Emerging beverage brands united in their response to the Ventura Country fires by helping to deliver hydration and nutrition to more than 1,100 firefighters battling the blaze.
The companies attended the 2017 BevNET Live event in Santa Monica, the largest business conference of new and innovative beverage companies in the country.
Hundreds of cases of water, electrolyte beverages and protein drinks being sampled during the annual conference, which was attended by more than 700 beverage industry professionals, were assembled on Tuesday morning and delivered to responders of the wind-fueled wildfire that has burned more than 65,000 acres.
Helping to coordinate and execute deliveries was Los Angeles-based Aloe water brand, Aloe Gloe, which is part of the L.A. Libations incubator.
“A member of the L.A. Libations family, Nathan Anderson with AMAZ, lost his home,” said L.A. Libations co-founder Danny Stepper. “Once we learned how quickly the fire had spread, and the devastation it had already caused, we knew that we needed to respond quickly. It was the least we could do.”
An assortment of beverages was also delivered to victims of the fire, thousands of whom were forced to evacuate their homes and seek emergency shelter at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.
“Yesterday, I was speaking with Kevin Rutherford, the CEO of Nuun, an electrolyte and sports nutrition brand, and he told me that his team had donated product in the past to hydrate firefighters in the field,” said BevNET editor-in-chief Jeffrey Klineman. “I was inspired — and thought to myself that we needed to get all of the other companies in our audience on board. They’re all here to build brands around hydration and nutrition — and that’s what is going to be needed in the field. I hope our efforts, and theirs, are helpful.”
As part of the donation effort, Aloe Gloe agreed to accept beverages from all BevNET Live attendees and make regular deliveries to firefighters and victims throughout the week, working with local beverage distributor Haralambos Beverage Company.
The initial delivery of beverages to Ventura County firefighters included products from Flow Water, Mood Water, KRa, Bare Nature, Penta, 1 Shot Protein, FitWhey, Drink Maple, Hemp2O, Hint, Vita Nourish, Soylent, Axwater, Simplee Aloe, Wanu, Iconic, Rivvibe, SOS Rehydrate, OWYN. Essentia Water has also arranged for delivery to Ventura via Haralambos.
A variety of other offerings, including AMAZ, HiBall, Alta Palla, Silk Road Soda, Grass Fed, Coffee, Moonshine Sweet Tea, Arya, Kabaki Kenyan Purple Tea, Nimble Nectar, Red Bull, DRY Soda, Celsius, Go Girl Energy Drink, Koffee Reinvented, Avitae, Hellowater, Artiso, Zing Zang, Vuka, Glide Immunity, Mixwell, Runa, Ethan’s, Wonder Fuel, Mother Beverage, Teatulia, Ito En, Matcha Love, Phocus, La Colombe, Zenify, Coffee Blenders, Tickle Water, Sapp, Simple Mills, SmashMallow, Good Crisp, Funny Farm, Pop Art, Seven, and Green Energy were donated to victims of the fire.
Many more donations are expected over the next few days.
About BevNET Live
BevNET Live is a two-day forum for beverage entrepreneurs, suppliers, distributors, retailers and investors to gather and exchange ideas through interactive panels, lectures, and networking. More than just a conference, BevNET LIVE includes exclusive offerings including the BevNET Live Expo, the New Beverage Showdown, a Sampling Bar option for all attendees, a Beverage School for new entrepreneurs, and more.
About BevNET.com, Inc.
BevNET.com is the leading beverage-oriented media company, producing a web site, print magazine, and live conference series. The company was founded in 1996 by John Craven, with its mission to offer, through products in a variety of media, the best, most comprehensive forum for news coverage, expertise, partnership and support for all members of the beverage community.
Since its inception, BevNET.com has become a recognized authority on the beverage industry. BevNET.com and its employees are often used as sources for media publications looking for industry information, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Detroit Free Press, CNBC and Wired Magazine.
BevNET has offices in Watertown, MA, New York, NY, and San Diego, CA.
About L.A. Libations
L.A. Libations is a next-generation beverage incubator. The company is aligned with The Coca-Cola Company’s Venturing & Emerging Brand Group (www.vebatcoke.com) to incubate emerging beverage categories as we identify brands with billion dollar potential.