Story regarding Shade Tree Lemonade's acceptance into SKU food/bev accelerator in Austin mistakenly described equity cut given to SKU as 6%, as indicated in press release announcing deal. SKU's cut actually can range between 6 and 8%, we're now told

Pair of longtime NY restaurant and gourmet grocery hands named Ned Visser and Manni Areces have been deliberately building RTD organic yerba mate entry under name Yerba Project, setting up line as platform for anticipated future forays into range of indigenous ingredients from around world. Brand resulted from restaurant concept that shifted gears about a year ago, to point where partners decided to go bev route under name Mission Maitri LLC, after having seen bevs come and go over years from retail and restaurant side. (Visser was among founders of Gourmet Garage chain in NY.) Result is bev that's brewed, not blended, and is packed in 16-oz straightwall plastic bottles whose labels herald that contents are "brewed locally" and "small batch." Besides unsweetened Naked Maestro flavor, line agave-sweetened flavors like Minted, Hibiscus, Lemon and Ginger, as well as more functional Purple Rain entry, also agave-sweetened, that uses butterfly pea flowers and a yerba-mate-based switchel sweetened with maple syrup. The sweetened entries go out at about 30 calories per 8-oz serving. "Manni and I were vexed trying to find a mate drink that tastes like mate - ours tastes like mate," Ned told BBI. Brand is currently produced at food incubator in NJ, tho partners are eyeing other options. It's unpasteurized and claims a 6-month shelf life. SRP is $3.99-4.99.

Once viewed as potentially broad segment, cap-dispensed functional bevs have endured long shakeout that's left bare handful of broadly targeted players still in market, as consumers have declined the added complexity and expense of Vitaminwater alternatives despite pitch that the technology keeps active ingredients more efficacious. So to lotsa bev people twist caps have been dead issue. But playing at more elevated tier where value of dispensing mechanism is more explicit, Boston-based GoLive has been quietly building momentum for superpremium-priced prebiotics/probiotics play, entering broad range of retailers, adding its first DSD partner and at some point in recent months drawing investment from Anheuser-Busch InBev's Zx Ventures venture fund, as its ceo Tim McKeown confirmed to BBI this week.

Continued news that "multiple parties" (per CNBC) are interested in bidding for coconut water marketer Vita Coco is likely sign that "that the sale process may not be going as well as the sellers had hoped," wrote Brett Cooper of Consumer Edge Research. "We believe that PepsiCo stays a disciplined bidder and would be willing to walk away if the 'other' bidders come in with a meaningfully higher offer," Brett believes. Reports have been that PEP has been wary of paying the above-$1 bil price that Vita Coco is seeking, at time Vita Coco's US growth has plateaued; media leaks about other bidders are broadly presumed to be sign that seller is seeking to stoke buying interest, as Bai Brands team adroitly did in guiding sale to Dr Pepper Snapple Group, for whom Vita Coco also has served as allied brand. "Leaks of deals are more often than not done strategically, not by accident," as Cooper put it. Brett believes that successful acquisition by PEP would be largely neutral for its shares. For DPS, he estimates brand reps $130 mil in sales and $15 mil in profits, making its potential departure a "modest negative." Cooper notes that if PepsiCo, Coke or other strategic with captive system acquires Vita Coco and pulls it from DPS, move might finally offer glimpse into what exit terms DPS has been building into its distribution deals. Neither Vita Coco nor PEP has been commenting on rumors . . . Hain Celestial Group said it's received waiver and extension of obligations under unsecured credit facility from lenders until Jun 15, as it races to complete audited financial statements for fiscal year 2016 and first 3 qtrs of fiscal 2017 and retain its NASDAQ listing. As of Mar 31, Hain owed $780 mil to bank group led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo . . . Celsius Holdings has successfully completed its uplisting to the NASDAQ Capital Market, retaining ticker symbol CELH. Move occurred on May 24 and will be celebrated at NASDAQ hq in NY's Times Square this Tues, with interim ceo John Fieldly in attendance.

