Beverages Direct

How To Get Your Kids to Drink More Milk

2011-02-24T11:39:00.000-08:00

Well if your kids are anything like mine you know how hard it can be to get them to drink their milk. Even with all the Got Milk? campaigns over the years kids just sometimes hit the milk "wall". So what can you do to encourage them the next time they stare blankly at that white glass filled with liquid Vitamin D?

Here are a few tips:

1. Start by just giving them milk as their only choice. Too many times we try to please our kids with a variety of choices. The end result is you have poured four different drinks and they consume none of them.

2. Add some chocolate or strawberry flavoring to their milk. Both are available in syrup and powder forms. You can also blend a few frozen strawberries and go the natural route.

3. Offer flavored drinking straws such as Quick Milk magic sipper straws. They come in 3 flavors: chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. Best of all there is no mess and you can bring them with you on the road so they are always available when that next tall glass of milk is presented to your little loved one.

The Best and Worst Bottled Water?

2011-01-06T08:34:00.000-08:00

So the Envrionmental Working Group (EWG) took it upon themselves to determine what were the best and the worst bottled water brands. http://tinyurl.com/2doq3ha

The EWG with their keen eyes decided to analyze 173 bottled water brand and use one determining factor which was "how much info is available on that bottled water brand."

The results which which offered zero insight tried to once again to suggest that tap water isn't that bad either. In defense of tap water though they also recommended that it be filtered water.

As the debate goes on the key issue is continually missed which isn't "how pure is your bottled water" but "thank goodness people care enough about their health to choose bottled water over other beverage options."

Bottled water exists purely as a consumer beverage choice not because they do not want chemically processed municipal tap water. That's it!

Is This The End of Fiji Water?

2010-11-30T14:01:00.001-08:00

Well it seems that Fiji Water and the Fiji Island government are at it again. The island wishes to place a 15 cent-per-liter tax on bottled water. The caveat to this tax is that it will only be imposed on producers who currently extract 3.5M liters month. And guess who "only" extracts that much on the island? Yep...Fiji Water.

John Cochran, President and COO of Fiji Water, appears to be trying to bluff again for the second time with a threat to shut down all operations. Should this happen that would be the end of Fiji Water and Fiji island would lose one of its leading exporters.

You can read John Cochran's released statement on the matter: Discriminatory Tax Forces Shutdown of FIJI Water Factory

If this does all go down there may a mad dash for the last bottled drops of Fiji Water.

Mexican Coke

2010-05-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

Before the days of artificial sweeteners and corn syrup, soda companies used real sugar. In fact that is all that was available at the time. Now times have changed. In order to save money scientists created artificial sweeteners and although similar in taste sodas with high fructose corn syrup just don't match up to their sugary sweetened counter parts.

A classic example of the differences in the two sweeteners is with Coca Cola. Coke is the largest soda company in world and we are all used to the cola drink made with high fructose corn syrup. But lets not forget that at one time Coke was make with pure cane sugar. Long gone are those days, however, Mexican Coke is still make with the pure cane sugar formulation. Just one sip of Mexican Coca Cola may even make you swear off artificial sweetners completely. There is a reason why many retro sodas, as some call them, still exist today.

How Old is Root Beer?

2009-10-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

Did you know that root beer is one of the first sodas in the United States? True, in fact it even pre-dated colas. Made from a combination of herbs, roots and barks the small beer had none or only had a very small amount of alcohol, that's where it got the name small beer.

One of the most popular stories though is that one day, on his honeymoon; Mr Hires developed a tea using over twenty-five different herbs, berries and roots.

It was also said that the dry form of this new brew became available in his Pharmaceutical Shop when he and his new wife returned to his hometown in Philadelphia. Not long after, he started to work on using flavored carbonated soda water to come up with the liquid version of the tea. There is no hard-fast rule in brewing root beer, in fact most of the modern manufacturers don't use any of the original roots and herbs used in the 1800s brew. Today, depending on the Root Beer you choose, you may find that these herbs arent used much and that the root beer taste of your beverage comes from artificial flavors and syrups.

However, thanks to the micro-brewery movement, small batch Root Beers are coming back into style, and many areas of the country have their own locally made root beers once more. These often do rely on the unique flavors imparted by these herbs and roots and either honey or sugar, as opposed to artificial flavorings and sweeteners. Root beer has become so popular that you see them almost everywhere being enjoyed by people of all ages.

