Over 4 wks thru Dec 22, total CSD volume increased 0.9%, per IRI data for all-channels reported by Morgan Stanley's Dara Mohsenian. He noted that trends benefitted from 4-wk timing that included Thanksgiving holiday this yr. There was lots of discounting in CSDs, with avg price down 2.8% in all channels vs -0.3% trend over 12-wk period and +0.8% for 52 wks. Regular CSD volume was up 3.8% last 4 wks vs -1.4% last 12 wks while diets improved to -5.4% for 4 wks vs 7.2% decline over 12 wks. Coca-Cola CSD volume up 2.7% with a -3.4% avg price decline over last 4 wks. PepsiCo volume increased 3% on avg 4.7% price drop last 4 wks. That's down considerably from PEP avg price dip of -0.9% previous 12 wks. Dr Pepper Snapple CSD volume was up slightly (0.2%) with a 2.2% price increase last 4 wks. Thanksgiving timing did nothing to boost fortunes of private-label brands as volume was down 13.6%, slightly worse than trend over last 12 wks.

Better Pricing in Energy Category; MNST Outperforms Again Energy drink volume increased 4.5% in all-channel data over last 4 wks, slower than 6.9% gain over last 12 wks. Pricing trends improved, tho, to +0.7% avg for last 4 wks vs -0.9% dip for 12 wks. Monster Bev Corp volume was up 12.5% with avg price decrease of 0.4% last 4 wks. Red Bull volume was up 5.8% with a slight (+0.1%) price gain for 4 wks. Rockstar slowed to 4.6% volume gain (vs 10% last 12 wks) as its avg price moderated a bit to -2.2% vs -3.9% for 12 wks. PepsiCo energy brands (notably Amp) were up 9.3% on avg price drop of 4.4% last 4 wks, while steeper avg price drop of -5.4% for Coca-Cola energy brands (NOS, Full Throttle) didn't lift volume, which still dropped 2.7%. Private-label energy volume fell 3.5% for those 4 wks despite double-digit price drop of 10.8%.

Sports Drinks Slide Consumers weren't loading up on sports drinks from Thanksgiving to weekend before Christmas, as volume slipped 2.9% for 4 wks vs 5.5% gain last 12 wks. Avg price edged up 0.1% for 4 wks, up from -0.8% for 12 wks. Gatorade volume was off 3.3% with avg price up 1.2% while Powerade volume fell 2.5% even with avg 3.1% price drop last 4 wks. Private-label losses accelerated as volume fell 17.5% on avg 3.3% price decrease.

Water Prices Still Low Bottled water volume rose 6.3% in all-channel data last 4 wks, in line with category's 12-wk trend in these stores. Avg price for waters was down 3.7% vs -2.6% over last 12 wks. Nestle Waters volume was up 3% despite slight (+0.2%) price increase. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo water volume fell 2.5% and 3.3% respectively last 4 wks. KO prices were down avg of 3.5% while PEP water prices were down 5.3%. Private-label water volume was still up double-digits (+12.5) with avg price drop of 4% last 4 wks.

Tea Volume, Pricing Trends Dip RTD tea volume slipped 0.5% over last 4 wks vs 2.2% gain over 12 wks in all-channel data. Pricing was a bit weaker as well, up slight 0.7% vs 1.3% avg for 12 wks. PEP teas (incl Lipton) were up 1.3% last 4 wks (down from +4% last 12 wks) with avg 3.3% price increase. KO teas (incl Gold Peak, Fuze) were up 11% with boost from avg 4.2% price drop. DPS tea volume (Snapple) fell 5.2% last 4 wks on flat pricing.  

A pair of familiar faces from bev world are teaming up to establish $25 mil equity fund that will target early-stage bevs. Former Royal Crown, Tampico and Snapple exec John Carson and longtime Coca-Cola vet Hal Kravitz are among 4 managing partners in Intercontinental Beverage Capital, which describes itself as "middle-market advisory group in the process of establishing its private equity fund with an initial capital investment of $25 million seeding an ultimate target of $200 million of assets under management." The fund, which says it's focusing on "consumer products and beverage industries," is based in Melville, NY, hq of its apparent affiliate Stonehill Business Capital, an asset-based lender, with offices in Atlanta (where Kravitz is based) and Boca Raton, Fla (where Carson is based). Its bev focus includes both alc bevs and NAs. No immediate response to call made to John earlier this week, but some details are available at Web site set up at InBevCapital.com.

