Natural Products Expo West hosted more than 2,000 exhibiting companies and in excess of 60,000 attendees March 8-11 in Anaheim, Calif. Among the exhibitors were about 540 new companies, according to the trade show. Beverage-makers from established and emerging categories were on hand at this year’s Natural Products Expo West showcasing some of the following beverages:
Continuing crazes
Miami-based Ama Waters LLC (amawaters.com) featured its line of Amazon Cocoteas that combine coconut water and various teas. The Amazon brand also offers a line of enhanced waters that are sweetened with coconut water.
B&R Liquid Adventure LLC, Torrance, Calif., featured samples from its U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-certified organic Búcha Live Kombucha (mybucha.com), including its latest addition: Raspberry Pomegranate.
Coco Cafe Co., Santa Monica, (drinkcococafe.com) featured its Cafe Latte that combines coconut water and espresso. The company’s booth was co-located with investor New York City-based Vita Coco (vitacoco.com), which also showcased its lineup of coconut waters including its most recent Vita Coco Tropical Fruit flavor developed with musician Rihanna.
Henderson, Nev.-based Ex Drinks (exdrinks.com) promoted its kombucha-powered Ex Pure Energy drinks and Ex Slim Energy drinks.
Harmless Harvest Inc., New York City, made its Natural Products Expo West debut with its same-named 100 percent raw, organic coconut water (harmlesscoconut.com). The company sources coconuts from small organic farms and uses high-pressure processing to maintain an unprocessed and unheated coconut water, it says.
Ventura, Calif.-based Makana Beverages Inc. featured ThéBü kombucha (thebukombucha.com) that is available in Lavender, Tropical and Melon flavors in custom-designed 16-ounce glass bottles.
O.N.E. Natural Coconut Water (onecoconutwater.com) highlighted its lineup of unflavored and flavored coconut waters. In addition, the PepsiCo subsidiary also highlighted Jamba Coconut Water Fruit Juice Beverages made with O.N.E. Coconut Water, which are available in Banana & Strawberry, Apple & Greens and Tropical Mango varieties.
Reed’s Inc., Los Angeles, (reedsinc.com) introduced its new Culture Club Kombucha line made from oolong and yerba mate teas in Lemon Ginger Raspberry, Goji Ginger and Pink Grapefruit Hibiscus varieties.
Zico, Hermosa Beach, Calif., (zico.com) sampled its upcoming Zico Latte coconut water offering during the show. It also previewed two new packaging sizes for its Zico Chocolate coconut water — 8-ounce and 1-liter cartons — debuting this summer.
San Francisco-based Zola Brazilian Superfruits (drinkzola.com) added 100 percent pure coconut water to its lineup of products. The company also refreshed the label on its Zola Light line of superfruit beverages.
Better-for-you CSDs
Minneapolis-based Boundary Waters Brands sampled its Joia (joialife.com) line of natural carbonated soft drinks. Inspired by cocktail trends, Joia is available in four varities: Pineapple, Coconut & Nutmeg; Lime, Hibiscus & Clove; Grapefruit, Chamomile & Cardamom; and Blackberry, Pomegranate & Ginger.
Seattle-based Jones Soda (jonessoda.com) introduced its 100 Percent Au Naturel line of carbonated soft drinks. Jones 100 Percent Au Naturel is available in Green Apple A Day, Orange Ya Glad It’s Mango, and Lemon Limelight varieties that are sweetened with pure cane sugar and organic agave and contain 35 calories in each 16.9-ounce PET bottle.
Growing from its first offering of tonic water, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Q Drinks (qdrinks.com) displayed its lineup of all-natural carbonated soft drinks, including its newest Kola variety that contains 70 calories in each serving.
Culver City, Calif.-based Zevia (zevia.com) promoted its lineup of stevia-sweetened carbonated soft drinks. In addition to its 12-ounce cans, Zevia also is rolling out 16-ounce cans of Cola, Black Cherry, Grape, Grapefruit Citrus, Lemon Lime Twist, Orange, Cream Soda and Ginger Root Beer.
Stealth health
The Miami-based U.S. subsidiary of Colombian company Alpina Foods (alpina.com) introduced the company’s new Renew oat smoothies during the show. A staple of the South American diet for years, Alpina’s oat smoothies are a good source of natural fiber, the company says, and are available in Original, Chocolate and Hazelnut varieties.