Its quite a pleasant surprise to know it has a rich historical background that can be a source of pride for all Americans.

What happened to Mt Dew online?

2008-09-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Years ago life was good. Consumers were able to order online their one true love, Mountain Dew in glass bottles. Of course like all humorous jokes that start "Did you hear the one about the attorney" this one is not so funny.

California, known for its sunshine and crazy laws created one named Proposition 65. This law was to protect citizens from certain chemicals that the state considered "potentially cancerous". Thanks to this law just about everything in California is now slapped with a Prop 65 warning label.

So how does this impact Mt Dew in glass bottles you ask? Well thankfully a lawyer (not in California) but in the east coast decided he needed to protect the locals and chase down beverage manufacturers because of the possible violation of Prop 65 with some of their brands. Needless to say the beverage companies laid down on this one and paid some quick fines. Because of the outcome most of the nostalgic brands produced in glass bottles with painted logo exteriors got whacked and were no longer allowed to be sold online. Besides Mt Dew some of the other great brands to go down were Nehi, RC Cola and Dr.Pepper.

Hopefully there is a comeback story for Mt. Dew in something other than cans. Pepsi in their marketing efforts has started doing some unique things with their packaging. Although it may be a play on the always changing Jones Soda labels I think Pepsi is going in the right direction.

Check out this picture of Mt Dew Green Label Art packaging.

These new bottles are aluminum with shrink wrapped labels and totally cool. The word is that these bottles are currently available in a few select areas nationwide. Beverages Direct is working overtime trying to get some in house.

So don't give up hope as Mt Dew may once again be available online through Beverages Direct.

Is Tap Water Really Better than Bottled?

2008-07-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

The debate will rage on for years about tap water vs. bottled water. There have been numerous postings by both sides each trying to make their case. So I thought I would spin my bottle on the issue and see where it stops.

Our local governments has tried for years to make their local waters sources “good enough” for us to drink by treating them with various chemicals. It must be understood that the tap water our local governments send to us through pipes, that average 50-100 years old, doesn’t start out as healthy. In fact, it starts out in a very “unhealthy” state. By treating the water with chemicals like chlorine, lime and sodium hexametaphosphate the water is then considered acceptable for drinking by EPA standards. However, the EPA standards, according to the Safe Drinking Water Act, does allow for certain contaminant levels. Side Note: On a whole less than 1% of municipal tap water is actually used for human consumption.

Bottled water companies such as Sparkletts®, Crystal Springs® or Hinckley Springs® couldn’t exist if they provided any level of contamination. All bottled water companies have numerous filtration and ozonation systems in place to ensure their bottled water is pristine. Not to mention bottled water companies also have to adhere to the more stringent guidelines of the FDA.

In the end, I personally do not believe this debate is even close. Bottled water is a lot better than the minimally tested, chlorinated, flocculated, fluoridated municipal tap water that is delivered through miles of aged piping. As for “green” issues, that is a more involved subject for another post. However, I still feel the 5 gallon home and office water delivery industry is the clear winner on quality.

Are We Going Back to the Pill?

2008-06-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Caffeine has been consumed for years in coffee and cola but it wasn't until No Doz hit the block, in the form of a pill, that a new caffeine delivery method was created. This simple caffeinated pill heightened societies quest to stay awake.

Although caffeine has been injected into just about everything from soap to mints I am going to concentrate on the caffeine evolution from a beverage perspective.

Take a look at this chart below:

The pill went liquid with Jolt Cola who doubled the caffeine level of the average 12 oz cola while Water Joe stripped out the impurities (sugar, preservative, etc) and just gave us the basics...water and caffeine. Average retail: $1.

From there the energy drink revolution took over and increased the amount of caffeine into a smaller 8.3 oz can but also "fortified" the drink with some good-for-you vitamins. It didn't take long before someone decided we needed even more caffeine and Super Sized (16-24oz) the 8.3 oz format. This larger can took off in sales but so did the amount of sugars and calories one had to injest just to achieve caffeine nirvana. Average retail: $2+.

Now the new kid on the block is trying to condense all the caffeine goodness into just 2 fluid ounces. It proclaims no sugars and minimal calories into a handy dandy little shot. Average retail: $3.

So will the 2 oz extreme shot hold out as the winner? Or, are we just one evolution step away from going full circle back into a $4 "super-charged" pill?

