Mix1Life has made further progress in efforts to purchase No Fear brand from incubator Shadow Beverages, saying it's entered into letter of intent to acquire bev license, operating system and sales support behind brand. "The addition of the No Fear brand will generate additional revenue to our company while providing seasoned executives and an operating system which will accelerate our growth with both brands," which includes Mix1 RTD protein line, said Mix1Life ceo Cameron Robb. Contacted by phone today, Cameron said he couldn't comment further on deal or strategy behind it until transaction actually closes. In regulatory filing a week ago, co had indicated sale price was $12 mil for No Fear, which is licensed from apparel retailer of that name and once was marketed by PepsiCo's SoBe unit (BBI, Mar 2).  

Norwegian import Voss Water is stepping up focus on its African well-building activities this year, moving beyond POS to more consumer-engaging activities via contest offering hands-on visit to Sub-Saharan Africa dubbed One Well at a Time.

Starting Mar 22 and running thru Apr 22, NY-based brand will launch One Well at a Time promo offering consumers 31 Days to Make a Difference by demonstrating thru a past or current activity their efforts to make a difference in their communities and concern with water issues, said group cmo Ken Gilbert. Expert panel will designate winner who gets all-expense-paid trip to visit Voss Foundation water project in Swaziland, in Sub-Saharan Africa, where foundation since 08 claims to have funded 89 water access points and 239 sanitation facilities. Recently built well will be dedicated in winner's name. Judging panel includes singer Jewel, Face Africa founder Saran Kaba Jones, Cause Marketing Forum prexy David Hessekiel and Voss Fdtn exec dir Kara Gerson. Initiative is to be formally announced at upcoming Explorer's Club event at NY's Museum of Natural History.

Brand is coming off year when sales surged 27% to $60 mil, rebounding from $25 mil trough before current mgmt team led by Jack Belsito arrived 4 years ago. In US, brand grew 8% in on-premise market where it first found legs, and more accelerated 34% at retail and 39% overseas, where key markets include UK, Australia, China and Dubai. Reassuringly, noted group cmo Ken Gilbert, a former colleague of Belsito's at Snapple, even as brand has broadened its retail reach and consumption occasions (it's even a workout drink to some), recently done brand and trademark extender study indicate that consumers still put it on plane with luxe icons like Tiffany, Mercedes and Armani. That's been reflected in avg price point, at $1.50, that scanner data indicates to be roughly 50% higher than key premium rivals,

With sparkling segment continuing to boom, co finally has moved to better differentiate its still and sparkling packaging, putting sparkling packs in dark gray with color-coded cap and moving sparkling designation further up barrel of bottle. It's also readying PET bottle for sparkling line for later this year, effort that required development of layered bottle to protect carbonation level. Emirates Airlines, a key customer, is getting a 250-ml package, too.

Food occasions remain key for Voss, and co is dialing up presence at food-related events like Taste of London, NY Wine & Food and Harlem Eat Up. Taking a leaf from consumer activity that's visible in many Voss-related photos posted on social media, co is inviting users to come up with creative fruit infusions, activity that also lends itself to displays in perimeter sections of stores and guest activities at hotels and spas.  

Core Natural Water, new brand from Fuze and Body Armor creator Lance Collins that promises "perfect pH" of 7.4, has recruited A list of distributors and is beginning to move into major retail chains. It's lined up likes of Haralambos in LA, Lenore in San Diego, Kalil in Ariz, Columbia in Pac NW, New Age in Denver, Honickman Group on East Coast, Polar in New England and Big Geyser in NY, even as chains like Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, Kroger and Safeway begin to move brand extensively out. On c-store side, 7-Eleven brand has authorized brand in 1,700 stores so far. Circle K, Quik Trip and Valero also have come aboard in some of their territories.

Brand had taken low-key approach to date, tho BBI was able to tease out brief sketch of brand proposition and team members a few weeks ago (BBI, Feb 2). Expo West, held last weekend in Anaheim, Calif, represented formal debut of brand whose premise came to creator while listening to Madonna interview in which pop star urged listeners to "be true to your core." "I thought, what a great trademark," recalled Collins, who rushed out to claim it. (Earlier in career, entrepreneur has been behind licensed or newly created bev trademarks like NOS, Rehab and Life Water.)