Combining fruit and vegetable juices, The Fave Juice Co., Middletown, N.J., featured Fave (favejuice.com), a line of juices that contain 3 full servings of vegetables in each 8-ounce serving.
Media, Pa.-based Froose Brands (froose.com) featured its Grab-and-Grow line of whole food beverages. Available in 4.23-ounce cartons of Cheerful Cherry, Playful Peach and Perfect Pear, Froose beverages are gluten-free, contain 3 grams of fiber and are made with whole organic grains and fruit.
CocoaVia, a brand of Mars Inc., (cocoavia.com) previewed new packaging for its cocoa extract supplement that is derived from its patented Cocoapro process. The new stick-pack drink mixes will be available in Sweetened Dark Chocolate, Unsweetened Dark Chocolate, Summer Citrus and Cran-Raspberry varieties.
Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo subsidiary Naked Juice (nakedjuice.com) sampled its Fruit Juice & Oat Smoothies, which are currently only available in northern California and Chicago. The smoothies contain 5 grams of fiber and 12 to 13 grams of protein depending on the variety, which include Apple Raisin Oat, Blueberry Oat and Peach Mango Oat.
Boulder, Colo.-based NextFoods’ Goodbelly (goodbelly.com) brand featured new Tropical Orange and Pink Grapefruit varieties of probiotic-enhanced juice drinks. In addition, the company rolled out a 10-ounce on-the-go bottle for its Probiotic Coconut Water and previewed a redesign for its GoodBelly+ line of 2.7-ounce shots.
Sneaky Pete’s Beverage Co., Butler, N.J., (sneakypetesbeverage.com) was on hand with its Naturally Oatstanding Beverages that contain 3 grams of oat fiber, 40 calories, and are available in Apples Away, Grape Escape, Mango Mystique, Peach Perfection and Raspberry Blast varieties.
Coffee or tea?
Bean & Body, a brand of Charlotte, N.C.-based BYB Brands, featured its line of ultra-premium functional Fair Trade-certified organic shade-grown cold coffee beverages. The Bean & Body (beanandbody.com) line contains 100 calories or fewer and is available in varieties such as Coffee Energy, Coffee MarTeaNi and Coffee Rescue.
A brand of Seattle-based Granum Inc., Choice Organic Tea (choiceorganicteas.com) featured its latest teas: Premium Korean Green, Decaffeinated Green, Masala Chai and Rooibos Chai during Natural Products Expo West.
Honest Tea, a Bethesda, Md.-based subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Co., (honesttea.com) featured a number of new products, including Raspberry Fields, which is a Whole Foods exclusive RTD tea available this month.
Honeydrop Beverages, Brooklyn, N.Y., featured its line of honey-sweetened juice drinks and teas (honeydrop.com) at the show and previewed the upcoming launch of Honeydrop Peach Tea, which is made with 20 percent peach puree and sweetened with a tablespoon of pure honey.
New York City-based Inko’s Iced Tea (healthywhitetea.com) provided a sneak peek into the upcoming launch of its Half & Half Green Tea and Lemonade, Mango Passion Fruit Rooibos Tea, and Citrus Black Currant Oolong Tea that will be packaged in 15.5-ounce cans with 50 calories in each serving.
Marley Beverage Co. LLC, Southfield, Mich., displayed its portfolio of beverages, including Marley’s One Drop All-Natural Coffee Drink (marleysonedrop.com). Available in Coffee and Mocha varieties, the beverages are made with an all-natural blend of gourmet coffee sourced from the mountains of Jamaica.
Oakland, Calif.-based Numi Organic Tea (numitea.com) highlighted its new varieties of USDA-certified organic Pu-erh tea: Basil Mint, Cardamom, Coconut, Jasmine and Ginger.
Rob’s Really Good, Sea Cliff, N.Y., (robsreallygood.com) featured its new Pirate’s Daughter Really Good Tea at the show. The Green Tea & Lemon Myrtle variety of Pirate’s Daughter is USDA-certified organic and contains 50 calories in each 8-ounce serving. The company also featured its monk fruit-, stevia- and erythritol-sweetened Rob’s Really Good Zero line, which includes Coconut Zero, Plum Zero and Cucumber Zero varieties.
Portland, Ore.-based Steven Smith Teamaker (smithtea.com) spotlighted its line of full leaf tea blends and varietals as well as ready-to-drink teas. The bagged teas are packaged in relaxed fit sachets with 15 sachets to a carton. The company also offers ready-to-drink teas in Honeybush, Blackcap, White Petal and Big Bamboo varieties that begin with steeping fresh, ripe fruit in filtered water.