Nostalgia Provides for Some Good Memories

2008-05-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

To say that internet browsing can pull up some interesting finds is an understatement. We all have childhood memories of commercials that ran on tv (sometimes in b&w). In fact we can probably still sing most of the jingles. Can you recite all the ingredients in a Big Mac? More specifically on the beverages side how about Coke teaching the world to sing, or the Kool Aid guy breaking down the wall, or even the deep voice of Geoffrey Holder as the Uncola guy?

Well we decided to create a special page dedicated to these old time classics. Although we may not sell all the items from these ads we do carry a few. For instance Nesbitts was recently brought back into production in 12 oz glass bottles. Although I do not remember the ads posted some of you may. The new product still tastes just as good.

We will continually be on the hunt for others ads as we build this walk down memory "tv commercial" lane. Have fun, share this page with others and don't forget to pay homage to our sponsors.

The Future of Jones Soda

2008-04-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well - Peter von Stolk stepped down on Dec 5th of 2007, Jones Soda had a terrible quarter to compliment the two quarters before that, stock is down from a high of $32 to $3, Jim Cramer the infamous stock huckster is still not in jail, Jones Soda is still looking for a CEO replacement with "experience" and analysts still believe this is a long term play whose stock just got ahead of itself. Hmmmm!

I wish I could say the future looks bright for Jones Soda but unfortunately I am having trouble. In defense of Jones Soda I have always thought they were innovative to a point and fun at times to drink whether it was with high fructose corn syrup or pure cane sugar. The challenge that remains is cost/profitablity and the fact the Coke and Pepsi are not new to this game nor will they let someone enter their world. Monopolies are tough to break into. If Branson could not do it with Virgin Cola in cans how can Jones Soda?

Although I do not believe that Jones Soda is still the "little guy" they have a long way to go in a short period of time. Can they come back and finally make a profit? As Peter used to say on every conference call "We are excited about this new business model". Thoughts.

Water Joe - World's First Caffeinated Water

2008-03-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

Water Joe was the first water in the marketplace to add a sole energy ingredient - caffeine. With such a unique twist on water only the media could bring this mixture to life. And that is what happened back in 1996. Water Joe became the media darling of almost every newscast, newspaper or magazine. In fact by the end of 1996 USA Today had named it Product Hit of Year and Wired Magazine appointed it to their Tired Wired Top 100. By 1997 there were 42 caffeinated waters being produced all with funky, edgy names. Each trying to get a foothold in the caffeinated water space. Sounds familiar?? It should. This story reads almost like the energy drink phenomenon that is taking place today.

Today after an ownership change and a few label renditions later Water Joe is pretty much the only one standing in strictly the "caffeine and water" category. It obviously still has its devoted fans as Water Joe ranks as the #1 best selling item on Beverages Direct. So why is it that after all these new caffeine enhanced products have entered into the market Water Joe is still around? The video below (filmed on the road in 1997) articulates it the best...because it still tastes just like water!

We'd love to hear if you think Water Joe can survive another 10+ years.

Glaceau Enters the World of Coke

2007-10-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

Glaceau the maker of the infamous Vitaminwater and Fruitwater hit a major grand slam recently when they decided to sell to Coke for $4.2 Billion dollars. Yep that’s billions. I am still amazed at the purchase price given that just less than a year earlier Coke offered half that amount for a company whose sales were approximately $355 million. Has the internet purchase price phenomenon hit the beverage world? One of the big winners was Tata Tea who aquired a 30% stake in the company less than year ago for $677 million. What a way to double your money without the back breaking work of actually having to sell the products.

Coke in recent times has suggested that they bought this company because of the potential it has to morph this brand into something that can compete with Gatorade. Gatorade? Wow, what a stretch! Is that what we are going to see in the next few years – athletes chugging Vitaminwater during time outs, coaches getting barrels of Fruitwater thrown over them at the end of a big upset? Given what Coke has done with every brand that it has purchased over time does this brand stand a chance? Also, how will Coke and Vitaminwater compete with the slew of copycat products that are coming out into the marketplace in the next few months to fill the distribution voids left by this purchase? Is Sobe bigger or smaller since Pepsi purchased them?

I would like to hear your thoughts on whether this product will survive and over time can Vitaminwater match up to the power of Gatorade?

Beverages Today

2007-10-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

This is start of the all new Beverages Direct blog. Hopefully we can use this forum to solve all the beverage issues. Give us some topics you would like to hear about. We are definitely not short of opinions.