BeverageDaily Podcast

Thousands of child labourers work in coffee, but the true levels remain under-researched. Lumina Intelligence speaks to the Sustainable Coffee Challenge about the worst forms of child labour.

The world’s first beer brewed from cannabis will be ready when Canada legalizes cannabis beverages later this year. But preparing for a new product for a new market is no small challenge: “You’re setting sail in a ship that is totally not built yet, you don’t know where you’re going, and you don’t know what the conditions are,” says Province Brands.

There’s a trend towards smaller pack sizes in the soft drinks industry, offering more choice for consumers and opening up new avenues of innovation for packaging companies. In this podcast we take a look at a big shift towards small packs.

With Coca-Cola announcing it will launch smartwater alkaline next year, it looks like the alkaline water category could be poised to leap to the next level. So what are alkaline waters, and what’s all the fuss about? In this special podcast we speak to Zenith Global, Essentia Water and Actiph Water to put the spotlight on this growing category.

The UK has announced a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. But how hard will it hit the industry? How effective will the tax be at tackling childhood obesity? And could the tax be extended to other food categories? We take a look at the big questions surrounding the tax.

Consumers want more information about the products they are drinking: from the ingredients in products to the nutritional value. But does this curiosity extend as far as the processing technologies used to create the beverage?

Probiotic fruit drinks face different challenges to their dairy counterparts - but both face the same requirement to taste good.

Tetra Pak is a B2B company but it invests above the curve in shopper and consumer insights, and Michela Vallalta, the company’s director of consumer intelligence, tells BeverageDaily.com why.

Tetra Pak says it’s vital for its customers to strike a balance between ideal package functionality and carton cost, with liquid milk one segment where consumers tend to favor a lower product price.

The CEO of Saudi Arabian food and beverage giant Al Rabie Saudi Foods tells BeverageDaily.com that the company is keen to expand beyond its powerbase in MENA to the Europe and the US.

DSM Food Specialities claims that, far from being cautious, craft brewers are embracing the possibilities its enzyme to create gluten-free beer offers.

Rexam tells BeverageDaily.com it is pursuing business in the dairy drinks segment and says one notable success to date was lemonade flavored milkshake MIO in Russia.

In late 2013 US beer brand Yuengling started shipping bottles in Tite-Pak, a solid fiber carton designed to reduce glass breakage, and Graphic Packaging says soft drinks brands could also benefit.

Tetra Pak’s new CEO and president for USA and Canada tells BeverageDaily.com that the firm sees rich regional growth potential in added-value functional beverages.

Scandinavia’s top-selling smoothie manufacturer Froosh has called for ‘trade not aid’ in developing countries and insists beverage brands should do more to understand their supply chains.

Beverage brand development guru James Tonkin has warned wannabe entrepreneurs that going up against established brands such as Red Bull and Coca-Cola without some kind of ‘silo vertical’ protection is fruitless.

Caffeine does not have a diuretic effect on regular coffee drinkers and is safe to use, says sports nutrition researcher and consultant in elite sport.

Dubbed the 'Prince of Boston's Wine Revolution' by Stuff magazine, Second Glass founder Tyler Balliet tells us how to start a wine riot and his excitement about speaking at Wine Vision in London this November.

Young entrepreneur Chris Hannaway and childhood friend Will Hammersley launched frozen yogurt brand Arctic Farm into Sainsbury’s at the tender age of 19. Now they’re back with sports drink Overly. This is Chris’s story…

Brewers of Europe insists that ending 'discriminatory' tax breaks on small EU brewers exporting to the US remain a vital issue in ongoing talks around the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Green-tea based drinks brand OOb took first prize at the inaugural DrinkPreneur event in London yesterday, winning high praise from judges including Tesco soft drinks buying manager David Beardmore.

Paolo Ventrelli from GEA Procomac tells us that the firm’s White & Safe bottle now on trial in Italy will overcome light barrier problems that have hampered PET uptake in ESL/UHT white milk.

CCL Label tells BeverageDaily.com that Coke’s successful Christmas holiday promotion using its sustainable TD shrink sleeve material will spur the market still further and assist hard-pressed recyclers.

Welsh farmer turned entrepreneur Laurence Harris tells BeverageDaily.com about his nationwide distribution ambition for the UK’s first organic flavored milk brand Daioni.

DreamPak’s international sales director tells Ben Bouckley that brands must differentiate to grow in a crowded US beverage enhancers fixture and tips tea, coffee and smoothies to lead the charge.

