See images from IFE11 here.
Claire Lettice of Lull Drinks was relaxed and chilled out thanks to her botanical drink, which was conceived on the surf beaches a few years back. It promises to ‘restore harmony, relieve stress and sharpen the mind’. Yes please! You can see the neat white ring pull cap in the April issue of Beverage Innovation.
Greg Watson, founder of The Juice Brewery, explained the move away from the name Hopper for this fermented, non-alcoholic beer-style drink – now called Soft Brew – a recognised industry term for this category.
Paul Grout of Britannia Beverages was keen to talk about Mad Dog: “It’s an energy drink with the exact same energy as Red Bull, but it has the light and fresh taste of lemonade. Further, our production costs are highly competitive, which generates competitive end RRPs for the consumer as well as compelling margins for the trade.”
Poland’s Tymbark was showing off its new 100% natural pure mango juice with easy twist, easy pour cap.
The best laugh of the day was trying to pose for pictures with Sabrina Hsu of Possmei International’s Bubble Tea team, a drink that contains chewy pieces of tapioca which we wanted to show halfway up the fat straw. Apparently, this drink is very popular in Taiwan, and the drinks themselves taste nice but the squidgy tapioca sensation is something totally new to me.
“Popping Boba is just like a juice ball,” said Possmei’s Jim Yeh. “The cover is made by seaweed and with juice inside. When you chew that, it will pop up in your mouth and you will definitely feel excited and fun!”
Bill Bruce, FoodBev Media’s group editorial director, met Gary Lavin of Vitz Drinks, who is meeting demand for vitamin-enhanced beverages with Vit Hit.
Finally, what was the coolest stand? Well, Daymer Bay with its VW Camper Van made you think of hot days watching the surf roll. The range of iced teas is tempting, too: no added sugar and lots of natural fruit extracts for that feel-good factor.
Claire Phoenix is managing editor of Beverage Innovation magazine. Subscribe here.
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