connecticut. Flavors include Original along with cranberry and blueberry blends. The company’s new Cider/ Black Currant Blend will be available in the fall. Currant Affair is available in Whole Foods and Safeway in California. Cheribundi has launched a Black Cherry Juice that is made from fresh-pressed tart and black cherries. Each serving of 100 percent juice contains 50 cherries and antioxidants. Some studies have shown that antioxidants in tart cherries can help improve sleep and reduce muscle soreness, according to the company. The product is available at Walmart. Zico has launched a line of Chilled Juice products, which feature a blend of chilled coconut water and fruit juices. Flavors include Orange and Pineapple Mango. The product has five electrolytes and 50 percent fewer calories than regular fruit drinks, according to the company. The product is available in 1.5 liter Tetra 60 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
Pak cartons and can be found in the natural/ healthy beverage section at major retailers. Joulebody, a new juice company in New York City, is looking for distribution. The product is made with a combination of turmeric, cayenne, mint, lemon and grapefruit. According to the company, the juice suppresses appetite and can be used to relieve pain for psoriasis, the lemons act as a diuretic that can support liver and kidney function, the cayenne has capsaicin, which has been proven effective against pain. It serves as a source of antioxidants, potassium and Vitamin C. The juice is packaged in plantbased PET and BPA-free plastic bottles. John Crabbie & Co. Traditional Cloudy Lemonade is imported from the United Kingdom. The lemon and ginger product is available in two other flavors — Traditional Cloudy Ginger Beer and Raspberry Ginger Beer. The lemonades are made with traditional Scottish steeped ginger methods dating back to 1801, according to the company. The premium pack design features embossed 330 mL glass bottles. The product will be launching this year through Genesis Marketing Group Inc. Zola Coconut Water Lemonade combines naturally-hydrating coconut water with the refreshment of lemonade for a taste that is a perfect balance of tart and sweet, according to the company. Per serving, the product contains 45 calories, five electrolytes, potassium and 100 percent of the daily recommended value of Vitamin C. Zola’s product are now available at grocery and natural food stores across the U.S. and Canada. Lori’s Original Lemonade, which makes artisanal organic lavender lemonade and ginger lemonade, is now certified organic. The lemonade have become popular mixers in restaurants and are distributed in Southern California, Nevada, Hawaii and Arizona with plans to expand to Northern California. Red Jacket Orchards has rebranded its Joe’s Summer Blend. The New York-style lemonade hasn’t changed, just the look and the brand name. The company doesn’t add water or sugar to the lemonades, creating a sweet blend of apple and lemon. Dust Cutter Beverage Company distributes its line of lemonades in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Oklahoma, Texas and Minnesota, and
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Brand News will soon be available in Wisconsin, Illinois and Nevada. The company has reformulated all three flavors by removing the ginseng and B vitamins. Dust Cutter, based in Jackson Hole, Wyo. is close to signing celebrity endorsement deals with TV celebrities and one of the biggest names in NASCAR, according to the company. The company also plans to release new flavors and a low-calorie version later this year. Third Street, a Colorado-based beverage company, has released two new lemonades: Pucker Up Lemonade, a 60-calorie blend of organic lemon juice and fair trade, organic cane sugar, and Half & Half Lemonade, an 80-calorie blend of iced tea and lemonade with tea leaves hand-picked from India and water from the Rocky Mountains. The products, available nationwide at Whole Foods store, are organic, fair-trade, non-GMO and gluten free. King Juice Company, Inc. completed an 18-month expansion to meet demand and increase capacity and has launched its newest beverage line, Calypso Limeades. The products have no preservatives, no artificial colors, real sugar, natural flavors and real
lime bits. The line has six flavors: Coconut Colada, Natural, Pineapple Peach, Pink Guava, Sweet Cherry and Tangerine. Epicurean French Beverage, an importer of French beverages, has released Rieme Limonade in a screw top 25.4 oz bottle. The original recipe of Rieme, founded in 1921, has been preserved in the new bottle. Flavors include Lemon, Pink Lemon, Blood Orange, Orange and Pomegranate. Epicurean French Beverage is seeking new distribution and retail partners to distribute Rieme Limonade. Honest Tea’s line of organic Summer Refreshers features four lemonades and a limeade and is sweetened with organic, Fair Trade Certified cane sugar — a first for the company. Sold exclusively at Whole Foods Market locations nationwide, the beverages have about 25 percent fewer calories than similar beverages, according to the company. Ritual Wellness has released Turmeric Lemonade and Calcutta Lemon Drop. According to the company, Turmeric Lemonade boosts immunity. Calcutta Lemon Drop is a cold-pressed juice cocktail mixer that contains ginger, turmeric, lemon and agave. Make a Stand Lemon-Aid has completed a brand refresh and reformulation. The company now offers larger 14 oz. bottles of Original, Cranberry Twist, Tropical Mango and Ginger Squeezed. The product line is available at select natural foods retailers and Kroger stores. Califia Farms recently launched its California Citrus line extension with a Tart Cherry Lemonade. The product is Non-GMO Project Verified, vegan, gluten-free and made with California lemons. Dream Foods International, LLC, a specialist in organic citrus juices from Sicily, Italy, has released a 250 mL glass bottle of Italian Volcano, an organic lemonade. The new release follows the brand’s existing 750 mL bottle. Both sizes contain lemonade made from organic Sicilian lemons that grow near the Mt. Etna Volcano in Italy. The lemonade is sweetened with organic dehydrated rice syrups, which balances sweetness and tartness. Italian Volcano Limeade is also available in a single-serve package.
