Beer Marketer's Insights
National Beverage hopes to continue growing its La Croix sparkling water brand next year via flavor innovations, multipacks for club channel (including for Curate flanker brand) and recent launch in Canada, per summary of mgmt remarks made at annual meeting reported by Credit Suisse . . . Body Armor has stepped up its activation behind sports drink brand by signing on as first official sports drink of UFC, starting next year. Deal calls for Body Armor to provide both its full-calorie and Body Armor Lyte drinks to UFC Performance Institute's 2 Body Armor Hydration Stations, as well as serve as presenting sponsor at some weigh-ins and provide corner branding of stools, towels and buckets inside UFC's Octagon ring, LA-based co announced. Brand is owned mainly by serial bev entrepreneurs Lance Collins and Mike Repole and retired NBA player Kobe Bryant . . . After what it says was successful test in co's Colo base, New Age Beverages is expanding its new Aspen Pure Probiotic line thru 2K+ Ahold Delhaize banners across 23 states, mainly on East Coast. Co also has brought shelf-stable brand to some outside DSD partners in West and Southwest and begun test with unnamed national drug chain, Denver-based co said. By starting within NBEV-owned New Age DSD house in Denver, "we learned a lot about consumer communication, retail execution at the point of sale, pricing and brand placement" to prep for broader rollout, said marketing chief Jay Barrow . . . Austin-based High Brew Coffee has launched its first limited-edition can, rainbow-color-bedecked Double Espresso pack themed to Austin City Limits music fest, which is running in brand's hometown last weekend and this weekend. Can is available not just at fest itself but in HEB stores in south Tex. In conjunction with fest, co also is using recently outfitted 1952 GMC Coach as mobile coffee shop serving free coffee and wifi on fest site, and offering High-Brew-based ice cream floats at #ACLEats booth there.
Bruce Cost Ginger Ale, lately tilting its branding toward marques like Brooklyn Crafted and Brooklyn Organics after splitting with eponymous founder, used Expo East to showcase glass-bottle Brooklyn Crafted Ginger Beer that dials up ginger, dials down sugar and carries ingredient list of just 5 items. "Extra Spicy" herald red lettering at top of label of that entry and sibling stevia-sweetened Sugar Free Ginger Beer. Unlike some rivals who employ shortcuts like chili or cayenne pepper to generate heat, Brooklyn Crafted line relies solely on kick of its ginger, said marketing mgr Kevin Li. Also in mix is milder-flavored Sugar Free Ginger Ale. Brooklyn Crafted line is entering UNFI as it gets ready to build distribution, Kevin said. Info at DrinkBrooklynCrafted.com. Meanwhile, Brooklyn-based co also has been tweaking its canned Brooklyn Organics line to dial down the stevia hit in its most popular flavor, Guava. Also in line are Classic, Coconut, Acai and Cola flavors, all coming in at zero to 10 calories. Info on those at DrinkBrooklynOrganics.com. Co continues to market Bruce Cost Ginger Ale, but not with any lower-calorie stevia-sweetened entries, given objections of chef and food writer Cost to use of ingredient on flavor grounds. So co has created different brands to meet those consumer demands.
Farm-to-bottle HPP coconut water brand Pure Brazilian has enlisted its first DSD partners and begun to win authorizations from Kroger and Safeway grocery operators, ceo Rob Paladino told BBI at recent Expo East in Baltimore. Pure Brazilian is made from Anao coconuts that co maintains are cleaner, crisper and less oily than Asian Ham Non coconuts used by many rivals. The coconuts are hand-harvested on plantations that the co owns on Brazil's northern coast and processed the same day, with no sugar added. The week of Expo East, co had opened new plant featuring state-of-art extraction process and high-speed filling, Rob informed us. Since arriving at co in Jan (BBI, Jan 13), former WTRMLN WTR exec has moved quickly, enlisting Adam Litvack, a vet of Harmless Harvest, Mamma Chia and Happy Tree, to run sales as vp of trade development and recruiting as DSD partners Rainforest in NY and Haralambos Bev in LA. Co employs broadliner UNFI to reach indie natural food stores.
