We’ve got a pretty diverse issue this month
so I’ll try not to take too much of your
time before you jump in and start reading. But
before I do that I wanted to thank you for supporting
this magazine during its first five years.
We wouldn’t exist without the readers and advertisers
who find value in what we do.
It’s an exciting time in the beverage industry,
and in the story mix here you’ll find that the
odd strands we’re looking at here weave a pretty
exciting and vibrant picture of the drinks that
are on the market today. On the one hand you’ve
got the most basic of beverages, water, and on
the other you’ve got bit players designed to remove
liver toxins.
You’ll find our energy drink guide – like the
category, it’s still going strong, now in its third
edition – and standing in contrast to it is a story
on where Jones Soda is going, as its chief products,
CSDs, are moving through quicksand.
In addition to this month marking the fifth
anniversary of the launch of Beverage Spectrum,
this issue also marks my third anniversary as
editor. It’s been pretty amazing to look at some
of the changes that have taken place: in my
fi rst issue, we ran a photo of a bunch of energy
drinks chasing a giant bull (the symbolism was
apparent). Now, Monster Energy is practically
neck-and-neck with Red Bull in leading the
energy category.
We also looked hard at sugar-sweetened CSDs,
proposing that there might be room for them on
store shelves. We’ve seen that idea advance: in
addition to an ongoing backlash against High
Fructose Corn Syrup (we see dozens of product
introductions that tout their lack of HFCS every
month, including the just-announced Red
Bull Simply Cola) there’s been a recognition that
consumers are interested in all things natural,
including real cane sugar.
At the time, we pointed out that Honest Tea’s
Seth Goldman and Boston Beer’s Jim Koch were
both thought-leaders when it came to figuring
out how beverage lines were evolving. Since then,
the microbrews long championed by Koch have
kept the American beer industry afloat, while
Goldman’s tea company recently accepted a minority
investment stake from the Coca-Cola Co.
I’m not listing this stuff to point out whether
we were right or wrong – as with the Red Bull
race, many of these ideas haven’t reached the finish.
But the point I’m trying to make is that it’s
important to be aware of where the industry has
been and where it’s going. We think hangover
relief beverages are part of that mix, which is
why we’ve added coverage of them this month.
Next month we scrutinize another emerging
product type: the energy “shot.”
We think in three more years these kinds of
products will still be relevant, as are many of the
discussions that we were covering three – or even
five – years ago. And as always, we’ll be working
hard to make sure beverage retailing has an ear –
and a voice – in the conversation.