JONES ZILCH

Jones Soda is launching Zilch in October – a zero calorie soda sweetened with Splenda and fortified with Vitamin C. It will be available in Pomegranate, Vanilla Bean, and Black Cherry.

SAMBAZON ELIXIR

Acai specialist Sambazon has announced the launch of Antioxidant Elixir, an organic, premium juice that provides powerful antioxidants and 600% of the daily requirement of vitamin C, yet remains refreshingly light on calories, sugar, and contains no fat.

Sweetened naturally with agave and infused with a blend of acai, acerola and organic botanical extracts, Antioxidant Elixir is a powerful concoction of ingredients. Sambazon Antioxidant Elixirs are the first products in the company’s line of organic juices containing a mere 70 calories per serving.
“We’re launching Elixirs with the blessing of our female consumers,” said Jeremy Black, vice president of marketing. “This is a low-sugar, all-natural acai beverage that’s light enough to drink between or with meals. And the complex flavour of the Elixirs comes through in each pure and unique blend.”
Sambazon Antioxidant Elixir will be available in three flavours: acai berry, acai passionfruit and acai blackberry, and will be available in 11oz bottles across the US in grocery and natural food stores from mid-October.

MUSCLE MILK REFUEL

Tired of using the same old energy shot with just caffeine and B-vitamins? Muscle Milk® Refuel sets a new category standard by providing energy PLUS protein. Muscle Milk Refuel is the first energy shot packed with the powerful combination of caffeine, green tea extract, protein, and our U.S. patented functional energy source Alpha-L-Polylactate™. When taken 3 times a day, the ingredients in Muscle Milk Refuel have shown to increase daily calorie burning by approximately 5% or 100 calories.* Five grams of ultra-pure Whey Protein Isolate and Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA's) are added to support muscle tissue and enhance satiety (fullness).* Muscle Milk Refuel delivers Green Tea Extract and its potent antioxidant EGCG, along with caffeine to increase calorie burning.** Alpha-L-Polylactate is an advanced carbohydrate molecule (lactate with acid removed), which has proven in recent double blind studies to buffer lactic acid production in muscle tissue and provide a steady, burning source of carbohydrate energy. Alpha-L-Polylactate in Cytomax® Performance Drink has been found to provide muscle fuel energy three times faster and used three times more efficiently than glucose.

BLUE SKY FREE

Hansen Beverage Company launches their first set of 100% all-natural, guilt free soda, Blue Sky Free. Responding to the popular demand of the natural minded consumer, Blue Sky Free is offered in 5 different all-natural flavors that are great tasting, calorie and caffeine free, do not contain artificial ingredients, and contain zero preservatives. Blue Sky Free prides itself on having 100% of its ingredients come from the earth, nothing is artificial. Remaining true to their core values of "go natural, use less, live free," Blue Sky Free is naturally sweetened with Truvia(TM), an all-natural sweetener that is extracted from the stevia plant. The all-natural, guilt free, refreshing soda comes in Root Beer, Cola, Ginger Ale, Lemon Lime & Cherry Vanilla Creme. Blue Sky Free will be made available through natural- and health-food chains and independent retailers. It will be priced similar to other natural, premium beverage products at around $4.99 per 6-pack.

TURNER DUCKWORTH

Turner Duckworth, a design company based in San Francisco and London, has won a Yellow Pencil for graphic design: integrated graphics at the D&AD design and advertising awards this last week for their Coca-Cola Identity, Coca-Cola Classic Can, and Coca-Cola Ident. The award comes a year after their redesign of Coca Cola’s brand won the Grand Prix for Design at Cannes International Advertising Festival in June 2008. The new designs, launched in June 2007, brought a new simplicity to a range that had become cluttered with complexity.

COKE MINI CAN

A little happiness in a stylish new package is coming soon to your refrigerator. Coca-Cola has introduced a new 90-calorie mini can to give consumers a better way to manage their calories.
“As the world’s largest beverage company, we take seriously the need to help consumers balance calories consumed with calories expended,” said Sandy Douglas, president, Coca-Cola North America. “The Coca-Cola mini can innovation reinforces the Company’s support for healthy, active lifestyles.”
The 7.5-fluid ounce mini can carries the distinct Coca-Cola contour-shaped bottle image in white with a red background. Additional brands that also will feature the sleek mini can packaging include: Sprite, Fanta Orange, Cherry Coca-Cola and Barq’s Root Beer. It will be sold in eight-packs.
Consumers in Washington, D.C. and New York City will get a first glimpse of the 90-calorie sleek mini can when it debuts in December. The rollout will expand to the rest of the country and be well underway by March 2010.

