energy drinks: five big questions

Transcription

M AY – J U N E 2 0 0 8
ENERGY
DRINKS:
FIVE BIG
QUESTIONS
ALSO THIS ISSUE:
LIZARD KING AND COFFEE
FANCY FOOD CHICAGO
BUYING BUD?
NEW FEATURE: BEVERAGE SPECTRUM READER SERVICE PORTAL
see page 49 for details
OFFICIAL ENERGY DRINK
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MAY – JUNE 2008
vol.
6 :: no. 4
28
Cover Story
28 :: ENERGY DRINKS
40
Departments
Features
10 :: BEVSCAPE
Jones Soda Campaign Cola
Five questions facing the category.
14 :: CHANNEL CHECK
Stella Artois and Import Beer
26 :: BRANDS IN TRANSITION
Sweet ride for Sweet Leaf.
18 :: NEW PRODUCTS
Revolution 3D, Bud Light with Lime
40 :: THE LIZARD KING
and more
DOES COFFEE
John Bello, in his new role, takes
48 :: PROMOTION PARADE
on Starbucks.
Batman’s Milk Mustache
46 :: FANCY FOOD SHOW
IN REVIEW
Adina shows off after their new
cash infusion.
Columns
6 :: THE FIRST DROP
The beginning of a
beautiful relationship
8 :: PUBLISHER’S TOAST
Damage control – let’s share
the pain
Beverage Spectrum (Postal Number 024-552) is published monthly with combined issues in January/February,
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POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Beverage Spectrum Magazine, Subscriber Services, One
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4
BEVERAGE SPECTRUM :: MAY – JUNE 08
THE FIRST DROP
THE BEGINNING OF A
BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP
“If the deal gets done, InBev, which is known for its cost-cutting culture, could make deep cuts to Anheuser’s massive ad and marketing
budget at is seeks to gain efficiencies from the high-priced acquisition.”
– The Wall Street Journal, 6/12/2008
From: August Busch IV
To: Carlos Brito
Subject: We. Need. To. Talk.
Carlos:
Hard to believe it’s only been a year since you took over!
First off, thanks for sending me your most recent suggestion regarding the sale of Moule et Frites at Cardinals games.
I’ve already run the idea by Walt Jocketty and, while he seemed less than enthused, I’m sure once he has Tony LaRussa
translate it for him he’ll be on board tout de suite.
Now to the meat of the issue: are you trying to give my dad a heart attack? Hasn’t the poor guy had enough, what
with your sending him to view the Brahma plant in a Speedo? What is with these ideas, man? I haven’t seen anything this
nutty since my Eagle Snacks internship.
There is NO WAY that anyone will ever accept that we’ve reincarnated Spuds McKenzie as Belgian Malinois. The simple
fact is, that dog looks far too much like something guarding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to sell beer. And speaking of selling
beer, why have you cut our marketing budget that deeply, anyway? Slashing our hand-selling initiatives was bad enough – do
you know how hard it is for our guys to only buy six rounds for everyone at the bar – but now you say we won’t be able to teach
the Clydesdales to drive for our NASCAR commercials? I don’t know what kind of television they have in Belgium, but right
here in the good old US of Anheuser, we expect that any sporting event telecast will have ads featuring the following: a horse,
monkey, or amphibian doing the impossible, a home-grown rock star, and a jolly ethnic type with a lovable catchphrase. I’m
sorry, I know she’s got a great backhand and now works cheap, but Justine Henin does not sell beer.
I mean, Carlos, baby, give me a little credit! This isn’t what you want to do. Didn’t we decide we could build InBud on trust,
as well as a slightly-higher-that-the-initial-offer share price? We’ve done well so far. We went along with you when you made us
start serving Michelob Ultra in waffle-shaped bottles. I personally didn’t like the idea of calling Bud Light “Bud Bruges,” but
our people are adjusting. You’d think that I’d have earned a little trust over there in NATO headquarters. I know you told the
powers-that-be that you’d be over here cracking skulls and bringing budgets in line, and that’s fine. We all need a little discipline, and you’ve finally done what we couldn’t – sell Beck’s to Americans. But the cultural changes we’re making don’t have to
mean that we’re going to be living in St. Luxembourg. No one wants to visit the St. Louis Arc, after all. Even if they are all of
a sudden selling really good chocolate there. The big draw is the view, man. Take one a babe up there and enjoy it. Quit with
this whole centralized global culture idea. Lighten up! Show some sophistication! Eat some of those great little cabbages!
Also, could you do something about bringing back our old weekly beer allotment?
We enjoyed the Hoegaarden, after all, but we’re running out of fruit. Some icecold Bud would sure hit the spot. Enjoyed responsibly, over the course of a three hour
lunch, natch!
Carlos, I look forward to hanging out with you again in the near future. You pick the
next event, be it soccer or – eeeecccch! – soccer. But please, please, chill out on the budget
cuts. It’s getting to be that a guy can’t even sell a Borba, you know what I mean?
Best,
Augie IV
P.S. – Sorry I called you an An-Twerp, by the way. I was just kiddin’ around with a nickname. You know, like W used to? You know?
6
PUBLISHER’S TOAST
PUBLISHER
Barry J. Nathanson
[email protected]
DAMAGE CONTROL –
LET’S SHARE THE PAIN
EDITOR
Jeffrey Klineman
[email protected]
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
John McKenna
[email protected]
ART DIRECTOR
Matthew Kennedy
[email protected]
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Amadeu Tolentino
[email protected]
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Matt Casey
[email protected]
he economy dominates most of the conversations I have in both my personal and
professional relationships. As we know, these
are not the best of times: we all have watched
our 401Ks, IRA’s and portfolios diminish in
value. The gas crisis has affected society in ways
I never imagined that it could, both fiscally
and psychologically.
Here’s what I can tell about what the impact of this economic crisis has been on the
beverage marketplace:
I talk with dozens of marketers on a daily basis.
That is one of the aspects I love most of my job.
I am privileged to have such passionate friends
that help to drive this industry. Their creativity
has brought beverages to great heights and will
lead us to products that will benefit our society.
Yet, now they are in a struggle just to survive as
capital is scarce. When funds are available, it is
on onerous terms. Marketers have to take their
eyes off the marketing end to deal with the monetary issues that enable them to live another day.
It is sad commentary that they must wear their
financial hats first, rather than be the innovators
that they set out to be. Frequently, in times of
financial crisis, the marketing budget is the first
thing to go. I think that’s penny wise and pound
foolish. You need to keep selling products, guys,
no matter how squeezed profit margins are.
And to do that, you need to keep marketing
those products.
Yes, ingredient and packaging costs have
soared, eating into the profit margins of copackers and marketers alike. The cost of transportation has had the greatest impact on the
8
way we market and deliver our products. The
extra burden on the delivery of goods, via each
system, be it DSD, warehouse or hybrid, has
eroded the beverage marketer’s ability to make
money, certainly, but it is inadvisable right now
to pass on these costs to the retailers as they are
struggling to make money with their margins
being squeezed. Of course, everyone is afraid to
pass on these costs to the consumer. They are
suffering enough trying to pay their mortgages,
put gas in the tank and food on the table. The
headlines every day banner the crisis of confidence in our economy. It is not a time to raise
prices to the populace. So, collectively, everyone
in the chain must take it on the chin for the
forseeable future. That way, when things all turn
for the good, they will for all of us.
One of my favorite credos that I live by is
“this too will pass.” We’ve gone through these
cycles before and we will emerge from this malaise, hopefully, sooner than later. Right now it is
essential for all sides of the beverage equation to
share in the pain until the turnaround occurs.
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Adam Stern
[email protected]
BUSINESS MANAGER
John Schinn
[email protected]
SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES
Adam Stern
[email protected]
617-715-9679
ONLINE RENEWALS & CHANGES
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BEVERAGE SPECTRUM
PUBLISHING INC.
CHAIRMAN
John F. (Jack) Craven
[email protected]
PRESIDENT & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
John Craven
[email protected]
EDITORIAL
1 Mifflin Place, Suite 300 Cambridge, MA 02138
ph. 617-715-9670 fax 617-715-9671
ADVERTISING
1123 Broadway, Suite 210 New York, NY 10010
ph. 212-647-0501 fax 212-647-0565
Barry J. Nathanson,
Publisher
BPA Worldwide Member, June 2007
©2008 Skinny Nutritional Corp.
Bevscape
WHAT’S HAPPENING ACROSS BEVERAGES
VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLARS
Jones Soda Co. unveiled a new novelty line that allows consumers to cast their presidential vote long
before November. Campaign Cola features three varieties: Capital Hillary Cola for Sen. Hillary Clinton,
Pure McCain Cola for Sen. John McCain or Yes We
Can Cola for Sen. Barack Obama.
Each sells for $14.99 per six-pack or $23.99 per
12-pack and www.campaigncola.com will track purchases as votes, but all consumers that participate
in the campaign will get the same thing inside the
bottle: Jones’ Pure Cane Cola.
Is Jones saying that all politicians – on the inside
– are the same?
WENDY THE
VOICEOVER LADY
Wendy the Snapple Lady is now just Wendy.
The long-time spokeswoman and the Dr
Pepper Snapple Group parted ways recently
over a contract disagreement, according to
Newsday.
Wendy Kaufman told Newsday that she
couldn’t accept the contract because it was
one-sided, paying her based on appearances,
with no guarantee that the company would
schedule any.
Greg Artkop, spokesman for DPSG,
called the contract “fair,” saying it offered
payment for work performed instead of a
guaranteed fee. He said it was her decision
to leave the company and wished Kaufman
“nothing but the best in whatever she does
in the future.”
That future will continue to include
pitching products, Newsday reported. Kaufman told the paper that she will do voiceovers for cellular phone maker Motorola.
ZOTA’S BACK
Zota Green Tea
Soda. Is it green
tea? Is it soda? Is
it an excuse to rehash a Jerry Seinfeld shtick?
It’s all three, and its
back. The organic soda brand
entered the market by using green tea
as the base for a carbonated treat, but the
original company couldn’t endure its own
growth. It boomed then folded before Tom
Eggers resuscitated the brand last year.
Now he’s returned the product to shelves
in a few hundred stores, and aims for national distribution in about a year – after a
rebranding that will roll out around the end
of the summer. The updated line will feature
fair trade certified tea, six flavors – RazzBerry, Ginger Pale Ale, Mandarin Grapefruit,
Island Pineapple, Bling Cherry and Pear
Dragonfruit – and come packaged in mixand-match-able four-packs. Each four-pack
box features a character that wraps around
all four sides. Put all four boxes together to
form one continuous picture, or jumble-up
the boxes to create your own character.
Eggers offered a preview of the new packages at April’s All Things Organic show in
Chicago, where he said he also started chatting with Texas grocery chain HEB.
ADULTS ONLY
Expect the shape of beverage marketing to change in the next few years.
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, along with the International Council of Beverage Associations, have declared that they will use new voluntary guidelines to restrict advertising to children.
Under the new plan, beverage companies agree to eliminate advertising and marketing of a wide range of beverages – including CSDs – in
venues that are predominantly populated by children 12 or younger.
That rule cuts across all media outlets including TV, radio, internet
phone messaging and movies – so there will be no Pepsi deal for Hannah
Montana.
As part of the guidelines, ICBA says it will review other forms of marketing, including sponsorships, presence in schools, and point-of sale
promotions by the end of 2009.
10
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BREWERS NEWS
EXECUTIVE MOVES
Anheuser’s Dilemma
Anheuser-Busch received a merger offer from Belgium-based InBev that would make the combined
company the largest beer firm in the world – producing more than 12 billion gallons annually.
InBev offered to buy the St. Louis-based brewery’s
outstanding stock for $65 per share - just over $46
billion in total. As part of the proposal, InBev suggests making St. Louis the company’s North American headquarters and the global home of the flagship
Budweiser brand. The Belgian company would also
maintain all of Anheuser-Busch’s U.S. breweries.
“Together, we would draw on the collective expertise of both companies’ management and employees,” said Carlos Brito, chief executive officer of
InBev. “We also recognize the great contribution of
Anheuser-Busch ‘s wholesalers to the company’s success and would work closely with them, under the
three-tier system.”
› Bossa Nova has added Larry Wu and Joseph Sain to its
executive team as chief operating officer and senior vice
president of sales, respectively. The new team members will
report to Alton Johnson, Bossa Nova founder and CEO.
Wu was most recently VP, Consumer Strategist for Iconoculture. Sain joins the company from Cadbury Schweppes
Americas Beverages.
› Royal Buying Group, Inc. has promoted Sharon Porter,
formerly RBG’s Director of Business Development, to Director of Vendors & Business Development. Ms. Porter
joined Royal Buying Group, Inc. in 2003.
› The American Beverage Association has elected five new
members to its board of directors. The new members are
Rodger L. Collins, president, bottling group sales, Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages; Hugh F. Johnston,
president, Pepsi-Cola North America; Robert M. Levi,
group vice president and president, beverages sector for
Kraft Foods; Lawrence J. Lordi, president, Coca-Cola
Bottling Company of Northern New England; and Claude
B. Nielsen, chairman and CEO, Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc.
› Stirrings has announced that Robert Swartz, former Vice
President of Sales at Terlato Wines International, will join
the company as its Chief Executive Officer.
