Driving toward more elevated coffee offering, Dunkin' Donuts is ditching its popular but dessert-like Coffee Coolatta this summer, offering instead a more coffee-centric Frozen Dunkin' Coffee made from coffee extract, sugar and dairy. "Our Coffee Coolatta isn't good enough," declared svp brand mktg Chris Fuqua, per account by Business Insider, which was among media invited to open house at DUNKIN's Mass hq. In some versions Coffee Coolatta boasted as many as 990 calories, tho, as Biz Insider pointed out, Frozen Dunkin' Coffee itself can range as high as 840 calories.

Buoyed by new mgmt team with significant corporate experience, cold-pressed Invo Coconut Water has added its first certified-organic entries and also added a more functionally oriented subline called Coco Collisions that seems to mash up cold-pressed juice and coconut water segments.

Game of chicken seems to be intensifying in Philadelphia over inauguration of soda tax loathed by CSD marketers. PepsiCo has written to Philadelphia retailers to let them know it would be pulling larger package sizes from city stores, beginning this past Mon, as it reports continued sales slowdown since tax began, reported local ABC affiliate 6 Action News. "Because of the Philly Beverage Tax, people are buying far fewer taxed beverages - particularly those in larger package sizes because they now cost so much more," said one retailer, reading part of notice from co. It appears Coca-Cola will also focus on smaller package sizes as it seeks to weather market challenges. So far, city officials aren't backing down, insisting that any moves by PepsiCo are a smokescreen. "Pepsi's reasoning for their layoffs and for no longer distributing certain beverage sizes is all self-reported by a company that is actively fighting to overturn the beverage tax in court," said a city spokesman.

SF-based Forager Project added a Simple Greens entry to its probiotic smoothie subline, now at 4 flavors. It also added a 48-oz organic Cashewmilk in Original, Chocolate, Vanilla and Unsweetened, priced at $5.99 and rolling out thru Whole Foods and Sprouts Farmers Market chains. It replaces what had been a 28-oz kefir Cashewgurt . . . Austin-based Chameleon Coffee, which launched as concentrate-only cold-brew and has expanded into RTD and kegged versions, finally is taking step into whole bean coffee with addition of Mexican Chiapas, The Day Breaker and Dark, Black & Bold offerings. Price hasn't been set yet on 12-oz bags, which will launch in NY and maybe Tex. Meanwhile, refrigerated RTD offerings have enlisted LA's Haralambos Bev as DSD partner, said founder Chris Campbell . . . Organic Valley has taken its popular RTD Organic Fuel protein entry into powder format, offering it in 12-oz canisters in Vanilla and Chocolate, exclusively at Whole Foods thru Jul . . . NY-based Honeydrop has added an Echinacea Lemonade to its cold-pressed lemonades, priced at $3.49-3.99 per 10-oz bottle. It joins Lemon Lime'Ade, Pomegranata, Basil and Strawberry sku's.

SodaStream today touted as "the most significant innovation of recent years in the global water industry" a new item that doesn't even go into one of its machines. Rather, it was heralding Infusions line of sachets that are to be suspended inside bottle of sparkling water created by SodaStream countertop unit, allowing herb and fruit essences to permeate liquid. "Inspired by the world of tea, consumers are now empowered to bring the goodness of nature's garden into their sparkling water creations," as ceo Daniel Birnbaum put it. Line launches in Q3 in Citrus Fruits; Lemongrass & Verbena; Wild Rose, Hibiscus & Berries, and Wild Orchid & Spices flavors, priced at $6.99 for 8 sachets (each good for 1 bottle deemed to offer 4 servings). It continues SODA's pivot away from soda toward flavored and essence waters, in synch with where affluent consumers seem to be going these days.

Target, which has been in search for grocery chief since Anne Davent stepped down in Nov less than 18 mos into job, has gone to 30-year Kroger vet: Jeff Burt. Jeff comes aboard Apr 10 as svp grocery, fresh food and beverage, reporting to evp and chief merchandising officer Mark Tritton. He'll relocate to Twin Cities area. At Kroger, Burt most recently ran Fred Meyer div, including its DCs and mfg plants. Target's troubled grocery biz accounts for 20% of total and new chief is being tasked with "defining a differentiated guest experience through a curated assortment, quality products and competitive prices."

Ito En joined the rush into cold-brewed tea by retreating to style that's been around its home Japanese market for a decade now under "mizudashi" ("ice brew") moniker. Result is a new set of single-serve, shelf-stable Organic Cold Brew entries seeded within brand's two key platforms, Teas' Tea and Matcha Love. Under Teas' Tea banner it's intro'ing unsweetened Pure Green Tea using sencha tea base as well as slightly sweet Raspberry Black Tea. (Raspberry both mates well with black tea and is available in organically certified form.) Ito En's Matcha Love line based on ceremonial-grade powdered green tea is offering Organic Cold Brew entries melding matcha powder and whole leaf green tea in Unsweetened Matcha + Green Tea version as well as slightly sweet Lemon Matcha + Green Tea version. The new products come in at about 60 calories per serving, and are line-priced with core entries under the core platforms. They're due around May, said prexy Jim Hoagland.

Here's another clear plastic "can" that's headed to c-store and grocery shelves: 12-oz unit employed for extended release version of Avitae caffeinated water called AvitaeXR. The line uses licensed beading technology to offer mellower caffeine lift than spike-and-crash of most energy drinks, promising "up to 4 energizing hours with no crash!" on-pack. It's launching in Orange, Mixed Berry and Lemon Lime flavors. Avitae ceo Norm Snyder, a beer vet who also boasts time on brands like SoBe, has availed himself of beer infrastructure to get launch moving, retaining mobile canning line for production on-site and purchasing a Brite tank with which to experiment with carbonation levels. He said he's willing to proceed deliberately tho ideal retail target for XR is energy set in convenience and drug. Meanwhile, AvitaeXR will continue popularizing new style of can - already familiar in Europe - that features conventional can crown but see-thru plastic body; Monster's using half-liter size for its Hydro hydration line, and kids-oriented Tickle Water brand uses 8-oz size.

"Pay raises are back in style in the corner office," wrote Wall Street Journal after analysis of compensation for top execs in 2016. "Median pay for the chief executives of 104 of the biggest American companies rose 6.8% for fiscal 2016 to $11.5 million," per WSJ analysis. Pay for Coca-Cola's Muhtar Kent rose 20.5% while PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi scored 17.3% increase last year. Muhtar's pay was up $3 mil to $17.6 mil in 2016. That's down from $25.2 mil in 2014. Indra's total compensation increased nearly $4 mil to $26.4 mil in 2016, per WSJ analysis. Dr Pepper Snapple's Larry Young had more modest 2% increase to $9.9 mil last year. Monster Energy CEO Rodney Sacks' pay soared 35%, $3 mil, to $10.4 mil in 2016. Starbucks' CEO Howard Schultz pay increased 8.5% to $21.8 mil. His compensation has been over $20 mil each of the past 3 years.