OBAMA SODA TAX

President Obama told an US men’s magazine that he wants to levy a tax on soft drinks. Obama said that a correlation between obesity and consuming soft drinks was very high. With a soda tax Obama wants to reduce consumption of soft drinks and also raise income in the country’s weak health system. Obama’s view is backed by a study of the New England Journal of Medicine. It says that a tax levy could lead to a price increase of 15 to 20 percent for all drinks containing sweetener. Further, consumption of soft drinks could shrink by eight percent if the price rises by 10 percent. The New York Times wrote that the tax levy could lead to tax revenue of $14.9 billion. The US soft drinks industry now has started a campaign against the tax claiming that such a tax would not reduce obesity and would furthermore have negative effects. The branch said that prices for soft drinks could rise by 40 to 50 percent. Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent said Obama’s foray reminds him of times when Coke managers in the Sowjet Union had to watch the Russian government dictating consumers what to eat. However, there already is a soft drinks tax in 33 out of 50 states in the US. However, the tax is too low and does not flow into the federal health system.

CLIFF QUENCH

CLIF Quench™ Food alone can’t sustain active people. Hydration is critical for maintaining energy levels and performance. CLIF Quench is a new sport drink with a refreshingly clear difference—it’s made with all natural and 88 percent organic ingredients for healthy hydration.
CLIF Quench offers the optimal balance of ingredients your thirsty body needs, including electrolytes and carbohydrates to move water where your body needs it most. CLIF Quench is all-natural and contains no artificial colors, sweeteners and preservatives used in many beverages today.
Continuing on the company’s journey toward sustainability, the CLIF Quench bottle and label are the most planet-friendly options on the market. The bottle is made of 40 percent post-consumer recycled PET plastic—the highest percentage of any U.S. bottled beverage—and the bottle and label are fully recyclable.
CLIF Quench will arrive on shelves in June and comes in four refreshing flavors: Fruit Punch, Orange, Lime-Ade and Strawberry Citrus. (SRP: $1.49)

CELSIUS

Celsius is scientifically shown to burn up to 100 calories or more per canby raising metabolism and generating increased energy and alertness. Additionalbenefits shown when combined with exercise include increased loss of fat mass,increased gain of muscle mass and improved endurance.Celsius, the original calorie burning beverage, contains no sugar, nopreservatives, no high fructose corn syrup, no aspartame and very low sodiumand is available in five sparkling flavors: Cola, Orange, Wild Berry, Lemon-Lime and Ginger Ale and two green teas, Peach Mango and Raspberry Acai.Celsius is powered by Metaboost™, a proprietary blend of quality ingredientsincluding Green Tea with EGCG, Ginger, Caffeine, Calcium, Chromium, BVitamins and Vitamin C. Scientifically shown to raise metabolism over a threehourperiod, consuming Celsius results in a sustained calorie burn while keepingyou energized.

ANTIPODES

Like our water, our company is New Zealand born and bred.Also like our water, the thinking behind it is pure and simple.First we wanted to source one of the world's purest waters. It was a mystery to us why much of the bottled water in New Zealand was being shipped in from Europe – one of the most industrialised continents on Earth.In contrast, Antipodes is sourced from one of the least populated countries on Earth and in a place renowned for pure water, Antipodes is rated as the purest.Next we wanted to create the perfect sparkling waterto compliment well crafted food and wine. To achieve this we added a fine bead.Finally we wanted it to look good. It didn't have to stand out on a supermarket shelf, because it would never be on one. We didn't want it to stand out on a restaurant table either - even though it would most certainly be on one. We wanted it to compliment a table setting rather than dominate it. We believe the heroes of the table should be the wine and food, not the water bottle.So we kept the bottle short and fat and we kept it clean and simple. We wanted it to look as pure on the outside as it in fact was on the inside.

