It's not just bevcos that are making quick pivots to deal with coronavirus. Bev media are, too. With its lucrative conference biz on hold, BevNet.com last night said it will erect paywall for most of its bev and food coverage under BevNet and Nosh brands, first time in co's 24-yr history it's charged for more than occasional content like educational sessions. "As the world battles the current global pandemic, companies have hit the pause button on advertising, hiring has slowed to a halt, and it is unclear if and when it will be safe to hold conferences this summer," founder/ceo John Craven told visitors to website. "Like many businesses out there, we have to adapt, quickly while maintaining a high level of service." So co will put BevNet and Nosh behind paywall, offering charter subscribers access to both for 12 months starting in late Apr, with various inducements for those who move promptly. It's big irony for co that scored record Q1, John told us, thanks to "verticals" it's built out from initial bev focus (starting with product reviews) to include food (Nosh), beer (Brewbound) and most recently cannabis. Website profiles about 30 staffers who support wide-ranging activities from conferences to videos. BevNet intends to keep some content available gratis, including popular podcasts, job boards and sponsored content, as well as news headlines, press releases and COVID-19 coverage.

Form letter sent out by VPX Sports warning Bang Energy wholesalers that they may be terminated for poor performance or for holding discussions with other energy brands appears to have been sent to many among national network of DSD partners, with houses in western US confirming that they, too, have received the letters. At time we reported on letter yesterday it wasn't clear to us whether it was confined to eastern houses or not, tho it still doesn't seem to be universal in scope. Tho VPX isn't commenting, we hear efforts are continuing to forge alliance with PepsiCo to pick up Bang for blue system, tho no deal has been finalized yet. Current plan seems to be for VPX to maintain indie system for Redline and its other brands, tho it's unclear how many among current distributors would want to continue to partner with Florida company if Bang moves on, particularly if letter signals effort to terminate them for cause without compensation. Letter has sparked outrage among several distributors we've heard from, who say they've built brand into top 5 player with only sporadic support from marketer and only saw growth subside once pandemic began to shut down broad parts of economy. Many are Bud houses for whom departure of Monster brand for Coke system a few years back remains a raw wound.

Bottled-water giant Niagara, straining to keep up with demand from branded clients like Essentia and private-label clients like Costco and Walmart, has leased an additional 115K sq ft at plant in Jupiter, Florida, which opened only 2 years ago, to support expansion in output. Expansion will add 30 jobs to current base of 80, per South Florida Biz Jnl, which didn't get response from local Business Development Board and wasn't able to provide further details. Niagara, based in Southern Calif, produces Costco's Kirkland water and Walmart's Great Value brand. Essentia consolidated all its production with Niagara a year or 2 ago.

"When Comfort Comes in a Can," headlined recent NY Times story highlighting retreat by consumers to old processed-food standbys like Campbell Soup and SpaghettiOs. Story outlined how "processed foods make a comeback," per one subhead, as consumers like an LA writer named Sue Smith switch from kale and quinoa to SpaghettiOs, Chef Boyardee Beefaroni and Goldfish crackers. "As the coronavirus shutdowns continue across the United States, two growing trends involving how people eat — the rising amount of money spent on meals outside the home and the increased purchase of fresh or organic foods in grocery stores — have been reversed," story said. "Many restaurants have closed, and shoppers are reaching for frozen pizza and boxes of cereal instead of organic greens and whole grains." Of course, new trend has instantly reversed fading fortunes of CPG giants like Kraft Heinz, Conagra and Campbell Soup, whose offerings are suddenly back in vogue, while putting shudder into purveyors of healthier, often natural foods whose continuing inroads into American pantries hadn't been much questioned since 2008 downturn. Sector bounced back from that, of course.

For years, India's big Tata Group has seemed hot & cold on opportunities in US market, managing mature Tetley and 8 O'Clock Coffee grocery brands but not making any decisive moves into RTD sector since aborted investment in cap-dispensed Activate functional brand a decade ago. Indian press periodically would quote Tata exec talking about ambition to dial up N Amer presence and its name would surface among rumored bidders for promising US brands, but no deals ever seemed to materialize, at least to public knowledge, aside from modest efforts like alignment with Talking Rain to import Tata's Himalayan Natural Mineral Water brand. At a time that its core coffee and tea businesses are enduring sluggish run, might that be about to change? So far, the co isn't saying much, but it has assembled aggressive new team led by PepsiCo vet that brings lots of M&A experience.

At time of unprecedented tumult, we at Beverage Business Insights are improvising like everyone else, trying to keep up with still-robust flow of news while offering what advice we can about maneuvering thru pandemic and accompanying lockdown. So we've continued to publish on essentially daily schedule but, knowing your time is especially precious these days, we'll back off to our normal rhythm of 2-3 weekly issues if things start to slow. Meanwhile, please don't hesitate to reach out to us with news of your own coping strategies, trends you're spotting - or even the product and distribution news you'd hoped to convey to us at Expo West! Tell us what you'd like to see more of (or less of) in BBI, or even just tell us if we're doing a decent job. In this sense, please don't keep your distance!

Its core brand is all about bringing people together, but even Coca-Cola has joined budding trend of virtual annual shareholders meetings, saying its Apr 21 powwow will have shareholders and even board members logging in from different locations. "In light of public health concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic and the importance of safeguarding the health of The Coca-Cola Company's shareowners, employees, directors and officers," wrote co in filing with Securities & Exchange Commission. This will be first time in 99 years that Coke "won't be holding an in-person annual meeting," noted Atlanta Journal Constitution. While in-person meetings have been held every year since 1921, "there is no proof annual meetings were held in 1920 or 1919, when the company went public," added AJC, as the world was still battling another infamous pandemic, The Spanish Flu.

Corporate name, Barfresh Food Group, tells it all: it makes ready-to-blend and RTD bevs for bars and restaurants. With much of that biz base having vaporized during pandemic lockdown, BRFH is feeling greater urgency than most to pivot to more promising opportunities. One sign of directions it's taking was unveiled today with Twist & Go line of RTD yogurt-based smoothies targeting schools, which continue to offer breakfast and lunch services even to students who're huddled at home for now waiting out the coronavirus. LA-based co devised line to meet USDA's requirements for reimbursable meals programs and to be Smart Snack-compliant, opting for recipe that offers 5 g of protein from 4 ounces of yogurt in each 7.6-oz bottle, along with half cup of fruit or fruit juice. It contains only 125 calories, with no added sugars, preservatives or artificial colors or flavors, Barfresh said. It will be heading out to schools next week in Strawberry Banana and Peach flavors. Once crisis subsides, BRFH hopes it will find permanent spot on schools' breakfast, lunch, after-school and summer menus. We didn't get response from exec there to request for further comment, tho co is scheduled to offer broader investor update on Mon that presumably will include ample discussion of ways it's diversifying base.

Its on-premise biz may be kaput for now, but it's boom times at retail lately for Icelandic Water Holdings, which is focusing on core packs of its Icelandic Glacia bottled water as it manages supply chain that stretches to Europe and Icelandic Glacial, even as it seeks to seed sparkling flavors that reflect important future direction. With funds in coffers to support co's first significant marketing campaign, it's had to suffer disappointment of pushing effort back to summer, bringing new set of challenges as co battles for key media buys vs other brands that have made similar retrenchment in light of pandemic lockdown.