› Janet DiGiovanna and Danny Rubenstein, who were
directly involved in the creation of Naked Juice, Pom
Wonderful, Odwalla and Tazo brands, have joined with
SENCE-Worldwide to structure on- and off-premise accounts nationally and internationally.
› The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) has
announced that Tom Lauria has joined the association as
Vice President for Communications.
› The Sunny Delight Beverages Co. has named Rick Suchenski
Vice President and team leader for Fruit2O flavored water.
› Boo Koo Holdings, Inc. has appointed Gil Cassagne, formerly Chief Executive Officer of Cadbury Schwepps Americas Beverages, Jack Belsito, formerly President of Snapple
Distributors, Inc. and Joe Bayern, formerly Chief Strategy
Officer of Cadbury Schwepps Americas Beverages, to its
Board of Directors.
› SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company have
announced the MillerCoors leadership team. Leo Kiely,
current CEO of Molson Coors, will be the CEO of MillerCoors; Tom Long, current CEO of Miller Brewing Company, will serve as President and Chief Commercial Officer; Tim Wolf, current CFO of Molson Coors, will be the
Chief Integration Officer; and Gavin Hattersley, current
Senior Vice President of Finance at Miller, will be the Chief
Financial Officer. In addition, the following appointments
to the MillerCoors leadership team will become effective
upon the closing of the transaction, which is expected to
take place June 30, 2008: Tom Cardella, Eastern Division
President; Ed McBrien, Western Division President; Andy
England, Chief Marketing Officer; Dennis Puffer, Chief
Operations Officer; Karen Ripley, Chief Legal Officer.
Pale Moon Rising
Coors Brewing Company plans to add Pale Moon
as a pale little brother to their successful Blue Moon
beer. The Blue Moon line now includes a full selection of seasonal beers, and Beer Business Daily reported that Coors anticipates selling 1 million barrels
of Blue Moon in 2008.
Hot Chill
Miller Brewing Company won four “Hot Brand”
awards from industry newsletter Impact. The newsletter recognized Miller Chill, Sunset Wheat, Peroni
and Sparks Plus, giving Miller more awards than any
other brewer.
Canned Tire
New Belgium Brewing Co. will offer its flagship beer
– Fat Tire – in cans so the brew can be sold in places
where glass bottles aren’t an option.
Magic Pyramid?
Magic Hat brewing company is moving to buy Pyramid Breweries Inc. Pyramid signed a letter of intent
under which Magic can buy the company for cash
amounting to about half Pyramid’s total stock value.
The brewer posted a loss at the end of 2007 and announced plans to cut staff, but the acquisition would
give Vt.-based Magic Hat a West Coast presence.
New Channel for Grolsch
Anheuser-Busch plans to terminate its U.S. importing rights to Grolsch, which Miller will pick up. Anheuser-Busch has imported Grolsch since April 2006
under an agreement with brand owner Royal Grolsch
NV. In February 2008, SABMiller plc, parent company of Miller Brewing, completed its acquisition of
Royal Grolsch NV and the Grolsch brands. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
12
Thank you for making us #1.
You’re number one, too. Thanks to our retail partners, distributors and all of America for making FIJI Water the
best-selling premium bottled water in the U.S.* We’re proud to be more than just the best-tasting water, but
also the top-ranking premium bottled water. Thank you for your partnership and support. FIJIWATER.COM
*Source: IRI FDMx 52 Weeks Ending 2/3/08 & IRI Convenience Stores 52 Weeks Ending 12/30/07; Volume and Dollar Sales.
Channel Check
may – june 2008
IMPORT BEER
SPOTLIGHT CATEGORY
Import Beer
52 Weeks ending 5/18/2008
Guess who’s benefiting from that good
old on-premise push? Stella Artois, that’s
who. Looks like that pretty glassware is
starting to rub off in the supermarket
aisles. Meanwhile, Corona might have
finally peaked, showing declines that
might mean it’s no longer considered
some kind of exotic product. Either that,
or people are just moving to other Mexican beers – take a look at the growth for
Tecate, Dos Equis, and Modelo. Arriba!
Meanwhile, over in Holland, that Heineken Light continues to be a growth
brand; wonder if the brewers will be able
to pick Amstel back up?
Category Total
52 Weeks ending 5/18/2008
$2,005,363,000
2.8%
Corona Extra
$481,857,900
-2.7%
$323,368,600
5.5%
Corona Light
$134,419,600
4.4%
Tecate
$97,887,140
10.5%
Heineken Light
$75,255,690
15.9%
Modelo Especial
$63,173,530
11.9%
Newcastle
$53,649,630
6.7%
Guinness Draught
$51,258,880
3.2%
Labatt Blue
$48,935,680
-2.4%
Becks
$44,758,240
-8.3%
Pacifico
$43,485,540
-0.8%
Stella Artois
$43,065,430
40.2%
Amstel Light
$41,350,930
-8.4%
Fosters
$34,933,830
-4.5%
Labatt Blue Light
$30,769,200
3.8%
Heading Up: Stella Artois
SOURCE: Information Resources Inc.Total food/drug/mass excluding Wal-Mart
$4,178,258,000
8.0%
VOLUME
Change vs. year earlier
Heineken
BOTTLED WATER
TOPLINE CATEGORY
Dollar Sales
ENERGY DRINKS
$850,453,900
18.4%
BEER
SPORTS DRINKS
$6,078,317,000
2.1%
$1,655,344,000
4.2%
BOTTLED JUICES
TEA/COFFEE
$3,797,773,000
1.6%
$1,453,990,000
8.3%
14
CHRISSIE WELLINGTON. RYAN BRAUN. BRANDON ROY. ADRIAN PETERSON.
Rookies of the Year. Winners. Dreamers living their dreams. We salute you.
Oh yeah – there’s one more thing they have in common.
Muscle Milk®. Feed your dreams.
©2008, CYTOSPORT, Benicia, CA 94510
www.musclemilk.com
Channel Check
may – june 2008
RTD TEA
Dollar Sales
AriZona
$294,436,500
ENERGY
Dollar Sales
4.2%
Red Bull
$356,786,800
18.1%
$145,283,300
30.1%
Lipton
$268,033,400
20.8%
Monster
Snapple
$129,835,300
2.9%
Rockstar
$99,123,140
15.3%
Lipton Brisk
$86,124,500
-2.6%
Full Throttle
$40,192,240
-15.4%
Amp
$31,328,030
19.4%
SoBe No Fear
$20,972,220
-41.0%
Monster XXL
$16,842,810
109.7%
Rockstar Juiced
$12,979,010
108.0%
SoBe Adrenaline Rush
$12,550,000
-29.2%
Java Monster
$12,474,720
230,622.6%
Diet Snapple
$80,853,780
-5.7%
Nestea
$64,315,230
4.9%
Lipton Iced Tea
$39,067,970
-35.9%
Private Label
$37,306,680
14.1%
Lipton Pureleaf
$32,604,110
N/A
Nestea Enviga
$20,468,930
22.9%
52 Weeks through 5/18/08
Heading Up: Java Monster
RTD COFFEE/CAPPUCCINO
CONVENIENCE/PET STILL WATER
Heading Up: Enviga
Dollar Sales
Dollar Sales
Private Label
$682,870,000
18.1%
-6.8%
Aquafina
$485,452,400
-7.4%
11.4%
Glaceau Vitaminwater
$448,331,700
94.8%
Dasani
$441,681,300
-3.6%
Poland Spring
$247,425,700
-7.2%
Propel
$191,560,800
-1.6%
Frappuccino
$191,263,100
4.5%
Doubleshot
$25,485,010
Starbucks Iced Coffee
$13,719,550
Bolthouse
$12,565,300
11.2%
Doubleshot Light
$11,056,350
6.9%
Godiva Belgian Blends
$6,812,917
-3.5%
Cinnabon
$2,008,446
283.0%
Arrowhead
$181,252,900
-0.4%
Private Label
$1,982,749
636.5%
Deer Park
$136,373,400
-8.1%
Frappuccino Cappucino
$1,065,882
N/A
Nestle Pure Life
$123,553,900
18.9%
Crystal Geyser
$105,397,400
-2.5%
Starbucks Cappucino
$704,468
77,965.0%
Heading Up: Glaceau Vitaminwater
SPORTS DRINKS
DOMESTIC BEER
Heading Up: Cinnabon
Gatorade
Dollar Sales
$619,748,500
Dollar Sales
-9.4%
Bud Light
$1,461,529,000
2.8%
$746,253,200
2.6%
$732,539,400
-3.7%
Powerade
$251,720,400
13.0%
Miller Lite
Gatorade Rain
$147,960,300
7.3%
Budweiser
Gatorade Frost
$139,555,300
-3.2%
Coors Light
$675,767,600
6.8%
Gatorade All Stars
$133,991,000
12.7%
Miller Genuine Draft
$157,480,100
-7.8%
Gatorade Fierce
$84,703,610
-10.2%
Budweiser Select
$97,575,460
-17.3%
Gatorade X Factor
$74,136,950
-19.7%
Coors
$67,287,150
8.3%
Gatorade AM
$68,517,990
220.7%
Yuengling Lager
$45,585,460
20.7%
Gatorade G2
$61,956,130
N/A
Bud Ice
$26,080,490
9.5%
Gatorade Tiger
$20,470,940
N/A
Miller Genuine Draft Light
$20,230,740
-8.2%
Heading Up: Gatorade AM
16
Heading Up:Yuengling Lager
NEW PRODUCTS
BEER
Budweiser has launched Bud Light Lime, a crisp
light lager beer that combines Bud Light with a
splash of 100 percent natural lime flavor. Bud Light
Lime contains 4.2 percent alcohol by volume (also
available in 3.2 percent ABW) and is available in
12 oz., clear glass bottles, 22 oz. single-serve bottles and 16 oz. aluminum bottles. It is line-priced
with other Bud Light products. For more info, visit
www.anheuser-busch.com.
Peak Organic Brewing, producers of gourmet,
certified organic ales, is collaborating with local farmers and like-minded small businesses to
create a delicious Maple Oat Ale. The Maple Oat
Ale is brewed with Maine-grown organic oats
from granola company GrandyOats and Vermontproduced organic maple syrup from Butternut
Mountain Farms in Morrisville, VT. The beer
is in support of Chef’s Collaborative a national
chef-led organization dedicated to promoting
local, sustainable cuisine. This product will be
available in Maine and Massachusetts. MSRP
$7.99-$8.49. For more information, call Peak Organic at (603) 475-3226.
Beginning May 1st, Point Nude Beach Summer Wheat, a satisfying unfiltered wheat ale, will
be available in 12 oz. bottles and kegs wherever
Point brands are sold. Point Nude Beach Summer Wheat is a fun, refreshing beer for hot summer afternoons and evenings. With a rich golden
color reminiscent of an early summer tan, Point
Nude Beach Summer Wheat is brewed with “au
naturel” raw white wheat, malted red wheat and
highly kilned specialty barley malts. For more information, call (715) 344-9310.
TEA
Revolution Tea has launched a new multi-dimensional beverage: Revolution 3D. Revolution 3D is
a first-of-its-kind combination of antioxidant-rich
‘super fruits’, multi-vitamins, and premium white
tea in an all-natural drink. Revolution Tea is releasing four refreshing 3D flavors: Green Apple,
Blueberry, Mango and Pomegranate in sleek 12
oz. cans and four-packs. Each innovative 3D formulation contains 100 percent of the daily recommended value of Vitamin C and is sweetened only
with cane sugar and agave syrup. For more infor-
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mation on Revolution 3D and the full line of innovative Revolution products, call (888) 321.4738.
Nestea has restaged its ready-to-drink iced tea
product line, with new graphics, sleek straightwall bottles and the introduction of Green Tea
Citrus and Diet Green Tea Citrus products with
50 percent more antioxidants than before. The
new Green Tea products and packaging are now
available nationwide. Nestea is available nationwide in multiple packaging options to meet a variety of customer and marketplace needs. Green
Tea Citrus and Diet Green Tea Citrus will be packaged in distinctive straight-wall 20 oz. and halfliter PET bottles, as will Nestea’s Iced Tea with
Lemon and Diet Iced Tea with Lemon flavors. Iced
Tea with Lemon also comes in aluminum cans
and 2-liter PET bottles. NESTEA products are sold
in supermarkets, convenience retail, drugstores
and other retail stores. For more information,
call (404) 676-1070.
The signature eye-catching graphics and brightly colored full shrink label of FUZE’s iconic 18 oz.
glass package have been replicated in an all-new
18.5 oz PET bottle. The FUZE PET bottles are the
easiest and most common plastics to recycle and
are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PETE)
and are assigned the number 1. Once the plastic
is processed by a recycling facility, PETE can become fiberfill for winter coats, sleeping bags, life
jackets, other plastic bottles, etc. All eighteen flavors of FUZE products will be available, including
the Slenderize, Refresh, Tea and Vitalize platforms.
The nutritious and newly portable bottles will remain free of aspartame, preservatives and high
fructose corn syrup and will be available for an
average suggested retail price of $1.79. For more
information, call Fuze at (201) 461-6640.
