Jennifer Storelli

Although many people might not enjoy cold weather — especially as many parts of the country have faced multiple rounds of cold temperatures and snow this winter — data are showing that consumers do enjoy cold coffee.

As college basketball fans gear up for March Madness, beverage brands are using their marketing power to bring other hoop dreams to life.

“We know through all of our research … that a kid is not [just] a kid,” says Carl Sweat, chief marketing officer of In Zone Brands Inc., Atlanta.

Appealing mostly to female consumers and younger consumers of legal drinking age (LDA), the flavored malt beverages (FMBs) — also known as progressive adult beverages (PABs) — segment of the beer market brings in a slightly different demographic than the typical beer drinker, says Jeff Nowicki, chief strategy officer at Bump Williams Consulting Co., Stratford, Conn.

As the economy stabilizes, consumers are trading up for the premium beer offerings available through the imported beers segment, says Edward Hyseh, U.S. research analyst for Euromonitor International, Chicago.

Growing up from its former TummyTickler and BellyWashers kids juice brands, In Zone Brands Inc., Atlanta, combined the sibling brands into one and rebranded them under the universal brand name good2grow. The result is a better-for-you juice brand that incorporates lessons learned from the company’s more than 12 years of experience in the market.

Although many people think of the automotive industry first when they hear the phrase “aftermarket parts,” almost every industry has some form of aftermarket presence, and the beverage industry is no exception, says Joseph Stroup, director of business development for FBN Inc., Plainwell, Mich.

Sensient Colors hosted a trade media day at its St. Louis facility on Dec. 11, 2013, to showcase the company’s latest technologies and its recent facility expansion.

Games like Nintendo’s Brain Age and websites like lumosity.com can help users exercise their brains to keep them in tip-top shape while making cognitive training fun.

As technology continuously shows us, reducing the size and weight of products is a major market trend.