Web site indicates IBC is seeking investments in cos with revenues ranging from $7.5 mil to $100 mil, positive operating cash flow, enterprise value between $5 mil and $250 mil, and willing to have IBC actively engaged in managing co. Initially, it's perusing N Amer targets, both private and public, and hopes those lead to international opportunities down road.

Carson, former prexy of Cadbury Schweppes North America (predecessor co to Dr Pepper Snapple Group) serves as IBC chmn. Tho nominally retired, John has kept active hand in biz, lately via involvement in turnaround of Va copacker now called Summit. Kravitz had enjoyed varied 30-year career within Coca-Cola system, most recently serving dual role as svp of franchise and commercial operations for KO's Glaceau div and dir of customer governance in Coca-Cola North America's Franchise Relations Group. Earlier, as prexy of Glaceau, he was face of co following acquisition by KO and led integration into parent co. He previously held varied roles within KO's biggest bottler in N Amer, Coca-Cola Enterprises. Bringing expertise on alc-bev side is John Devonport, who brings 27 years with Guinness, followed by role as importer of niche beers and spirits via his Bespoke Brands LLC and spring water via his Fine Beverage Inc. Fourth key member of brain trust is Stephen Horgan, former Coca-Cola, Coors and Miller exec who'd set up broad-ranging Atlanta-based co called Brand Aspirations that targeted food/bev and logistics acquisitions (BBI, Feb 9 2011). Among IBC's advisors are former NY Gov David Paterson as well as Stonehill Business Capital chmn William Hayde and his cofounder Joseph Messina. That co specializes in alternative financing vehicles such as asset-based loans.  

Making first appearance on NY entertainment institution Saturday Night Live just days before he exits from 3d term, Mayor Mike Bloomberg was asked what he planned to do after leaving office. His answer: "Fulfilling a lifelong dream of enjoying a small soda on a nonsmoking beach."  

Hangover preventive marketer Mercy Nutraceuticals is adding Mercy Hangover Prevention Chewable Tablets to mix - "just in time for New Year's Eve," co notes. Formulated similarly to canned versions of Mercy, new 5-calorie chews come 2 per pack, with the pair said to counter negative effects of 3-5 alcoholic drinks. Tablets retail for $33 per 12-pack case.  

After slow start, Reed's Inc continues to pick up momentum in building retail footprint for its Culture Club Kombucha line, lately adding key chains in 2 corners of country. It's gotten 4 of its 8 flavors into 204-unit Ingles Markets chain in Southeast. Over in Pacific Northwest, LA-based co has also won entry for 4 flavors throughout 32-unit Haggen Food & Pharmacy chain, under Haggen and Top Food & Drug banners.  

Steve Torres, vet of NY altbev scene, says he's making headway with brand called Hey Mama that offers RTD version of organic herbal tea elixirs that have long targeted pre- and postnatal moms. Serial entrepreneur Steve, who earlier worked opposite end of bev scale with canned Powerball energy line, teamed with herbalists to devise pair of sku's that target expectant moms' prenatal condition: Lemon Glow, formulated from red raspberry leaf, nettle leaf and rooibos (red) tea to purportedly tone uterus and prepare womb for delivery, and Minty Morning, which eases morning sickness via blend of peppermint leaf, ginger root powder and rooibos tea. They're in 12-oz glass bottles tagged "Teas for Moms to Be" and clock in at 25-30 calories per 8-oz serving via cane sugar as sweetener. Also in mix, so as to hold onto customers after they've given birth, is postnatal Pom Berry Baby made from fenugreek seed, fennel seed and chamomile flower tops. That's flagged on-label as "Tea for Mommies" and clocks in at 70 cals per serving. Unit price for now is $3.49-3.99 tho Torres hopes to move price lower. Production launched at small copacker in Poughkeepsie, NY.