In contrast to imported bottled waters, Core is produced at copackers in NY and Calif, with Midwest site likely to be added soon. It's made via 7-stage process, contains range of electrolytes and minerals, and sports bottle that tapers at middle and has striking blue overcap. With alkaline brands generating lotta hoopla lately, Core seeks to make much of its purportedly "perfect pH" of 7.4, in line with blood plasma, and its medical advisors are ready to offer evidence that more elevated pH levels disrupt optimal acidity in stomach and otherwise challenge body's finely honed systems. That said, distributors seem to feel there's room for all in market, and some who've picked up Core also are distributing alkaline brands like Aquahydrate and Essentia.

Key investment partner is producer/songwriter Dr Luke. Other investor/endorsers include Katy Perry (for whom Dr Luke has written songs), dj Diplo, rapper Juicy J, singer/rapper Becky G and producer Max Martin, who just won Grammy. Thru partners' social media links, brand already has garnered extensive awareness, Lance said. Tally so far is $12 mil in raised capital, including Collins' own investment, a figure he expects to rise to $15-20 mil range. Other boldface names are about to enter mix, promised Collins, who's been able to recruit likes of Kobe Bryant for Body Armor.

As reported, key team members include former Vitaminwater and Zico exec Andy Griffiths on natl accts side and JC Crecy on marketing. Running co as prexy/ops mgr is Paul Nadel, formerly prexy at Neuro. Also in marketing mix is former Smartwater exec Eric Berniker. Medical advisors include skin expert Dr Jeff Rapaport, ABC News sr medical contributor Dr Jennifer Ashton and gastroenterologist Dr Mark Pochapin. Brand is working with broker/consultant LA Libations to commercialization strategy.

Tho Collins remains fully invested in Body Armor, he emphasized that all day-to-day operations are now in hands of his partner, former Vitaminwater co-creator Mike Repole, operating out of Glaceau's old digs in NY. Lance remains involved in innovation and general strategy, but is generally unencumbered from pursuing Core vision. Repole wasn't approached about investment in Core, Collins noted, but he turns to his Body Armor partner for advice on Core frequently.  

Should cold-pressed juice marketers be worried? Jimmy Kimmel spoof of burgeoning sector is approaching 1 mil views on Youtube since being posted about 5 weeks ago. In sketch, show staff concocts new cold-pressed line called Juce from ingredients like Fun Dip (with flavor name "Sol"), Tang ("Cure"), melted creamsicles ("Detox") and Skittles ("Rainbow"), then asks consumers at LA's Farmer's Market to sample them. "Not too sugary like a lot of juices are now," offers one. Another: "Natural . . . it doesn't taste like chemically at all." Self-acknowledged juice connoisseur from New Zealand notes that Cure, the Tang item, is "not so sweet - just like you really squeezed the fruit." Asked by sampler to rate Tang item on scale of 1 to 10 "from powdered drink to most organic thing imaginable," another shopper offers assertive, "Oh, it's a 10, no doubt about it." Video of segment can be viewed here.  

Coca-Cola's Honest Tea unit scored 31% rise in sales last year, said its founder/ceo Seth Goldman, amid signs that revamped packs have succeeded in making brand accessible to broader range of consumers. That's reflected in part in growing c-store presence, in marques like Quik Trip, Sheetz, 7-Eleven (in Northeast region) and Casey's General Store. Brand also is beginning to eye overseas markets as ripe for development, and has commenced discussions with Coke bottlers in some countries - a challenge, given Coca-Cola's continuing alliance with Nestle in overseas markets, even tho N Amer component of alliance was dissolved a few years ago. Honest Tea will skirt issue by offering only herb- or juice-based items that don't use camellia sinensis species. And in another step to broaden presence of brand, juice-based Honest Kids line is testing Tetra Pak in Costco, via 40-unit packs of 6-oz boxes with straw attached.  