POM Wonderful’s POM Tea is now available in
a larger 16 oz. plastic bottle. POM Tea is an all-natural blend of POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice,
premium, whole-leaf, hand-picked tea and POMx,
the most potent, antioxidant-rich pomegranate
extract available. Due to the gentle brewing process, POM Tea is naturally low in caffeine, averaging only 2 mg per serving, and Pomegranate
Orange Blossom Red Tea contains no caffeine at
all. POM Tea is available in seven flavors including
Pomegranate Tea, Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea,
Pomegranate Blackberry Tea, Pomegranate Peach
Passion White Tea, Light Pomegranate Wildberry
Developed specifically for kids,
Kid FuelTM is fun to drink AND nutritious —
in four great flavors.
PLUS: Kid Fuel
gets noticed on retail
shelves with eye catching, innovative,
kid-friendly packaging that features
8oz. easy-to-hold, contoured bottles
with spill-proof, sip-top caps.
Great margins to drive profits.
TM
For more information and to carry Kid Fuel:
Clear Beverage Corporation
8379 W. Sunset Road, #130
Las Vegas, NV 89113
Phone: 866.543.3853
Email: [email protected]
©2008 Clear Beverage Corp.
White Tea, Light Pomegranate Hibiscus Green Tea
and Light Pomegranate Orange Blossom Red Tea.
Light POM Teas are sweetened with erythritol and
fructose and contain only 35 calories per serving.
POM Tea is available nationwide in the refrigerated section of produce departments next to POM
Wonderful Pomegranate Juice. The suggested retail price for POM Tea is $2.99. For more information, call POM Wonderful at (310) 966-5858.
NEW DRINK REVIEWS
SMOOTHIES
Naked Juice has introduced a new flavor to its
popular Naked Juice Protein Zone line, Banana
Chocolate. Like all Naked Juice products, Protein
Zone Banana Chocolate has no added sugar or
preservatives – ever. Additionally, every 15.2oz
bottle of Protein Zone Banana Chocolate contains
30g soy and whey protein, 1 banana, 12 cocoa
beans, 87 white grapes, and a hint of coconut. Naked Juice Protein Zone Banana Chocolate will be
available in grocery stores nationwide, with a suggested retail price of $3.29. For more information,
please contact Naked Juice at (626) 633.8384.
JUICE
Naked Juice Protein Zone
CurrantC
Function Drinks (new flavors)
Hint Water (new flavors)
Thomas Kemper Cane Sugar Sodas
Atomic Dogg Energy
Revolution 3D
! Energy
Mana Energy Potion
Fizz Ed
Whey Up (new flavors)
On Go Energy Shot
Iyemon Cha
Apple and Eve Fruitables
LIV Organic Sports Drinks
Boozer
BAWLS Guarana EXXTRA
Faded Energy
Maté Fusion
Dahlicious Lassi
Talking Rain TWIST Organics
M13 Functional Juice
Kaboom Pomegranate (reformulated)
Bain Toniq
Infused Owater (new flavor)
From April 28, 2008 to press time.
To see reviews, visit www.BevNET.com
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Northland has introduced new Pomegranate Plus,
significantly enhancing the proven health benefits
of pomegranate juice through the addition of 10
essential vitamins and minerals. Pomegranate
Plus is available in Pomegranate Blueberry and
Pomegranate Cherry, and sold in 64 oz. bottles. In
addition to the high level of antioxidants , Pomegranate Plus has been fortified with Vitamin C,
Calcium, Iron, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6,
Vitamin B12, Biotin, Magnesium and Zinc – and
contain no added sugars or sweeteners. Pomegranate Plus will be available in grocery stores,
club stores and health food stores nationwide at a
suggested retail price of $3.50-$4.50. For more information about Pomegranate Plus, and complete
nutritional information, call (516) 222-0236.
Tropicana Coastal Groves Lemonades are a new
premium line of 100 percent natural lemonades
with no artificial sweeteners or preservatives. It
will be available in three flavors: Original Lemonade, Raspberry Lemonade and Peach Lemonade.
The launch of Tropicana Coastal Groves includes
an on-package commitment from Tropicana to
partner along with Habitat for Humanity to help
rebuild the U.S. coastal regions. All three flavors
of Tropicana Coastal Groves Lemonade will be
available in 64 oz. Located in the chilled juice case,
the suggested retail price is $2.99. This product
will also be available in a 12 oz. single serve size
with a suggested retail price of $1.79. Consumers can find more product information by visiting
www.tropicana.com.
Simply Orange Juice Company has added two
new varieties to the successful Simply line: Simply
Orange with Mango and Simply Orange with Pine-
apple. Both start with the fresh-squeezed taste of
100 percent not-from-concentrate Simply Orange
orange juice, blended with not-from-concentrate
mango juice and pineapple juice, respectively.
The new products will begin shipping to retailers in mid-August. Simply Orange with Mango
and Simply Orange with Pineapple are packaged
in the unique 59 fl. oz. clear Simply carafe. The
launch of the new products will be supported
with a comprehensive marketing program that
includes a multi-media advertising plan, a public
relations campaign, consumer promotions and instore sampling. For more information, call (404)
676-1070.
NBI Juiceworks is
introducing a new
line of highly nutritional, all natural
100% Super Juices
called Drenchers.
Drenchers is a new
brand with three
separate lines: Super Juice (fortified juices), Super
Blends (fortified coffee and tea beverages), and Fit
N’ Lean – a fortified, Super Juice beverage with
less calories than the original Super Juice. The
Super Juice and Fit N’ Lean lines are available in
12 oz. and 64 oz. sizes. The pricing for the 12 oz. is
$1.99 and for the 64 oz. $4.99. For more information, call NBI Juiceworks at (312) 768-7358.
Apple & Eve, the all-natural fruit juice pioneer,
has just launched the company’s first 100 percent
fruit and vegetable blend. New Fruitables are a 100
percent juice blend of fruits and vegetables, with
each 8 oz. glass delivering 2 servings of fruit and
vegetables from the 5-a-Day Fruit and Vegetable
program. Each serving also provides the healthy
antioxidants A and C. Fruitables are available in
two delicious flavors: Orange Passion and Strawberry Mango. Fruitables are available in 46 and
64 oz. bottles, and will be sold in grocery stores,
club stores and health food stores nationwide.
They will retail for $2.68 for a 46 oz. bottle at supermarkets and $5.79 for a twin 64 oz. package at
club stores. For more information about Fruitables
and complete nutritional information, visit www.
appleandeve.com.
ALO is a refreshing line of unique drink alternatives made with real aloe vera pulp. All natural, with no preservatives, no artificial colorings,
and no artificial flavors, Alo comes in two flavors:
ALO Exposed, an original blend infused with real
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aloe vera pulp, and ALO Awaken, a unique blend
of aloe vera and real wheat grass extract. ALO is
available in a 500mL as well as a 1.5L bottle and is
shelf stable, with an SRP of $1.69 - $3.99. For more
information call (800) 223-4438.
Noble Juice has three new flavors with a delicious all-natural taste and plant-based PLA packaging - the environmentally friendly alternative
to petroleum. The brand new Noble Juice flavors
include exotic Sicilian Blood Orange juice, an Italian citrus specialty celebrated for its tart and tangy
flavor, and Tangerine Cranberry. The company
has also introduced Organic Lemonade, made
with 100 percent organic lemons and sweetened
with organic cane juice. Noble Juice is available
nationwide in Wal-Mart, Publix, A&P, Food Emporium, Stop and Shop, Shop Rite, and Whole
Foods, among other large grocery chains and
has a MSRP of $3.29 for a 32oz bottle. For more
information about the Noble Juice line of superpremium juices, visit www.noblejuice.com.
ENHANCED WATER
Old Orchard Brands has introduced a unique entry into the functional beverage category today
with FruitSense, the first vitamin water available
in multi-serve, 64 oz. bottles. It is available nationwide at SuperTarget stores and at traditional
grocery stores with a suggested retail of $3.49
per bottle. FruitSense is available only in large,
lightweight plastic bottles typically reserved for
the fruit juice aisle of the grocery store, a move
that suggests flavored-waters are headed toward
traditional “at-home” consumption in what has
traditionally been a single-serve “on-the-go”
segment. With 5 percent fruit juice, FruitSense
is being offered in six flavors, each supporting
a distinctive health benefit: Key Lime Colada is
enhanced with EGCG to help boost metabolism;
Pomegranate, Blueberry, Mangosteen includes
Co-enzyme Q10 for heart health; Kiwi Dragonfruit
contains ginseng and taurine for natural, caffeinefree energy; Strawberry, Peach, Melon includes
hibiscus, vitamin D, and magnesium to combat
stress; Tangerine Grapefruit includes zinc and
Echinacea for preventative health; and Cranberry,
Raspberry is blended with calcium, vitamin D and
iron for women’s health. For more information,
call Old Orchard at (616) 233-0500.
Skinny Nutritional Corp. has introduced a new
line of multi-functional Skinny Waters that de-
© Disney/Pixar ©2008 American Beverage Corp. Verona, PA 800.245.2929 www.ambev.com
TAKE A LOOK AT THE
FUTURE OF KIDS’ BEVERAGES
INTRODUCING ICE BOPS
- Shelf stable juice slushie
- Available in 4 vitamin rich flavors
- Low in sugar
- High in antioxidants
- Goes conveniently into your freezer then is served
as a slushie right out of the pouch!
- Features Disney-Pixar Wall*E
liver a variety of health benefits:
weight control, multi-vitamins,
antioxidants, and energy boosters-all formulated with zero calories, zero sugar, zero sodium,
and zero preservatives. The new
line includes four great-tasting
flavors: Raspberry Pomegranate (Crave Control) helps control cravings, aids
in weight loss, and includes polyphenol-rich
pomegranates, one of the most powerful antioxidants. Passionfruit Lemonade (Total-V) is a
comprehensive multi-vitamin formula. Goji Fruit
Punch (Shape) includes the key ingredient Goji
berry, while Peach Mango Mandarin (XXX-Detox)
includes three antioxidants: Hesperidine, a citrus
bio-flavonoid that strengthens immunity; Lutein,
which assists with UV skin protection; and EGCG,
a green tea catechin. All Skinny Waters have three
key ingredients: Super CitriMax, ChromeMate,
and EGCG. Each 16.9-ounce bottle of Skinny Water will be available at a suggested retail price of
$1.49. For more information call (610) 228-2138.
Originally created by an Orthopedic
Surgeon, in partnership with one of
the founders of Celestial Seasonings
Herb Teas, Osteo is the first beverage
line to specifically target the issue of
promoting bone health and increasing awareness for the worldwide epidemic of Osteoporosis. With high levels of Calcium and Vitamin D, as well
as B, C - combined with High Sierra
Spring Water, natural fruit juices, minerals, magnesium and boron, Osteo is
a cutting-edge nutraceutical drink that combines
great taste with health awareness. It is available in
three pasteurized flavors, Tropical Tisane, OrangePom and Lemonberry. With an MSRP of between
$2.29 and $2.49, this product will be available in 12
oz. glass bottles. For more information, please go
to Osteobev.com.
Function Drinks has released additional flavors
for two of its products, Function: Urban Detox and
Function: Light Weight. The new additions to the
Function line are a Function: Urban Detox, Goji
Berry and Function: Light Weight, Blueberry Raspberry. The company has also launched Function:
Night Life, which helps promote sexual health
with a proprietary, all-natural formula. These
products will be available nationally and will be
line-priced with other Function Drinks products at
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$1.69 per 16.9 oz. PET bottle. For more information call Function at (310) 729-5596.
Multi-Vitamin Energy
Corp. is back with a new
line of seven natural multivitamin enhanced waters
rich in electrolytes and antioxidants. The company’s
low-calorie line features
five flavors: dragonfruit,
mango-passion,
lemonade, kiwi-strawberry and tropical punch. The
company’s zero-carb, zero-calorie drinks come in
cranberry-pomegranate-acai and green tea with
honey and ginseng flavors. The waters are available in 20 oz. PET bottles at supermarkets, grocery stores, restaurants, convenience outlets and
other retailers in the eastern United States, this
product has an SRP of $1.39 per bottle. For more
information, call Multi-Vitamin Enhanced Water
at (201) 303-2903.
CSDs
Thomas Kemper Soda Co. has unveiled a new
premium soda collection sweetened with natural
cane sugar. Craft brewed in small batches, the
new Thomas Kemper Cane Sugar Soda collection
debuts this May in five favorite flavors, including the brand’s best-selling Root Beer. Unique
to Thomas Kemper is the use of pure Northwest
honey, which lends a distinct natural sweetness,
rich creaminess and smooth finish, complementing other natural ingredients such as Madagascar
vanilla and Jamaican ginger. The company is also
releasing Vanilla Cream, Orange Cream, Black
Cherry and Ginger Ale. The cane sugar sodas will
be available at retailers across the U.S. this May
in single bottles (SRP $1.29), six-packs (SRP $5.99)
and 12-bottle sampler packs (SRP $12.99).
SPIRITS
New from Proximo, 1800 Silver Select Tequila is a
100-proof, 100-percent agave tequila. It is the latest addition to the 1800 tequila line. It is doubledistilled and blended with a touch of aged tequila
to product a nuanced taste. This product is available in 375 ml, 750 ml and 1 L sizes and is priced at
$29.99 for a 750 ml bottle. For more information,
call Proximo spirits at (212) 277-7286.
