NY-based Halo Sport has recruited Grammy-winning singer Pitbull as investor, endorser and advisor on brand development and int'l expansion. "When we were introduced to Halo, we were excited to be part of the next hydration revolution and new generation of Vitaminwater," said performer and entrepreneur, whose given name is Armando Christian Perez. In keeping with co that identifies itself as minority- and female-owned, Pitbull's 6-woman dance team, The Most Bad Ones, also is becoming shareholder. Halo was founded by ceo Anshuman Vohra, who'd earlier successfully launched and sold Bulldog Gin brand (BBI, Mar 21 2019) and Robin Shobin, who serves as chief product officer. Among its differentiating elements is drink's use of amla berry as key ingredient.

In 1967 movie The Graduate, new college grad played by Dustin Hoffman was famously assured that future lay in "plastic." These days, Consumer Edge Research's Brett Cooper has different vision of future: "protein." In report issued yesterday, CER team laid out case that big bevcos - even Muscle Milk owner PepsiCo - need to step up their game in RTD protein category that should move back onto brisk growth track once we get thru Covid disruption. He sees bulk of action coming from RTDs and higher-protein/lower-calorie supplements.

Active in private equity since 2008, VMG Partners' Wayne Wu may not have longevity of others in space, but those dozen years have taken him thru coupla severe downturns and pendulum swings from bootstrap era to growth-at-all-costs era back to more fundamentals-oriented current period. Founders contemplating future exit should be aware that strategics are seeking "real businesses with real gross margin, true profitability, where there's not a rush for the exit," he advised in "Tales from the Trenches" webcast last month hosted by Stonyfield Farm founder Gary Hirshberg and his Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute. At VMG, "we applaud this, we've always been focused on this from very beginning . . . It's imperative to not only build a great brand but also a great business. The pairing of those 2 things gives a company financial freedom and also doesn't require an exit. "Some of the best brands . . . weren't started for an exit," but to solve a problem for founder's own lifestyle, with passion that proved to resonate with other consumers.

Are retailers undertaking a retreat to staple brands in wake of realignment of consumers' priorities during pandemic? Not the 2,200-unit Casey's General Store chain. Declaring itself "open for business" for new brands, the country's 4th-largest c-store chain with operations in 16 heartland states has become latest retailer to team up with SF-based RangeMe to speed up process of getting early-stage and regional products onto its shelves. "Casey's is committed to meeting their consumers' needs through the right product assortment and is dedicated to working with brands that give their stores a strong regional impression," said RangeMe ceo Nicky Jackson in heralding client win today. Casey's thus joins list of big-name retailers including Target, Albertsons Walgreens, Rite Aid and Whole Foods that are using online hub to connect their buyers directly with small, innovative CPG suppliers. RangeMe boasts that its service provides retail buyers with direct access to ~175K suppliers and 700K+ products. "Our diverse guest mix means we are continually looking for new products and evaluating our product mix to ensure we are aligning what's on our shelves to reflect the preferences and needs of our guests," said Casey's cmo Tom Brennan. A decade ago Casey's dropped franchise model, meaning all its stores today are corporate-owned and thereby on same page in terms of product assortments.

For a coupla decades, entrepreneurs have been seeking to offer a healthier alternative to dominant mainstream energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster. By now Guru has endured in cutthroat segment for 20 years and begun to ignite in Canada if not quite yet in US (BBI, May 21) and Runa has enjoyed resource-rich, marketing-adept owner at Vita Coco to continue tweaking proposition until it resonates, while riding on KDP trucks (BBI, Mar 23). Still, none can be said to have truly broken out, tho maybe yerba mate brand Guayaki has come closest. Now a pair of former athletes named Laura and Steve Jakobsen think they can do it with different approach: using tea, not weird rainforest-harvested active ingredient, and with aggressive-sounding brand name, Tea Riot. As result of latest pivot, they're now able to check another box: using 16-oz can that screams "energy," not the 12-oz PET bottle they previously used.

Functional bev marketer REBBL has broadened its line of sparkling tonics with pair of summer-oriented flavors: Tropical Twist, with pineapple, passion fruit, elderberry, guava and lemon, and Lemon Lime, using lemon and lime with coconut sugar as sweetener. It joins lineup of Forest Berry and Ginger Gold from Bay Area co, all packed in 15-oz glass bottles at $3.49 . . . House of Saka, Napa Valley-based marketer which makes cannabis-infused non-alc "Vinfusion" called Saka Pink, has added Chardonnay-based Saka White to portfolio. Both are infused with THC and CBD and are sold at Calif dispensaries as well as online . . . Phocus brand of canned alertness bevs infused with tea and L-theanine has ventured into lion's den as it woos CSD drinkers, adding Cola entry to lineup that's comprised of Peach, Grapefruit, Blood Orange, Yuzu & Lime, Cucumber and Natural. "Phocus Cola really makes you rethink what it means to be a sparkling water versus a soda by deriving the classic cola flavor from natu

Keurig Dr Pepper has bought back its production and distribution rights to its brands from longtime partner Royal Crown Bottling of Evansville, which is changing its name to Vision Beverage to reflect change. KDP will pull key brands like RC Cola, A&W Root Beer, 7 Up and Snapple into its company-owned operations in region, in deal anticipated to close late in Q3, per local media reports. Vision, which has operated in 5-state area, will continue to distribute Red Bull, Fiji and Ski brands, per local TV station 14 News, and will dial up its contract-packing biz. "These changes present an opportunity for us to become focused on independent production, enabling our company to expand its capabilities to meet the consumers' growing and diverse beverage needs," per prexy Nancy Hodge. "We see huge opportunities for growth as an independent producer and co-packer."

VPX Sports is reporting that about 75% of the US volume of Bang Energy by now has transitioned to Pepsi system, even as co makes continued progress rounding out network for its Redline brands, including in some beer houses that are losing Bang. Meanwhile, it's doing some last-minute tinkering with its Redline brand, which has been restaged as 12-oz canned play. Notably, heavily fortified new Redline extension called Noo-Fusion instead will be repositioned as Cognitive Candy in interest of clearing up confusion about its function. Unchanged is heavy functional dose totaling 10.5 g of active ingredients. Recall that VPX is transitioning Bang to Pepsi network throughout US via deal that doesn't include its Redline, Stoked and other brands, for which it needs to maintain indie network.