By 15-2 margin, Cook County Commission voted to repeal its short-lived and controversial penny-per-ounce bev tax. That makes repeal veto-proof, which means tax will be officially repealed on Dec 1. "It was all about the public's money and Taxwinkle wanting to grab it, and Cook County taxpayers saw through this immediately," wrote Chicago Tribune of tax pushed by board prexy Toni Preckwinkle after Finance Committee moved to strike move by 15-1 vote yesterday. Full commission didn't waste any time acting, given depth of public hostility to program. Reports noted that former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg also was big loser in repeal after pumping over $5 mil into campaign pushing the tax after successfully lobbying for soft drink taxes in San Francisco, Boulder, Colo, and Philadelphia. Tax failed in Chicago area for similar reasons Philadelphia tax also under fire: public revolt. "Many residents are now doing their entire grocery shopping outside of Cook County," said commish Sean Morrison. No doubt that this will have a serious impact on county and municipal sales revenues. Quite simply: the bev tax was wrong remedy for Cook County, he added.
Austin-based Daily Greens had had its Just Veggies subline accepted at all regions of Whole Foods and all distribution centers of broadline distributor UNFI, founder/ceo Shauna White said at recent Expo East in Baltimore. That line, out in Just Carrots, Just Greens and Just Beets flavors, boasts 4.5 lbs of produce per bottle and has no added sugar. Daily Greens also is moving to list 4 main ingredients of each sku across all its sublines on front panel, echoing other players in space. And adapting to consumer feedback, co has shifted its refreshment-oriented 5-flavor Green Ade subline from stevia to monk fruit as sweetener. Co was able to make change without needing to change UPC code, Shauna told us. That's the news on product side from Daily Greens; as we earlier reported from show, co is among investments made by Great Point Brands, along with now-sibling brands Cuvee Coffee and Live Kombucha Soda (BBI, Sep 18).
EXPO EAST: Nutriblade Employs Juice Bar Mainstay, Wheatgrass Shot, at Heart of RTD Bev Line
NC-based co is leveraging that juice bar mainstay, the chlorophyll-rich wheatgrass shot, into shelf-stable shot and bev biz. Based in Cornelius, Nutriblade offers shelf-stable organic Wheatgrass Shot as well as 4-flavor line of RTD bevs that use fruit juice and organic puree to help moderate the wheatgrass taste. RTD line, packed in 12-oz plastic bottles priced at $2.99-3.29, is available in Original (with black tea), Sweet Pear, Tart Cherry and Wild Blueberry flavors. The 2.5-oz Wheatgrass Shot is priced at $2.99. By now brand is available in about 1,500 stores in 30 states, including 500+ indie natural retailers and such mainstream grocers as Safeway, Raley's, Jewel-Osco and Shaw's, said founder/ceo Tony Marks. Brand is about to enter Costco locations in Southern Calif. To date brand mainly moves via broadliner KeHe, tho Tony said he's considering potential DSD partners for 2018 in cities like LA, Miami and NY. Nutriblade founder Marks is no stranger to bev biz as he also operates 800K-sq-ft Global Distribution Center, including contract bev copacker, out of Perrysburg, Ohio.
During drop-in to Bay Area we spotted at Whole Foods an item from Nestle USA under its Natural Bliss umbrella that parlays co's popular Coffeemate creamer brand into RTD cold-brewed coffee. Natural Bliss Cold Brew Coffee, launched in spring and only available on West Coast for now, claims to use Brazilian-sourced Arabica coffee beans steeped in cold water for 12 hours, blended with "real milk & cream," in all-natural recipe packed in 46-oz widemouth plastic bottles employing overcap embossed with coffee-bean image. Cane sugar is sweetener. It's out in Sweet Cream (130 calories per 8-oz serving) and Mocha (140 calories) flavors for now, with website proclaiming they're "West Coast exclusive" and promising 2018 rollout. Natural Bliss also has added more conventionally produced Iced Coffee in Caramel flavor. All claim to use "real California milk" from cows not treated with growth hormone (tho website takes pains to note that "no significant difference has been shown between milk from rBST treated and non rBST treated cows"). Natural Bliss is banner that co has used for natural creamers and, more recently, almondmilks and coconut milks. Brand doesn't disguise Coffeemate connection, flagging it via small endorsement bubble placed above main logo on front panel. Move follows rival creamer International Delight in move into RTD coffee space, doing the WhiteWave entry one better by taking cold-brew route and eschewing conventional gabletop cartons that Delight uses in favor of the carafe-style plastic packs.
