US-based Hain Celestial Group was the winner of the Best energy drink category, with Celestial Seasonings Enerji Green Tea Energy Shots.
Jennifer Stolte, director of marketing at The Hain Celestial Group, said: “Winning this award for our Enerji Green Tea Energy Shot highlights our successful crossover into the functional beverage category, while still remaining one of the most trusted specialty tea brands. We’ll continue listening to our consumers and are glad we can provide solutions to meet an even wider variety of their needs.
“We will prominently feature this award in our marketing materials and in ongoing sales/distribution conversations, as well as by announcing it in social media and other consumer-facing efforts.
“Celestial Seasonings will continue adding innovative new products to our Natural Shots line. The newest natural shot will be announced in early November and will be available at Walmart locations nationwide. Stay tuned!”
The winner of the Best functional drink category, and a finalist in the Best sports drink category, was Shadow Beverages and McLean Design, with GNC Beverages.
Sam Jones, co-founder, Shadow Beverages & Snacks LLC, said: “First and foremost, it’s an honour to be recognised by this organisation and experts within the global beverage environment. It’s a justifier to ourselves and our business partners that we are on the right track with this brand and brand extension, and we could not be more excited to be the recipient of the Best functional drink award and finalist for Best sport drink.
“We will start with a PR release by the end of this week with comments from Tom Dowd, EVP GNC. We have already alerted all our existing distribution, retail and operations partners that help build this product. We will also incorporate into all our existing presentations and are looking to incorporate into retail POS.
“We have a line of protein shakes that will launch by the start of next year, following the pattern of over delivering functionality and great packaging that consumers expect from the GNC brand.
“It was an honour and pleasure to attend in person and meet the individuals that worked so hard to put this show on. It was great to see the other brands and operation aspects that affect the industry players both large and small. Having the American Beverage Association in attendance was a great surprise. I hope they continue to be involved in industry events throughout the year.”
The winner of the Best sports drink category was NthDegree Innovations Inc, with Nth Degree Low GI Performance Drink.
Bob Todaro, COO, Nth Degree Innovations Inc, said: “Winning this prestigious award is a great honour and a testament to the benefit of bringing consumers healthier, innovative products.
“We will proudly promote this award on our website, Facebook page and in a press release to retailers, buyers and industry professionals. The news is too good not to share!
“Nth Degree is currently working on distribution expansion with both major retailers and traditional beverage distributors. We are excited for what 2013 will bring.”
See all the entries, finalists and winners in the Best bottled water, Best energy drink, Best functional drink and Best sports drink categories here:
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