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Home » Topics » Innovation

Innovation
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Expo West 2023: Live Updates

What's Next for Functional Beverages
March 7, 2023

Beverage Digest is walking the show floor along with about 65,000 other attendees at Expo West in California this week. We'll investigate natural ingredient trends that could one day drive the growing and profitable functional packaged beverage market. We're also looking for what's new within existing ready-to-drink segments and product lines, and talking to the founders and leaders who propel the sector.

We'll share our observations in live updates here, so check back through the next couple of days.

Subscribers can email us if there is something specific you'd like to ask about. For those attending the show, feel free to send any noteworthy observations as well.


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Richard’s Rainwater Turns Showers into Growth Spurt

Decades-Long ‘Hobby’ Looks to Capitalize on Consumer Desire for Canned Water
February 1, 2023

Brand Backed By Former Hedge Fund Owner, Major League Pickleball Founder

Richard’s Rainwater has spent the last couple of years making sure the brand won’t be ignored. Fresh off a 2021 Series A funding round that was north of $10 million, the Austin, Texas-based packager of actual rainwater has been expanding shelf presence at retailers including Kroger, Albertson’s and HEB, adding production capacity, and executing an aggressive publicity campaign. If you hadn’t heard of the still nascent brand previously, you’d be...


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Sports Biz Journalist Darren Rovell Launches Spiced Kickstand Cocktails

Influencer Who Introduced Kobe Bryant to BodyArmor Looks to Parlay Connections
October 20, 2022

Darren Rovell, the journalist, investor, and social media influencer who wrote the literal book on Gatorade, is bringing heat to the fast-growing canned cocktail market. Rovell, who has 2 million Twitter followers and is credited with introducing the late Kobe Bryant to BodyArmor co-founder Mike Repole, had his lightbulb moment 10 months ago while drinking spicy cocktails. That inspiration has since led to a brand called KickStand Cocktails and a newly landed $2 million investment round. The ready-to-drink cocktail blends vodka and fruit juice with artisanal spice, which Rovell says is the key differentiator. KickStand enters a canned cocktail market that is expected to grow by an average of +11.6% through 2032, according to researcher Future Market Insights. As consumers move on from the hard seltzer craze to...



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Cooler Screens Looks to Turn Simple Doors Into Retail Tool

Q&A: Founder Arsen Avakian Writes Second Act After Argo Tea
September 22, 2022

Argo Tea Co-founder Arsen Avakian was struck by how often consumers in store aisles pulled out a cell phone while browsing a drink cooler. When he asked why, he learned they were researching brands to understand everything from ingredients to provenance. With a background in technology, Avakian had a...


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Bottler Liberty Coke Embraces Paper 6-Pack Holder to Replace Plastic Rings

‘The Plastics Issue is Not Going Away,’ Executive Says
August 18, 2022

Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages has become the first beverage manufacturer to replace plastic rings and shrink wrap with paperboard holders for can multipacks. The bottler is now using a KeelClip paperboard packaging system by Graphic Packaging to hold together six- packs of 7.5-oz minicans. More package sizes could be added...


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Closer Look: Air Up Promises “Scent-Flavored” Water

Spoiler: The PepsiCo-Backed ‘Retronasal Smell’ Technology Works
August 18, 2022

BD recently wrote about the U.S. launch of Air Up, the German maker of a refillable bottle that uses pods to flavor plain water by smell instead of taste. PepsiCo is an investor in the company, which describes its technology, based on a scientific concept called “retronasal smell,” this way: “The flavored air travels from your mouth up to your olfactory center, where it’s perceived as flavor.” From packaging to materials, Air Up embodies an assortment of beverage trends that resonate with Gen Z and Millennial consumers: Healthfulness, design, personalization, technology, and sustainability. To better understand the Air Up offering, BD bought and used the product, which the...


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What’s Life Like These Days for Regional Soda Brand Ale-8-One?

120-Year-Old Company Navigates Unprecedented Inflation With ‘Steady’ Strategy
July 15, 2022

Nestled in Winchester, Kentucky just outside Lexington and less than three miles from the Bluegrass Heritage Museum, craft soda maker Ale-8-One Bottling is a microcosm of the complex...


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All Sport Owner Jel Sert Parlays Fla-Vor-Ice Popsicle Empire into Boozy Extension

Company Looks to Expand Licensing, Co-Packing Work With Coke, Other Majors
July 15, 2022

Company Looks to Expand Licensing, Co-Packing Work With Coke, Other Majors
Owner and President Sees Long Growth Runway for Powdered Water Enhancers

During the past two years, West Chicago-based Jel Sert built a distillery, winery, and brewery into the middle of a half-million-square-foot food and beverage manufacturing plant that for almost...


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Honest Co-Founder Goldman Won’t Chase DSD as He Launches Organic Bottled Tea

Offers View on Small Health-Oriented Brands at Coke
June 23, 2022

As Honest co-founder Seth Goldman races to get his new ready-to-drink tea to market in the aftermath of Coca-Cola’s decision to discontinue Honest tea, there is one thing he is sure of for now. He won’t try to build a...


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Opening Thoughts: June 23, 2022

June 23, 2022

I’m a skeptic when it comes to non-alcoholic craft beers, spirits, and wines. How big can this market get without the functional benefits of alcohol, especially when sold at about the same price?

I recently posed the question to Athletic Brewing Co-founder and CEO Bill Shufelt during a panel I moderated for Credit Suisse in New York. His non-alcoholic beer brand has raised more than $70 million since launching in 2018 and accounts for almost half of the still-small US non-alcoholic beer market. Shufelt told me that most of his consumers don’t shun alcohol. Sometimes they just need a break and they like beer. He sees lots


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