OOGAVE

Oogavé is an agave nectar sweetened soda, which features all natural flavors and fruit extracts. Four ingredients make up the soda’s proprietary blend: purified carbonated water, organic agave nectar, citric acid and natural flavors. From Denver-based Wholly Tomato, Inc. comes a soda “for the now and forward thinking,” the company says. Oogavé is an agave nectar sweetened soda, which features all natural flavors and fruit extracts. Four ingredients make up the soda’s proprietary blend: purified carbonated water, organic agave nectar, citric acid and natural flavors. The soda comes in six flavors—Grapefruit, Watermelon Cream, Esteban’s Cola, Esteban’s Rootbeer, Mandarin Key Lime and Ginger Ale. The suggested retail price is $4.29-$4.99 for a four-pack. The sodas are available at select locations in Colorado.

ESSN

In July of 2003 SkylarHaley Co-Founders, Jonathan Smith and Perry Abadir introduced essn™ to the public for the very first time, at the Natural Food Show in Las Vegas. The first two flavors to debut were Fuji Apple, and Meyer Lemon. The very next day Fuji Apple won best new cold nutritional beverage for 2003 and the word was out, essn was a success.
The following month Blood Orange & Cranberry and Minneola Tangerine were launched and the full line of sparkling all natural 100% Juice beverages was touching down at retailers nationwide. Today essn is sold worldwide and consumers have fallen in love with the essn experience.Established in 2002 as a food & beverage company with a bold vision to create innovate national brands in the food and beverage industry. Aspiring to obtain a market leading position through product innovation and customer service excellence, SkylarHaley holds an impressive portfolio of products and new concepts.
In addition to essn SkylarHaley has launched two very successful new products. achievONE™, a revolutionary low carb high protein nutritional coffee beverage and Stoneridge Orchards Infused Whole Dried Fruits. A line of all natural sulfite free whole dried fruits. The Stoneridge line of infused whole dried fruits sets the standard for quality and taste. Developed using a new infusion technology the Stoneridge Orchard whole dried fruit line represents a new era in dried fruit, the first dried fruits that actually look like fresh off the tree berries. For more information on how to purchase the complete line of SkylarHaley products please visit www.skylarhaley.com.

STEAZ

One sip of Steaz Green Tea Soda (formerly Steap), and it will be obvious that this revolutionary beverage is going to change the way you feel about soda forever. Each bottle is micro-brewed fresh from the finest Ceylon green tea, grown high in the fog-shrouded, mystical mountains of Sri Lanka. We have miraculously blended the smooth, mellow taste of green tea with the highest quality organic sugar on Earth -- the result is tantalizing.

POMx COFFEE

With a potent dose of caffeine and healthy antioxidants, POMx Iced Coffee is a sophisticated energy drink for consumers who seek an energy boost but who typically avoid the excess sugar and artificial ingredients associated with carbonated sodas, coffee beverages and energy drinks. POMx Iced Coffee does not include or taste like pomegranate juice, but comes in two creamy and delicious flavors: Café au Lait and Chocolate. POMx Iced Coffee is made with all-natural ingredients including Italian-roasted Arabica coffee beans that are ethically sourced by the Rainforest Alliance, milk from cows not treated with synthetic Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), organic cane sugar and POMx. Each bottle of POMx Iced Coffee contains a Healthy Buzz - a stimulating 175mg dose of caffeine and enough POMx to equal the antioxidant power of an 8 oz. daily dose of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice. POMx is made exclusively by POM Wonderful through a patent-pending process from pomegranates grown in their central California orchards. Because of the high level of naturally-occurring polyphenol antioxidants found in Wonderful variety pomegranates, POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice and POMx have been shown through clinical studies to be beneficial for optimum health, particularly in regards to heart and prostate health. To learn more about POMx Iced Coffee, visit www.healthybuzz.com.

SWEET LEAF

The idea for Sweet Leaf Tea was conceived on a road trip through Alabama and Mississippi, where Clayton Christopher was inspired by the quality and abundance of home-made sweet tea being served in local restaurants. Yet for all the delicious iced tea being brewed at home and in restaurants there was no bottled tea on the market that tasted like real iced tea, like the kind that Grandma used to make. So after tasting teas from all over the world and brewing countless batches from old Southern recipes in Clayton's kitchen, Sweet Leaf Tea Company was born. Made from all-natural ingredients, including purified water, pure cane sugar and high-quality organic tea leaves, Sweet Leaf Tea is made and brewed based on Clayton?s grandmother?s recipe and technique. Sweet Leaf Tea, which is available in 10 classic iced-tea flavors and one lemonade flavor, is available nationwide.

