BevNET Live Winter 2011

Santa Monica, CA
This is a past event. Replay all presentations and view upcoming events.

News

Video: Sweet Leaf 3 — How Nestle Made Its Move

Welcome to part three of our video replay of BevNET Live’s special “Building Sweet Leaf Up and Out” case study. In this installment, William Pearson, the CFO of Nestle Waters North America, gives his view of the role that the acquisition of Sweet Leaf could play in the ongoing development of NWNA. While Sweet Leaf had already begun to work with private equity group Catterton …

Video: Building Sweet Leaf 2 — Eyed by Catterton

Welcome to part two of our video replay of BevNET Live’s special “Building Sweet Leaf Up and Out” case study. While the first video featured Sweet Leaf founder Clayton Christopher talking about bootstrapping an entrepreneurial company, the second in this series takes an external look at what Christopher and partner David Smith had constructed: a growing company that was beginning to attract attention from the …

Video: Building Sweet Leaf Tea

Building a company, balancing the way investment can help it grow, and finally selling it off – it’s a process every entrepreneur needs to consider, and one that was addressed directly during BevNET Live by Clayton Christopher, the founder of Sweet Leaf Tea, Michael Farello, a partner at Catterton Partners, and William Pearson, the CFO of Nestle Waters North America. The three executives presented a …

Entrepreneurs, Authenticity, and Full Room Capacity: BevNET Live in Santa Monica

Monster Energy sees itself as a lifestyle company. Red Bull is a media empire. As for high-end CSD Izze, Co-founder Todd Woloson said that he saw it as something like an onion. Those ideas about branding – and many other off-beat ideas that are necessary to distinguish beverage companies in highly competitive times – came alive during the BevNET Live Winter event that concluded on Tuesday in Santa Monica.

BevNET Live Final Agenda Posted: It Features a “Moment With Monster” on Dec. 6

BevNET Live attendees will get one last surprise as part of their attendance at the event – a “Moment with Monster” segment that will offer a brief conversation with Mark Hall and Geoffrey Bremmer, two of the main executives behind the energy drink juggernaut owned by Hansen’s Beverage Corp. Hall, the president of the company, and Bremmer, the director of marketing for the Monster Energy …

Live Video Stream of BevNET Live Winter 11 and Brewbound Craft Beer Session

Following the announcement of its sixth consecutive sold-out BevNET Live conference, BevNET.com is pleased to announce the return of a free, live video stream. It which will be broadcast from the event, which will take place at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, CA, on December 5th and 6th. Live video of selected sessions will be streamed throughout the day; Sessions run …

BevNET Live: Meet the Judges — Sadowsky, Uzzell, First and Quinones

With two weeks to go before BevNET Live’s 2011 Winter event in Santa Monica, Calif., we thought it was time to pull up the curtain and introduce the slate of outstanding judges for BevNET Live’s signature competition, the New Beverage Showdown. Collectively, our judges’ experience cover years of experience in brand building, retailing, investing, distribution and marketing: Tom First, Managing Partner, First Beverage Group; G. …

Incubating from the Inside Out With Coke’s VEB Group

BevNET is pleased to announce that G. Scott Uzzell, the VP and General Manager of Emerging Brand Incubation, will give a brief presentation revealing the insights that the Venturing & Emerging Brands (VEB) unit of Coca-Cola has leaned as it looks to grow entrepreneurial brands within a company the size of VEB's parent company. Mr. Uzzell leads a team of commercial and marketing professionals responsible for marketing, business development, and operations for the “what is new and what is next” brands for the Venturing & Emerging Brands Group.

The Entrepreneurs Return to BevNET Live

Before there was the New Beverage Showdown at BevNET Live, there was the Live Tasting Panel. It was a place where eager beverage entrepreneurs could spotlight their products in front of the BevNET crowd — at the anticipated cost of the occasional verbal jab from some of the toughest, but most insightful, judges in the business. It also provided an early look at products and …

BevNET Live: Learn How Red Bull Earned Its Way to the Top; Red Bull North America VP of Marketing to Present

BevNET is delighted to announce that Amy Taylor, Vice President of Marketing for Red Bull North America, will be offering thoughts on brand-building from the standpoint of content creation and earned media. Ms. Taylor, who has been with Red Bull for more than 12 years, will present the ways that Red Bull has created compelling content from hundreds of sports and culture events and athlete …

BevNET Live Evaluates Retail Channels, Inside and Outside the Mainstream

Try to build a beverage brand, and you’re likely to hear questions about chain stores, DSD and the leap from Whole Foods into convenience and grocery. But there are plenty of viable companies that have developed exciting and profitable beverage businesses without going anywhere near those main retail channels. From Internet sales to Yoga Studios, from Multi-Level-Marketing platforms to Dollar Stores, there are many classes of trade that allow brands to reach their full potential – or at least offer other retailers key glimpses of what that potential might be.

