PepsiCo tapped PepsiCo Mexico Foods prexy Paula Santilli as ceo for all its Latin American biz, filling vacancy left when Laxman Narasimhan was appointed co’s global chief commercial officer. Santilli, who’ll report to chmn/ceo Ramon Laguarta, had overseen snacks unit generating $4 bil in sales, after career spent at Campbell Soup, Kellogg and then Quaker Oats, whose acquisition by PEP in 2001 brought her into co. Tho most of her career has been on snacks side, she’s had bev-related roles in Mexico and Argentina. Laguarta said she’s great choice because of her “proven track record of delivering results, while also advancing diversity and inclusion” . . . Group called SumOfUs.org that seems mainly concerned about sustainability issues is calling on PepsiCo to separate chmn and ceo roles, both currently held by Laguarta. “For over two decades, PepsiCo ceo’s have also held the role of Board Chair,” advisor to SumOfUs said. “It is our firm belief that the conflation of these two roles is a conflict of interest that weakens a corporation’s governance, which can ultimately harm shareholder value.” Org noted that has been issue raised by Institutional Shareholder Services (about Amazon) and proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis.

Marketer of Icelandic-style yogurt called Smari has extended into bevs with 3-flavor line of Protein Coffee that offers alternative to brands like Bulletproof, Picnik and Super Coffee.  Line debuted in 8-oz straightwall bottles in Keto Latte, New Orleans and Iced Mocha flavors offering 10 g of protein, 125-150 mg of caffeine but just 110-130 calories.  It hits retailers in 2 weeks, numbering among its launch accounts Wegmans and Fairway chains on East Coast, as well as test at 20 Walmart stores in Ark via retailer’s innovation initiative.  Initial focus is major metros on East and West Coasts, with DSD envisioned in mix if discussions with prospective partners in Calif and NY work out, founder Smari Asmundsson told us today.  LA Libations has been recruited as broker, he said.  Investors include Mamma Chia founder Janie Hoffman, who made intro to BBI.

Iceland-born Asmundsson, who emigrated to US 28 years ago at age 20 to pursue career in advertising photography, launched Icelandic-style organic yogurts a few years ago in belief – mistaken, he now chuckles – that doing so would allow him to cut back on heavy travel schedule, at time he was prepping for role as single dad.  Driving his son to school, Smari would reprise mixture of yogurt and coffee he used to make back home as on-the-go breakfast alternative.  Why not commercialize it, he wondered, figuring it could offer lusher margin than in core yogurt line that requires 4 cups of organic milk for every cup of finished yogurt.  (In effect, he’d be adding water rather than subtracting water.) 

It took 2 years of experimentation to find way to harmonize tart bite of yogurt with bitterness of coffee, but result debuted at Expo in bottles with Gothic-scripted brand name aside image of Viking helmet atop a coffee bean.  The New Orleans flavor adds bit of chicory, while the Keto entry gets sugar down to 1 g thru use of monk fruit as sweetener, with 60% of its 110 calories deriving from fat, 35% from protein and just 5% from net carbs.  Line will go out at $3.99-4.49, in line with, or just below, brands like Bulletproof.  Tho he’s focusing primarily on natural channel to start, Asmundsson will test whether DSD can get brand into c-stores and other impulse accounts as healthier alternative to conventional energy drinks. 

Trolling aisles of Natural Products Expo West for new clients and hosting charging lounge there was team from year-old app called Suzy that positions itself as “Siri for brands,” offering essentially real-time consumer research that draws upon base of 1 mil anonymous participants.  Platform claims to target any consumer segment for questions that draw responses within minutes, typically 300 responses in 10 minutes, along with ability to retarget same consumers for followup at later times for iterative experience.  They contrast that with before-&-after bookends offered over weeks-long period by traditional market research providers.  Among co’s clients are Coca-Cola, whose Odwalla brand enlisted Suzy to refine flavor roster for line of frozen-concentrate Odwalla Craft Ades for foodservice channel.  Others are P&G, J&J, Citibank, TDBank, Verizon, Nintendo, Aetna, McDonald’s, Office Depot, KFC and Nestle.  Per published reports, Suzy counts among its investors the NBA player Kevin Durant and his biz partner Rick Kleiman, as part of $5 mil capital round led by Foundry Group.