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Food waste is happening at a school near you. In the Southwest, it’s tortillas. In the South, it’s grits and biscuits. In the Northeast, bagels aren’t cutting it. And the list goes on, beyond grain-based foods. The explanation seems quite simple: when kids don’t want to eat or drink something, they’ll throw it away. Perhaps it’s because they care more about One Direction than lunch direction. Maybe the stuff just doesn’t taste so good, especially when compared to the Coke Classics and the white-bread chicken sandwiches of the not-too-distant past. The ramifications include declining school nutrition revenues and students who aren’t eating a nutritious meal. Oh, and there’s the waste, of course. 64 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
“We’ve got very limited resources to begin with and we hate to see money thrown in the trash can,” said Julia Bauscher, president of the School Nutrition Association (SNA) and the director of nutrition services for Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky. Naturally, much of the culinary disdain can be attributed to recent moves in Washington — the trite scapegoat that so often earns the title. On July 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture introduced new school nutrition mandates that limit nutritional content and ingredient options. Bauscher and many other members of the SNA, which features 55,000 school nutrition professionals from across
the country, continue to reach out to politicians and the USDA about sensible flexibility with the mandates. Meanwhile, however, food and beverage companies with an eye on school food service are taking note. While the nutritional changes could hamper mainstay brands of the past, the updates could signal an opportunity for entrepreneurs with a willingness to comply. The recently-implemented mandates, titled Smart Snacks in School, require all food sold in schools to be whole-grain rich, or have a fruit, a vegetable, a dairy product or a protein food as the first ingredient, or contain at least ¼ cup of fruit and/or vegetables, or contain 10 percent
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of the daily value of calcium, potassium, vitamin D or dietary fiber. The mandates also include numerical limits of calories, sodium, fat and sugar and include broad changes for beverages. Schools may sell plain water (with or without carbonation), unflavored low fat milk, unflavored or flavored fat-free milk and milk alternatives (such as lactose-free milk), 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, and 100 percent fruit and vegetable juice that’s diluted with water and has no added sweeteners. For milk and juice, elementary schools may sell up to 8 oz. portions and middle schools and high schools may sell up to 12 oz. portions. Also permitted are additional no-calorie or low-calorie beverage options that have no more than 20 oz. portions of flavored water (with or without carbonation) and other flavored and/or carbonated beverages that contain fewer than five calories per 8 oz. or 10 calories per 20 oz. The mandate also allows no more than 12 oz. portions of beverages with at least 40 calories per 8 oz. or at least 60 calories per 12 oz. To meet the new beverage standards and still give variety to students, Sara Gasiorowski, the director of school district food services in Wayne Township, Indiana, has had to shuffle inventory. Sunny D, sugary lemonades and juices and even 16 oz. milk chugs are out, while Switch, the sparkling juice brand recently acquired by Apple & Eve, Naked Juice, Izze, Gatorade G2, Powerade Zero, 6.75 oz. Juicy Juice containers and 8 oz. milk cartons are in. Gasiorowski said that some former beverage options had cheaper price points. The new mandates limit not just the calories, but also the minimum dollars and cents. She said that the least expensive selling price for a beverage hovers around $1, while the maximum sits at $2.25. Students have already expressed their dislike for the steady evolution of food standards. According to the SNA, since 2012, more than one million fewer students choose school lunches each day. Consequently, 47 percent of school meal programs reported revenue declines. How will students react to the new mandates when it comes to beverages? So early in the school year, that’s still tough to say. “I don’t have, even in my own district, a good projection about what might happen,” Bauscher said.