BevNET Live Winter 11: Updated Agenda Released

BevNET Live has released the agenda for its Dec. 5 and 6 event at the Loew’s Santa Monica Beach Hotel. With just a few weeks to go before the event, this is a perfect time to review the in-depth sessions that will be on offer during this exciting event. Attendees should please note that there are a few final speakers and sessions to be announced …

BevNET Live: Financial Panel to feature PCG, Silverwood, First Beverage

As part of its commitment to providing beverage entrepreneurs with the most current, applicable information -- and connections -- to help their businesses grow, BevNET Live is pleased to announce that participants on its financial panel won't just be there to answer questions, but to share knowledge. To that end, the three panelists, Brent Knudsen, the managing partner of Partnership Capital Growth, Mike Burgmaier, a managing director at Silverwood Partners, and Tom First, the co-managing director of The Beverage Intelligence Group and First Beverage Ventures, will provide three short talks on aspects...

BevNET Live: Standing on Science with FRS, Nawgan

At a time during which claims of beverage functionality are constantly being boosted through the use of new ingredients, scientific evidence is fast becoming a key driver in helping launch and drive the growth of new brands. But it’s tricky: just as good science can help establish brand authenticity, while “junk” science and broad, meaningless claims can destroy an entire category. Meanwhile, despite the growing …

New BevNET Live Speakers from Sunny D, Snack Factory/VMG

BevNET is delighted to announce the return of a premium natural channel strategic thinker to the BevNET Live event, as well as the addition of a brand building expert who can help entrepreneurial brands think about large-scale growth plans. Rick Zimmerman, the senior VP of marketing and innovation at Sunny Delight Beverage Co., will be leading a breakout session on how brands can mix distribution and retail channels to suit their size, from small-scale operations to larger national accounts.

Take a Deep Dive into Kombucha at BevNET Live

Kombucha has been one of the fastest-growing beverage categories in recent years – and, for good or ill, one of the most attention-getting, as well. But there are many unanswered questions about the category – what is the overall mainstream potential for the brand? How much room is there beyond category leader GT’s Synergy Kombucha? Will the fermentation-related pause in supply permanently hobble the product …

Visual Firepower: BevNET Live Features Brand Designers Behind Monster, Fuze, Langers Juices

BevNET is pleased to announce that it has added a trio of branding experts to foster discussion on the visual design of authentic brands during the BevNET Live event in Santa Monica. The discussion will take place on Monday, Dec. 5. With industry bona fides that include the brand conception and visual design of entrepreneurial and innovative brands like Fuze and NOS, Monster and GNC Beverages, Langer’s Juice and Crystal Light, BevNET Live’s design panelists bring years of applied experience to the conference.

BevNET Live Speakers: New Investors, New Brands

BevNET is pleased to announce the addition of a pair of leading industry voices to its roster of speakers and panelists for the Dec. 5 and 6 BevNET Live in Santa Monica. Michael Burgmaier, an investment banker and Managing Director with Silverwood Partners, will again be participating in the event, providing an overview of the current investment environment for entrepreneurial beverage companies, as well as …

BevNET Live Adds Key Natural Experts: UNFI, SPINS, Natural Products Consulting

From vitaminwater to coconut waters, Natural and Specialty Retailers are often the most important first step when it comes to helping debut and grow new beverage brands. That’s why BevNET is proud to announce that we have added three very important speakers who have key perspectives on working within that channel, and in growing out of it. Rick Moller , the Vice President of Supplier …

Beverage Incubators Heat Up BevNET Live

Beverage investment no longer comes from big companies or elite venture capital funds. In recent years, beverage entrepreneurs have found an increasingly varied set of “Beverage Incubators” – groups that straddle the roles of consultant, investor and broker while connecting brands with creative help and distribution advice. From launching their own proprietary brands to helping provide regional brands with the financial wherewithal to reach the next level, these entities mix capital and experience with an array of strategic philosophies, and they have become a viable short- and medium-term...