Taste Radio

Since its debut in 2010, Spindrift, which markets craft sodas and sparkling water drinks made with fresh fruit juice, has focused messaging on the "real" and "simple" aspects of its ingredients. The brand proposition is rooted in the belief that consumers are increasingly confused about how drinks are formulated, especially when it comes to carbonated beverages, and seeking greater transparency and clarity. This month, Spindrift is planning to introduce a label refresh that company executives believe will articulate that messaging and enable for broader sales and distribution opportunities. In this podcast, recorded at Spindrift headquarters in Waltham, Mass., we sit down with founder and CEO Bill Creelman and CMO Strick Walker to discuss the company's approach to the updated branding and how it incorporated consumer feedback into the redesign. Creelman and Walker also delve into competitive set for craft soda and sparkling water, Spindrift's strategy for winning new retailers and consumers, and the brand's roots and positioning in the food service channel.

Back in the Big Apple for the third time in less than a month, the BevNET team rallied once more, this time to cover the 2016 Summer Fancy Food Show. Amid the vast halls of the Jacob Javits Center, the specialty food convention featured a broad and diverse range of beverage exhibitors at the event, including many based in metro New York. In this podcast, we examine how the Summer Fancy Food Show has evolved to become an important event for beverage brands seeking local and national retail opportunities. We also discuss a thriving scene for Brooklyn-based food and beverage companies as seen at the convention and the ways that some are marketing the borough as part of their brand. Finally, we offer our take on some of our favorite products, some of which are featured in our photo gallery from the show.

After a whirlwind eight days in which BevNET produced three conferences, we've taken some much needed time to sit down and reflect. Beginning in Brooklyn, where BevNET sister sites Brewbound and Project NOSH held business conferences focused on the business of craft beer and natural packaged foods, the team traveled uptown to Manhattan for BevNET Live Summer 2016, a three-day event that attracted 500+ beverage industry professionals. In this edition of the podcast, we discuss an overarching theme of health and wellness that linked the three conferences. We also examine the evolution of BevNET Live's New Beverage Showdown competition and the categories in which entrepreneurs are identifying opportunities for innovative concepts. The discussion leads to one about the market for cold-pressed juice and RTD coffee and ways that some brands are attempting to stand out from the pack.

The following podcast features a captivating discussion with Fred Hart, the creative director at Interact, a Boulder-based branding and design firm. Hart offers his take on cutting edge design trends and spoke about a recent visit to Mexico City where he found inspiration for new methods of design and storytelling. He also shares an engrossing account of Interact's work and packaging and label refresh for Dogfish Head Brewery.

In Episode 10 of the BevNET Podcast, we sit down with Justin Prochnow, a partner at Greenberg Traurig, to discuss current legal and regulatory issues affecting the beverage industry. We spoke with Prochnow, an expert in legal requirements for labeling, about changes to the Nutrition Facts panel, which were revealed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May. Prochnow also discussed the FDA's guidance on use of "evaporated cane juice" on ingredient labels, the agency's view of the term being "false or misleading," and what it means for food and beverage companies that are using the term.

Beverage entrepreneurs hear it all the time: "how is your brand differentiated from what's currently available on the market?" It's often distributors, retailers and investors that are asking the question, and most brand owners answer with claims about enhanced flavor, function or health benefits as compared to competing brands. Sometimes, entrepreneurs will say that their brand is "creating a new category" and doesn't fit into standard beverage segments. But just how effective is that statement? More importantly, is grounded in reality? We examine the approach in this podcast and discuss attempts to position a brand as so novel that it belongs in its own category. We also look at potential challenges and pitfalls that entrepreneurs may encounter along the way.

We're just a few days away from BevNET Live Summer 2016, and with it the eleventh edition of the conference's signature beverage brand competition, the New Beverage Showdown. The competition will feature 15 early-stage entrepreneurs who will take the main stage to present their brands and business plans to a panel of expert judges for a chance at a $10,000 grand prize. In this podcast, we look back at previous editions of the Showdown and identify key attributes of successful presentations and commonalities among winners. We also discuss where some brands stumbled and things to avoid while under the spotlight.

The team had a chance to evaluate some products with beverage industry investor, advisor, board member and raconteur Ken Sadowsky when dropped by the BevNET Podcast studio for an interview recently. Sadowsky has had a front-row view of the growth of groundbreaking brands like Vitaminwater and Vita Coco, joined BevNET's Jeffrey Klineman and Jon Landis to talk about the strategic moves taken by successful beverage company leaders, some of the reasons that distributors can't stop listening to Bruce Springsteen, and what it means to be characterized by so many in the industry as "The Beverage Whisperer."

In this edition of the BevNET Podcast, Chris Furnari, the editor of Brewbound, joins us to discuss his takeaways from the massive, 14,000-attendee Craft Brewers Conference and Brew Expo America, including some of the factors that are enabling massive growth in the craft beer category. We also discuss the increasing amount of merger and acquisition activity in the space, the prospect of 10,000 U.S. craft breweries, and the ongoing "craft vs. crafty" debate that just won't die.

In this edition of the BevNET Podcast, we discuss the swelling ranks of premium water brands and efforts by marketers to stand out from the pack. We also examine why a growing number of beverage entrepreneurs are bypassing co-packers and opting to build their own production facilities.