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All beverage companies can do is release products that meet the nutrition standards and hope the products find a way in schools. Apple & Eve recently introduced a new 6.75 oz. Fruitables juice box, available in Tropical Twist and Power Punch. The serving is equivalent to ¾ cup of vegetables. And because the first ingredient in both flavors is sweet potato, the product counts as a USDA reimbursable meal. Other key beverage players are also playing along with the new serving size mandates. The recently-released Bolthouse Farms Kids Smoothies are sold in curved 6 oz. bottles. Another new kids product, Vita Coco Kids Pink Lemonade, is sold in a 6 oz. juice box. As beverage brands straddle the lines of innovation and USDA influence, school nutrition directors maintain their analysis of the mandates and their push for greater flexibility. Led by Bauscher, the members of the SNA are doing their best to inform respective districts of the most current nutrition challenges and solutions, write letters to Congress, visit Capitol Hill and talk to elected officials and their staffs. The members of the SNA are asking Congress to support the 2015 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, which would provide the option of a one-year waiver of the new USDA mandates to school meal programs that have experienced a net loss in revenue for more than six months. The waiver could give these programs a better chance at reaching profitability before they must implement the new standards that could shrink margins and, in turn, revenue figures. In direct response to the mandates, the members of the SNA have four points of focus that they stand by and will continue to push: 1. Retain the 2012 requirement that 50 percent of grains offered for lunch and breakfast must be wholegrain rich, instead of the recent 100 percent requirement. Note: This would allow districts to add flour tortillas or white rice, for example, as an addition to the other components of a nutritious, whole-grain meal. “It doesn’t rip the program apart,” Gasiorowski said. 2. Retain the July 1 sodium levels and suspend implementation of further sodi-
um level reduction unless/until scientific research supports such reductions. Note: The current sodium limits are 230 milligrams for snacks and 480 milligrams for entrees. On July 1, 2016, the snacks figure will decrease to 200 milligrams of sodium per item. Gasiorowski, who thinks that the USDA and the Institute of Medicine should be encouraging this research, asks: “is there a need for such severe reductions in sodium levels?” 3. Eliminate the requirement that students must take a fruit or a vegetable as part of a reimbursable breakfast and/or lunch. Note: Before the new mandates, some students took a full serving of fruit and vegetables, others took a Ð cup, but at least they ate it, Gasiorowski said. Now, she said, you see kids grab the required Ð cup, take a few bites and throw the rest in the trash. She said that the mandates eliminate the concept of offer vs. serve. “Letting them have a say in how much they can take,” she said, “the acceptance level is much greater.” 4. Require the USDA to allow any permitted food item to not only be served as part of a reimbursable meal, but also to be sold as a competitive food. Note: The SNA believes that the current mandates will severely limit food and beverages sold a la carte (vending machines and snack bars). A la carte is a significant revenue source and food service directors want to keep options open for students in all formats, not just through reimbursable meals.
Bauscher doesn’t expect Congress to vote on the Appropriations Bill until after November elections. She said that the SNA’s four requests probably won’t get looked at until new legislators are seated in January. Or, she said, Congress could pass an omnibus bill. Until decisions are in place, food and beverage beverage companies might want to follow along. At stake is what they can and cannot sell in schools across the country. And unlike whole-grain bread or unflavored skim milk, wiser innovators won’t let that information end up in the trash.
Brand News
Kids’ Beverages
Good2grow is a recently-launched line of fruit and vegetable juices for children that features bottle tops of popular cartoon characters. The company is family owned and operated and the products are available in Tropical Fruit Medley and Strawberry Kiwi. Each bottle contains one cup of fruit and vegetables. Sneakz organic chocolate milkshakes has debuted a new packaging design. Sneakz contains a full serving of vegetables in a blend of milk, sweet potatoes, carrots, beets and spinach. The product is now sold in 1,500 outlets across the country, including 250 Super Target stores. Vita Coco has released Vita Coco Kids Pink Lemonade, a fruit-flavored coconut water brand that recently partnered with the animated film Rio 2. During a recent marketing promotion, each box provided a movie ticket redemption. Pink Lemonade will be a mainstay flavor and new packaging has hit shelves that complements the following flavors: Paradise Punch, Apple Island and Very Cherry Beach. Vita Coco Kids has also recently been featured in Target’s Made to Matter program. Look for Vita Coco Kids Pink Lemonade just in time for the beginning of the school year. CocoKefir LLC, makers of Tula’s CocoKefir and and CocoYo, will introduce a new liquid fermented vegetable beverage designed for children. The product will provide the probiotic benefits of fermented vegetables with a sweet flavor that will be more approachable for kids. The company plans to launch the new product in the fall. Leaf & Love Lemonade is a new USDA certified organic organic lemonade in a juice box. The sugar-free lemonade is sweetened with stevia extract and provides 15 percent of the daily recommended amount of Vitamin C, according to the company. The product is free of artificial and chemical ingredients and is available in an 8-pack of 6.75 oz. aseptic boxes on Amazon and select retail locations. The company has also launched an online campaign, Our Kids Are Sweet Enough, which encourages parents to learn more about sugar alternatives. Sweet’tauk Lemonade, based in Montauk, N.Y., has released Sweet’tauk Groms, a line of lemonades for kids. The product is available in an 8 oz. bottle. All Sweet’tauk lemonades are lightly sweetened with cane sugar.