3D REVOLUTION

You lead a big, busy, 3-dimensional life. Here's the drink to match it. 3D blends one dimension super fruits, one dimension premium white tea, and one dimension essential vitamins for the first 3-dimensional beverage. Crisp and delicious, 3D is a powerhouse of antioxidants, all natural and low in calories. Whew. That sounds like major multi-tasking for one drink. Then again, it's 3D. Like you. Drink it in®

CHILL OUT PEPOLE

U.S. marketers are touting the soothing qualities of a new breed of "relaxation beverages" as an alternative to still-popular energy drinks, analysts say.

Such non-alcoholic beverages as Drank, with its motto "Slow your roll," are capitalizing on a generation that has become overly hopped-up and stressed out on energy drinks for the past 10 years and are now looking to slow down, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
"I wasn't the only person speaking 50 miles per hour," Drank inventor Peter Bianchi told the newspaper. "It was my personal quest to relax the world."

Other relaxation beverages such as Vacation in a Bottle, which calls itself "the happy relaxation drink," Superliminal Purple Stuff Pro-Relaxation Formula and iChill are being marketed to consumers as a way to "unwind from the grind," the Journal said.

DELUXE HONEY

Deluxe Honeydrop, a leading producer of honey-infused waters, today announced the launch of Deluxe Honeydrop, the company's first line of premium beverages, in conjunction with the Natural Product Expo East trade show in Boston. Deluxe Honeydrop is an organic flavored water infused with a drop of organic honey and "deluxe" premium juices.

Containing only 80 calories per 16.9 oz bottle, Deluxe Honeydrop comes in four exciting flavors: Bee Good (apple), Bee Alive (blood orange), Bee Calm (chamomile) and Bee Strong (blueberry). David Luks, Honeydrop's founder and CEO, developed the products after having had cancer and studying the benefits of an organic lifestyle. His goal was to create a beverage that tasted great, was low in calories and enabled his customers to completely avoid the artificial preservatives, sweeteners, and chemical pesticides found in many of the products Americans consume daily.

DRINK MONKEY

—Adina for Life Inc. launched a new beverage line called Adina Holistics. The new drinks are available in five varieties: Honey Eucalyptus, Peach Amalaki, Blackberry Hibiscus, Honey Lemon Aloe and Mango Orange Chamomile. Acknowledging the growing awareness and acceptance of holistic and natural health by U.S. consumers, Adina for Life created the line of natural beverages to tap into the 5,000-year-old traditional Chinese medicine of Ayurveda.
Deriving its company name from the word “adina”, which loosely translates to “life in its holistic and spiritual dimension”, the Adina team, which is comprised of seasoned beverage industry veterans that include the founders of Odwalla and SoBe, strives to create beverages that are organic and sustainable. They’re company mantra, “don’t just taste good – do good” have made them proponents of healthy and sustainable drink and has lead the company to search the world for the best Fair Trade suppliers, co-ops and organic family farms.

WEST ELEVEN

“West Eleven Cocktails, created by leading mixologist Ben Reed are the first Real Cocktails Bottled. They are made with real fruit, the highest quality mixers and spirits, and contain no additives or preservatives.”

LIQUID HBO

This fall, keep your eyes peeled for what will most likely be the high-water mark of our inexplicable vampire obsession. When the vampires of the HBO series True Blood want to avoid sucking human veins dry, they drink a synthetic concoction called Tru Blood. Now, in one of the weirdest manifestations yet of the current fang frenzy, fans can too: in July Omni Consumer Products struck a deal with HBO to produce a carbonated drink inspired by the undead characters' quaff, also called Tru Blood but intended for humans (we assume). Scheduled to hit stores in September, it will taste "slightly tart and lightly sweet," according to its product description, and come in a bottle similar to the ones used in the show. The advertising slogan? "All flavor. No bite."

STARBUCKS INSTANT

As Howard Schultz contemplated introducing a Starbucks instant coffee last year, he knew he would face all sorts of skeptics—chief among them, his own employees.

Starbucks (SBUX), however diminished it might be these days, is still supposed to be about the experience of coffee: the ritual preparation, the sense of comfort, indulgence, and sometimes community. The company already sells packaged coffee and has opened drive-throughs. But to some, the notion of instant coffee seemed to threaten the brand in a different way altogether.
"It took a lot of courage to say that even though instant coffee is the worst cup of coffee you can have, we are going to reinvent it," Schultz said in July, as he was carefully planning the Sept. 29 launch of Via Ready Brew. "We've taken a lot of time with it because we know it could undermine the company if we don't do it right."