BRANDS IN TRANSITION
SWEET RIDE FOR SWEET LEAF
BY MATT CASEY
ustin, Tex. has gone through some pretty
big changes in the past couple of decades.
Riding the wave of the dot-com bubble, it went
from laid-back college town to a good-lifeseeking-Yuppie-infested new economy hub. But
with the growth of Whole Foods, Hewlett Packard and Hoovers, Inc. attracting MBA-types to
the area, it’s gotten pretty tough on the natives.
In fact, despite the benefits that a growing economy offers an urban center, things have gotten
so bad for the locals that they introduced a new
slogan: Keep Austin Weird.
Similarly, another home-grown Austin enterprise is about to enter the local struggle between
character and capitalism: Sweet Leaf Tea. Sweet
Leaf might have started out with pillowcases
for teabags and water from a garden hose, but
lately the only thing the pillowcases have been
good for is carrying the company’s cash. Last
month, venture capital group Catterton Partners
cut Sweet Leaf an $18 million check, and that
means the company has reached the same crossroads as Austin. Now that Sweet Leaf founder
Clayton Christopher has cashed that check –
and used at least a portion of those proceeds
to buy out a few early investors – the question
is whether the product will be able to keep its
down-home sense of fun even as it tries to move
into new markets.
SWEETLEAF FOUNDER CLAYTON CHRISTOPHER WITH LONGTIME FRIEND
AND BUSINESS PARTNER DAVID SMITH.
26
That’s not to say that Sweet Leaf hasn’t been
good at opening new markets in the past. For
years, the founders would survey new retail arenas and then wiggle into delis and convenience
stores. But there’s an imperative that comes with
the Catterton money, an imperative to leave the
nest of Whole Foods and upper-middle class
sandwich joints, and fly into new cities and
mainstream supermarkets.
Shoved or not, Christopher says that the new
bankroll is unlikely to clash with any hippie
sensibilities at Sweet Leaf. The ex-charter boat
captain and college dropout has always taken a
conservative approach to his business. He kept
marketing budgets tight and only moved into
new places when the time was right – even going
so far as to say “no” to distributors that wanted
to carry his product in what he felt were the
wrong markets at the wrong times.
Still, if Christopher isn’t necessarily a Texas
slacker, there’s a bit of Austin’s Hill Country
attitude that helped make Sweet Leaf such a
success in the first place. Now Christopher will
couple that attitude with a venture capital partner that, he said, brings “more strategic value
than just the check.”
“We went with Catterton because they have
deep industry experience,” he said. The company has a record of success that includes Kettle
Foods, Odwalla, and Gold Coast Beverages Distributors, one of the largest beer and beverage
distribution companies in the U.S.
Still, the money helps. In addition to buying
out some existing shareholders, Christopher said
Sweet Leaf will use the windfall to bolster sales
and marketing across the U.S., and help the
company move into mainstream channels.
As the marketing team swells, they’ll use a lot
of the tactics learned in the company’s early days.
Once the company targeted a market, they
committed to it. Company personnel spent their
weekends at retail locations passing out samples.
Christopher said the only way his brand could
work is if people fell in love with it.
Early on, the brand wasn’t without its problems. The kitchen-produced product spoiled in
two weeks, Christopher said, and their bottles
were ugly. In 2002, he shut the company down
for five months to roll out a shelf stable product. As soon as he did, he said, he landed a deal
with his hometown grocery giant, Whole Foods.
Within eight months, Sweet Leaf was the number one selling RTD tea in the natural food giant’s southwest region.
The company’s growth has only continued
since then – especially in Austin. Brad Miller, the
general manager of the Austin Beverage Company, said he’s carried Sweet Leaf since 2002, when
he placed an order for two mixed pallets. Now
he moves 65-70 pallets a month to convenience
stores, delis and Aramark food services.
Christopher said his company reaps $2 in per
capita sales per year in Austin, which he considers the company’s only “mature” market, and a
model for exploring new territory.
“We still probably say no more than we say
yes to DSD distributors,” Christopher said.
Currently, he has his sights set on Chicago and
the Northeast. He also wants to intensify his
company’s music tie-ins – another trick that
grew out of the company’s Austin origins. The
city calls itself “the live music capital of the
world,” and Christopher used the area’s music
festivals as guerilla sampling and sponsorship
opportunities. Now, he said, he wants to sponsor bands. The company received calls from Paramore and Joss Stone – who said they’re fans of
the brand – but Christopher can’t say whom he
might sign a deal with.
And while most of Sweet Leaf ’s current tactics
can be summed up as embellishments of earlier themes, the company recently introduced
plastic bottles, a departure from its long-time
glass-only model. Miller greeted that change
with hesitation.
“There’s an impression – a belief – that good
tea only comes in glass,” Miller said. “For years
the only tea you bought in plastic was crap.”
But, he said, he understands why Sweet Leaf
introduced plastic. Plastic bottles can be sold in
more places, like schools, which is one place the
product is headed.
(ALF0AGE"EV3PECVERTPDF0-
Some students in Texas can already buy Sweet Leaf at school, and the
company is working on deals with Florida and Colorado. Christopher
said Sweet Leaf in schools is a “win-win” for the company. It puts money
in the till and builds the product’s future customer base – though Miller
isn’t certain that he’ll be serving those Sweet Leaf converts when they get
their own disposable income.
Miller said he’s been in the beverage distribution business for a while,
and he’s seen this pattern before. Catterton’s $18 million investment
in Sweet Leaf represents one step on the road blazed by SoBe and Izze
from plucky startup to Coke or Pepsi property – which takes the product
out of the independent distribution system. Miller noted that Coke’s Gold
Peak RTD tea brand isn’t performing as well as it could, and Sweet Leaf
would be a fitting replacement.
But it may turn out that nobody sells Sweet Leaf Tea in the near future. The company never filed for federal trade mark protection, and when
United American Industries Inc. started selling stevia sweeteners under
the Sweet Leaf brand name, they sent Christopher’s RTD tea company
a cease and desist letter. Sweet Leaf Tea responded by filing a suit against
United American, according to the Austin Business Journal. While Sweet
Leaf never filed a trademark, they did put ten years and millions of dollars
behind building the brand, which, according to Sweet Leaf attorney Craig
Tyler, affords the company a common-law trademark claim.
Christopher said the two companies are already talking, but he added that he doesn’t think Sweet Leaf losing its name would be a disaster for the company. “I’ve even said ‘Sweet Leaf ’ has pigeonholed us a
little bit because we have non-sweet flavors and diet flavors,” Christopher
told the ABJ.
Regardless of the company’s name, Sweet Leaf ’s board has a little experience with the startup-to-buyout plan. Christopher recently pulled in
Nantucket Nectars founder Tom First. And Christopher isn’t saying “no”
to the idea of joining one of the country’s beverage empires.
“Four to five years from now, we could have the option to bring in
a larger investor,” he said. He added that he liked the deal that Honest
Tea brokered with Coke.
Honest sold a 40 percent stake in the company to the soda giant, but
the deal left co-founders Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff and longtime
advisor Gary Hirshfeld in control of the company’s five-member board.
But the future is far from certain, and, at the moment, Christopher said
he’s currently having fun with his business.
“We have a board that is very much in agreement around the strategy
we’re going to use to grow the brand,” he said. “Life is good.”
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MAY – JUNE 08 :: BEVERAGE SPECTRUM
27
the energy drink explosion rolls into its second
decade, the game is changing and the stakes are
higher. It’s true that the products are only about a
generation old in the U.S., but what a generation
it has been: for many consumers, the products have moved from edgy
curiosity to lifestyle necessity. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of people
wondering what Red Bull or Monster taste like, or trying to determine the
difference between Gatorade and Rockstar.
So in many respects, energy drinks are at a crossroads: do they become
as ubiquitous, the CSD’s of their day, as some expect, or do they remain
an item that fills the functional niche – albeit a large one – that lies between coffee and Diet Coke?
With the category’s estimated $4.8 billion in sales at stake, it’s a big
question, and the answer isn’t likely to arrive right away. But there are
some ongoing issues whose resolution will likely affect the way retailers
and distributors treat energy drinks by the end of the next generation,
ten years hence.
1
How many hybrid products will the category accept?
Perhaps the largest limiting factor for energy
drinks has been their taste, and while that particular aspect has come a long way, an ongoing
solution for many brands has been to try to dissolve the flavor into a variety of more common
beverage types, including juice, coffee, cola,
tea, even beer. But with that expansion – and
increased focus on injecting energy into beverages that cover more parts of the day – comes
dilution. As a retailer, can you depend on the
increase in variety to continue to expand your
sales, particularly as the new varieties put pressure on your limited space?
The dependability issue is becoming a big
one, at least with regard to coffee blends. Recently, Hansen’s made it clear
that JavaMonster, while a fast-growing brand – almost 14 percent of its
energy drink sales, according to the company – doesn’t have the high profit
margin of its other offerings. And that’s where Monster’s/Hansen’s dual
identity as successful energy drink company and stock market darling start
to battle it out, because much of the charm that has elevated its share price
has come from the category’s high profit margins. So while your JavaMonster allocation might be rising for now, that might be a short-term event
– particularly with other companies pushing more strongly into the coffee
market, and Starbucks hopping into the energy space, both with its own
RTD products and with a guarana booster for its on-premise drinks.
Meanwhile, Rockstar Roasted has been a successful introduction for
the other major independent brand, but with Coke developing a strong
brand internally – note the skyrocketing success of NOS – there is always
the possibility that it might opt out of its deal with the California-based
enfant terrible, or at least try to shift shelf space to maximize growing its
own products, costing Rockstar space for brand extensions.
In addition to core brands, the “juiced” energy category has been growing for the past few years – both Monster and Rockstar’s blends have become top sellers. But a question retailers should ask themselves is whether
they want to rely on their most successful brands and their line extensions
or continue to shuffle through other offshoots to see if something catches
fire. With so much variety out there, it might be worthwhile to see if
your customers are looking for something nontraditional, and perhaps by
another manufacturer.
Some retailers are starting to address the issue by dividing their drinks
up by functionality; this will be especially important as more functions
start to cross over into the energy drink sector. It’s already happening
with sports drinks.
2
Poor taste and poor judgment: Will crassness and caffeine
get them banned? And will there be backlash in your store?
Recently, South Bend, Ind. convenience store
owner Candy Gioupis put up a hand-lettered
sign telling kids under 18 that her QuikMart would only sell two energy drinks at a
time. Last year, the American Beverage Association began looking into caffeine labeling
issues. Just this spring, the owner of Redline donated $25,000 to a Florida school district after
four eighth-graders became sick after consuming his product.
That kind of self-policing comes at a time
when energy drinks are receiving increased media and government scrutiny. Several states are
looking at banning or restricting sales of energy
drinks to minors. The FDA is considering taking a hard look at caffeine.
And stories about caffeine and energy drink concerns are now a regular
part of any TV reporter’s playbook come sweeps week.
Meanwhile, the crass are getting crasser, as Cocaine begets Blow begets Bump and Hooters begets Deep Throat. And the alcohol tie-ins
don’t help in that respect – too many potentially scary questions are being
thrown at the energy malternatives as well as at the use of energy drinks as
mixers. On-premise, energy drinks have grown almost exclusively in bars;
that does not translate readily to the family fridge.
As of this writing, NBC’s Today Show had aired a segment called ‘The
Truth about Energy Drinks,’ while the Sacramento Bee had published a
report on convenience store owners limiting sales to minors. Arguments
that energy drinks are the equivalent of Starbucks coffee only seem to take
the industry so far in the eyes of the public. Marketing tactics may change
in the future, but the wild side presented by many energy drink companies, while continuing to bring on consumers in the short term, in the long
term could collapse under the weight of one negative event too many.
29
For retailers, the issue becomes the image of the drinks they sell, their
willingness to work with local communities with regard to merchandising
and sales to minors, and knowledge of their customers.
3
Here comes the competition – What effect will energy shots,
hyped-up diet colas, yerba mate, and even energy cookies and
chips have on the category?
Energy isn’t just for energy drinks anymore.
As the veil lifts on the main source of energy
drinks’ energy – pure, unadulterated, caffeine –
what was an aura of mystery is now counted in
milligrams. And those milligrams are appearing
in all kinds of new iterations.
Beverage Spectrum has been out front on the
growth of energy shots as a high-profit phenomenon – one that energy drink companies themselves have started to invest in – but the stubby
capsules aren’t the only product class making a
grab for a piece of the energy pie. At a recent
natural products convention, booth workers for
vitamin maker Yummi Bears were passing out
adult versions of their products that were loaded with caffeine and guarana. There are energy beans, energy lollipops and other candies – some
are made by energy drink companies themselves, like Bawls – and now
even energy potato chips. Caffeinated vodka is creeping onto the market, negating the need for Red Bull as a mixer (and a good thing for bartenders, too, given that company’s willingness to go for the wallet if you
happen to pour an off-brand).
“The consumer continues to look for quick additives,” said George
Pontiakos, CEO of BI Nutraceuticals. “We saw a guy put it into gum! And
we’re seeing a lot more movement into the beverage alcohol segment.”