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Smart Juices LLC, based in Bethlehem, Pa., has released Smart Kids, a USDA certified organic line of juices. The product is available in a 64 oz. bottle. Uncle Matt’s Organic homestyle lemonade is available in a 12 oz. bottle compatible with a lunch box. The product is USDA certified organic, not-from-concentrate and uses organic California lemons. Sweetened with organic Florida cane sugar, the lemonade is 17 percent juice. To commemorate the company’s 15-year anniversary, Uncle Matt’s Organic has released two new juice varieties: Orange Mango and Orange Tangerine. Honest Kids has announced a new partnership with Cinemark motion picture exhibitors. The organic kids beverages are sold individually or as part of the Cinemark Movie Snack Pack at all 334 Cinemark locations nationwide. Apple & Eve, LLC acquired The Switch Sparkling 100 % Juices in February. The Switch, available in eight flavors in 8 oz. slim cans, joins Apple & Eve juice products in school food service. Apple & Eve Quenchers is available in 200 mL 8-packs and 32 variety packs in three flavors: Fruit Punch Burst, Apple Splash and Berrylicious Lemonade. Tum-E Yummies revamped its logo and label earlier this year to provide an easier to read nutrition panel. The design preserves the previous packaging’s bright colors, which complement the brand’s year-long sponsorship of Color Vibe 5K races that promote family activity. Distributed exclusively through the Coca-Cola system, the brand landed two regional distribution deals this year that included a seasonal summer flavor, Strawberry-licious Lemonade and Tum-E Yummies Kids Water Enhancers. The water enhancers are available in Fruitabulous Punch and Very Berry Blue. True Drinks Inc. recently introduced the AquaBall Club Pack in Sam’s Club. The pack contains 16 individual 12 oz. bottles in Orange, Fruit Punch and Berry Frost flavors. The pack has been designed to enhance product recognition at retail and further encourage parents to choose AquaBall when searching for a healthy kids drink. O2living has announced expanded distribution of its cold-pressed organic juice for kids that features lemon, apple and ginger. The 8 oz. juice product is also kosher and non-GMO and contains B and C Vitamins.
Bolthouse Farms has released a line of kids smoothies in Strawberry Meets Mango and Peach Meets Mango flavors. The 6 oz. bottles are available nationwide in the produce section of Giant Eagle, A&P and Hy-Vee stores. The smoothies are free of preservatives and contain fruit and vegetables. Happy Family has launched Happy Child Super Nutrition Shakes in chocolate and vanilla flavors. The USDA certified organic shakes, which have nationwide distribution at retailers such as Target and Safeway, contain 8 grams of proteins, calcium, antioxidants and 21 vitamins and minerals. The shakes are also non-GMO, free of trans fat and come in BPA-free packaging. Drazil Foods has expanded distribution by entering Whole Foods Markets in the Southwest. The tea is caffeine-free and contains antioxidants and Vitamin C. Drazil Kids Tea is sold in an 8-pack of single-serve boxes and comes in four flavors: Punch Passion, Yummy Berry, Tropical Burst and Grape Bliss.
Rooibee Roo, a USDA certified organic line of tea for kids, is now available at all Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets in California, Arizona and Nevada and every Earth Fare store in the South and Midwest. Kroger locations in Houston and Dallas also offer the kids beverage line. Rooibee Roo is available in orange, cherry and mango flavors and is sold individually and in 12-packs of 8 oz. bottles. The tea has no fat, fewer than 60 calories, 12 grams of organic cane sugar and Vitamin C. FAL Healthy Beverages has launched Coco Joy Kids, a fruit-flavored coconut water for kids that has no added sugar or preservatives. The company attended the premiere of Disney’s Planes: Fire & Rescue, greeting fans and handing out movie tickets, hats and Coco Joy Kids products that featured characters from the film. The product was launched alongside Coco Joy. The coconut waters are made with young green coconuts from Southeast Asia. Coco Joy Kids is available in 8.4 oz. cans.
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While beverage companies often prefer the formulation and marketing of products, it’s the labels that do the talking on store shelves. To meet the evolution of their respective industries, the following packaging brands have made steps to contemporize existing packaging technologies. They’re not starting from scratch. With wine casks, high-resolution images, durable paper and efficient adhesives, they’re taking the recipe and adding new ingredients.
Monday to Thursday Wine When you think of wine that doesn’t come in a bottle, perhaps you shudder and recall past college days slapping the bag from a cheap boxed wine. Not our finest moments, nor our wealthiest. And that classlessness is well understood. “Boxed wine has sort of a stigma about it,” said Gavin Macomber, the founder and principal of Andegavia Cask Wines. 70 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
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That’s one of a number of reasons why Macomber is instead selling wine casks — widely used in Europe and Australia, widely unknown in the U.S. Macomber said that more than 10 million people in the U.S. drink wine every day and more than 80 percent of wine is purchased before immediate consumption. Would that second figure be so high if wine could be stored in a different format, thus negating the quick oxidation that occurs with bottled wine? He wants to find out. Andegavia Cask Wines launched in May at the Nantucket Wine Festival and has already made a dent in the area. Macomber said that he’s received positive feedback from consumers and the industry and has already landed shelf placements in some of the island’s high-end wine stores. In August, the Nantucket Blackbook called Andegavia’s Merrill Pinot Noir the wine of the weekend. Macomber isn’t attempting to replace the wine bottle. He still shares a bottle with his wife on the weekends. But for the weekday wine, the kind that goes with dinner or a casual drink after work, he believes cask wines could stake the territory. “People are looking for a better way to drink good wines every day,” he said. Each portable cask holds up to four bottles worth of wine and stays fresh for 30 days after opening (thanks to an oxygen-resistant bladder). And if you like drinking to the idea of reduced carbon footprint, consider that the cask method boasts a variety of environmental benefits. The casks are 100 percent recyclable, they’re made with BPA-free plastic and they require less shipping than bottles. A recent article by Bevolution Systems, LLC, a beverage technology company, notes that 300 million cases of wine are sold in the U.S. each year. That’s about four billion bottles, with approximately 70 percent of those bottles ending up in a landfill. Macomber wants to run a company that doesn’t add to landfill piles. He wants a product that doesn’t quickly oxidize. And while he’s at it, he might as well sell some good wine.
