Over the last decade, beverage companies have often turned to acquisitions to expand their portfolios. But more recently, the appetite for investing in innumerable small brands has waned, with innovation being taken in-house. What does that mean for the...
Many people have an idea for a new range of drinks. However, starting a beverage company isn’t easy. Richard Horwell from marketing and branding company Brand Relations looks at six areas entrepreneurs need to consider.
A young engineer has created a candy-like delivery format to help the elderly consume water and nutrients, after watching his grandma’s struggle with dementia and dehydration.
PepsiCo has launched an open call for entrepreneurs to take part in this year’s PepsiCo Greenhouse Accelerator: with the ten winning companies receiving funding and mentorship from PepsiCo.
Aged just 26, two childhood friends and beverage entrepreneurs are ready to lead the charge in Canada’s lower alcohol movement with their 3% ABV premium gin soda brand, Good Sunday.
Borrago is taking its first step into the UAE with a launch in Dubai: where its steam-distillation process is particularly important for achieving 0.0% ABV.
With the invention of peanut coffee, fifth generation peanut farmer James Harrell found a way to combine in one product the rich history and future of his hometown of Suffolk, Va., which as the headquarters for Planters Peanuts was once known as the ‘peanut...
This pandemic is causing huge economic uncertainty and that’s scary for any startup but it’s also a once in a lifetime opportunity for health and wellness entrepreneurs to educate and engage with a health-focused and captive online audience.
The coronavirus crisis is a massive blow to many small businesses. But some start-ups have quickly adjusted to the new reality: ramping up online sales or swiftly making new marketing strategies. We talk to four entrepreneurs who may have had to throw...
PepsiCo has launched its second PepsiCo Greenhouse accelerator program in North America: calling for applications from start-ups which are at the forefront of transformative trends.
A wine cooperative that considers itself craft? A distillery that embraces mushroom flavours? And a juice company which isn't about juice? Labelled as 'hidden champions', these German companies are trying to do things a bit differently.
Lost Coast Food Co. - an apple cider vinegar juice brand ‘inspired by the southern California lifestyle’ – believes it can transform apple cider vinegar from a niche choice into an everyday product in the UK.
Ingredients and design are just the tonic for Anglo-Aussie mixers startup
From a booming craft beer sector to a hidden wine industry, Wales believes its beverage industry has the potential to grow and thrive over the coming years. It recently released a strategy that sets out the path to build the sector.
A UK manufacturer of air-dried fruit crisps has launched a range of infusions that can be both served as a hot cup of loose leaf tea and eaten as a snack.
Malaysia’s Hausboom has taken off across Asia and Europe.
Sitting in a cafe in Saudi Arabia, Azri Zahier came to a realisation. All around him, people were guzzling fizzy drinks. These, he noticed, were not local beverages, or even ones made elsewhere in the Gulf. They were from Thailand.
Mitte, a ‘first of its kind’ smart home water system, has secured $10.6m in financing, in a financing round led by Danone Manifesto Ventures, VisVires New Protein Capital and Kärcher New Venture.
What’s the secret to developing winning food and beverage products? Hard data and insight… or intuition and stardust? And can ‘Big Food’ still create winners, or should it throw in the towel and leave innovation to smaller, more agile counterparts (and...
Luke Johnstone, founder of PACK’D frozen Smoothie Kits, has won Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the 18th annual national Amazon Growing Business Awards.
Start-ups are changing the food industry from trailblazing new ideas to providing new growth models, and both big businesses and small start-ups need to collaborate to innovate. The benefits are mutual, says Jeremy Basset, founder of Unilever’s incubator...
Dispatches from Drinkpreneur 2015, London: ‘It’s really the era of small brands’
The success of craft beer has shown it’s the era of small brands, entrepreneurs heard at Drinkpreneur Live 2015 last week. But what makes a successful beverage entrepreneur?
It’s an exciting time for beverage entrepreneurs, with small start-ups successfully challenging the big established brands with new ideas and innovations. Drinkpreneur Live was held in London this week to enable beverage brands to meet industry experts,...
The vision, values and wisdom of an investor are just as important as the money, says beverage start-up brand Akuō. And it believes it has found the perfect fit for the brand: a fellow entrepreneur who has inspired the co-founders since their student...
Mark Rampolla: ‘The best time to raise money is when you don’t need it’
What are investors really looking for when they assess a food and beverage business? When it comes to gross margins, is there a magic number? And can you really be in decline when your sales are growing strongly?
Will Pepsi True & Coca-Cola Life revitalize the cola market, or are today’s more demanding and sophisticated consumers looking for more than refreshment and ‘no-artificial’ claims from their beverage calories these days?
While a scary percentage of new food & beverage brands end up quietly disappearing when their backers run out of cash, luck, or endurance, a small number succeed. But what distinguishes the winners from the losers?
ZENITH INTERNATIONAL GLOBAL SOFT DRINKS CONGRESS 2014, LISBON
The executive director of one of Europe’s biggest investment funds managing $1bn in assets insists that big brands like Pepsi and Coke are not cracking innovation and lag behind young beverage entrepreneurs.
DISPATCHES FROM 2013 INNOBEV GLOBAL BEVERAGES CONGRESS, WARSAW, POLAND
The UK is the current European hotspot for innovative beverage startups, due to listing opportunities that extend beyond the major multiples and an investment climate that favors small to medium enterprises.
A large chunk of the growth in the beverage category in North America over the next decade will come from products in categories that do not even exist today, predicts Coca-Cola’s Venturing & Emerging Brands (VEB) team.