Performance fuels
Newtown, Pa.-based Code Blue (drinkcodeblue.com), featured its same-named line of four beverages at the show. Code Blue is zero calories and is available in Strawberry Melon, Meyer Lemon, Blueberry Pomegranate and Peach Mandarin varieties.
Chicago-based Core Power (corepower.com) featured its high-protein recovery drink of the same name. Core Power is made from fresh low-fat milk, is lactose-free and is available in Chocolate, Vanilla and Honey flavors that each contain 26 grams of protein per 11.5-ounce bottle. The company also offers Core Power Light in Strawberry Banana and Chocolate flavors that contain 20 grams of protein in each 11.5-ounce bottle.
Boulder, Colo.-based Mix1 (mix1life.com) introduced its new all-natural 90-calorie Mix1 performance shakes. Available in Chocolate and Vanilla flavors, the nutritional shakes contain 9 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber and 1,000 oxygen radical absorbance capacity units from fruit extracts, the company says.
Beyond enhanced water
Activate Drinks, Newport Beach, Calif., (activatedrinks.com) showcased the redesigned labels for its Activate bottled water, which is packaged with a proprietary cap that keeps the vitamins separate from the water until the product is opened. Activate also reorganized its 10 varieties into five core functions, which are as follows: Antioxidant, Multi-vitamin, Immunity, Energy and Recovery.
Wynnewood, Pa.-based Ayala’s Herbal Water featured its 12-ounce glass bottles of Lemongrass Mint Vanilla, Cinnamon Orange Peel, Ginger Lemon Peel and Lavender Mint sparkling herbal waters (herbalwater.com).
Banadea, Pasadena, Calif., presented its Cobá (drinkcoba.com) line of all-natural aguas frescas. Available in Guayaba, Mango, Jamaica, Tamarindo and new Horchata, the line is packaged in 16-ounce glass bottles.
Adding to its extensive line of probiotic-based products, Morton Grove, Ill.-based Lifeway introduced Pro2O (pro2o.net) at Natural Products Expo West. Available in Blood Orange, Green Tea and Peach Passionfruit flavors, Pro2O features a ProBoost Cap that contains 20 to 40 billion colony-forming units of probiotics at the time of opening.
Mass Probiotics Inc., Quincy, Mass., introduced new packaging for its GoLive Probiotics (goliveprobiotics.com) enhanced water supplement beverages. Available in varieties such as Coconut and Spa, the ready-to-drink beverages have newly designed caps that hold 15 strains of probiotics until the consumer opens the package. The company also offers a line of drink mixes containing probiotics, including flavored and flavorless packets.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based National Beverage Co. subsidiary Sundance Beverage’s LaCroix sparkling water brand (lacroixwater.com) featured its partnership with the 3-D release of “Titanic,” which will promote the giveaway of a romantic getaway on packages of LaCroix CranRaspberry flavored sparkling water and online.
Garden Grove, Calif.-based Qure bottled water (qurewater.com) combines purified water with 100 percent absorbable ionic alkaline minerals for a product with a pH of 9.5-plus, the company says.
RockHumanity, Santa Monica, Calif., featured its Neo Super Hydrator Water (drinkneo.com) that has a pH of 9.5, electrolytes, oxygen and antioxidants.
Soma Beverage Co., San Francisco, featured its Metromint brand (metromint.com) of mint-enhanced waters. Metromint featured its 12-bottle variety packs, which include four bottles each of Peppermint Water, Spearmint Water and Lemonmint Water.
Los Angeles-based Victoria’s Kitchen Almond Water is based on the founder’s French grandmother’s recipe for an all-natural, refreshing and premium ready-to-drink beverage (victoriaskitchenrecipes.com).
New York City-based Wat-aah! (drinkwataah.com) showcased its line of enhanced waters for kids. Available in Body, Brain, Energy, Power and Z varieties, they are available in 16.9-ounce bottles with Wat-aah! Brain and Body also available in 10-ounce sizes.
Naturally powered
Bai Brands LLC, Princeton, N.J., (drinkbai.com) showcased its new packaging design that highlights the coffee fruit that provides antioxidants to its line of beverages at the show. It also unveiled its new Bai5 Brasilia Blueberry variety, which translates its best-selling full-calorie blueberry flavor into its popular 5-calorie line.