Researchers at Starbucks have been tinkering with instant coffee for almost two decades. The quest began elsewhere, though, with an immunologist named Don Valencia, who liked to experiment with coffee in his free time. Working in his own lab, Valencia managed to create an extract that proved flavorful enough to impress Schultz. By 1993, Schultz had hired him to run Starbucks' research and development effort. It was Valencia's extract that made it possible for Starbucks to develop its bottled Frappuccino and coffee ice cream. He spent years trying to create an instant coffee that passed the taste test and could be produced on a mass scale, but left the company a few years ago without having succeeded

BOXED WATER IS BETTER

Started with the simple idea of creating a new bottled water brand that is kinder to the environment and gives back a bit - we found that it shouldn't be bottled at all, but instead, boxed. So we looked to the past for inspiration in the century old beverage container and decided to keep things simple, sustainable, and beautiful. About 85% of the Boxed Water container is made from a renewable resource, trees, that when harvested in a responsible, managed, and ethical way serve as an amazing renewable resource that benefits the environment even as it's renewed. We ship our boxes flat to our filler which is significantly more efficient compared to shipping empty plastic or glass bottles to be filled. The flat, unfilled boxes we can fit on 2 pallets, or roughly 5% of a truckload, would require about 5 truckloads for empty plastic or glass bottles. Our cartons can also be broken down to their original flat state, and are recyclable in some areas. The Carton Council, www.recyclecartons.com, is continuously adding new carton recycling facilities throughout the country. We're also giving 20% of our profits back to the resources our product is composed of - water and trees. Not only does it simply make sense, but we really enjoy supporting water and forestation organizations as it's part of our company's ethos and way of thinking to give back and participate. All that and an over-arching focus on simple and beautiful design that compliments our brand as well as the spaces it's sold and consumed in.

JONES GABA

Jones Soda Co. announced their US launch of a functional beverage today called Jones GABA, available in spring 2009. GABA doesn’t contain any caffeine, but utilizes PharmaGABA, a naturally occurring amino acid (Gamma Amino Butyric Acid). A 12oz can contains 150mg of GABA, which increases the productivity of alpha waves to help relieve stress and improve focus. This beverage will launch four flavors initially: Grapefruit, Nectarine, Lemon Honey, and Fuji Apple.

The difference between Jones’ new beverage and the other available products is the type of ingredient to give the drink its “kick.” Many functional beverages on the market right now belong in the caffeinated energy-drink category, and the side effects almost certainly mitigate the drink’s effectiveness after a few hours. Users that have consumed energy drinks before and tried a GABA notice the difference, saying that there is a greater ability to maintain focus and suffer no crash at the end.

GOT MILK?

The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. (NYSE: PBG) today announced that it has signed an agreement with CytoSport, Inc. to distribute Muscle Milk, the leader in protein-enhanced functional beverages in the United States.Under the terms of the agreement, PBG will have a license to distribute the ready-to-drink line of Muscle Milk and Muscle Milk Light in its territories in the U.S. and Canada. The agreement is effective immediately and PBG will begin distribution in the U.S. in January. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed."Strengthening and diversifying the PBG product portfolio is one of our top priorities. By teaming up with CytoSport, we are entering a new beverage segment with attractive long-term growth prospects," said PBG North America President Rob King. "Muscle Milk has established itself as one of the leading functional nutrition beverage brands, and adding it to our portfolio will enable us to capitalize on the opportunities in this exciting category."

ACTIVAYE YOUR DRINK

So many energy drinks, so little bladder control. For most health conscious people out there, the biggest problem with the plethora of Gator, Power, Sobe, and other prefixed aides and waters is that we all want to believe that they’re doing a bit of good to our addled bodies. If you’re going to reach for a bottle of vitamin infused H20, shouldn’t you be able to quantify the goodness? The team at Activate Drinks realized that for the average one-a-day pill consumer, you need to be able to see the proof in the neon colored liquid. As you turn the cap of the bottle, a packet of essential vitamins and minerals is released into the drink — the thought being that you store your vitamins in a cool, dry place, why shouldn’t the same logic be applied to your vitamin drink? The flavor options come in low-calorie concoctions such as: Vitamin, Antioxidant, and Immunity.