Running the Color Gamut DWS Printing Associates, Inc. wants to make labels with blueberries you would eat, apples you would pick, oranges you would squeeze. Such realism starts with the colors. That’s why DWS, a label and packaging company based in Deer Park, N.Y., recently announced the expansion of its color gamut technology with the introduction of the HD-7 Series. With the addition of orange, green and violet inks, the process covers approximately 85 to 90 percent of Pantone matching system colors. HD-7 costs less because it uses less ink and, if you ask DWS, it gives photography and illustrations a much more enhanced look. “For clients who want to go to that next level and really take advantage of the process, it’s a great tool,” said John Gulino, a senior technical director with DWS. Gulino said that he recommends the HD-7 process for packages that feature more graphics. While the process is applicable to a wide range of industries, he said that wine labels tend to have a flat look and more solid colors. It caters more to food and beverage companies that feature large images of ingredients on product packaging. The difference in quality could be enough to distance second-rate designs from the elite.
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Apple & Eve, the N.Y.-based juice brand, was the first company to use HD-7 technology, and it didn’t take long for the results to gain recognition. In June, the Printing Industries of America informed DWS that Apple & Eve’s 96 oz. Orange Carrot bottle was picked from 3,020 entries in the 2014 Premier Print Awards. The brand received a certificate of merit and, less tangibly, another reason to have confidence in the color printing technology.
A Durable Craft In an old mill town called Bennington, New Hampshire, Monadnock Paper Mills (MPM) supplies the paper. It’s been that way since the company’s establishment in 1819. And it’s been the same family running the business for the past 70 or so years. MPM has long been known for fine printing papers. It used to be 80 percent of the business. Now it’s only 10-20 percent. In the past six to eight years, MPM has drastically shifted its model to meet
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the demand for recyclable luxury packaging. That’s when a number of premium brands began seeking more environmentally-friendly packaging, but needed a paper mill to handle the technical details. As the craft beer industry continues to surge, MPM has contributed with the Envi label, which is made entirely of post-consumer waste recycled fibers. Lisa Hardin Berghaus, the company’s manager of marketing communications, said that products made with post-consumer waste recycled fibers have an industry reputation of weakness. But with a focus on durability, MPM says that the Envi label can withstand the rigors of a bottling line and an ice bucket alike. “It’s a highly engineered piece of paper,” Berghaus said. Craft brewers such Long Trail Brewing Company, Beau’s All Natural Brewing Co., Otter Creek Brewing Company and Phillips Beer of Vancouver Island use the label, said Tim Boyd, sales market segment manager for MPM. And their use of the Envi label isn’t only about supporting green packaging. “The types of papers that we’re making show premium,” Boyd said. “They show quality.” Speaking of DWS, Boyd said that the fellow packaging company is MPM’s “bread and butter” when it comes to lightweight beer stock. DWS, which branded Envi as the Legacy label, has helped push MPM into the world of craft brewing. While MPM provides the technology, DWS takes it to market with its craft beer network. “We are tremendously proud of the relationship,” Boyd said. “We also think they do a wonderful job of printing.”
Less Mess Adhesives Like others in the packaging industry, Max Winograd measures equipment with a metric called OEE, overall equipment efficiency/effectiveness. The metric considers three variables — the speed of a machine vs. potential speed, the time of a machine’s use, and the machine’s quality (bad bottles and caps, low fills, label misplacement, mispacked/wet case). Winograd, the CEO, president and co-founder of NuLabel Technologies, Inc., in East Providence, R.I., said that a typical beverage company has an OEE of about 50-60 percent. This means that 40-50 percent of a company’s equipment effective-
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ness is typically left on the table. That inefficiency can’t be fully attributed to the labeler, but that’s a key area of concern, he said. There’s plenty of down time connected to glue set-up and cleanup, as well as the ongoing maintenance required to function a machine with three different fluids at once: water, oil and glue. Just ask machine operators and packaging managers how the trio gets along. “Those three things don’t like each other and cause a lot headaches,” Winograd said. He added that if a company allocates one hour each day per five-day work week to cleaning up glue, that leaves five hours per week of time that could have instead been spent bottling more product. If a company produces an industry standard of 300 bottles per minute, 18,000 bottles per hour, then you’re looking at 90,000 extra bottles of beer that you could get out the door each week. Craft brewers regularly say that people love their beer, but they can’t keep up with demand. They don’t have enough capacity, they say. Winograd believes that NuLabel can help optimize existing capacity. His company develops adhesives that are activated at the point of use, providing a clean and efficient method for labeling products. NuLabel’s team of chemists has created a portfolio of activatable adhesives that eliminate the need for glue or pressure-sensitive adhesives. The company also develops the hardware necessary to activate the adhesive at the point of application. NuLabel doesn’t do the printing. Rather, it works with partners that can scale the technology and bring it to market. Already using the aforementioned Envi/Legacy label, Long Trail also uses NuLabel adhesives. So too does the widely-distributed Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, Mich. Winograd said that breweries don’t need to buy new labelers to implement NuLabel’s adhesives. Instead, the company converts existing supply chains with a minimal change. NuLabel wants to eliminate the messy stuff so brewers can focus on beer instead of cleanup. “We really like to think of ourselves as that sort of behind the scenes support for their packaging line that can eliminate those headaches that take away from the stuff that really matters to these guys,” Winograd said.