Argo Tea has lined up Whole Foods as a retail launch partner for its new line of Single Estate Cold Brew Tea, a spinoff of its Garden Direct single-estate line of loose teas that's been testing in Argo's own network of 40+ teahouses for past few months. Execs at Chicago-based tea marketer had discussed pending launching last spring at Expo West (BBI, Mar 31), positioning it as first single-estate line to be offered in RTD, exploiting co's direct relationships with growers that allow it to obtain best microlots. Line is packed in brand's proprietary 13.5-oz glass bottle in 3 initial flavors: First Flush Darjeeling, sourced from co's Indian partner Ambootia; First Flush Gyokuro green tea, sourced from Japanese partner Yamaguchi Tea Estate, and Armenian mint. All 3 are USDA-certified organic. Line is lightly sweetened with cane sugar, coming in at 20 calories per bottle. SRP is $2.49-2.69. Co noted that the Darjeeling tea has distinction of being first RTD tea in US that uses leaves certified as biodynamic by monitoring or Demeter, more exacting production standard than organic that requires processing standards that "ensure an unbroken chain of accountability from farm to finished product," as co put it.
Is tide turning on what had looked to be inexorable wave of bev taxes sweeping across nation? Biggest city to adopt one, Chicago, may be having change of heart, and legislation seems to be advancing in Mich to head off any effort by localities to initiate similar moves, as shoppers flee to adjacent municipalities to dodge levies. "The controversial Cook County soda pop tax now has a likely expiration date of Dec 1," wrote Chicago Tribune after several allies of board prexy Toni Preckwinkle have apparently tipped hand that they'll vote to rescind tax in vote tomorrow. Preckwinkle has been trying to rally support to keep tax in place, given that budget she presented last week relies on "$200 million a year" from penny-per-ounce tax. But "within hours" of her speech, Democratic Commish John Daley, who's influential Finance Committee chmn, announced he will vote to drop ill-fated tax. Several others apparently are ready to drop tax too, bringing number ready to rescind to up to 12 out of 17 county board commissioners. Recall that levy, formally known as Cook County Sweetened Beverage Tax, has been dogged by controversy from the start, from criticisms that it was costing jobs and driving shoppers to adjacent towns (attested by numerous social media posters showing register receipts from retailers like Walmart store in Hammond, Ind, to fist-pumped "This is how you do it!!!") to implementation snafus like numerous retailers, including national chains, that initially claimed tax on unsweetened La Croix sparkling bevs. Situation also is significant because, after bev taxes appealing to health concerns failed in some municipalities, proponents had seemed to fare better tying taxes to funding popular policy initiatives. "First and foremost we needed revenue," Preckwinkle reminded in recent days, as opponents tried to portray Chicago tax as stealth revenue booster. "I never pretended otherwise."
Shade Tree Lemonade, longtime local Austin mainstay that's recently moved to shelf-stable recipe, has entered Target stores in Tex as well as 75 of state's HEB groceries, founder Courtlyn Smith said at recent Expo East show. He's also augmented organic line with Blueberry flavor, lighter-bodied entry with lower juice content and less of a stevia hit than current Original and Strawberry flavors, Courtlyn told us. As reported, brand that started as fresh-squeezed mainstay at Austin City Limits music fest and then Lollapallooza fest in Chicago has navigated SKU brand accelerator program in Austin and has been moving deliberately to scale up, enlisting as DSD partners Brown, Kristen and Tri-County in Austin and its surrounding areas. Smith, a singer and musician who once penned a ditty called "Under the Shade Tree," has offered his lemonades at ACL since 2002. Last year's fest was first at which Smith offered shelf-stable version, and was gratified to see it pass audition, moving 3,300 cases in 6 days over the consecutive 2 weekends of ACL. Brand is there as ACL cranks up first weekend of 2017 today. "Life is yours - squeeze it," is brand mantra.