Additionally, the soda makers have figured out that their consumers
know what caffeine is all about, as well, adding pumped-up variants like
Diet Pepsi Max. Rather than bill new offerings as energy drinks, new
products like Energy Green from Honest Tea and the Naked Juice Energy Smoothie are simply appropriating the energy aura and applying it to
their own categories. If energy is isolated as a routine functionality across a
broad variety of food and beverage products, doesn’t that expose the CSDlike flank of the energy drink category?
4
Whither the Third Brand?
For years, energy drinks were like the hydra
– one company went out of business and two
more grew to replace them. But that made for
a pretty crowded collection of critters. Now,
with a couple of dominant independie brands
running the show, the big CSD companies still
haven’t been able to figure out how to win the
game – or even stay in it for a long period of
time. Witness the up-and-down stories of Amp,
SoBe, Full Throttle, KMX. Each time, the
big soda companies have used their distribution network to build up a head of steam, but
they have continued to see consumer sentiment
return to the indie brand.
30
In fact, NOS, Coke’s latest, bestest new hope for a homegrown energy
brand, started as an indie all its own. And while that brand has taken off
in a big way, its core gearhead user is still too small a subculture for the
product to become a genre spanner. NOS has been brilliantly executed to
capture as much of its niche as possible, but it will be hard for it to move
too far out of its core competency.
So where does that leave retailers who need leverage on their side in
the face of an increasingly stultified set of distributors for Monster (i.e.
Anheuser-Busch) and Red Bull (still catching hell from its own sales force
after raising its case prices)? Growing regional brands like BooKoo and
Xyience have run into major trouble as they try to reach national status. Rip It remains bargain sized, while other major niche marketing efforts like TaB and SoBe Essential Energy have flopped. Here’s where, for
retailers, knowledge of the growing field of natural and organic brands
makes sense, where a Steaz or a Sambazon might be an appealing alternative, as they all have a solid but small base. Still, even those little guys can
disappear in a second – has anyone seen Syzmo on shelves lately?
The category remains young enough that the cacophony of different
labels is probably still fun for consumers, but with share settling into a
pair of camps, there is still money to be made for retailers through the
discovery of a Mountain Dew to provide an alternative to the Coke
and Pepsi of Red Bull and Monster. By having that extra outlet, they
can keep their costs in check.
5
Speaking of keeping costs in check, what about
the economy?
The high margin bonanza that drove the energy
category is shrinking for distributors and for retailers as raw materials and fuel costs go up. Similarly, it’s hitting consumers right in the wallet,
as prices at the pump have long been the enemy
of trips inside the convenience mart. Sooner or
later, the high cost of the energy drink is going
to have to go down, particularly as consumers
start to notice they can now hit both Starbucks
and McDonald’s for a $.99 high-end coffee.
But at the same time competition for consumers starts to force the price down, supply
costs are going up: gas, sugar, corn syrup, fuel,
aluminum for cans are all getting more costly,
and so is one other important ingredient, energy drinks’ miracle caffeine
source, the guarana seed. Demand for the product has increased – aided by the increase in other energy based products. International trade is
also playing a role: the Brazilian Real is performing exceedingly well
against the U.S. Dollar.
“Demand is stripping away supply,” notes Pontiakos. “I’m killing myself to get it in here before the dollar drops again.”
Energy drinks have come so far, so fast, that it’s hard to believe they were
ever consigned to a small part of the evening and a small group of athletes.
What’s truly amazing is that they’ve had as significant a cultural impact as
they have a financial one. Still, while ten years is a short time in the development of a major brand, it’s a long, long time to forecast. In ten years, the
questions we’re looking at now will have a brand new spin: either they’ll
be small squalls preceding a decade-long storm of profits, or the last few
clouds that arrive before a whole new weather system moves in.
BRAND
NEWS
ENERGY DRINKS
BAWLS
BAWLS Guarana has launched an addition to their product lineup – BAWLS Guarana EXXTRA. Packing 50
percent extra caffeine than the original BAWLS Guarana
flavor, sugar-free BAWLS EXXTRA offers a powerful
boost with a refreshing, guarana-infused taste. Because
EXXTRA is made with more guarana than the rest of the
BAWLS product line, BAWLS EXXTRA hits the caffeine
level of a strong cup of brewed coffee – 96 mg per 10 oz.
serving and 150 mg. per 16 oz. serving. Offered in 10 oz.
bumped glass bottles and in 16 oz. color-changing cans,
BAWLS EXXTRA is now available in stores nationwide.
BAWLS EXXTRA will also be integrated into the brand’s
2008 sampling initiatives, including a nationwide tour of
BAWLS-sponsored video game conventions, BMX races
and pro paintball tournaments.
Sambazon
Sambazon has created a potent, all-natural energy drink
that heightens awareness while boosting energy and the
immune system. Amazon Energy is made with Açaí,
the powerfully nutritious purple berry sustainably harvested from the Amazon basin, along with Vitamin-C
superfruit acerola and rainforest botanicals like guaraná
and yerba mate. Formulated with the finest organic ingredients, Amazon Energy delivers nutrition, sustained
energy and great taste without tons of refined sugars, artificial colors, chemicals and negative side effects. Amazon
Energy is now available in Whole Foods and other fine
retailers nationwide.
Bionic Boink
Starting in Arizona, Boink has taken off at local restaurants, bars, and clubs as a healthy alternative to energy.
Boink stands out amongst the rest offering a product
without sugar, calories, and fat and only the best natural
herbs for energy. Boink’s Cayenne Pepper formula produces a long lasting amount of energy without the use
of synthetic caffeine.
Volcano
Volcano energy drink, is a new non-carbonated energy
drink with high caffeine and taurine content plus vitamin B-complex, vitamin C and vitamin E as well as Zinc.
Those high quality ingredients are intended to relieve
fatique, boost metabolism and improve physical performance and the reproductive system for men. It is available
in original and sugar-free
32
Fluid Motion Beverage Inc.
Fluid Motion Beverage Inc. recently won the 2008
Graphic Design USA Packaging Award for the outstanding graphic design on the Talon Blood Punch line extension launched last year. The Talon line is also breaking
out of its current US boundaries, debuting in Canadian
C-Stores in May.
PepsiCo
In March, AMP Energy launched three new line extensions - AMP Energy Elevate, AMP Energy Relaunch
and AMP Energy Traction. New limited edition Dale
Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy products will be available
this summer. AMP ENERGY RELAUNCH is energized
with a burst of orange citrus flavor, Electrolytes and Bvitamins. AMP ENERGY TRACTION is enhanced with
grape flavor, Maltodextrin and D-ribose. AMP ENERGY
ELEVATE features a blast of mixed berry flavor and LTheanine. All three line extensions are available nationwide in 16 oz. single-serve cans. AMP Energy Relaunch is
also available in 16 oz. 4-packs.
Marquis Platinum
LUX5 EVENTS, a Newport Beach-based event company,
launched their 2008 Nationwide DEEP FLIGHT LUX5
Luxury Lifestyle Tour Presented By Marquis Platinum
Vitality Drink on Saturday, May 10th at Santa Monica’s
celebrated Barker Hangar. The product has also recently
arranged an exclusive distribution deal with DEAN &
DELUCA for all locations nationwide. Marquis Platinum
Vitality Drink was also chosen by the newly renovated
Plaza Hotel in NYC to be the exclusive energy type drink
for the entire property.
Hansen’s
This summer, Monster Energy is blowing up the Vans
Warped Tour with Monster’s biggest promotion ever.
Monster partnered with over 25 Warped Tour bands to
give fans an exclusive album download for free with every specially-marked Monster 4-pack and 8-pack purchase. Monster has been a huge part of Warped Tour
since Monster’s launch in ’02 by activating the Monster
Energy VIP Lounge at nearly 50 events throughout the
US and Canada.
Zafi Beverages
Zafi Beverages, Inc. is an energy mixer that is also a standalone energy drink. It is packaged in an 11 oz., doublelined PET bottle, and it is non-carbonated, with a tag-line
GIVE CONSUMERS
THE HORSEPOWER
THEY DEMAND
INTRODUCING NOS POWERSHOT!
• NOS brings a real energy drink brand to the $100 Million Energy Shot category*
• Same mango passionfruit flavor profile as NOS Energy Drink
• Available May 1 through your local Coke bottler
*Source: All Measured Channels AC Nielsen 12 months ending 12.29.07, Estimated Energy Shot
Retail Sales Dollars All Measured Channels Full Year 2007 (in 000’s)
NOS 22oz – TRUE RESEALABILITY! BIG PROFITS!
• Hottest package in the energy drink category!
• +5083% growth vs YAG*
• 2nd in Velocity in the larger than 16oz category*
• Unique packaging targets other brands’ high frequency consumers
• No cannibalization effect
• Higher levels of availability of 22oz enhances the velocity of NOS 16oz
*Source: Total US, ACNielsen, Nov 2007 Conv Rtl Channel
that reads, ‘Sip It. Cap It. Blend It.’ Zafi can be blended
into a multitude of products creating a wide range of
energized drinks.
HYDRIVE
HYDRIVE Energy LLC has expanded its line of energy
drinks with the launch of HYDRIVE S – Strength Energy Drink in a blue raspberry flavor. Inspired by the recent Senate hearings, HYDRIVE S contains six fully legal
performance enhancers including B-12, Caffeine, Maca,
D-Ribose, L-Leucine and Ginkgo Biloba. HYDRIVE
S joins, E, X, and V in a colorful, great tasting line-up
that delivers full power energy with just 30 calories and 6
grams of sugar per 15.5 oz. re-sealable PET bottle while
delivering no jitters and no crash.
Pimp Juice
Fillmore Street Brewery is proud to announce that its
owner and spokesperson, Nelly, will be launching his next
album, Brass Knuckles, on June 24, 2008. In conjunction
with this album launch, Nelly will be promoting Pimp
Juice and the new anti-oxidant/energy hybrid drink Purple Pimp Juice on his tour across the United States. The
Pimp Juice RV will also be joining the tour to give out
samples to all of the Nelly and Pimp Juice fans as well as
promote Pimp Juice at the Nelly concert afterparties. Pimp
Juice will be introduced into India, Nigeria, and Sweden
this summer, will gain further distribution into FYE stores
in malls across the United States along with Nelly’s album
launch, and will play a prominent role in his international
tour in late 2008/ early 2009.
Steaz
Steaz Energy is the world’s first and only Organic and Fair
Trade Certified energy drink in four delicious varieties:
Berry, Lime, Orange and Diet Berry. Unlike most other
energy drinks on the market, Steaz Energy is completely
food-based. The natural boost in Steaz Energy comes from
four quality ingredients: organic Fair Trade Certified Ceylon green tea from Sri Lanka, organic Guayaki yerba mate,
organic Sambazon Acai, and organic Guarana. The drinks
come in a new 12 oz. sleek can so consumers get more
healthy benefits – more antioxidants, more vitamins and
more green tea polyphenols in every can. Steaz Sparkling
Green Teas are sold in the US in over 7,000 retail accounts
– including natural, specialty, gourmet grocer and club
stores – in 40 states and is also available in the food service
and military channels. As well, Steaz is sold internationally in Canada, Australia, Mexico, India, Singapore and
the Middle East.
CL-ONE
CL-ONE ENERGY DRINK For Smarter People is
now in its 6th year. CL-ONE is available in 8.3oz and 16
34
oz. and is recommended by its manufacturer as a value
proposition for retailers. CL-ONE energy drink is an energizer, with a modern synergistic formulation for periods
of extra demand on body and mind. Drink CL-ONE at
sports, exams or as a general pick-me-up during your busy
day or night.
Power Trip Beverages
Power Trip Beverages’ four vitamin-packed energy drinks
(Original Blue, THE Extreme, PT “0” and Mango) are
now available at 300 Piggly Wiggly stores in Alabama, 71
Tops Supermarkets in NY and many other retail outlets in
15 U.S. states, including New York, Florida and California, as well as internationally throughout the Caribbean
and the Middle East. By the end of this year, the company
projects that its reach will span 25 states and additional international markets. To help fuel further expansion while
encouraging consumers to “Get in the Game,” Power Trip
has redesigned its Web site to feature interactive elements
including streaming audio, video, giveaway contests and
an online store.
Havoc Energy
American Enterprise Development Corporation and
HAVOC Distribution, Inc. announced recently that it
will begin distribution of Red Bird Energy Drink, an official collegiate licensed energy drink for the University of
Louisville. The University of Louisville Energy Drink will
be powered by HAVOC and will be sold in 8.4 oz, 16
oz. and 4-Pack quantities. River City Distribution, Inc.
and AXTON Candy & Tobacco Co. will be distributing
the product to Kroger, Thornton’s and various other retail
outlets in the Kentucky market.
BURN Energy
BURN Energy Drink, on the market since 2002, has just
partnered with Meridian Beverages to expand its distribution alongside Meridian’s products in the Southeast and
Midwest. BURN offers 25 percent more caffeine than
leading competitors, refreshing citrus taste and healthy ingredients in an award-winning package. Sugar-Free BURN
offers the only energy drink that helps boost metabolism
with a combination of EGCG (Green Tea Extract), Calcium and Caffeine while offering all the energy and vitamins with NO sugar and extremely low sodium.
Xstream Energy
Lightyear XSTREAM Energy contains Yohimbe, which
has been one of the most popular supplements for men
and women for years and is claimed as an aphrodisiac.