So far line is shipping via Amazon and other online platforms to receptive consumers in markets like Calif, Tex and Fla, and has cracked about 150 NYC retail accounts, including Morton Williams grocers, Westside Market and Garden of Eden gourmet stores and indie pharmacies, where it can find itself shelves in baby aisle or bev cooler. In early stages, at least, Steve will keep his retail distribution to Northeast. He's working social media channels to reach expectant moms and plans to make quarterly donations to Save the Children. Recall that Torres once operated NY distributor High Five, partly as vehicle to distribute Powerball; when both ran into trouble, he sold out to Brooklyn Bottling and its North Shore distribution arm, remaining there for a spell while prepping Hey Mama launch. Brand info is at TeaForMomsToBe.com. Recall too that BBI recently profiled another co targeting same demo under Healthy Mama corporate moniker and Boost It Up brand name (BBI, Nov 19).  

"Perhaps the City's anti-soda and sugary juice campaigns are having an effect," ponders NY Post, reporting regional Nielsen grocery data that shows soda and juice slipping while milk nearly held steady and bottled water rose. "Whether the result of Mayor Bloomberg's campaign against large, calorie-rich large sodas or a wider national trend away from sodas to more healthy drinks, bottled water was the only beverage category to show an uptick in volume sold," per Nielsen survey of 25 best-selling brands. Biggest water brands grew by 1% in past 12 mos to 144.3 mil gallons, while milk slipped 1.8% to 28.6 mil gals but soda dropped 6.8% to 88.1 mil gals and juice dropped 6.1% to 46.5 mil gals. Sports drinks and teas, which Post grouped together, were down 5% to 44.6 million gallons. Nestle Waters North America was big winner in NY metro, with area's top brand, Poland Spring, which saw 4.5% growth to 98 mil gals. Its Pure Life tap water brand also was winner, up 4.7% to 12.4 mil gals. On soda side, every major brand was down, with Coke's top brands off 3% and PepsiCo's off 14%. "Coke is increasing its market-share lead partially because it is dropping prices, while PepsiCo is slightly raising them," paper explained. PEP seemed to be coming out ahead in juice wars, tho, with Tropicana holding steady at 25.2 mil gals, while KO's Minute Maid's plunged 15% to 8.4 mil gals . . . Prexy of SF's Board of Supervisors has thrown his support behind bill that would ban sale or giveaway of plastic-bottle water on city property, including any units of 21 oz or less "in parks, at concerts, large events and via mobile food trucks," as c-store assn NACS summarized. "The measure would be rolled out gradually as potable water sources are increased on public property," NACS noted. "Given our access to incredibly healthy, clean and tasty Hetch Hetchy water, which is some of the highest-quality municipal tap water in the country, it just doesn't make sense for us to have this addiction to plastic water bottles," said board prexy David Chiu, terming plastic water bottles "incredibly wasteful and environmentally damaging." If passed, bill would take effect next Oct.  

Team of coffee experts assembled by Thrillist has voted Counter Culture of Durham, NC, as best coffee roaster, besting top-10 field that included more familiar names like Portland, Ore's Stumptown and Chicago's Intelligentsia. Counter Culture, which by now has presence up and down East Coast, is cited not just for complex flavors but for "pioneering sustainable coffee practices such as less ecologically damaging shade-growing techniques and releasing yearly transparency reports, presumably on overhead projectors," Thrillist reported. Other top finishers in voting were #2 Stumptown, 10-unit chain and supplier who "pride themselves on not only their roasts, but also their ability to intelligently discuss stoner metal with their customers," and #3 Madcap Coffee of Grand Rapids, Mich, "known for their meticulous design and a unique varietal series in which they source 8 different types of beans from the same farm," per writeup. (Grand Rapids seems unlikely setting but remember that city has also proved hotbed of respected craft brewers.) The #4 vote-getter is Intelligentsia, now with outposts in NY and LA, and #5 is tie between PT's Coffee of Topeka, Kan, and Heart Roasters of Portland, Ore. Rest of list in descending order: #7 Verve (Santa Cruz, Calif); #8 Four Barrel (SF's Mission District); #9 Dogwood (Minneapolis) and #10 Klatch (San Dimas, Calif).

Portland's Heart Goes Contrarian All the Way The 4-yr-old micro-roaster Heart may offer most unusual taste experience among Thrillist winners, going in for lightest possible roasting to preserve delicate flavors of green beans, to the point that first sip by newcomer can be shock (as BBI editor experienced during drop-in to original East Side café in Portland 2 summers back). Offering such mild roasts in a town like Portland seems quixotic stance - parallel, perhaps, to effort by Rogue Brewing unit Buckman Botanical to offer beers without bittering hops in hop-crazed IPA mecca - but Heart has garnered lotsa local respect in hypercritical coffee epicenter, even as its products remain polarizing. It opened West Side unit around corner from Ace Hotel this fall and is offered at retailers in major metros across country and by mail order. (A 12-oz bag goes for $17 or more.)

