Lengthy feature in Wall Street Journal focuses on hot HPP veggie juice biz, calling it "bright spot in an otherwise stagnant juice market." These healthy juices are moving mainstream, from folks doing cleanses to everyday use. Just as carrying a Starbucks became a status symbol, "porting a clear bottle of green vegetable juice has evolved into a status symbol" as well, per WSJ. As more retailers expand shelf space and more cos jump into mkt to challenge Suja, BluePrint and Evolution Fresh, WSJ wonders: "How much should a salad in a bottle cost?" Currently customers are paying $9-10 per 16-oz bottle, and Suja co-founder Annie Lawless points out, "When you buy a bottle, you're getting all the goodness without any of the effort." She noted that to make comparable juice at home it would cost same or more to buy all ingredients. "Still, Whole Foods is hedging its bets," noted WSJ, working with Suja to create secondary line of 12-oz juices that retail at less-scary $5 price point (BBI, Sep 30).

Suja Putting up Big Numbers Suja, started up just 18 mos ago, did $20 mil in sales in first year and "now produces on average 10,000 bottles a week of each of its 19 flavors" in Southern Calif and plans on opening a plant in Philadelphia in 2014 "to have quicker access to more markets," noted report. Evolution Fresh, purchased by Starbucks for $30 mil, has invested in $70 mil facility in Southern Calif that pumps out 140K gallons of its juices per week. Evolution Fresh is now sold in 5K Starbucks stores and another 3K grocery stores.  

Among cold-pressed juice plays, Suja has been generating disproportionate buzz, and now it's clear it's also pulled in $8.8 mil this year from Boulder Brands Investment Group LLC (BIG). Almost as an aside in earnings call with analysts late last week, Boulder Brands' svp investor relations/biz development Carole Buyers disclosed that BIG - a partnership with Presence Marketing's Bill Weiland - had made initial investment in form of 2 tranches totaling $8.8 million in San Diego-based Suja, perhaps the most aggressive indie co marshalling high-pressure processing technology, or HPP, vs likes of Evolution Fresh (now owned by Starbucks) and BluePrint (now a Hain Celestial unit). Noted Buyers on the call: "It's one of the hottest brands within Whole Foods and it's basically as close to raw as you can get . . . This is our first step in making a nice investment into a brand and a trend that we like, and we only take a minority position." She said BIG had eyed 20-40 other potential investments before settling on Suja.

BIG was launched in Mar as partnership between Boulder Brands, diversified natural-foods marketer run by former Tropicana chief Steve Hughes as chmn/ceo, and Weiland, founder/ceo of natural foods brokerage Presence Marketing. Premise was that BIG investment targets would benefit from Boulder Brands' operational expertise by virtue of its marketing brands like Glutino, Earth Balance and Smart Balance. BIG mgmt team includes Weiland, Buyers and Duane Primozich, svp of strategic initiatives at Boulder Brands. At time, Hughes said, "We believe this unique 'friendly equity' model not only provides equity capital, but will tap into the resources of Boulder Brands' infrastructure to help accelerate growth and find efficiencies for partner companies."  

Energy drink volume growth slowed to +6.3% in convenience stores for 4 wks thru Oct 26, per Nielsen figures reported by Wells Fargo Securities' Bonnie Herzog. Monster Bev "had its weakest month in the last couple years, with $$ sales up a measly +0.4% led by weakness in core Monster Energy," she noted. MNST drop was attributed to facing difficult comp and cannibalization from new product launches, which MNST brass had acknowledged was a factor on earnings call last week. MNST volume rose 5% but was mostly offset by avg price drop of 4.4% last 4 wks. Red Bull volume rose 7.3% (vs +10.8% gain last 12 mos) on 2% price drop. Rockstar was hot, with volume surging 20.7% (vs 8.3% gain for 12 wks) thanks in part to boost from 4.4% price drop. Coca-Cola's energy brands (Full Throttle, NOS) were up 11.6% last 4 wks, in-line with 12-wk avg, while PepsiCo energy brands (mainly Amp) fell 12% despite avg 2.6% price drop. Dr Pepper Snapple energy brands (mainly Venom) continued to struggle. Volume plummeted 26% over last 4 wks, 28% for 12-wk period, even with avg prices down 4%+ for those periods.