At Expo West, co took big step toward countering calorie shock of juices to some consumers, offering trio of single-serve entries that clock in at mere 100 calories per 10.5-oz bottle thanks to sweetener blend of stevia and organic erythritol. "Most people don't know that açaí is one of the only fruits in the world with virtually zero naturally occurring sugar," said founder/ceo Ryan Black. "Starting with that pure, organic acai juice and blending in fresh fruits and natural, organic sweeteners has allowed us to create an invigorating, delicious beverage with all the exceptional health benefits of 100 acai berries, but fewer calories and sugar." While other juice makers have tried range of techniques to getting around calorie issue - including simply downsizing bottles, as Odwalla famously did a few years back - Black said he's pleased that, after extended effort, co finally was able to find solution that doesn't "dumb it down." Line is shipping now in Acai Berry (which also contains agave in sweetener blend), Strawberry + Lemon + Acai Berry and Pineapple + Coconut + Acai Berry flavors. They go out at $2.99 per bottle, in line with existing single-serve items.

Scuttlebutt at show was that Sambazon might have just pulled in significant new round of capital, but Black preferred not to go there, saying only that it included co's longstanding financing partner Verlinvest, at time co is working to grow its juices, frozen items, acai cafes and expand internationally. Several outsiders put new round in $10-15 mil range.  

As alkaline-water segment heats up, Essentia Water is hard at work burnishing its new positioning of being "hydration perfected." At Expo West, where it unveiled new theme (whose fuller expression is "Hydration Perfected. For Those Who Want More from Their Water"), its medical advisor, Dr Ralph Holsworth, talked up clinical study that yielded conclusive evidence that Essentia is 88% more hydrating than regular water. Brand already has garnered place in influential Physicians' Desk Reference (only other bev brand in there is Pedialyte), it's been enlisting roster of fitness experts and other hydration experts in each key market and is otherwise looking to build consumer confidence that brand is worth its premium price retail. Tho brand started in natural channel, by now it's accumulated network of 40 DSD houses reaching 30% of US population and has created field-marketing cadres in Northeast and on West Coast, with Midwest next in April.

Co had gotten started along these lines in late 2013 with proof-of-concept study of 9 firefighters near Essentia's suburban Seattle hq that used blood viscosity as novel biomarker of hydration. With that offering promising insights, it was time to move on to clinical trial at standard that would allow co to make formal claim in its marketing. Randomized controlled trial performed by Health Onvector, outside Philadelphia, rehydrated 100 subjects, half with Essentia, half with regular water, and found Essentia to be 88% more efficacious. That claim now will go "on pack, and everywhere else," said Essentia's vp of strategy and market development, Neil Kimberley. Tho electrolyte-infused brands like Smartwater have built strong following on superior hydration claims, electrolytes only take you so far, noted cardiovascular specialist Dr Holsworth; it requires structured water to attain next level of efficacy. Co hopes to submit findings to peer-reviewed journal in next coupla weeks. Note that there's no clinical evidence yet as to why Essentia yields such improved hydration: that will be next phase of research. Part of team that set stage for new phase of marketing was marketing chief Paul Curhan, who's since moved on.

At Expo West booth, Essentia displayed new package size: 12-oz PET bottle that had been devised as trial size but was demanded as regular item by retailer HEB in Tex. It goes out at $12.99 per 12-pack.  

Count on innovation machine Califia Farms to offer roster of new and revamped items at every key trade show, and Expo West was no different, with cold-brew coffee concentrate, new RTD cold-brew items and return of seasonal line of aguas frescas. It was part of continuing campaign by ceo Greg Steltenpohl to establish building blocks of full-service bevco at co funded by growers' co-op in Calif's San Joaquin Valley. To date that includes compelling citrus lines, under Cutie's and Califia Farms names; non-dairy milks, notably almondmilk; natural creamers, in store set where caliber of current offerings doesn't match elevated offerings in coffee aisle, and RTD coffee. By now, fledgling lines are broad enough for co to be able to go to major retailers with compelling merchandising schemes, Greg believes. As for quickly mounting roster of coffee entries, "we want to create excitement with retailers around the whole coffee ecosystem," said Steltenpohl, who earlier in career tried coffee play at Adina following his creation of Odwalla brand now owned by Coke.