Trade Show
NACS Preview
WHAT
WHERE
WHEN
WHO
National
Las Vegas
Oct. 7-10
More than 22,000
Association of
Convention Center
Expo Oct. 8-10
Convenience Stores
Las Vegas, NV
vendors, buyers, and other attendees
(NACS) Show, 2014
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
TUESDAY OCTOBER 7 7:30 am - 5:30 pm
Registration 8:30 am - 9:30 am
NACS Supplier Board Executive Session 9:30 am - 11:00 am
NACS Supplier Board/Supplier Member Meeting 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
NACS International Committee Meeting 10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Cool New Products Preview Room (retailers, wholesalers and distributors only) 10:00 am - 5:30 pm
NACS Center
12:30 pm - 4:15 pm
NACS Board of Directors/Retail Member Meeting 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm
Educational Sessions 3:05 pm - 3:55 pm
Educational Sessions 4:10 pm - 5:00 pm
Educational Sessions 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm
New Supplier Member Reception (ticketed event) 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
NACS Show Kick-Off Party (ticketed event) 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Board of Directors and Past Presidents Dinner (invitation only)
10:00 am - 5:30 pm
NACSPAC Lounge
BevNET NACS Coverage Sponsored By:
76 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 8 7:30 am - 5:30 pm
Registration 8:00 am - 8:50 am
Educational Sessions
11:30 am - 5:30 pm
10:00 am - 11:15 am
Cool New Products Preview Room (open to all)
General Session Featuring Henry Armour and NACS “Ideas 2 Go”
5:30 pm - 6:45 pm
NACS Game Day Party
8:00 am - 11:30 am
Cool New Products Preview Room (retailers, wholesalers and distributors only)
11:30 am - 5:30 pm
EXPO 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm
THURSDAY OCTOBER 9
NACSTOBERFEST
7:30 am - 5:30 pm
Registration
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10
8:00 am - 8:50 am
7:30 am - 1:30 pm
Educational Sessions
Registration
8:00 am - 5:30 pm
8:00 am - 9:00 am
NACSPAC Lounge
Cool New Products Preview Room
General Session
9:05 am - 9:55 am
8:00 am - 5:30 pm
Educational Sessions
NACS Center
Cool New Products Preview Room
10:00 am - 11:15 am
8:00 am - 5:30 pm
8:00 am - 1:30 pm
General Session Featuring David Freedman
NACSPAC Lounge
NACS Center
8:30 am - 10:30 am
8:00 am - 1:30 pm
Exhibitor Advisory Committee Meeting
NACSPAC Lounge
9:05 am - 9:55 am
9:00 am - 1:30 pm
Educational Sessions
EXPO
8:00 am - 5:30 pm
NACS Center 8:00 am - 5:30 pm
8:00 am - 1:30 pm
11:30 am - 5:30 pm
EXPO
RELAX & JAM WITH US AT
MARLEY
BOOTH 1572
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1Love.org
Trade Show ALPHABETICAL ATTENDEE LIST Exhibitor 5-hour Energy (Living Essentials, LLC)
Booth 1663
Exhibitor Hansen’s Natural Heineken USA, Inc.
Booth 437 3405
Exhibitor Premier Nutrition Corp. Pri-Pak, Inc.
Booth 3273 643
Alo Drink by SPI West
3438
Heka Energy Drink LLC
Anheuser-Busch
2629
High Brew Coffee
8425
Red Bull North America, Inc.
963
AquaHydrate, Inc.
3245
In Zone Brands, Inc.
1673
Reed’s, Inc.
2073
Arizona Beverages USA
2475
Independent Distillers
8331
Rhino Rush LLC
1375
Asahi Seiko USA, Inc.
2013
Insight Beverages, Inc.
6959
Rockstar Energy Drink
2175
Bai Brands LLC
2428
Interex/Wise
4131
Royal Buying Group, Inc.
3542
ITO EN (North America), Inc.
2877
Sadaf Distribution
447
Berner Food & Beverage
528
872
PurClean/PurWater
6950
Big Red, Inc.