Now with a natural sexual enhancer used for impotent
males, XSTREAM Energy is an all natural, non-carbonated and fruit-juice-based energy drink.
Anheuser-Busch
180 Orange Citrus is refreshing, lightly carbonated and
has an orange-citrus flavor. It contains vitamins B-6, B-12
and C, natural citrus flavors and is enhanced with natural
guarana. 180 Sugar-Free Orange Citrus Blast, an extension of 180 Orange Citrus, contains only five calories,
appeals to adults who prefer sugar-free products and energizes your body and mind without sugar. 180 Blue has
a refreshing berry and grape flavor that includes the Acai
berry – an antioxidant rich berry that grows wild in the
Brazilian Amazon and is considered to be one of the top
superfoods in the world. The first packaged energy drink
launched by a major beverage company in the United
States that contains the Acai berry, 180 Blue won a gold
medal at the 2007 North American Beer Awards. 180 Blue
Low-Calorie, an extension of the popular 180 Blue, contains only 15 calories. 180 Red With Goji has a uniquely
refreshing and slightly sweet lychee and cherry taste balanced with subtle tartness. The first packaged energy drink
containing the Goji berry launched by a major beverage
company in the United States, 180 Red won a silver medal
at the 2007 North American Beer Awards.
Playboy Energy Drink
Playboy Energy Drink is ultra-sexy and incredibly invigorating with subtle notes of fruit and vanilla, this proprietary formula contains ginseng root, guarana extract
and damiana leaf, ingredients that are believed to stimulate energy levels. Available in two varieties, regular and
sugar-free, Playboy Energy is now available in Boston and
Florida. Playboy Energy Drink is packaged in an 8.4 oz.
black can, made distinctive by the famous Playboy Rabbit
Head design and colors denoting regular (glowing orange)
or sugar-free (glowing blue).
M-150
RESPECT, M-150 Energy Drink’s philanthropic community support program rolled into Woodland Hills, California on Sunday, April 27th to support LAPD SWAT,
local and federal law enforcement agencies in honoring
fallen SWAT member, Roland Simmons. Chilled M-150
Energy Drinks were served to over 7,000 residents and celebrities in attendance who raised over $450,000 for Simmons’s widow and children.
NE
W!
Power Trip Beverages is proud to
introduce to its distributor and
wholesale partners:
· GREAT TASTE, more vitamins and
NO SUGAR means NO CRASH
· Contains a higher vitamin
content than all its competitors
· HOURS of healthier energy
· Energy shots are the fastest
growing segment of the New Age
Beverage category
· No refrigeration needed and
requires only 26 square inches of
shelf space
www.powertripbev.com
CONTACT US TODAY FOR
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT
“VITAMIN ENERGY SHOTS”
Phone 954-862-1445, Fax 954-862-1484
[email protected]
SALES AND DISTRIBUTION: Power Trip Beverages, Inc.,
12401 Orange Drive, Suite 205, Davie, FL 33330
Wet Planet
Jolt has become the best name in the consumable energy
business. With a seven-flavor roster of Energy Drinks, a 2
oz. Endurance Shot, energy gum and mints - with more
on the way, Jolt continues to jolt the industry. Jolt Energy
was the first to utilize resealable technology on their eyecatching 23.5 oz. aluminum bottle. The resealable cap is
user-friendly and allows hours of carbonated energy. Over
35
the past year Wet Planet Beverages has introduced 3 new
Jolt Energy Flavors: Orange Blast, Wild Grape and Passion Fruit.
G Pure
G Pure Energy is “Energy Redesigned”- a healthier,
more sophisticated choice for the discerning consumer,
delivering sustainable energy with truly effervescent fresh
lulo lime taste. G Pure Energy is available in a recyclable
glass bottle.
Cult
Cult launched its Cult Energy Cola in Denmark earlier
this spring.
Redux Beverages Brawndo
On April 1st, 2008, Redux Beverages signed a multiyear agreement with Motocross legend Ryan Clark and
Team Solitaire. The sponsorship positions Brawndo: The
Thirst Mutilator as the team’s headlining sponsor with
the official title Redux Beverages/Brawndo Team Solitaire
Honda. Brawndo: The Thirst Mutilator is currently available in selected retailers throughout the Northeast and
South with new distribution channels opening in Southern California, Oregon, and Washington in May.
Rockstar
Rockstar energy drink continues to experience robust
growth nearly three years into its partnership with the
Coke system. Over the past year the brand has been able
to gain significant space, share, and volume with key national customers like CVS and Walmart as well as expand
internationally in countries like Canada and the U.K.
Growth and penetration into nontraditional channels
such as specialty retail/colleges/ski resorts has also been a
key focus. Several new products are in the works. Building on the successful launch of Rockstar Roasted, multi
packs of this line are set to rollout nationally this summer.
The Rockstar marketing team continues to keep the brand
new and fresh through its nationally recognized sponsorship of the Suzuki Supercross team, Golden Boy Boxing
matches, NHRA racing team, and the Rockstar Taste of
Chaos concert tour.
Acute Fruit
Introduced in 2008, Acute Fruit, NTrinsic and CoMotion represent a new line of energy brands based on the
trio of energy, antioxidants and adaptogens. This new
category of drinks in addition to providing energy, promotes health, wellness, and stress relief. The end result is
complete and well-balanced energy. These three brands are
also certified CarbonFree and thanks to a partnership with
Carbonfund.org the carbon footprint associated with their
production and distribution will be offset. Acute Fruit is
36
a 100 percent fruit juice energy drink, non-carbonated,
with no added sugar or preservatives and all natural flavors. Available in Orange Passion Fruit flavor. NTrinsic is
all-natural with antioxidants and no preservatives. A sugar
free, zero calorie version is also available. It comes in Black
Pomegranate flavor. CoMotion is a double concentration
energy drink for a stronger and longer-lasting boost, available in Dragon Fruit flavor.
Guru
GURU, a line of 100 percent Natural and Certified
USDA Organic Energy Drinks, is now available in a
12 oz. slim can and introduces two new flavors: GURU
Full On Lemonade and GURU Juicy Superfruit. The
newly redesigned GURU can contains more energy than
the original 8.3 oz. size and is less filling than the 16 oz.
Catering to busy, active people’s needs, the new set of six
GURU products is 100 percent natural and contains an
active botanical complex made of standardized herbal extracts - Guarana, Ginseng, Ginkgo Biloba and Echinacea,
following the same original proprietary formula that maximizes their beneficial effects.
Spike Shooter
SPIKE, the hardcore energy brand, now features three flavors (Original, ‘Quila Lime, and Orange Gold) of SPIKE
Shotgun (16 oz.) and SPIKE Shooter (8.4 oz), as well as the
recently launched SPIKE Shot (4.2 oz). Shot and Shotgun
feature a new formulation that delivers maximum hardcore energy without the jitters. SPIKE is nationally distributed in top c-store outlets through McLane and CoreMark and is also available in specialty retail stores such as
GNC and Vitamin Shoppe. Delivering a premium price
point and high profit margin, SPIKE is supported by the
best “street team” in the business—SPIKE Special Ops.
B12 Beverages
After years of research and development, B12 Beverages
is proud to introduce LIFE into the marketplace. Life’s
energy blend has a combination of vitamins and natural,
exotic herbs, including the new “Super Root” MACA, to
give consumers high-quality energy quickly yet with the
staying power to keep them energized for hours with NO
CRASH, and NO BURN. What is MACA? Maca is grown
in a very small section of the Andes, planted and harvested
by hand. Its healing power and benefits have been known
by the Inca for over 2000 years. Maca is high in calcium
and works with the body to enhance the immune system,
nourish the body with minerals and vitamins and enhance
libido as a natural aphrodisiac.
Xtreme Shock
Xtreme Shock is now available in a 16 oz can. The first
and only “energy sensation” drink is serviced through a
multi-faceted network of distributors, such as: health and
fitness DSDs to beer and beverage distributors. The 16
oz. can is available in three flavors – Fruit Punch, Grape
and Blue Raspberry.
Liquid Lightning
Liquid Lightning will be unveiling a new formula and
brand-new look for release late spring. The new formula
will feature a combination of Ribose, Taurine, Ginseng,
Niacin, Vitamin B and Vitamin C to maximize its energizing benefits. Liquid Lightning’s focus has always been
on product quality, strong support of local distributors,
and nurturing relationships for the long-term growth of
the product. Liquid Lightning is available in regular and
sugar free in both 8.4 oz. and 16 oz. cans. Look for Liquid
Lightning at Shop Rite, Drug Fair/Cost Cutters, Foodtown, Pathmark, Amazon.com and in vending machines.
Frank’s
Frank’s is a sizzling new energy drink that is taking America by storm. The invigorating drink contains a number of
vitamins and premium ingredients designed to improve
physical performance and mental alertness. Pasteurized to
preserve freshness, Frank’s comes in four varieties and delicious flavors: Original, Sugar Free, Lime and Pineapple.
The energy drink is available in a slim 8.4 oz. can and a
jumbo 16 oz. can. Frank’s is the Official Energy Drink of
the Indy 500.
SOMEWHERE
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN
BETWEEN VITAMIN
VITAMIN
WATERS
WATERS AND
AND ENERGY
ENERGY DRINKS
DRINKS LIES
LIES
A
A BRAVE
BRAVE NEW
NEW WORLD.
WORLD.
A
A WORLD
WORLD WHERE
WHERE ENERGY
ENERGY COMES
COMES
FROM
FROM VITAMINS
VITAMINS AND
AND NOT
NOT FROM
FROM
CONTROVERSIAL
CONTROVERSIAL CHEMICALS.
CHEMICALS.
A
A WORLD
WORLD WHERE
WHERE FANTASTIC
FANTASTIC TASTE
TASTE
AND
AND MILD
MILD CARBONATION
CARBONATION ARE
ARE
PERFECTLY
PERFECTLY COMBINED
COMBINED TO
TO CREATE
CREATE
THE
ULTIMATE
TASTY
BEVERAGE
THE ULTIMATE TASTY BEVERAGE
AND
AND THE
THE BEST
BEST MIXER.
MIXER.
A
A WORLD
WORLD WITHOUT
WITHOUT CRASH!
CRASH!
A
A WORLD
WORLD WITHOUT
WITHOUT BURN!
BURN!
Roaring Lion
Roaring Lion’s 12 oz. can is rapidly becoming its flagship
SKU, as it has crossed over from the bar and nightclub
world to availability for purchase the product at gas stations and mini marts. Due to strong on-premise demand,
Roaring Lion’s first foray into the ready to drink market
was with the Resealable 500 ml PET bottle.
Fixx
FIXX Extreme is the first extention of the new Extreme
product line, which is “designed to push the limits of energy like never before.”
Hype Energy
A significant milestone in its international expansion,
Hype Energy has entered into an exciting agreement with
French distribution giant Orangina Schweppes. Via the
new arrangement, effective March 2008, products from
the Hype family will reach a wide network of outlets across
France. Other significant news from the company is the
launch of a new branded can featuring NHL star Alexander Ovechkin available in Canada from the start of 2008.
TM
the FIRST
vitamin soft drink
TM
© 2008 B12 Beverages, LLC
[email protected] - 561·737·8533
37
Rhino
Rhino Energy Drink provides exquisite taste with an
outstanding quality product formulation exclusively using
natural Austrian spring water. Rhino is currently the lead
sponsor of John Carter’s 2008 NASCAR team and had
a prominent presence at the 2008 X-GAMES’ Snowcross
finals and official team sponsor of the WPSA’s Snowcross
series nationwide. Rhino’s is now the exclusive energy
drink of Mandalay Bay and MGM Grand casinos’ service and pool bars. Rhino has also recently been enlisted
for distribution by Coca-Cola in select markets. Rhino’s
currently has prominent distribution in PA, OH, MD,
DE, KY, WV, and Washington D.C. and is launching in
VA, TN, NC, and SC throughout May and June. In addition to Rhino’s 8.3 oz regular and sugar-free cans and
1.5L Pet bottles, Rhino is now available in 16oz cans and
2.6g Bag-in-a-Box.
National Beverage
National Beverage’s Rip It’s newest flavor is A’Tomic Pom
Sugarfree. Rip It combines deliciously crisp pomegranate
flavor with an extra energy burst and zero calories. It’s the
ultimate sugar-free energy drink with a refreshing pomegranate punch.
Dark Dog
Dark Dog has launched a brand new Dark Dog Light.
Dark Dog Light differentiates its can from other energy
drinks by its eye-catching colour magenta.
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse Energy Drink claims to be so aggressively
priced that consumers save nearly half their initial investment just for trying Crazy Horse Energy Drink.
Cuba Energy Juice
A 100 percent natural energy juice containing no artificial sugars or preservatives, CUBA herbal energy juice
hit South Florida this spring. The product comes in three
flavors, Pomegranate/Cranberry, Wild Berry and Passionfruit/Orange.
Potencia
DLR Associates Inc and Potencia USA are proud to have
made it through year one with better-than-expectations
results. Potencia Energy Drink is now bi-coastal and continues to grow nationwide. With several trips south of the
border done and resumes being considered Potencia Mex
S.R.L. is gearing up for a southern assault into Mexico in
2008. Potencia is also producing its next flavor, Mandarin,
in the coming months.