Suzy grew out of prior venture of founder/ceo Matt Britton called Crowdtap, influencer network that got tapped out as discipline devolved to pay-for-play.  Suzy emerged from “the ashes of Crowdtap,” prexy Avi Savar told us in discussion today.  Suzy recruits respondents via “fun, gamified experience” that enables them to accumulate points good for premiums like Target and Amazon gift cards and Hulu and Netflix subscriptions, purchased on digital storefront.  By now co has grown base to over 1.3 mil consumers, adding about 10K per month.  Upwards of 100K of them are active in any given month.  At any given moment, say, during brainstorming session, marketers can count on being able to tap into right demographic slice among 50K active users for rapid response to their question on branding, packaging or flavors, with statistically valid # of responses arriving before meeting concludes.  One client came down to wire ahead of Super Bowl, researching which ad to go with, Avi told us.  He noted as advantage over simply using SurveyMonkey for research that respondents’ identities are completely shielded from users, thereby averting privacy issues.  Intriguingly, Suzy has launched beta test with personal care brands of physical platform via partnership with FDA-approved fulfillment center that will get physical items to Suzy panelists.  Fee ranges from $60K annually into 6 figures, depending on service tier, Savar said.  First clients were CPG giants like Nestle and Mondelez but by now service has moved down supply chain to include pkg and ingredient cos and growers.

For Odwalla project involving frozen concentrates pitched to foodservice clients, Coca-Cola’s North American Consumer Insights group tested 15 flavor combos via mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions to arrive at Blackberry Basil Lemonade, Lavender Mint Lemonade, Spicy Watermelon Lemonade, Tangerine Passionfruit Lemonade, Strawberry Guava Lemonade and Pomegranate Limeade as winners.  Case histories posted on Suzy website include ChapStick, tapping base of 300 multicultural millennial female ChapStick users to validate new product concept over course of 72 hours, and Office Depot, connecting with clipboard purchasers over weeklong period to improve merchandising of the items in stores.  Unidentified snack food co tapped 200 female millennials over 48 hrs to refine healthy-snack concept.

In testifying in class action suit vs Bai over whether it truly is all-natural brand, investor and endorser Justin Timberlake was put in uncomfortable position of saying he doesn’t know anything about the recipe, even tho he’d earlier been designated “chief flavor officer” with much fanfare (BBI, Jun 28). Looks like he’s off the hook now, Forbes contributor reports, after court ruled that neither he nor former Dr Pepper Snapple ceo Larry Young and Bai founder Ben Weiss have meaningful connection to Calif, where suit was brought, thereby not surmounting “personal jurisdiction” hurdle.

Another established big-city distributor, NY’s Big Geyser, has taken the plunge into hemp realm with shelf-stable brand called Recess, and more may be on the way. At brand showcase the Maspeth, NY-based NA distributor hosted in Brooklyn yesterday, one table was sampling 12-oz cans of items described on-pack as “sparkling water infused with hemp extract and adaptogens,” in Peach Ginger, Pomegranate Hibiscus and Blackberry Chai flavors. The items are described as containing 10 mg of full-spectrum hemp oil, rather than CBD isolate that might place brand in crosshairs of regulators in some areas who haven’t bought off on legality of CBD ingredient. They also contain ingredients like schisandra, American ginseng and L-theanine and carry a nutrition panel. Launch occurs at time brand has been making some noise with pop-up store in city’s Greenwich Village nabe. Big Geyser coo Jerry Reda said other hemp or CBD entries may follow soon. (We hope to bring you deep dive into Recess next week.)

Monster Beverage seems to have selected Portland, Ore, as early battleground in its response to VPX Sports’ Bang Energy brand, blitzing city with 50-case retail displays of its newly launching Reign brand. Tho Reign doesn’t sport any Monster Energy branding, it’s apparently grabbing shoppers’ attention with striking POS displaying imagery of Hafthor Bjornsson, “The Mountain” in Game of Thrones. We hear it’s priced directly vs Bang rather than at discount or premium. It seems to be moving some product in first few days of assault. “Bang wanted to start a war: it’s like Slovenia attacking Russia,” observed one energy drink exec who’s directly witnessed those initial skirmishes in PDX. Of course, Portland also is one of remaining strongholds of Rockstar Energy, which Monster execs have argued has borne biggest brunt of Bang brand’s explosive growth.