2428
Jel Sert Company
975
Sambazon
8316
BODYARMOR SuperDrink
2428
Johanna Foods
8218
Shamrock Foods Company
1528
The Boston Beer Company
1175
Jones Soda Company
3435
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
4021
BYB Brands, Inc.
3964
Karma Wellness Water
363
Sparkling Ice
2375
Calypso Brands
3426
Kellogg Company
4245
Splash Beverage Group
477
Campbell Soup Company
1239
Kohana Coffee
878
Sportwater Beverages
573
Sunny Delight Beverages
453
CROPP Cooperative dba Organic Valley
676
L Spirits, LLC dba Vodka or Tequila Slippers
574
Coca-Cola Refreshments
3838
Mark Anthony Brands, Inc.
Cold Star, Inc.
5559
dba Mike’s Hard Lemonade
Constellation Brands
4027
Marley Beverage Company, LLC
1572
3452
Sunny Delight Beverages Co.
2428
Sunny Sky Products
6059
Tampico Beverages
2079
Teazzers
5461
thinkThin, LLC
3271
True Drinks, Inc.
4121
Tweaker Energy Drink
3229
Copa di Vino
776
MillerCoors
3636
Cott Beverages
2873
Monarch Custom Beverages
630
Cowboy Up Energy Drink
775
Monster Beverage Company
1029
CytoSport
1973
Myx Beverage LLC
8240
DIAGEO-Guinness USA
1863
NEO North America
536
Cascade Ice Sparkling Water
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
2428
Nestle
1729
V Blast-New York Springs
Dream Products, LLC
429
Nestle Waters North America
1829
Vasinee Food Corp
Drink Blocks, LLC
7731
Neuro Brands
2428
Vita Coco
DS Services of America, Inc.
3465
New Whey Nutrition, LLC
1363
Vita Coco Coconut Water
Unique Beverage Company
2943 3262 572 719 2428
E & J Gallo Wine Company
928
Niagara Bottling, LLC
2178
Vivazen & Zend
8222
Eastland Food Corporation
4135
Nitro 2 Go, Inc.
644
Voss Water
3439
EVERLAST Hydrate Elite
3406
North Shore Bottling
3262
VPX Sports/Redline
FIJI Water
2773
NVE Pharmaceuticals
4275
WhiteWave/International Delight
5046
First Aid Shot Therapies
8339
Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.
1863
WIS - PAK
3108
Florida’s Natural Growers
520
Oskar Blues Brewery
679
Wonderful Pistachios
2773
Fred Beverages, Inc.
1079
Pabst Brewing Company
1540
Xing Beverage, LLC
642
Frostie Root Beer
633
PepsiCo, Inc.
1847
Xyience
2842
General Mills, Inc.
3654
Polar Beverages
567
Zymbom Energy Drink
Goodwest Industries
4438
POM Wonderful
2773
Goya Foods
8411
Power Crunch
1176
BevNET NACS Coverage Sponsored By:
78 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
619
673
Trade Show
Expo East Preview BevNET Expo East Coverage Sponsored By:
WHAT
WHERE
WHEN
WHO
Natural Products
Baltimore
Education & Events
More than 24,000
Expo East
Convention Center
September 17-20
industry attendees
Baltimore, MD
Trade Show
and more than
September 18-20
1200 exhibitors
Exhibitor
Booth
Exhibitor
Booth
Exhibitor
Booth
Acai Roots
112
Forager Project
1057
Marley Coffee
427
Albert’s Organics
720
Fresh Matters (‘tude Juice)
8211
MetaBrand/I AM Enlightened
3216
Alkame Water Inc.
956
Fruit d’Or
1006
Mocktail Beverages Inc.
9022
ALKAZONE/Better Health Lab Inc.
1832
Garden of Flavor
415
Mountain Valley Spring Co.
1158
ALO Drink by SPI West Port, Inc.
2605
Genesis Today
5933
Mulberry Love
2614
Aloe Very
8731
Ginseng Up Corp
1155
MyCause Water
8222
Amanprana
211
good2grow
2027
Nth Degree Innovations
8516
AQUAhydrate
2407
GoodOnYa
1709
NUUN & U Natural Hydration
1034
Aquarain Drinks, Inc.
8310
Green Bee Soda
8630
Nuvia Café/Nuvia Trim
2307
B’More Organic
113
Hansen’s Natural
1029
Odwalla, Inc.
1731
Back To Nature
1811
Harmless Harvest Inc.
2713
OKF America
357
Barefoot Bucha
8517
Harney & Sons Tea Co
445
Orgain, Inc.