CSDs off 2.5%; Higher Prices Cutting PEP Volume CSD volume slowed from -4.1% decline in c-stores last 12 wks to -2.5% last 4 wks thru Oct 26. Coca-Cola CSDs actually edged up 0.7% last 4 wks with 2% price increase while PepsiCo volume fell 6.2% with avg price up 6.7%. PEP CSD prices up 8% on avg last 12 wks, while KO up half that at +3.8%. DPS was off 0.7% (vs 1.9% decline last 12 wks) with avg price up 1.3%.  

Gourmet Guru, distributor of yogurts and other refrigerated items which has been dialing up its presence on DSD bev scene in NY, has brought in 7-year local Coca-Cola bottling vet Jack Cameron as vp of biz development. Cameron started career in restaurant biz, eventually landing at NY Coke bottler, now called Coca-Cola Refreshments, where he had 7-yr run that culminated in role as district sales mgr. He reports to founder/ceo Jeff Lichtenstein. As reported (BBI, Aug 6), co located in South Bronx has built upon burgeoning sales in segments like Greek yogurt to extend reach into bevs, numbering among its brands the cold-brewed Stumptown and Grady's coffees, Rawpothecary HPP juices, Ciara's Kombucha and, most recently, Cheribundi cherry-based bevs. In key step, Rawpothecary just entered Whole Foods' Northeast div, Jeff said.  

Count Ben Behrouzi among ranks of tech entrepreneurs who've felt pull of healthy-bev biz. After building tech cos under names like LeapFish and Reply.com, he was looking for new role in synch with his health-and-wellness orientation, with ability to self-fund project thanks to his tech successes. Result was brand launched as Neo Super Water in 2011 edition of Expo West and at next show year an organic energy play called Neo Energy. He exhibited both at recent Natural Products Expo East, a few weeks ago in Baltimore.

Neo Water, out before alkaline water had become quite such a scene of frenetic launches, is hybrid offering melding alkalinity (9.5 pH), electrolytes and antioxidants. It's pitched as "the most beneficial water on the planet." It goes out in half-liter PET bottles at $1.59, 20-oz bottles at $1.69 and 1-liter bottles at $2.29. Next year it will add 1.5-liter bottle in $2.59-2.69 range. Neo Energy, in 8-oz slim can priced at slight premium to Red Bull, adds electrolytes, as do popular Rockstar Recovery and Monster Rehab sublines, but eschews what Ben views as questionable energy ingredients in favor of guarana, gingseng and green tea extract, all certified as organic by Oregon Tilth. "Energize naturally" is pitch. Cane sugar and stevia are sweeteners, yielding 60 calories per can. Flavor is undescribed on pack, but is in citrus/berry range, Ben said.

By now Neo brand - whether water or energy or both - has entered such retailers as Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Albertson's, 7-Eleven and some drug and fitness outlets. It's in all UNFI regions and other broadliners, as well as CoreMark for foodservice side. Its DSD distributors include likes of Exclusive in NY and Statewide in LA. So far, Behrouzi is handling sales himself but plans to add staff next year, when co also will assemble national broker network. Recall that bevs have lured steady stream of tech vets, ranging from former Microsoft execs who've launched items like Cha Dao fresh tea and Golazo energy drinks to LegalZoom principal involved with Zenify focus drinks.  

To some it's perhaps surprising survivor of bottled-water wars: Fred, whose claims to fame were unusual flask-shaped plastic bottle, matter-of-fact brand name and oblique if-we-gotta-explain-it-to-you-then-you'll-never-get-it positioning. There it was, tho, with one of more eye-catching booths at recent NACS c-store expo in Atlanta: 20-foot wall of denim patterned with jean pockets that were bulging with flasks. Really? Fred as a c-store brand?

Given new positioning crafted with help from advertising bad boy Alex Bogusky, why not? Working with Bogusky's Made agency in Boulder, Colo, Fred founder/ceo Adam Gayner and cofounder Ariel Broggi have ditched the yoga moms and decided to zero in on consumers in 18-to-24 age bracket whom they view as bereft of bottled water choices: not tempted by luxe positioning of premium brands like Fiji or Voss, but seeing no sense of style in cheap casepack brands either. In some ways, new push resembles successful effort made by Pabst beer some years ago to connect with younger consumers alienated both by heavily marketed mainstream beers and craft brands they viewed as precious and effete baby boomer toys.

