Starbucks share of customers among U.S. restaurants fell from 12 to 11 share in Feb, per xAd Inc. research, reported Bloomberg. xAd Inc measures customer traffic patterns using location signals from mobile phones. SBUX shift to mobile orders had glitches and those "operational issues may be keeping people out of the store," said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jennifer Bartashus. Another possible factor was SBUX announcement it would hire up to 10,000 refugees over next 5 yrs. That "could have upset some customers, perhaps negatively impacting sales," said Credit Suisse Group analyst Jason West," who tracked a "sudden drop in brand sentiment" for SBUX following Jan 29 announcement. Also, an "unseasonably warm winter across much of U.S. is providing a challenge to coffee sellers," noted report, with IRI reporting retail/grocery sales off 2.7% in Jan, 1.3% in Feb.

Energy drink volume gain pace slowed a bit, to +2% (down from +2.3% for 12 wks) last 4 wks thru Feb 25 in Nielsen all-channel data reported by Wells Fargo Securities' Bonnie Herzog. Avg prices improved from small decline (-0.3%) for 12 wks to +0.8% last 4 wks. Monster Energy and Red Bull trends improved while Rockstar was flat and private-label brands took steep dive on mid-single-digit price hikes.

Dallas-based Rocky Mountain High Brands has signed deal with L&H Resort Systems to acquire natural spring and plant sited on former Catskill Mountains resort in upstate NY for use as bottling and canning plant for its bottled Eagle Spirit Spring Water, range of 5 canned hemp-infused flavored bevs and branded bottled water . . . Santa Fe, NM, has become latest municipality to move toward levying soda tax, with city's public works committee moving on, by 3-1 vote, a bill proposed by Mayor Javier Gonzales to charge 2-cents-per-oz tax on sodas, sweetened teas and other sugar-sweetened bevs, per Santa Fe New Mexican and other local reports. Using playbook that's worked in other cities, Santa Fe would employ proceeds to fund early childhood education programs, with mayor estimating that 1,200 kids age 3 and 4 would be able to attend free programs as result. "This is a go-big moment in Santa Fe," he had declared upon first proposing tax last fall.

Big kahuna of natural foods, bevs and personal care items, Natural Products Expo West, opens this Thurs in Anaheim, with exhibitors at Anaheim Hilton and Marriott hotels, followed on Fri by main exhibition halls at Anaheim Convention Center. Main halls are open thru Sun. With estimated 300+ bevcos exhibiting at Expo, BBI can't promise complete coverage, but we hope to bring you some coverage. Registration and other info at ExpoWest.com.

Last week we featured Brooklyn craft brewer named Wartega that's offering bourbon-barrel-aged coffees, part of growing wave of experimentation with barrel aging of green beans (BBI, Mar 1). Looks like Starbucks is gettin' in game, too, at least on limited basis. Seattle-based roaster is offering 800 lbs of its Sulawesi small-lot coffee that's been aged in freshly emptied American-oak-aged whiskey barrels from nearby Woodinville Whiskey craft distillery. Whiskey Barrel-Aged Sulawesi is being offered at big Seattle Roastery in 2 new specialty bevs: cold-brew sweetened with vanilla syrup and other is Barrel Aged Con Crema, using pourover processing and barrel-aged vanilla syrup with cascara sugar foamed topping. It can also be purchased as hand-scooped coffee whole bean coffee for at-home consumption, co said. SBUX isn't acknowledging any influences from other cos, saying Whiskey Barrel-Aged Sulawesi is result of experimentation undertaken over past 4 years by R&D team member named Duane Thompson in his garage at home. "As a chef and food scientist, experimentation is central to my being," SBUX quotes Duane as saying. "My neighbors would tease me about all the barrels in my garage."

Liking results of inaugural effort last year, Red Bull North America is doubling down on Street Fighter V esports tourney, adding 5 more "Red Bull Proving Grounds" cities to last year's 6, and going from single season to 2 seasons. Three winners from each regional tourney plus winners from online bouts will be flown to esports studio at RBNA's Santa Monica hq for Jun finals that put top 3 winners of each region on same team for 3v3 bouts. Winners get spots for themselves and top 8 from their region for EVO 2017 contest in Las Vegas, VentureBeat reported. At each qualifying stop, RBNA is enlisting gaming stars like Level Up's Jimmy Nguyen and Alex Valle of LA as organizers. Seasons run from Apr-Jun and Jul-Oct. Regionals are being held in US cities Orlando, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, LA, SF and Seattle, and Canadian cities Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

Natural Products Expo West, opening in Anaheim, Calif, in a few days, will be missing a genial presence who'd been a fixture at show for years: stevia pioneer James May, cofounder of Wisdom Natural Products, who has passed away at age 80. May cofounded co with his wife Carol, who as prexy will now lead co with their son Michael May, who's served as coo, per obit in The Shelby Report. May first brought stevia to US in 1982, and had long regaled listeners with accounts of the regulatory and other steps that makers of conventional sweeteners took to derail ingredient, tho he finally won gov't approval in 2008 as first ingredient to be designated as "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS). Jim also didn't hesitate to inveigh against big bevcos' use of stevia that had been highly processed into Rebiana, declaring that that's why stevia-sweetened products carried such severe taste challenges. "Rebiana doesn't exist in nature," as he once put it to BBI. "It's the trade name for a chemically derived product" (BBI, Jul 2 2010).

Bruce Lee Enterprises will unveil rethought and revamped Bruce Tea Super Power Tea line this week at Natural Products Expo West, going to bottle-only packaging lineup and shifting emphasis from c-stores to natural, specialty and grocery channels.

New Age Beverages ceo Brent Willis has promised to unleash synergies among Denver-based co's disparate collection of brands. Here comes the first: Aspen Pure Probiotic Water, harnessing probiotics expertise of New Age stablemate Buch Live Kombucha. Shelf-stable line contains more than 10 bil cfu's of 12 different probiotic strains, including Lactobacillus-Acidophilus, Lactobacillus Rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium Bifidum and Streptococcus Thermophilus. It will go out aggressively priced at $2.49 per 24-oz plastic bottle, same one used for core Aspen Pure bottled water line. NBEV said it leveraged Bucha's production expertise as well as its ties to probiotic suppliers to create entry that maintains 9 months' shelf life without degradation of the probiotics. Meanwhile, as part of broader project to broaden Aspen Pure brand beyond its regional base, NBEV also is rolling out its Aspen Pure pH Balanced extension, positioned as using naturally pH-balanced water from Rocky Mountains with up to 7.0 pH and priced at $1.49 per 24-oz bottle. Also in New Age stable are XingTea, Marley Mellow Mood Relaxation Drinks and Marley One Drop RTD coffees . . . Two-year-old naturally alkaline water from Canada called Flow that's sourced from glacial source in SW Ontario is entering US, bringing Tetra Pak offering to booming category. After gaining presence in 4,500 Canadian stores, including Whole Foods, Loblaw's and Safeway, brand has retained broadline distributors UNFI and KeHe for US push, along with Acosta's NSS unit and Ignite Sales Mgmt to help on sales side. Label lists entry as having pH of 8.1.