Taste Radio

BevNET's podcast team recently visited with Mike Burgmaier, the co-founder and managing director of Whipstitch Capital, an investment bank that provides mergers and acquisitions and private placement advisory services to consumer products companies. In this edition of the podcast, Burgmaier, who's worked with several fast-growing and high-profile beverage brands, including Essentia, Spindrift and KeVita, discussed the current climate for CPG financing, competition for investment dollars and what he views as the key attributes for successful brands.

Year two of the BevNET Podcast begins with a discussion on trends to watch in the worlds of non-alcoholic beverages, craft beer and natural foods. In this edition, the podcast team is joined by BevNET editor-in-chief Jeff Klineman and the editors of BevNET's sister sites, Brewbound's Chris Furnari and Project NOSH's Carol Ortenberg, each of whom offered their take on the most pertinent trends and issues within the industries they cover.

It took us a couple of weeks to recover from the biggest BevNET Live conference yet, but in this edition of the podcast, we reflected on the three-day event, which was held from Dec. 4-6 in Santa Monica, Calif. With over 600 attendees and more than 150 beverage brands represented at the show, BevNET Live Winter 2016 showcased the breadth of cutting-edge trends and innovative beverage concepts, including many that appeared on the main stage during New Beverage Showdown 12. We discussed some of these nascent trends and their potential for mainstream adoption. We also examined the traction of well-capitalized ideas like high-tech cold-pressed juicing system Juicero and Ripple, a line of pea protein-infused, plant-based milks, whose founders presented at BevNET Live.

In this edition of the BevNET Podcast, the team is joined by Grant Prentice, the vice president of strategic insights for FoodMinds, a food nutrition communications and consulting firm. FoodMinds advises food and beverage clients on ways to enhance business and marketing efforts through scientific research and public policy efforts. Prentice and FoodMinds this year completed research and insights work on behalf of the Can Manufacturers Institute and as part of our discussion, he revealed and explained findings on how packaging can impact beverage drinkers' experiences and reinforce or complement beverage brand equities.

Greg Steltenpohl, the CEO of Califia Farms and a beverage entrepreneur for nearly four decades, is constantly thinking about innovation. For Steltenpohl, who cut his teeth in the beverage business in 1980 with the launch of super-premium juice brand Odwalla, meeting the evolving needs of a growing base of young, educated and health-conscious consumers has made new product development a cornerstone focus for Califia. Since launching in 2010 the company has embraced several fast-growing beverage trends, including dairy alternatives and cold brew coffee, and introduced a steady stream of new brand and line extensions. But Steltenpohl is pushing for more. The podcast team recently met with Steltenpohl at Califia Farms headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, and as part of a wide-ranging discussion he offered insight into how the company identifies opportunities to innovate and executes from concept to product launch. Steltenpohl also discussed the role of package design and technology and predicts how each will evolve in the coming years, particularly as it relates to consumer education and marketing. Additionally, Steltenpohl revealed Califia's plans to launch a line of organic products as part of its overall innovation philosophy.

The career of Danny Stepper, a co-founder of beverage incubator L.A. Libations, is one that comes with lot of stories -- and he's happy to tell them. BevNET's podcast team recently sat down with Stepper in his office at Relativity Media headquarters in Beverly Hills, which is a long way from his early days stocking beverage coolers for the Coca-Cola Co. Stepper worked his way into a variety of sales roles at Coke, building relationships that became the foundation for L.A. Libations' role as an incubator, guiding brands to placement at leading retailers in a variety of channels. Stepper shares his journey, which includes a surprising turn as a movie producer, with us in a podcast that details how the trials and tribulations of a beverage executive are as enthralling as they are maddening.

Health-Ade's new 50,000 sq. ft. production facility in Torrance, Calif. is impressive: state-of-the art equipment, automated technology, and plenty of room to make a lot of kombucha. We recently visited the new space and sat down with company founders Vanessa Dew, Daina Trout and Justin Trout who joined us on this edition of the BevNET Podcast. As part of our discussion, Health-Ade's founding trio ruminated on the rapid evolution of the company, which launched in 2012 and is now one of the leading kombucha makers in the U.S. With the new facility in place, Health-Ade will look to ramp up distribution, particularly at grocery, mass and club outlets, they said. The company will also build upon consumer and retailer education initiatives that position kombucha as part of the "real food" movement. Later in the conversation, the youthful entrepreneurs offer their perspective on balancing brand-building with personal and family obligations and also share the inside story on Health-Ade's preparation for BevNET's New Beverage Showdown 6.

These days Zico founder Mark Rampolla spends most of his time thinking about transformative technology and better-for-you sweets. Three years removed from the sale of his coconut water brand to the Coca-Cola Co., Rampolla is now the managing partner and a co-founder of Powerplant Ventures, a private equity firm that invests in "visionary companies that are re-architecting" the food system via plant-based nutrition. He's also the interim CEO of Hail Merry, a maker of plant-based snack foods, which counts Powerplant as an investor. We caught up with Rampolla last week in Los Angeles at the Project NOSH L.A. conference where we recorded this edition of the BevNET podcast. As part of a broad-ranging discussion, Rampolla explains why food and beverage investors, including Powerplant, are embracing ideas that meld idealism and technology and what's driving systematic changes in the food industry. Rampolla also offers up some investment advice for Coca-Cola's Venturing and Emerging Brands unit and talks about why he decided to get back into the food and beverage business after selling Zico.

A couple weeks ago, the podcast team had an opportunity to sit down with Scott Uzzell, the president of the Coca-Cola Co.'s Venturing and Emerging Brands (VEB) unit. The overarching mission of VEB is to identify and nurture the next billion-dollar brands for Coke, and in this podcast, recorded at the NACS 2016 show, Uzzell shares details about the unit's investment and incubation strategy. As part of a wide-ranging discussion, Uzzell, who has been with Coke for 16 years and was named president of VEB in February, 2014, discusses the three pillars of investment for VEB and why he views modern marketing and integrated technology as critical to the future of the beverage industry. He also shares his thoughts on Coke's strategy for RTD coffee, particularly for VEB-managed illy and how the brand will be marketed and sold amid the company's partnership with Dunkin' Donuts to bottle and distribute a new line of bottled coffees as well as the upcoming launch of Gold Peak's cold brew coffee. Uzzell also comments on the exceptional rise of Bai and his batting average for predictions on "the next big thing."

After a few weeks on the road, the podcast team finally made it back in the conference room at BevNET HQ, where we recently chatted about our travels. In this edition, we look back at last week's NACS 2016 show, which showcased the continuing evolution of the convenience store channel. Our discussion includes an examination of retailers' and beverage suppliers' efforts to adapt to growing consumer interest for healthier drinks in C-stores and our thoughts on noteworthy new products introduced at the show. Later in the podcast, the conversation turns to BevNET CEO John Craven's recent trip to London. Craven shares his perspective on the British beverage market and why so many U.K.-based beverage companies are attempting to market their drinks "across the pond." In our remaining time, we delve into a discussion about BevNET's product review process and the elements that make for a top-rated beverage.