CherryPharm Inc., Geneva, N.Y., featured its Cheribundi line of tart cherry juices (cheribundi.com) that are made through a proprietary juicing process that retains the benefits, nutrients and antioxidants of Montmorency cherries. The line is available in Tru Cherry, Skinny Cherry, Whey Cherry, Cacao Cherry and Ginger Cherry varieties.
The Coca-Cola Co.-subsidiary Simply (simplyorangejuice.com) featured the brand’s latest not-from-concentrate juices: Simply Cranberry Cocktail and Simply Lemonade with Mango. Odwalla, also a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Co., (odwalla.com) featured its new Odwalla Smoothies for Kids line. Packaged in 6.75-ounce cartons, Odwalla Smoothies for Kids offer one serving of fruit and are available in Strawberry Banana Jungle, Mango Pineapple Island and Grape Berry Prairie varieties. Odwalla also highlighted its Smoothie Refreshers line of reduced-calorie smoothies formulated with coconut water.
Gourmetti Brands LLC, Aventura, Fla., highlighted the newly redesigned labels of its ChanTea green tea and aloe vera bits drinks at the show (drinkchantea.com). The line is available in Original, Peach, Lemon and Passion Fruit varieties.
Packing omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, antioxidants and protein, Mamma Chia, Bonsall, Calif., (mammachia.com) sampled its USDA-certified organic hydrated chia seed-based vitality beverages at Natural Products Expo West. The company recently added Coconut Mango and Pomegranate Mint releases to its lineup.
Westminster, Colo.-based Pulse Beverage Co. (pulsebeverage.com) shared its line of Natural Cabana Lemonades during Natural Products Expo West. The company also is planning the rollout of its line of NutriPurpose beverages in Pulse Heart Health Formula, Pulse Men’s Health Formula and Pulse Women’s Health Formula.
Miami-based Raaw Foods International exhibited its line of Raaw juices (raawfoods.com), including its latest Raspberry Lemongrass and Passion Fruit Wheatgrass varieties.
San Clemente, Calif.-based Sambazon (sambazon.com) heralded the arrival of its newest USDA-certified organic acai berry beverages: Supergreens with Kale and Ginger, and Protein: Chocolate, Almond and Coconut Milk. The company also redesigned the cans of its Sambazon Energy line of natural energy drinks, it says.
Clermont, Fla.-based Uncle Matt’s Organic (unclematts.com) previewed its summer launch of single-serve packaging for its organic juices. The not-from-concentrate juices will be available in 12-ounce single-serve containers in Pulp-Free Orange, Calcium with Vitamin D Orange, Orchard-Style Apple, Grapefruit and Homestyle Lemonade varieties.
Packaged in a bottle shaped like a yoga pose, Pound Ridge, N.Y.-based YogaVeda Beverage LLC showcased its Prana, Chi and Soma beverages (yogaveda-beverage.com) that are made with exotic fruit flavors and ingredients recommended by an ancient Indian system of holistic medicine.
Packing a punch
Bare Nutrition LLC, Salinas, Calif., featured its line of Chia\Vie (drinkchiavie.com) smoothies. Powered by ground chia seeds, Chia\Vie promises natural energy along with 2,000 mg. of omega-3 fatty acids and two servings of fruit in every 10-ounce aluminum bottle. The smoothies are available in Acerola-Piña, Mango-J and Banapple-Berry varieties.
Promising all-natural stress relief, C3* (c3forstress.com) from Chiller Ventures, Beverly Hills, Calif., featured its drink mix that is made with a blend of botanicals, vitamins and minerals.
Natural sleep aid and relaxation shot Dream Water from Miami-based Dream Products LLC (drinkdreamwater.com) promoted its formula to the natural channel during the show.
Guayakí, Sebastopol, Calif., (guayaki.com) featured its new line of Sparkling Yerba Mate that is available in three USDA-certified organic varieties: Classic Gold, Grapefruit Ginger and Cranberry Pomegranate.
Las Vegas-based My Body Shots (mybodyshots.com) promoted its lineup of vitamin-concentrated functional shots, including Electro Immunity, Electro Travel and Electro Nyte at Natural Products Expo West.
Dallas-based Shotz Energy (shotzenergy.com) featured its portfolio of all-natural 2.5-ounce energy shots, including its latest Mango Madness and Pomegranate Passion varieties. BI