930
Better Fresh Limited (UNOCO)
9044
Heart of Tea
8217
Owl’s Brew
9002
Blue Marbel Brands
1225
Herbal Water/Ayala’s Herbal Water
810
Penta Water LLC
1247
Brands Within Reach LLC
1931
Hiball Energy
2213
Pyure Brands
318
Bruce Cost Ginger Ale
851
High Brew Coffee
1629
Real Beanz
1160
Ceres Fruit Juices
2205
Honest Tea
2105
Reed’s Inc
1222
ChaiElixir, LLC
127
Honeydrop Beverages
152
Sabazon
812
Chameleon Cold Brew
1708
IBEX Drinkable Yogurt
2108
Seelect Tea (Birdie & Bill’s Soda)
1234
Chia Star
307
icebox water
1340
Simply Orange
1732
Chimp Food
2813
ICONIC - Natural Protein Drink
337
SIPP eco beverage co.
655
Coaqua Coconut Water
9001
iQ Juice
1260
Splash Beverage Group
9030
Coco Libre
650
ITO EN (North America), Inc.
1040
Suja Juice
1116
Cocoa Metro Drinking Chocolate
8515
Jax Coco USA LLC
8805
SunOpta Inc.
1818
Daily Greens
8317
Joia All Natural Soda
346
Thirsty Buddha Coconut Water
344
Daklen Nutrition
3112
Kava King Products Inc.
6318
True Me Brands LLC
158
Diabolo
2811
KeVita Inc.
406
TumericALIVE
1049
Dr. B’s Beverages LLC
329
Kohana Coffee
157
Turkey Hill Dairy
2915
Drop2o
8430
Kraft Foods
1627
Vertical Water
3006
Dyla LLC
8212
LaCroix Sparkling Water
647
Vital Juice
8322
Eden Foods
2016
Lakewood Organic Juice Company
1013
VOSS of Norway (VOSS WATER)
444
Elite Naturel USA LLC
2421
Lifeway Foods, Inc.
928
WILD Flavors, Inc
2316
Ener-C
6622
Little Me Tea
8202
X-treme PH Sports Water
151
Epic Naturals
144
Little Miracles Drinks, Ltd.
231
Xiomega3, LLC
2716
Epicurex LLC
2812
Lumi Organics
1509
Zen-d Beverages
1727
Everfresh Juice
746
Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss
1706
Zevia LLC
1227
8529
Mamma Chia
1417
Zico LLC
9045
Zing Anything Inc.
4530
Everly
80 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
Promo Parade Promotions, events & specials for the industry
Wild Turkey Celebrates Master Distiller’s 60 Years of Service with “Diamond Anniversary” Whiskey Celebrating six decades of service with the famous Lawrenceburg, Kentucky distillery this year, Wild Turkey’s Jimmy Russell is now considered the longest-tenured, active Master Distiller in the world. A man who has dedicated his life to preserving the centuries-old craft of whiskey making deserves a Bourbon befitting this unique milestone. Enter Eddie Russell, who’s been making whiskey by his father’s side for more than 30 years. With Jimmy and Eddie’s seal of approval, Wild Turkey
has released Diamond Anniversary, an exclusive, limited-edition mingling of 13and 16-year-old whiskies that’s as special a Bourbon as Jimmy is a distiller. Jimmy has created or co-created no less than 10 Bourbons, invented the first honey-flavored Bourbon, was inducted into the Bourbon Hall of Fame, and received a formal acclamation in the Kentucky legislature thanking him for his life-long contributions to the Bourbon industry and Commonwealth of Kentucky.
To create Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary, Eddie hand selected rare barrels that had been aging for 13 and 16 years (nearly twice as long as the flagship Wild Turkey 101) that yielded a spirit with tantalizing notes of caramel and vanilla, complete with a spicy oak finish. Fortuitously, the barrels were filled around the time Jimmy was celebrating his 45th anniversary, and Eddie was thinking about planning Jimmy’s retirement party.
Lenny Wilkens Foundation Honors Nina Morrison of Talking Rain The Lenny Wilkens Foundation announced today that Talking Rain’s Vice President of Community and Customer Relations, Nina Morrison, is the 2014 recipient of the foundation’s community service award. Morrison was presented the award at the Lenny Wilkens Foundations’ annual dinner and auction on August 15, 2014 in Bellevue, Wash. As part of the award, the foundation is also recognizing Talking Rain, for its dedication to funding and supporting organizations that make a difference in communities around the country. Locally in the Pacific Northwest and in communities throughout the United States and all over the world, philanthropy is a part of Talking Rain’s DNA and a compass that guides the heart of the company. In 2014 Talking Rain committed its support to fund needed program growth and development on behalf of the Children’s Miracle Network throughout the country 82 SEPTEMBER 2014 BEVNET MAGAZINE
and will be continuing its support in the year to come. In 2013 alone, the company donated over $400,000 to local Washington state charities and non-profits. Nina Morrison has been with Talking Rain for over 22 years and has helped to spearhead the companies’ commitment to philanthropy. In her personal time, Nina is connected as a volunteer and board member with the Hope Heart Institute and Seattle Children’s Hospital. The community service award was established in 1992 to recognize an individual whose dedication follows the mission of the Lenny Wilkens Foundation, to support charities that provide healthcare and education for all children regardless of their financial needs. Previous foundation community service award recipients have included NBA great Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Vickie Guillory of What A Feast and Cindy Courtmanch, owner of Marymoor Press.