Sweet Leaf Tea, enjoying revival under ownership of Fireman Capital, has augmented its core organic tea line with lemonade extension, Dunn’s River Brands ceo Bill Meissner said at Brooklyn showcase hosted by DSD partner Big Geyser yesterday. New line, whose package graphics further bring further youth and vitality to “granny” imagery of core brand, debuts in Classic Lemonade, Cranberry Lime, Orange Mango and Pomegranate Blueberry flavors. They’re sweetened with organic cane sugar and come in at 150-160 calories per 16-oz plastic bottle. The line had been requested by Big Geyser as replacement for Hubert’s Lemonade, Coke-owned brand that recently departed for local bottler Liberty Coca-Cola, but received such a strong reception from sales force that it will be going national this spring, Bill said. It will be line-priced with core tea line in Big Geyser’s territory but will command 50-cent per-case premium outside NY. This comes not long after Jan 1 price increase in 5-6% range on Sweet Leaf and Tradewinds lines. Recall that Fireman, which owns portfolio of craft beer brands like Oskar Blues and Cigar City under Canarchy umbrella, acquired foundering Sweet Leaf Tea and Tradewinds tea brands from Nestle Waters as move to hedge its beer exposure, then added Temple Turmeric while continuing in hunt for brands in other growing NA categories. Operating via Dunn’s River Brands outside Dallas, co recently augmented its team with recruitment of Al Hermsen, 13-year DPS vet who’d gone on to shorter runs at brands like Aquahydrate and Uptime Energy. He’ll work to rebuild c-store channel for Sweet Leaf.

Organic Valley agricultural cooperative said that George Siemon, one of its 7 cofounders in 1988, had stepped down, replaced by 3-year vet Bob Kirchoff as interim ceo at La Farge, Wis-based co-op. OV didn’t offer a reason for his departure, and spokeswoman Elizabeth McMullen told Business News paper in Madison that his decision caught many at co by surprise and that he was much loved throughout the company. But she said the company was not saying anything else beyond what was in its press release. Decision comes after OV last summer reported that it had suffered its first loss in 20 years in 2017 fiscal year, at time that even organic milk is struggling to stay in repertoire of moms who’re more often steering their kids toward water, while plant-based alternatives boom. Under tutelage of Siemon, who was often seen barefoot on the job, Organic Valley grew its base to 2K+ farmers and revenues to just over $1 bil. It also took big gamble on partnering with conventional dairy giant Dean Foods as way to grow its reach, only to find Dean move into disarray as its biz deteriorated. DF recently essentially put itself up for sale, tho Wall Street analysts said it was hard to figure out who the potential buyers might be (BBI, Feb 27).

Arizona’s Kalil Bottling has sold its distribution rights to Monster Energy brand to Swire Coca-Cola USA, prompting speculation that with lead brand gone it could be prepping to shed other brands and tilt its focus to its big copacking biz.  Word on street was that deal was likely to close today, offering hefty payout to longtime incubation stalwart at cost of eliminating from portfolio a brand that may account for half of co’s gross profit.  Split with Monster was said to be amicable and we presume Kalil will continue as key copacker for dominant energy brand.  We were unable to reach anyone at Kalil, which is likely to have recently suffered departure of another big brand, Fiji Water, as it exited DSD.  A rep for Swire wouldn’t comment today but promised an announcement on Mon.  From what we hear, move wasn’t precipitated by Monster, which has ridden its Kalil partnership to dominant position in region. 

The move of Monster to Coke system in Ariz would leave NY as only significant market that hasn’t cut over to red system, and there have been rumors bubbling up for months that split may be coming with DSD partner there, Big Geyser, which lately has picked up new brands like Kitu Super Coffee that are branded as “energy” and is believed to have held discussions with other energy brands as contingency.  Big Geyser, which had dramatically turned around underperforming NY market since picking up brand several years ago, hasn’t commented on the speculation, and its execs hosting open house in Brooklyn yesterday said there was nothing to report on matter.