Zenith International chairman Richard Hall tells BeverageDaily.com that he thinks the beverage industry is regaining its faith in functional products.

Cold Press MD Andrew Gibb reveals the HPP juice and smoothie brand’s sales could hit circa. $5m in 2014 and is unfazed about taking on the might of Innocent Drinks and Tropicana.

Refractometers can be used as a final check to ensure everything has gone right in the production process, according to a UK firm.

Google Glass, glasses which contain tiny computers on their frames, will shape the wines people buy in the future, predicts Arnaud Daphy of wine marketing consultancy Triptiq.

Perrier site manager Bernard Rouger insists that there are no supply limitations as Nestle Waters’ iconic French sparkling water brand breaks the 1.1bn unit barrier in 2013.

Tanja Krüger from WILD Flavors notes the emerging trend in energy drinks towards ‘fusion energy’ - products that pair energy with other global success stories including tea and malt-based ingredients.

X-ray inspection adoption is increasing with it being an accepted process but finer and more contaminants remain the target to increase its use, according to Eagle Product Inspection.

Klaus Dörrenhaus, CEO of German company KDM, tells Ben Bouckley why he chose to persevere in developing his award-winning, all-natural Orang-Utang soft drink.

Moshy Cohen from RCCI promises that the firm’s mid-calorie Neo cola with stevia - which took three years to develop - is the ‘best solution’ for regular cola drinkers.

CULT Energy founder Brian Sørensen explains why the world’s most caffeinated cola outsells Pepsi in convenience channels and supermarkets in the brand’s native Denmark.

ITW Warehouse Automation insists US demand is growing for shuttle or cart-based automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) as a solution for ‘brown’ and ‘greenfield’ warehouses.

DSM says a possible US rule change allowing brewers to label barley-based beers ‘gluten-free’ would be fantastic for both brewers and consumers, and open up the market to new, more mainstream taste profiles.

Hoping to build on growing consumer demand for drinking yogurt, probiotics drinks, and other liquid dairy products, Italian packaging machinery manufacturer Sacmi intends to set up a division dedicated to increasing its dairy-specific technological offerings.

Jens Böhm, marketing manager, from nutrition business BENEO chats to Ben Bouckley in Munich about the promise he sees for breakfast beverages targeting consumers’ specific nutritional needs.

Lycored claims its new Lyc-O-Beta Intense coloring system will bring significant cost savings for producers of beverages such as orange juice, and says US interest in such natural colors is growing.

Rexam says its novel Editions printing technology can be used with the firm’s aluminum Fusion bottle, which recently caused a stir with the Pepsi Beyoncé launch in Italy in August 2013.

Abigail Storms, global marketing director, sweeteners and beverage, Tate & Lyle, insists Splenda sucralose perfectly suits liquid water enhancers as an emerging European category, against the backdrop of success for products such as Kraft Foods' MIO Stateside.

Jens Neidhardt, sales director, GEA Brewery Systems talks craft brewing trends and why the firm chose to launch its more compact Craft-Star brewhouse in 2013.

P.E.T Engineering outlines the technical challenges involved in producing an award-winning lightweight PET bottle that retains its structural integrity, and a trend towards making PET bottles with the glamor of glass.

Today's podcast rounds up two UK drinks adverts involving a Diet Coke hunk, a lawnmower and a Chinook helicopter from Coke and Heineken, which led to Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) adjudications.

The world's largest hops company, Barth-Haas group, tells BeverageDaily.com why so-called 'flavor' hops are ushering in a revolution in beer flavors, starting with the craft beer phenomenon in the US but now spreading across Europe and the rest of the world.

Lightweighting will remain a big trend influencing RPC Group's business strategy, according to Pim Vervaat, the packaging firm's new boss.

The UK is the current European hotspot for innovative beverage startups, due to listing opportunities that extend beyond the major multiples and an investment climate that favors small to medium enterprises.

Mario Abreu, global environment director, recycling and base materials, at Tetra Pak’s Global Environment team, tells BeverageDaily.com that while closed-loop recycling is important, the firm favors a more holistic approach to the Holy Grail for sustainable packaging.

Alcohol-free malt beverages are big business in the Middle East and there were plenty of varieties on show at Gulfood last week. Symrise brewmaster and category development manager Wilhelm Resanovic caught up with FoodNavigator at the show, where the company showcased a malty drink - without the malt.