At Expo, theme was Califia Café, array of coffee-related items that could comfortably fit in creamer or other retail cooler space away from what ceo calls the "iced tea ghetto." New offerings were anchored by Concentrated Cold Brew, effort to rethink cold-brew not from roaster's point of view but from that of consumers likely to employ in broad range of uses, often with ample share of milk, as they "personalize to energize." New French roast entry, designed as 50-50 blend, unusually blends Arabica and oft-scorned robusto beans to offer rich flavor that holds up to milk without need to burn beans in roasting. Beans are Rainforest Alliance-certified and sourced from Vietnam and Mexico. Line is packed in black-hued 32-oz Tetra Pak with special liner that was a year and a half in development. At 50-50 ratio, that size supports eight 8-oz servings and is priced at $7.99. It's rolling out in Whole Foods and Safeway immediately.

Also unveiled at Expo were 3 additions to single-serve Iced Coffee with Almondmilk RTD line packed in full-wrap 10.5-oz PET bottles: Triple Shot Cold Brew, Mocha Mexíca Cold Brew and Dirty Chai Cold Brew. They join existing array of Cocoa Noir, XX Espresso and Salted Caramel. Cold-brew effort commenced with 48-oz almondmilk offerings, in Café Latte, Double Espresso and Mocha, along with seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte. And recently intro'd almondmilk creamers, in 32-oz boxes, have debuted in 4 flavors.  

Reed's Inc, which is self-producing range of natural sodas, kombuchas and private-label items at its hq plant in LA, brought in seasoned operations exec for coo job with Mark Beaton, whose career spans UPS, Dr Pepper Snapple Group and Pepsi Bottling Group. Appointment allows founder/ceo Chris Reed "to focus more of my time and attention on business development, branding and new product development" to build top line. For his part, Beaton said he sees "significant opportunities for Reed's to operate more efficiently and subsequently more profitably going forward." In last post, at DPS, he was operations vp responsible for warehouse and distribution operations, inventory management, environmental health and safety and corporate real estate portfolio. Earlier, at PBG, Beaton claims to have turned around 17.5-mil-case plant that was due for shutdown due to high operating costs, poor waste control and low production efficiency . . . In Zone owner Jim Scott has found another #2, after departure of chief commercial officer Carl Sweat: Gunnar Olson, former InZone exec who'd been running Scott's other biz, Bubba Brands, $50 mil mfr of durable bev containers that was sold to Newell Rubbermaid last fall. Gunnar has come in as prexy of marketer of kids bevs, after serving as prexy and then prexy/ceo at Bubba over 5-year run. Former Coke and FRS exec Sweat, recall, had been recruited to help forge new brand when Scott concluded that offering items under names like Bellywashers was running counter to where moms want to go these days; execs at Expo West said new Good2Grow brand has fared well in market. For his part, Sweat has segued to cmo job at Hooters restaurant chain (BBI, Jan 26). No explanation has been offered by either side as to why Carl's run at In Zone proved so short . . . Maverick Brands, which markets Coco Libre family of coconut water bevs, has been bringing in quite a bit of new blood. Most dramatic addition, just in past week, has been recruitment of former Zico and POM Wonderful exec Candace Crawford as ceo, succeeding Mark Shaw, who retains chmn title but segues to operational role more on marketing and brand development side. Among other recruits in recent months is former 5-Hour Energy marketing exec John Campbell, co's marketing dir, who's brought in SF-based agency Amazon to push forward with brand tweak emphasizing line's functional identity and role in healthy, active lifestyle.  

As reflection of broader impetus to innovation sweeping thru PepsiCo ranks, ONE Coconut Water brand debuted hybrid coconut water/tea line at Expo West, even as broader line unveiled new look. ONE Coconut Water with Tea debuts in Wild Orange (with passionfruit) and Tropical Colada flavors, both based on green tea. New look carries radiating white leaf silhouettes somewhat in mandala shape, with ONE name accented with green leaf over the N and brand positioned as "energizing hydration" directly below brand name.