Made principal Dave Schiff, who did the buzzworthy Coke Zero taste-infringement campaign in that brand's early days, has offered up ads that both mock pretensions of luxe-marketed brands with executions like one that scolds, "It's water, dumbass," with rear-pocket jeans shot. Other executions offer silhouettes of familiar bottle profiles like Voss Water's, with captions like "I'm wealthy." Core message: "Water should say you're happy to be here." Another one: "We have water's back."

Flask bottles are offered in 13.5-oz size at $1.49 and 20-oz size at $1.79. Co had to compromise on core look when consumers demanded 1-liter size: even by Fred standards, flask shape was just too weird-looking, Adam allowed. So co came up with proprietary bottle with oval cross-section, going out at $1.99-2.09. Brand has made it into Taste of Tomorrow innovation set at Kroger and is heading into c-store chains like The Pantry. Co has moved from supporting sales staff to more virtual approach, with consultant Debbie Wildrick helping to build broker network.

Meanwhile, oddball plastic flask continues to find unanticipated uses - say, at ski resorts, where bottle that lies flat in back pocket can be handy for folks who might be about to land flat on their butt. (Ski bums?) And it tries to assuage green backlash vs bottled water with assurance that its pack is "refillable & recyclable."  

How far can you get with close-to-raw product in flavors like Strawberry Purple Carrot and Very Berry Wheatgrass without clambering onto trendy HPP bandwagon? Pretty far, Miami-based Raw Foods Int'l is betting, as its Tastes Raaw Juices make their way from natural channel into some mainstream retailers. After addressing raft of consumer issues with 2011 restage, 4-year-old brand already has edged into some c-stores and will exhibit at next year's NACS expo, evp Paul Gregg told BBI recently.

Brand's DNA is always to be blend of fruits and veggies in unique combinations, including pair of recently launched wheatgrass flavors. Not strictly raw, juices are flash-pasteurized and immediately cold-filled. Shelf life of up to 7 months supports national distribution, and brand is in all 50 states, Canada, Caribbean and parts of Middle East. It's been picked up by broadliners like Kehe and Tree of Life and is self-distributing via wrapped vans in both South Fla and SF. Co is open to outside DSD distribution, Gregg said. Encouragingly, sales are brisk not just in expected urban areas, but in heartland markets like Dakotas, where Gregg can see farmer grabbing bottle of Better Beets on way out door at 4 am. Retail accounts include Supervalu/Albertson's, Fairway Market, Rouse's and Fresh Market chain, which recently brought on all 9 sku's, said Gregg, former AT&T intrapreneur who got into food/bev exec recruitment game and found himself hired by friend and client, Raaw founder Simon Decker. Decker is Swiss/Argentine who made his money in oil biz in Africa.

Decker launched brand launched 4 years ago with 4 flavors, and after 6 months in market took what Gregg calls "delicate pause" to evaluate progress. He got some valuable learning from 15 focus groups convened around US. For brand playing in natural channel, pitch that "we take the yuck out of natural" was offputting, consumers said. (So now Raaw sticks to more orthodox refreshment message.) Consumers loved package but urged co to simplify it and to offer greater clarity on ingredients, and to give them a break on $3.79-4.29 price for 16-oz bottle. By 2011, relaunched brand had settled on current configuration: more eco-friendly 12-oz bottles priced under $3. Another lesson: on flavor names, lead with your fruit. So Cucumber Pineapple became Pineapple Cucumber.

HPP? Organic? No Thanks, Says Raaw Count Raw Foods team as gentle skeptics of high-pressure processing. HPP has been beneficial for Raaw in bringing awareness to fresh products and establishing premium price umbrella, but Gregg believes it's oversold: true, it retains enzymes, minerals and vitamins (while Raaw loses enzymes), but it continues to dissipate after shipment. "It becomes my product" - but priced far above Raaw's $2.99, he argues. Another issue: big chunk of that biz is cleanse sku's, but how big a consumption occasion is that? And more broadly, "is it a food limited to juice bars until the technology improves?" Still, "we'll continue to watch it, and it brings additional attention to the category." Tho brand is certified by Non-GMO Project, it doesn't go out as organic product, on basis of research that suggests organic label is a negative in mainstream channels, connoting "expensive" and "hippies."  

