Trends & New Products from the NACS Show: Beverages

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ATLANTA -- Let’s call it the year of the sparkling water. Every major beverage-maker and several smaller ones offered their take on this growing subcategory during the NACS Show in Atlanta.

• Coca-Cola Co. highlighted its Fruitwater flavors.
• PepsiCo redesigned the packaging of its Aquafina Flavorsplash Sparkling.
• Dr Pepper Snapple got into the business big with Canada Dry and Schweppes.
• Nestle Waters featured both Perrier and its regional sparkling waters.
• Then there were the smaller guys: Sparkling ICE, Cascade Ice, National Beverage Corp.’s La Croix and others.

Here’s a look at some of the major new-product releases we found on the NACS trade-show floor.

Anheuser-Busch highlighted new packaging for its popular Budweiser brand—the “bowtie can”—and its Shock Top craft brew, now in a 16-ounce can. It also began pushing its premium bottled-water brand Icelandic toward the convenience store channel.

Coca-Cola Co.’s line of products grows by several SKUs with multiple line extensions and new-product development. The NOS energy line adds citrus and citrus Zero flavors. Vitaminwater energy will roll out in strawberry lime, berry punch and orange mango flavors. Coca-Cola and its flavors are hitting shelves in new 16-ounce and 19.2-ounce cans; a chill-activated can with thermochromatic ink also is coming for winter. Minute Maid and Powerade Zero drops grab on to the growing flavor-drop subcategory. Fruitwater is a zero-calorie sparkling water available in black raspberry, orange mango, strawberry kiwi, watermelon punch and lemon-lime. And Honest Tea has added raspberry and unsweet lemon flavors.

Crown Imports offered samples of its new Modelo Chelada, a tomato-flavored beer, it says, sells better on weekdays than weekends.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group brought much innovation to the trade-show floor with new entries in the sparkling-water category from Canada Dry, Schweppes and Fruit2O and new packaging for alliance partners Neuro and Hydrive. Meanwhile, Vita Coco also gets a new look in a packaged that targets children.

Much of E. & J. Gallo’s innovation is coming through Barefoot, “the world’s largest wine brand.” This includes Barefoot Refresh, Moscato and Bubbly, all of which target the millennial adult consumer. The move to put Liberty Creek wine in a Tetra Pak also targets millennials and their on-the-go lifestyles.

MillerCoors’ R&D team continues to function in high gear with three significant rollouts or line extensions. Miller Fortune is an undistilled golden lager with 6.9% alcohol by volume. Smith & Forge Hard Cider is the latest addition to the growing hard-cider field available primarily in 16-ounce cans. And the year-old Redd’s Apple Ale is now complemented by a new strawberry line extension. All three product will roll out in February or March.

National Beverage Corp. highlighted its year-old Everfresh apple juice line. Available in five varieties, each type captures unique apple flavors “at their peak.”

PepsiCo introduced new flavors for several of its beverage brands, including Naked Juice’s Mighty Mango, Caramel Starbucks Iced Coffee, Limeade Mtn. Dew KickStart and Pure Leaf Honey Green Tea. Meanwhile, Aquafina’s sparkling line got a packaging makeover to make it stand out from the growing pack in this sub-segment.

Sparkling ICE from TalkRain Beverage Co. added new flavors, including cherry limeade and peach nectarine, while its line of lemonades will add mango lemonade and peach lemonade (not pictured) in January.

Xyience made an impression with a caffeine-free energy drink: Xenergy + Hydration. Available in tropical punch and grape, the beverage gets its kick from B vitamins, dioxyribose and Coqu-10. Other Xyience line extensions include Xenergy + Tea in honey ginseng and raspberry flavors, and Xenergy + Lemonade in pineapple and raspberry.

Monster Energy creates a hybrid category by combining energy with protein drinks in its new Muscle Monster. Monster also introduced Monster Ultra Red, a berry-flavored energy drink with zero calories and zero sugar.

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