Ken Gilbert, marketing chief at turnaround effort that took Snapple tea brand from has-been to acquisition target by Cadbury Schweppes, is moving on after 5 years working with former Snapple colleagues at Voss Water. Gilbert, who'd previously launched and operated focus group co in Conn, said 5-year commitment he'd made upon joining his former colleague, ceo/investor Jack Belsito, at NY-based bottled water co concluded last month, and he's lookin' for new gig with greater innovation thrust, including potential startups on NA and alc-bev sides. Under Gilbert's watch, Voss did launch its first flavored water extensions to ride emerging sweet spot in bottled-water segment. As Voss ceo, Belsito had brought back several members of team from Snapple turnaround in successful effort to get struggling bottled water back on track . . . Long Island Iced Tea of Farmingdale, NY, has named former Royal Crown chief John Carson to its board, along with Wall Street vet William Hayde, a partner of Carson's at merchant banker Intercontinental Beverage Capital. Carson has enjoyed varied career in bevs that's included runs at Tampico marketer Marbo Inc and Triarc Bevs, Royal Crown marketer that was vehicle for Nelson Peltz to acquire, turn around and sell Snapple, for spectacular return. With resignation last month of LTEA board member Edward Hanson, co now numbers 6 directors, including 4 who're viewed as independent.

Russell Simmons said he's leaving his fashion-and-music empire after 2d woman accused him of sexual assault, move that could carry implications for Celsius functional brand in which he's been key investor and endorser. Move came in wake of allegation by director Sidney Lumet's daughter Jenny Lumet that she was abducted and attacked by Simmons in 1991, when she was 24, according to her guest column in Hollywood Reporter, per NY Post story. That followed earlier allegation from model Keri Claussen Khalighi. In response, Simmons issued statement to Deadline that said, "The companies will now be run by a new and diverse generation of extraordinary executives who are moving the culture and consciousness forward. As for me, I will step aside and commit myself to continuing my personal growth, spiritual learning and above all to listening." Simmons, who operates Def Jam label and Phat Farm fashion operation, is among key investors in Celsius Holdings, including his former wife Kimora Lee Simmons, Asian tycoon Li Ka-Shing and Rexall Sundown cofounder Carl DeSantis. No comment from folks we contacted at Celsius today.

Steve Pear, the former Coors and Coca-Cola exec who's been running tart cherry bev Cheribundi since mid-2014, has brought aboard former Powerade marketer Michelle Grech as cmo and former Tropicana and National Beverage exec Bill Brophy as cfo. Moves come as co, which has pushed hard into sports world to tout tart cherry's recovery benefits, has signed on as title sponsor of NCAA's Boca Raton Bowl, now named Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. Game kicking off on Dec 19 will be televised on ESPN. "Over 200 professional and collegiate sports teams use Cheribundi as part of their training regimen for muscle recovery and rest, so it only makes sense for the brand to sponsor a big national bowl game," is Steve's reasoning on tie. Among the teams it lists as being in the fold are New England Patriots, Chicago Blackhawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Univ of Clemson football team, Univ of Texas and the US Women's National Soccer Team.

After augmenting its digital can-printing capabilities in N Amer with acquisition of Quebec-based Hart Print in 2021, can giant Ardagh Metal Packaging has done likewise in Europe with pickup of majority stake in Swiss-based Nomoq (an acronym for "no minimum order quantities" that's meant to be music to ears of smaller marketers). Successful integration of Hart Print in North America "encouraged us to seek a similar model in Europe," explained AMP ceo Oliver Graham . . . EARI, the one of flock of rollup plays straddling both alcohol and NA brands, has added another brand to alc side of ledger this week: Perfectomundo Tequila, distiller in Jalisco that grows its own agave.

Athletic Brewing and Super Coffee teamed up to make "the world's first pre-workout brew," cos announced and Athletic ceo Bill Shufelt, Super Coffee cofounder/ceo Jimmy DeCicco and Athletic comms manager Chris Furnari told us. "Suped Up" is an "extra dark" non-alc brew made with 2 lbs of coffee per barrel and upcycled barley rice protein, clocking in at 130 calories, 23 g carbs, 5 g protein and no fat. So it's essentially a protein coffee in non-alc beer format, tho TTB precludes it from listing the caffeine content on the label, as Bill acknowledged. This is an oppy for Athletic to test out the functional bev space with collab partner at Super Coffee where there's "mutual admiration" after Shufelt and DeCicco, both former college football players, met at workout event in 2021. Plenty of folks drink beer after they work out, but "there's no reason" there shouldn't be a (non-alc) beer for "before you work out too," added Jimmy, whose 2 cofounder brothers also were college athletes. Super Coffee, of course, is no stranger to beer space, moving thru wholesaler network of Anheuser-Busch, to which it's sold minority equity stake.

Good Culture is back in the milk biz, this time with a big partner. The LA-based co, which started by reinventing the often-disparaged cottage cheese style before moving on to other dairy categories and then retreating, has teamed with Dairy Farmers of America to offer a probiotically enhanced lactose-free milk. Good Culture Probiotic Milk contains 1 bil cfu's per 12-oz serving of patented probiotic, offered in whole and 2% reduced fat versions, Dairy Processing and other dairy trades reported. It's launching on East Coast, with national expansion to follow on unspecified time frame. DFA, of course, is mega-cooperative with nearly 12,000 family farms. Launch builds on alliance dating back to 2021 in which Good Culture, a 1% for the Planet participant, teamed with DFA on initiative called Path to Pasture that seeks to educate farmers on sustainable, regenerative ag practices. As reported, after building loyal consumer base for cottage cheeses that offer greater flavor than those of major grocery brands, Good Culture branched out into bev categories like gut shots and kefir smoothies just as pandemic arrived (BBI, Mar 18 2020). But they'd exited the mix by time Good Culture closed on $64 mil Series C capital round a year ago (BBI, Feb 23 2022).

Bev calendar is active next week, with BevNet Live conference and new-bev "showdown" hitting Santa Monica's Loews Hotel on Mon and Tues and Beverage Digest's Future Smarts conference in NY on Fri, Dec 8. BevNet Live will feature among its speakers Peet's Coffee & Tea ceo Dave Burwick, Chameleon founder Chris Campbell, Califia Farms ceo Greg Steltenpohl, Brew Dr Kombucha founder Matt Thomas, La Colombe founder Todd Carmichael and Hint founder Kara Goldin, promising immersion in such booming categories as cold-brewed coffee, kombucha and essence water.

Mexican bottler Arca Continental, which recently raised its US profile by becoming recipient of big swatch of Southwest territory in Coca-Cola's refranchising initiative, has added to its snacks portfolio with acquisition of better-for-you Deep River Snacks. Like PepsiCo, Arca has pursued bev-and-snacks strategy, with salty snacks portfolio that's already included Wise, Cheez Doodles and Honchos . . . Flavor house Symrise Flavors North America has launched a suite of product development services for bev entrepreneurs it's calling, with apparent nod to Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Califormulations" based at its Laguna Beach, Calif, facility. The "bench to bottle" offering focuses on hydration and functional bevs via such processing options as hotfill, coldfill, carbonation and homogenization, the Teterboro, NJ-based unit of German co said.