38
Rage Beverages
RAGE Beverages of Canada is now the official energy
beverage of the TKO, one of the world’s leaders in MMA
Boxing. RAGE has announced placement through Fas
Mart/Shore Stop and Royal Farms. Distribution for all
202 Fas Mart/Shore Stop locations is being done through
an independent Otto Distribution, along with distribution in close to 50 7-Eleven locations in Maryland
and Delaware.
Ardea Beverage Company
The creators of Nutrisoda launched their beverages in
clear, 12 oz. glass bottles. All Nutrisodas, including Energize, have a unique wellness benefit and feature lightly
sparkling, crisp, natural fruit flavors. The bottles have
been shipped to the following markets for distribution:
Midwest/Great Lakes region, Dayton, Ohio, Chicago,
Portland, St. Louis, Florida, Kansas City, San Diego, Indianapolis, Seattle, and Cincinnati.
Crunk!!!
CRUNK!!! Energy Drink will be expanding its product
portfolio this June by launching a new lemon-lime citrus flavor. CRUNK!!! Citrus will have new packaging
as well, boasting a yellow and green can. Since January
2008, CRUNK!!! has added five new markets to their distribution – Los Angeles, North Carolina, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee – and the expansion will continue
this summer.
V&V
V&V Energy, the sparkling fruit beverage with a kick, has
new packaging and is now available as a 100 percent allnatural product. V&V is currently offering two new flavors, Pomegranate Blueberry and Orange Clementine and
is still available in Mixed Berry and Citrus Twist. V&V is
made with cane sugar and packaged in glass, giving V&V
the aura of a true gourmet beverage with energy drink
properties.
Xyience
Xenergy, a premium energy drink from Xyience, is a zero
calorie sugar-free energy drink. Xyience is pleased to announce a renewed partnership with the UFC (Ultimate
Fighting Championship). As the Official Energy drink of
the fastest growing sport in the world, Xyience is able to
leverage it’s exposure within key demographic markets to
increase sales and distribution.
the
izard
ing
does coffee
by matt casey
T
he Lizard King is back in the arena, but he’s backstage, not front and center. That’s where he says he wants to be, though. He’s through with the song
and dance routine, he insists. He’s not a brand manager, and he’s not the
entrepreneur either.
The Lizard King – John Bello, in his former role with SoBe, where the
rallying cry was “Drain the Lizard” – is an investor now, a power broker,
a guy who spots potential, feeds and nurtures it, and then rides it to a
payday. Whereas it was once about flipping cases for him, now it’s
about flipping companies.
At least, that’s his position, and in some ways,
he’s right. After all, it was just two years ago
that Bello parlayed a $6 million investment
in IZZE sparkling juices into a $75 million
sale to PepsiCo, the same company to which he
more famously sold his own creation, SoBe Beverages for a cool $337 million back in 2001.
But Bello the salesman is still in full effect, even
when he’s selling Bello the investor. There’s been some
friction between paydays, and some of it’s still ongoing. He’s seen one product line collapse on him, another
one struggle to keep its feet. Even Bello’s admirers – and
there are many – might want to see the now 62 yearold kick back, lighten up, recognize that he’s had a nice,
dreamy, multi-million dollar run in the beverage business,
wake up and smell the coffee.
Only problem is, Bello already did wake up and smell the
coffee, and to him, it smelled like more cash.
Bello and his partners at Sherbrooke Capital recently invested $6 million in Adina World Beat Beverages; their aim
is to create a set of coffee products that will become the
biggest brew in the cooler case since Starbucks’ Frappucino,
and they think Adina has the potential to do it.
40
B
ut while the once-hyperactive Bello said he’ll have a hand in the
brand’s development, he won’t be hustling cases out of trucks – or
hassling the distributors who own those trucks – like he did during his
days as the co-founder of SoBe.
In those days, Bello cut a reputation with his employees by getting his
hands dirty and personally dabbling in all the tasks he asked them to do.
These days are different, he swears.
“I don’t want to get on the field,” he said.
But here’s the question: can a guy who made his bones pulling tricks
like stealing his competition’s cooler stickers continue to find success when
he’s not able to re-shape a brand around his own personality? His two
greatest successes, SoBe, and before that, the promotion of NFL Properties, both had attitude, a gutsy feel that was all their own. Even when
Bello sold IZZE, the acquisition by PepsiCo was considered by some to
be a last-minute bailout for a strapped niche brand that had lost its momentum, the combination of Bello with the brand felt oddly incongruous.
For a Yoga-Mom friendly brand with the hip quotient of a Volkswagen
Beetle, they were sold by a guy whose approach correlates more directly
with a Panzer division.
So what does that mean now that he’s put his money into an exoticjuice-cum-coffee company that plans to save the world? Can the Lizard
King really do coffee?
the bello method
From the start, Bello has said he wants to build Adina’s globally-inspired
coffee line to challenge Starbucks’ domination of the ready to drink coffee
category. While he won’t get on the street, he said he will play director for
Adina’s next act, and instill the organization with the “Bello Method.”
The Bello method is a blend of football-coach motivational strategy
and guerilla – he calls it “go-rilla” – marketing. In his SoBe days, Bello was
known to march into convenience stores, rip the Snapple stickers off the
coolers and replace them with SoBe stickers. He also motivated his team
with “Bello-isms” like “Snapple is crapple” and “put AriZona in a coma,”
and made curiously effective use of the company’s voicemail system, according to John Kenneally, who headed up SoBe’s West Coast sales.
“He would encourage everybody in the company to get on that voicemail on a daily basis and talk about positive things in the marketplace,”
Kennelly said. “It really fired you up.”
When someone at SoBe failed, Kenneally said, they didn’t have to be
chastised. They went home knowing that they let down their coach and their
team, and that powerful mix gave the staff a strong dose of motivation.
“I would wake up in the morning and want to run through a burning
wall of fire… to make him proud,” Kenneally said.
Kenneally, currently working on Cytosport’s RTD line of Muscle Milk,
said Bello’s tactics made SoBe’s staff feel like a tight-knit sports team
pursuing a championship.
Of course, every championship coach makes a few mistakes. Just
ask Bill Belichik.
Bob Miller, one-time SoBe executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing and now executive vice president of sales and head of strategic planning for Function Drinks, said he disliked Bello the first time they met.
The two crossed paths at a 1994 trade show when Miller worked for Mistic and Bello worked for AriZona.
“At first, I couldn’t stand the guy,” Miller said. “(He was) just like real
arrogant and cocky.”
Bello framed conflicts in terms of war, Miller said, and was unwilling to
lose a battle. Miller recalled one instance where a distributor said he wasn’t
interested in carrying SoBe. Bello yelled his way up the company’s chain
of command until the last person he reached declared that the distributor
would never carry SoBe, unless Bello left.
Miller later developed respect for Bello, he said, and he saw at SoBe how
that cockiness played out in a business environment. That all-or-nothing
attitude could have had a lot to do with what was at stake for Bello, Miller
said. He said The Lizard King built his kingdom by leveraging his castle,
offering his house to the bank as collateral so that the company could get
a line of credit. And while Bello’s bluster may have cost SoBe one distributor, he eventually sold the company to Pepsi for a cool $337 million.
But that 2001 sale still stands as Bello’s crowning achievement. Before starting the company, he achieved notable successes at NFL Properties; after leaving SoBe, he and Sherbrooke facilitated the estimated
$75 million sale of IZZE sparkling juice drinks to Pepsi. In between,
however, he’s had a hand in a couple of ventures that have limped
into transition. Or failure.
firefighter fizzles
In 2004 Bello invested in Firefighter Brands, launching a line of snacks
and drinks to capitalize on the popularity of the firefighter image following
the September 11 terrorist attacks. That brand’s products included Hydrant Water and Courageous Cola, and the company promised to donate
25 percent of its profits to firefighter-related causes. But you won’t find the
brand on shelves today, and the company’s website has gone dark.
Bello called Firefighter Brands an instance of “no good deed goes unpunished.” The brand idea worked, he said, but the company was beset by
a number of problems. His departure from Pepsi barred him from working
in the beverage side of the business, he said, which is where the focus of
the brand fell, and he had a hard time corralling the divergent interests of
full-time and volunteer firefighters.
But he also had a hard time pulling the whole idea together. While the
brand started with a rollout of everything from potato chips and chili
to bottled water and sports drinks, by the end it was apparent that the
throw everything and see what sticks approach hadn’t worked. If the public had as much respect for firefighters in terms of potential brand equity
as Bello says it did, then Firefighter’s execution was a colossal failure. If
that potential was never there in the first place, it calls into question Bello’s
ability to still pick a winner.
And another of Bello’s recent ventures – a line of soups and soup restaurants based on the inspiration for Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi,” a real life
soup maker named Al Yeganeh – decided it would just plain be better off without him. Bello lost his post as CEO of The Original Soup
Man World Renowned Soup last year. But Bello said he never wanted
to be the company’s CEO. He said he took the post to drum up funding and publicity, and doesn’t have the time or will to be involved with
Soup Man’s – or any other company’s – day to day operations. He already
sits on several other boards and serves Sherbrooke by searching for the
next big brand. But he still owns ten percent of Soup Man, sits on the
company’s board and represents a large group of investors – which affords
him a measure of influence.
But this raises another question about the Lizard King: Does the Bello
Method work from a distance? He crafted SoBe in his own image by stationing himself on the front lines of the company’s store-to-store battles.
41
Even at IZZE, he packaged the company for sale by sitting as the board’s
chairman. But the battlefield looks different the farther you get away from
it, and at Adina, Bello plans to send dispatches from the general’s bunker.
As for Soup Man, Bello said the company is in a period of adjustment,
not unlike SoBe’s South Beach days. SoBe originally sold iced teas to an
unreceptive marketplace before Bello rebranded the company as SoBe and
introduced a new line of fruit and vegetable juice blends with splashes of
herbs – many of the elements that would later surface in the emerging
functional drink category. Similarly, The Original Soup Man is bending
away from the franchise track and specializing in grocery-ready soups.
stirring the coffee
And, just as he made those adjustments at SoBe and Soup Man, therein
might be the best of what Bello can bring to Adina.
Founded in 2006, Adina, despite a reputation for selling good, if expensive, beverages, has been organized more around an idea than a product,
according to company co-founder Magette Wade-Marchand.
That’s even why the company chose the name Adina World Beat Beverages, she said, so they wouldn’t be locked down to a single kind of drink.
But co-founder and CEO Greg Steltenpohl said that approach left the
company without focus. Adina experimented with multiple products that
“were not fully executed,” he said, and pushed three divergent beverage
lines including Miracle Fruits and Juice Coolers.
Now, under Bello’s advice, the company is rallying its sales and development resources behind the company’s coffee line. The coffee category is
ripe for a strong contender, Bello believes.
To that end, Steltenpohl said Adina plans to roll out six new coffee
SKUs in the coming year and bring the line to DSD markets on both the
East and West coasts.
“The ready to drink category is pretty much dominated right now by
Frappucino,” Bello said. “While it tastes great, we think there’s room for
something lighter.”
Adina’s coffee drinks weigh in between 90 and 110 calories per bottle,
which is about half that of a Starbucks bottled Frappucino – the creamy
concoction which Bello credits for blazing the path for other RTD coffees
to follow. The RTD coffee category was worth more than a quarter billion in sales in the last year, with Frappuccino alone accounting for $191
million and non-Starbucks brands accounting for around $25 million
– about the same as Starbucks Doubleshot. Taken as a whole, Starbucks
owns the RTD coffee segment much like Gatorade owns sports drinks,
but Bello said he thinks that their presence created a space where another
brand can move in.
“(Coffee) has been reinvented and reinvigorated with what Starbucks
has done,” Bello said. “(Frappucino) made a place for ready to drink coffees in the cooler set, so we’ll move in alongside it.”
Bello’s bet comes with more than Sherbrooke’s check. He said his experience in coffee stretches back beyond his SoBe days to when he cut his
teeth in the beverage market by working on Sanka for Maxwell House.
Additionally, the team brought in Bruce Schroder, who ran the Pepsi/Starbucks Frappucino partnership, and Adina has its own dose of in-house
expertise. Steltenpohl, you may remember, helped launch Odwalla – now
owned by Coca-Cola.
But Adina isn’t the only beverage firm trying to cut their own piece of
territory out of Starbucks’ kingdom. Coca-Cola tried to replicate Star-
42
bucks’ formula by partnering with Caribou Coffee and releasing metalbottled versions of that chain’s brew. SkylarHaley took a nutritious tack
on coffee drinks by fortifying AchievONE with vitamins and nutrients.
Muud Coffee plans to try the reverse of Starbucks’ model: the brand recently launched 15 oz. RTD cans composed mostly of espresso, and cofounder Matt Marini said long term plans for the brand include opening
coffee bars called “Muud Rooms.” Shock coffee continues to have cachet
among caffeine junkies. And don’t forget about the Monster in the room
– JavaMonster – which might very well have the growing distribution and
fan base to trump them all, Frappucino included.
Even with brands clamoring to get into the coffee sector, Bello still
thinks Adina has an edge. The company’s coffee is both organic and fair
trade – a great pair of marketing buzz-words – and its ethnically-inspired
flavors give the brand a strong point of difference. Bello said he thinks that
combination could help the brand carve out its own subcategory.