Among many contrarian moves, founders Wille Yli-Luoma (a Finnish snowboarder) and his wife Rebekah don't use Fair Trade-certified beans on grounds that those prices are way too low and designation "does not guarantee producer sustainability, farmer sustainability or quality coffee," per co's Web site. Tho some of its coffees are organic, "We do not specifically seek out organic coffees, as we primarily focus on taste, quality, and clarity. We do not advertise the organically grown coffee as such, when we are offering it." Nor will co offer iced coffee, even in summer - not even coldbrew variety that's become mainstay at superpremium roasters like Stumptown or Blue Bottle - because it ruins delicate oils, Yli-Luoma contends. As local foodie site noted, "He's adamant that his coffee is treated more like tea, gently, and with a ritualistic precision, in both roasting and beverage making." Warned NY Times travel piece detailing burgeoning "purist" coffee scene in Portland: Heart is "advanced coffee, with a juicelike flavor that's not for everybody."  

Coca-Cola Bottling Co Consolidated (COKE) has committed to so-called "incidence pricing" structure with Coca-Cola North America for minimum of 2 years, for array of brands that extend from bottler-produced CSDs to coldfilled Fuze noncarbs and coldfilled Minute Maid Adult Refreshments. Incidence pricing, recall, is more sophisticated way for partners to share in profits of those brands rather than tying KO's compensation strictly to volume of concentrate it sells to bottler, which sometimes has resulted in warring incentives as bottler tilted toward lower-volume, higher-margin items. Under deal effective Jan 1, prices that KO charges for concentrate will be tied to factors like pricing and sales of finished products, retail channels and package mix. Deal calls for KO to give Coke Consolidated at least 90 days' notice before changing incidence rate, move that would allow COKE to terminate contract.  

As old year winds down, it may not be bad time to look ahead to new generation of bev brands. For starters, here's glimpse of 3 top vote getters among 20 entrants to Bev Showdown at recent BevNet Live conference in Santa Monica, Calif - testimony to willingness of some entrepreneurs to think outside box in environment that some observers have lamented lately has been too stuck in safer old concepts tied to iced teas, sodas and other mainstay segments. Overall winner was Health-Ade Kombucha, while runners-up, who missed by just a nose, were Happy Tree Purely Maple maple-tree water and Chimp Food, RTD exemplar of popular paleo diet.

LA-based Health-Ade Kombucha is only just entering retail and this past fall drew minority investment from First Beverage Group. Health-Ade already has been extensively profiled in BBI (BBI, Oct 8 and 22) and, as earlier noted, melds retro apothecary touch to branding and local sourcing of ingredients as key differentiators in increasingly crowded segment. After starting in local farmers' markets, it's in just 190 stores so far but is completing production facility near LA with another to follow in NY next Sep, founders told BevNet crowd.

Happy Tree Purely Maple was launched by 2 brothers (one of them a former McKinsey consultant) from upstate NY town of Grahamsville in Catskill Mtns who initially were targeting maple syrup as opportunity but ended up going with water that flows from sugar maple trees in spring and is rich in nutrients like riboflavin and calcium. They settled on high-pressure processing (HPP) to maintain vibrant taste and have won commitment from Whole Foods' NY operation to carry brand once it formally launches in spring. They're also targeting food co-ops and bickram yoga studios as well. SRP is $3.49 but they'll promote item at 2 for $5. They're playing in segment that already boasts several entrants, including Canadian brand called Oviva and another brand called Vertical Water. Fledgling Web site is DrinkPurelyMaple.com. (As it happened, there also was birch water entry in mix of Showdown entries.)

Chimp Food smoothie line plays on notion that chimps have same dietary system as humans and are able to survive on fruits, berries, veggies, nuts and seeds. So Fla-based founder Scott Joseph has packed 5 of each of those food types - including pulps and seeds - into smoothie-like drink for "real, raw, whole food blended together." Items go for $5.99 and conform to paleo diet that's been popular in some circles.