WhiteWave Foods marked 1-yr anniversary as standalone biz by reporting healthy sales increase of 10% to $639 mil in 3d qtr. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 19 cents, just a penny ahead of analyst expectations, per FactSet poll. In N America, sales grew 8% to $534 mil, and operating income surged 19% to $54 mil. Sales at its plant-based food/bev unit, which includes Silk soymilk as well as almond milk and coconut milk, rose 14%. Co noted Almond milk was big gainer, exploding by 60% in 3d qtr. (Note that other players such as Califia Farms also are enjoying good ride on newly trendy item that's displaced soymilk in some fridges.) At Dairy unit, items like Horizon Organic brands rose 3% while coffee creamers biz (International Delight and Land O'Lakes) gained 9%. WW execs said co will sell its Idaho organic dairy farm, which accounts for about 5% of co's milk supply. That will occasion $7.4 mil non-cash writedown on value of facility. WW now expects full year EPS to be in range of 71-72 cents per share, up 2 cents from earlier projection.  

Here's one that snuck up on us - and other bev watchers, possibly. High Country Kombucha has become part of food/bev mini-empire being assembled by founders of Cell-Nique, Dan and Donna Ratner. Their Healthy Brands Collective Corp, set up as vehicle to roll up early-stage brands, has taken control of Boulder, Colo, kombucha player that's one of earliest with national ambitions, albeit way behind leader GT's. We couldn't find any announcement or coverage of transaction, which may have occurred some months back, and only just heard about it, but High Country now in portfolio listing on co's Web site, HealthyBrandsCo. Self-produced kombucha line joins burgeoning bev group at Healthy Brands Collective that now includes Ooba hibiscus soda brand and Living Harvest hemp milk marketer, along with Ratners' own Cell-nique organic supergreens line. On food side, HBC has picked up Cherrybrook Kitchen (bakery serving those with allergies), European Gourmet (organic baking goods marketer formerly called Dr Oetger), Bites of Bliss (raw, vegan superfood protein bars) and Yumnuts (snacks). Collectively (no pun intended), those cos likely do well over $10 mil in biz, nearly half of that likely Living Harvest, which markets Tempt brand of hemp milk. Recall that Ratners came out of health care sector and launched Cell-Nique in 06. They've eyed IPO as possible way to add capital with which to scale up further. Far as we can see, they allow cos to continue operating independently, seeking synergies where logical. No immediate response to call this morning to Dan, who's said in past that he prefers to operate quietly.  

Jones Soda investors have been relieved to see quarterly losses narrowing under more disciplined approach brought by its ceo of past year, but lately have been clamoring for some topline growth. This qtr, ceo Jennifer Cue finally delivered that, tho it was just a smidgen: a 1% gain to $4.22 mil on 12% boost in case sales.

Net loss at Seattle co widened 2% to $330K but thanks to streamlining of biz, 9-month loss is down to $824K vs $2.5 mil a year earlier. For ytd, revenue is down 13% to $11.6 mil, on 11% case volume decline, as co still was cycling now-deleted product lines, regions and channels in earlier qtrs this year. As of end of qtr, JSDA had working capital of $4.1 mil, including cash reserves of $1.2 mil. With co burning cash at rate of $302K in latest period, co may have to go out seeking more capital by mid-year 2014 to capitalize on growth opportunities, Cue indicated.

Tho rev gain was slight, Cue took victory lap in conference call with investors, and no call participants seemed inclined to disagree, often praising her for effective job. "The business models have been completely transformed," Jennifer said. "We have gone from 4 quarters of revenue decline to our first quarter of revenue growth in the turnaround. We believe we now have the right proportion of operating expenses to a company our size, as well as the right ratio of sales and marketing to general and administrative expenses. We are investing in promotional activities and traditional trade-spend strategies that we believe will drive top-line growth."

On product front, after launch in Northern Calif this year, 30-calorie Jones Natural line will enter home market of Pacific NW as well as Canada, both key regional focuses for JSDA (along with Midwest). As for headway cited in solidifying once-frayed retailer relationships, Halloween-themed 8-oz cans devised for trick-or-treaters in flavors like Candy Corn and Red Licorice were accepted in entire 1,700-unit Target chain, tho Jennifer acknowledged they may have been lost in Halloween sections of some units. They also made it into Cost Plus World Market, Hastings Entertainment and Schnucks. Progress also was logged at Walmart, which went from carrying single Jones variety pack to 3 different 4-pack configurations. "While operating in these unique and interesting Jones product offerings, we have been able to forge the relationships with major national retail partners," Cue argued.