But again, there’s that cultural issue. Bello’s style is in your face, while
Adina has long been about laid back San Francisco hippie multiculturalism. How will that jibe with a guy who screams about draining the lizard?
According to Bello, it won’t be a problem. “I’m just there to provide
experience and reflection,” he said.
But while the company’s founders share that vision, not everyone does.
Miller, for one, has his doubts. He said the beverage market has gotten
tougher since his and Bello’s SoBe days.
The Lizard King, John Bello, is an investor now, a power broker, a guy who
spots potential, feeds and nurtures it, and then rides it to a payday.
“Distributors do less and less,” he said. “Slotting fees are higher… It’s
really become a much more difficult process now.”
Additionally, he said he’s not sure that Adina and Sherbrooke will have
the capital to take on a monster like Starbucks. Companies with much
deeper pockets have tried to and failed to take a piece of Starbucks’ action
proving, he said, that RTD coffee might be a one-brand category.
But, he added, “If anybody can do it, (Bello) will do it.”
brand news
Coffee
java monster
Hansen’s Java Monster continued to grow after its initial release last April. The share-stealing energy drink
brand added Lo-Ball, Nut-Up, Irish Blend, Russian
and Chai Hai - Monster’s first tea-based drink – to the
line. Geoff Bremmer, Monster’s brand manager, said
customer response to the line has been so strong that
the company had to ramp up production.
muud coffee
OK folks, buckle-up! Hot on the heels of the release of
our first 3 critically acclaimed MUUD flavors (original,
mocha and vanilla), MUUD is ready to unleash DynoMUUD. This the “bad boy,” – the original MUUD
recipe with another shot of espresso for an extra kick.
The result is an amazing smoky espresso flavor that will
definitely get you going.
mojava
With only 90 calories and no fat, Mojava Black is a
natural coffee drink with no preservatives or additional charging supplements such ginko, guarana or
taurine. Coffee, with the right amount of sugar and
8 to 10 oz. servings, makes the perfect energy drink
without the unpleasant side effects of crashing. Other
flavors in Mojito Brands, Inc. Mojava line RTD coffee include Mojava de Carma, Mojava MoMi, Mojava
Mojito, Mojava OrMi. A percentage of the profits
from the sale of Mojava Black are set aside for charitable contribution to help the many who suffer from
Sickle Cell Disease.
ny coffee
Not just for New Yorkers anymore, NY Coffee is expanding its reach. Besides the NY Metro area, the
company now has sales in Buffalo, Chicago, Georgia,
Portland Ore., Little Rock Ark., South Florida and
Atlanta. The company recently added distribution in
Price Chopper Supermarkets, Tree of Life and MVP
Distributors in Pennsylvania. Within the city, NY
Coffee has been promoting heavily with select TV
green rooms, including the Tyra Banks show, MTV
and Comedy Central.
starbucks
If the caffeine in Starbucks’ RTDs wasn’t enough for
you, the Seattle-based chain added a new selection of
supercharged coffee drinks. The Starbucks Doubleshot Energy + Coffee line features Coffee, Mocha and
Vanilla flavors, each 15 oz. can comes charged with a
double shot of espresso and a dose of guarana, ginseng
and B Vitamins.
44
[
Packaged beverages accounted for
$8.136 billion of in-store sales
How are you going to tap into
consumer beverage demand?
One Industry. One Voice. One Show.
October 4-7, 2008 | McCormick Place | Chicago, Illinois
4
4
Registration and housing
now available online.
www.nacsshow.com
CONVENTION SCRAPBOOK
FANCY FOOD SHOW
he Fancy Food and All Things Organic
shows held in Chicago from April 26-29 assembled vendors from all over the high-end food
and organic world. Companies hawked everything from baby clothes to imitation chicken,
from imported cheese to coconut oil and, of
course, a few beverages.
With more than 800 total exhibitors, the 30
or so beverage companies were clearly outnumbered and – with the show following Natural
Products Expo West – most of the new products and developments had already been revealed, but the beverage cadre still brought a
handful of surprises.
Adina World Beat Beverages finalized and
announced a $6.6 million investment lead by
Sherbrooke Capital and “Lizard King” John
Bello (see The Lizard King Does Coffee for a
deeper look into that deal.) Honest Tea showed
off five new SKUs, including Jasmine Green
Energy Tea; Apple Rush showed off mock-ups
of their planned new slim-can packaging, and
Zota revealed a glimpse into the company’s relaunch, including new flavors and innovative
new packaging.
Booths generally veered toward the tame
end of the spectrum, with Adina and Sambazon offering two of the more elaborate beverage
displays. Fruitzzo also made a strong showing
with its simple, but large and inviting midfloor installation.
Robert Corr of Apple Rush shows
the brands new slim-cans. off
ir
ir faux-hut and theilin
g.
The Adina crew had- the
sm
e
y'r
the
y
wh
private equity news that's
debrandt of Bionade
Ken Weeks and Andres Hil
of their product.
ply
sup
le
amp
brought an
46
John Beske and Linda Catomer wit
showed off their new packagingh .Zota
dy
lery, Ran
Keith Lord, Marie Hugley, Chad Woo
n.
bazo
Sam
with
rski
Pisa
Tim
kle,
Klac
Soy milk apparently excites
Pamela Dietz of Vitasoy.
Uncle Matt's brought orange juice
and family.
PROMO PARADE
Have a Perfect Picnic With Bota Box Wines
Why hassle with a corkscrew? Make life easy by taking Bota Box, premium varietal wines
in environmentally friendly packaging, to your next picnic. Bota Box is taking the edge
off food prices by offering consumers a $2.00 IRC and $3.00 MIR on any deli item. For
large picnics, Bota has created a $15.00 progressive MIR so one can stock up without
breaking the bank.
Batman Takes on Gotham
City With a Little Help From Milk
Wearing the famous milk ‘stache for a second time, Batman
from The Dark Knight is the latest hero to support the “Body
by Milk” campaign, to encourage teens to drink three glasses
of milk everyday as part of a healthy lifestyle.
The Body by Milk Campaign and DC Comics are also
sponsoring a sweepstakes to allow one lucky teen the
chance to be drawn into a Batman comic book. In
addition to the grand prize winner, fifteen fans
will win a special Batman prize from Mattel.
Check out Batman’s new Body By Milk ad,
find information about the sweepstakes,
watch The Dark Knight trailers, download the new Body by Milk “widget,”
and enjoy other media like behindthe-scenes videos from Milk Mustache celebrity ad shoots at www.
bodybymilk.com! The Dark
Knight hits theaters nationwide July 18.
Get Twisted This Summer
No boring POS here. This summer, Twisted
Wine offers retailers a unique rack guaranteed to jazz up any wine section. Additionally,
Twisted Wine is offering several coupons: a
$2.00 IRC and $3.00 MIR on meat purchases as
well as a $15.00 progressive MIR on Twisted
Wines. The Twisted portfolio includes Twisted
Zin (Zinfandel), Twisted Chard (Chardonnay),
Twisted Lot (Merlot), Twisted Cab (Cabernet
Sauvignon) and Twisted Pig (Pinot Grigio), all
varietals coming from California.
48
Announcing the Sports World's
Newest Power Couple – Venus
Williams and POWERade ZERO
Venus Williams, a pioneer on the tennis court,
continues her trendsetting as she partners with
the revolutionary POWERade ZERO, which
offers the nutrients and hydration benefits of
traditional sports drinks without the traditional
sports drink calories.
An extension of the POWERade family, POWERade ZERO offers a calorie-conscious exercisers a sports drink without the calories, including a purposeful mix of electrolytes: potassium
(to aid muscle and nerve function) and sodium
(just enough to stimulate thirst and promote
consumption, thus leading to proper hydration). POWERade ZERO also includes essential
B-vitamins to help the body utilize its energy
sources and replenish nutrients lost during exercise. The product is currently being rolled out
in retail channels nationwide.
Williams is an icon both on and off the court.
She boasts six major championships on her
résumé, as well as 36 individual tournament
titles. In 2007, Williams released EleVen, a collection of women’s athletic and lifestyle clothing and sneakers that she created with Steve
& Barry’s. She’s also a global ambassador for
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a program established to address worldwide gender issues.
POWERade ZERO is available in three flavors: Strawberry, Grape and Mixed Berry.
For more information about POWERade
ZERO, visit www.us.powerade.com.
READER SERVICE PORTAL
LOOKING FOR
PRODUCT SAMPLES
OR INFORMATION ABOUT
OUR ADVERTISERS?
Go to www.bevspectrum.com/readerservices
to request samples and get more information
from our advertisers.
PROMO PARADE
Daily's Unveils 'Sipstakes' to Kick Off the Summer
Selling Season
Daily’s, America’s premier cocktail and mixer company unveils its
“Win More Summer” consumer ‘sipstakes’ program at retail and
online. This July and August, ads in Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan
magazines, a range of POS materials, and an on-pack sticker will
all introduce Daily’s mixers and ready-to-drink products in a wide
array of today’s most popular flavors and cocktails. The ad and POS
copy will drive consumers to Daily’s website, www.dailyscocktails.
com, where they can enter to win the grand prize – a trip for two to
The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Maui, HI or the first prize summer
tunes MP3 player.
Daily’s Ready-to-Drink products are available in 10 oz. frozen
pouch package in four flavors: Mojito, Margarita, Strawberry Daiquiri, Pina Colada and a 1.75L Bag-in-Box in seven flavors: Cosmopolitan, Margarita, Appletini, Mojito, Mangotini, Bloody Mary and
Pomegranate Margarita. Daily’s Fruit Mixers are available 1L plastic bottle with professional pour spout in a range of popular flavors including Margarita, Caipirinha, Mojito, Mudslide, Raspberry
Daiquiri and more.
Available in nearly two dozen mouth-watering flavors, Daily’s
Fruit Mixers are made with a unique blending of real fruit, authentic
ingredients and fresh natural flavors.
Miller Lite Launches Comprehensive Soccer Program
Featuring CONCACAF Champions League Partnership
All summer long, Miller Lite will be working to make its brand synonymous with soccer. As the official beer sponsor of the CONCACAF’s Champions League, Miller Lite will run ads featuring current
Mexican soccer champions Omar Bravo and Cuauhtemoc Blanco.
Anchored by a partnership with Univision, “A Champion Combination” will hopefully give Miller Lite a captive audience among
legal-drinking-age Hispanics within the world of soccer, particularly
CONCACAF’s 40-member nations in the U.S., Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Ads will center on Blanco and Bravo. Special collectable singleserve cans will also feature the two players. A national consumer
promotion will give soccer fans a chance to win a soccer viewing
party chock full of Miller Lite.
Miller Lite also will have branded content during the summer
on TeleFutura’s “Contacto Deportivo” and branded sponsorship of
online media.
Another digital element will be the update of MillerLiteLatino.
com. The site will feature interactive games, tournament information and CONCACAF game footage, as well as sweepstakes where
visitors can register to win prizes such as flat screen TVs, keg-erators
and mini-fridges.
The CONCACAF tournament
is scheduled to kick-off in August 2008.
What is 7UP’s Recipe for Success?
7UP is teaming up with celebrity Chef Carlos Fernandez to cook up the 7UP Recipe for
Success nationwide contest. Latinos across
the country can put their creative cooking
skills to the test for a chance to win $70,000
and make their dreams of their own restaurant or remodeled kitchen a reality. Chef
Fernandez will judge all of the 7UP-infused
recipe entries to decide who gets crowned
the 7UP 100% Naturally Talented Chef.
The Hispanic population in the U.S. is
opening small businesses at a rate three
times faster than the national average.
7UP looks forward to helping one novice
Latino chef follow in dream a reality, Chef
Carlos’ footsteps.
50
Contestants can submit their original
7UP-infused recipes online at www.Receta7UP.com, via mail or at in-store demos
in select markets. All entries must be received by Aug. 5, 2008. Chef Carlos will review each entry and, using a small judging
panel, test his favorites. Ultimately, he will
narrow the selection to seven lucky participants who will cook their recipes live in-studio with Chef Carlos. The final cook-off will
be shown during Telemundo’s Cada Dia in
September. Chef Carlos will lead the final instudio judging and crown one winner with
the title of 7UP 100% Naturally Talented
Chef and award the $70,000 grand prize to
fulfill their dreams.
For complete contest rules for 7UP with
100% Natural Flavors’ Recipe for Success
contest, please visit www.Receta7UP.com.
THE LABEL SAYS LIGHT.
THE FLAVOR SAYS BECK’S.
• Beck’s Premier Light is the #5 Import Light Brand in
supermarket sales for 2007.*
• 2007 sales of Imported Light beers are up more than
10% over 2006, the category continues to grow and
reached over 15% in 2007.*
• Beck’s Premier Light is the lowest calorie import
beer in the U.S.*
• Please look for our East vs. West program which
features a cross merchandising offer for sushi and
Beck’s Premier Light.
*IRI InfoScan Total U.S. Food - Full Year 2007 data ending 12.30.07
Always Enjoy Responsibly. ©2008 Import Brand Alliance, Importers of Beck’s® Beer, St. Louis, MO

energy drinks: five big questions

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