Cannabis gold rush continues, with move by Laguna Blends to acquire Pot-O-Coffee, co that makes pot-infused coffees, teas and cocoa in RTD and pod formats. Laguna Blends, based in Vancouver, BC, said move marks its entry into recreational bev market, complementing its own CBD water sold under brands Hemp Rain and Nano. Laguna Blends also makes range of shots, gummies, tinctures, protein items and skincare products. For its part, Pot-O-Coffee has been readying for this summer twin lines of RTD iced coffees and teas in both THC and CBD formulations. Its current line is offered in dosage range of 10 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg for psychotropic THC bevs and 10 mg for hemp bevs. Letter of intent signed by Laguna Blends calls for it to issue 20.9 mil common shares at deemed price of 12 cents per share and to make one-time cash payment of $250K due upon execution of definitive agreement. Laguna said it continues to pursue joint ventures and acquisitions to expand portfolio and enter markets in Latin America, Asia and Europe this year.

Cluttered segment? Maybe so, but plenty of emerging kombucha brands still seem to be receiving good enough local reception to be gearing up for broader availability. Case in point: Boulder, Colo-based Rowdy Mermaid, adaptogenic-herb-infused entry which has embarked on search for Series A financing in $2 mil range as it outgrows facility for 2d time in a few months. BizWest cited Form D filing indicating that co had raised $350K as it moved from 900-sq-ft plant to 6K-ft plant a few months ago, and just doubled that again, with founder Jamba Dunn telling BizWest blog he's now seeking $2 mil to bring on coo, tweak flavors and packaging, and expand geographically. Brand apparently is getting some notice by being uncommonly explicit in listing ingredients, including range of adaptogenic herbs. (Living Ginger flavor, for instance, employs not just fresh ginger and "filtered Colorado snowmelt," but Tasmanian pepperberry and "wildcrafted" chaga mushroom, per website at RowdyMermaid.com.) "It felt like just a little while ago I was in my garage. And just a couple months ago it was only a few of us working for the company, where three of us shared one plastic desk with two computers," he told BizWest. Renegade-sounding brand name, btw, was suggested by Dunn's daughter, he indicated.

Dunkin' Donuts is tiptoeing into the nitro cold-brew game in coupla smaller markets: Hartford, Conn, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Penn. Nitro Coffee infuses Dunkin' Donuts' Cold Brew Coffee with nitrogen for smooth, creamy texture and "Instagram-worthy, cascading visual effect," per Dunkin' Brands. While it's limited-time offering, Dunkin' is inviting consumers to visit Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to lobby for national rollout . . . Hemp-based food/bevco Rocky Mountain High Brands said it's about to enter production of lines of cannabidiol-infused flavored waters and flavored energy drinks and bevs. Under Blueleaf brand name, flavored water line will be offered in Cucumber, Lemon/Lime and Watermelon flavors, Dallas-based co indicated.

Red Bull has shown uncommon ability among bev brands to connect with its consumers. Now it's looking to connect its coolers, too. Working with AT&T, Austrian energy brand is undertaking massive Internet of Things initiative that will connect about 1 mil Red Bull-branded coolers around world to "provide data relating to performance, temperature stats and geo-location information," per AT&T announcement. AT&T said initiative was collab between innovation centers dubbed AT&T Foundry and energy drink marketer. What's this mean in practical terms? "Alerts from coolers mean workers may no longer need to check the status of each unit manually," AT&T indicated. Data flow from coolers will include product movement, temperature and geo-location info. Collected data "also provides shopper frequency insight from door activity from the coolers located worldwide," with embedded monitor collecting data each time cooler door opens and closes, sending the data at regular intervals to AT&T Control Center for processing. In US, the system would seem both to make life easier for distributors but increase monitoring by supplier that's always relied heavily on metrics to assess performance, tho we didn't get comment from Red Bull North America. Internet of Things expert Chuck Martin, writing on MediaPost, noted that one predecessor application was 2,500 Budweiser beer doors fitted with multiple IoT sensors, with cooler doors serving as screens to display branded videos, graphics and animations customized for each reason. That installation was implemented in partnership with co called Aerva. "In both cases," Martin writes, "the justification can be the tracking of inventory or the status of each unit, to help identify issues early. The side benefits for marketers may be even more significant, as consumer behaviors can be monitored in relation to specific products, by location, in real time."