Drinking your way to beauty

From Drinks Business Review:

This month's roundup of novel new drinks launches finds that the beauty from within beverage market is gaining ground with the emergence of a skin nourishing beverage from Nestlé. Meanwhile, the release of an energy drink with all-natural ingredients shows that the allure of the natural is emerging in an increasing number of drink sectors.

Nestlé has launched the Glowelle Beauty Drink Supplement in the US. The beverage, available ready to drink as well as in a sachet format, is designed to fight the signs of aging by nourishing skin from the inside out. It is said to contain skin-beautifying antioxidants such as high antioxidant nutrients, botanicals and fruit extract. With Nestlé behind this new beauty drink supplement, the emerging beauty-from-within sector could get a major boost.

[Go here for the rest of the story.]

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Be your own soft drink company

This may be sort of a free ad. Well, that's exactly what it is. But I found the product so clever I decided to give away this space to mention it.

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to have your own line of soft drinks, or just have your own label on one, this service lets you design your own color palette and lettering on cans of soft drinks you can sell or give away for promotional purposes.

I chose to call attention to one of my online sites -- Taste for Travel: Food, Drink and Destinations.

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Andean-style beverages hit market

Q: What is purple, Peruvian and presently coming on the beverage market?

A: Half the drinks line from Simply Originals LLC, a husband-and-wife business in Rowayton, CT, that was founded last year.

They have come up with with two all-natural Andean-based artisanal drink recipes: Simply Originals Purple Corn and Simply Originals Flaxseed.

The non-carbonated beverages contain about half the calories and sugar found in the most popular drinks. They are available at Northeast Whole Foods and other markets in southern Connecticut, New York and northern New Jersey.

Renato Varas, co-founder of the company with wife Meghan, grew up drinking versions of these beverages in his native Peru. The Purple Corn is commonly known as “chicha morada” in Peru. It contains Andean purple corn, cinnamon, clove, pineapple and lemon and contains high levels of antioxidants.

The Flaxseed, first such ready-to-drink beverage on the U.S. market, is based on the tradition of “emolientes,” or herbal fusions, and has high levels of omega-3s, antioxidants and fiber.

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Yoplait rolls out fizzy milk drink

With apologies to the long-ago pop star Tommy Roe, one hopes, Yoplait has launched a new milk-based soft drink called Dizzy for the French market.

The target market is the 15-to-25-year-old niche, with both "citrus" and "exotic fruits" flavors and a a purple aluminum container.

The company has been mum on when, or whether, Dizzy will make its U.S. debut.

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Is Slurm headed your way?

The parade of drinks moving from fiction to reality apparently is flowing unabated. This is the third time I've been able to report on such possibilities.

• The first was Pawtucket Patriot Ale from the animated TV series "Family Guy."

• The second was Booty Sweat, the energy drink created in the film "Tropical Thunder."

• Now, Slurm (motto: "It's Highly Addictive"), the official soft drink of the 31st Century, might move from the animated TV series "Futurama" to our very own dimension. Twentieth Century Fox has filed for the "Slurm" trademark which would cover (prepare yourself) "carbonated and non-carbonated soft drinks; fruit drinks; fruit juices; mineral and aerated water; bottled drinking water; energy drinks; syrups and powders for making soft drinks and other beverages, namely soft drinks, fruit drinks and tea; coffee-flavored soft drinks; Ramune (Japanese soda pops); powders used in the preparation of isotonic sports drinks and sports beverages."

I'll keep you posted as any, or all, of these dreams come true.

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Another drink-mixing device in works

Not long ago, I reported on a drink vending machine in development for Coca-Cola that will be able to provide 100 different drinks.

Now, an English company named Waterwerkz has developed the "PouchLink" system that combines a drink machine with the assembly method of soda fountain by adding filtered water from outside pipes to quickly mix drinks inside a machine.

Inside this mini factory, water is mixed with syrup and the concoction is placed inside a flexible pouch that will be available in different sizes. It would be able to store the makings for 2,000 drinks since the unfilled pouches fit on a reel.

International drinks manufacturer Nestlé already has begun working with Waterwerkz, as has UK soft drinks maker Bottle Green Drinks.

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Credit crunch shakes McD's coffee bar plans

From Advertising Age:

CHICAGO -- The banking crisis is threatening to take a rather surprising hostage: McDonald's big-budget coffee rollout.

Tightening credit conditions, which are crimping plans for marketers as diverse as giant General Motors Corp. and relatively small household-products company Method, have prompted Bank of America to halt loans to McDonald's franchisees. They need the capital to frantically build coffee bars in the chain's 14,000 locations for what was planned to be an April coffee introduction.

And although it won't derail the launch altogether, it is likely to delay it nearly into summer -- hardly optimal timing for a hot-beverage introduction.

[Go here for the rest of the story.]

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Hollywood in a handy can

Anyone who saw the Ben Stiller/Robert Downey Jr. comedy flick "Tropical Thunder" saw the characters swilling Booty Sweat, a fictional energy drink.

Fictional, that is, until now. Paramount Pictures has licensed the energy drink to the novelty-products firm Boston America Corp. to make a limited run of the drink for the real world.

Michael Corcoran, president of consumer products at Paramount Pictures, said, “We’re very excited, because it has the potential to live for quite a while, well beyond the film. ... Not to my knowledge has this ever been done before.”

Well, maybe not for a fictional movie product, but don't rule out TV. Last fall, Pawtucket Patriot Ale moved from the animated series "Family Guy" to the real world when a Rhode Island micro-brewery started brewing it.

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NYC coffee 'cupping' sessions set

Intelligentsia Coffee has scheduled a series of cupping events this month at the New York Cupping and Training Lab, 594 Broadway, Suite 909A, in Manhattan.

The free public events, set for October 2, 23 and 30, allow visitors to sample and compare the flavor of gourmet coffee beans and discuss their impressions.

Cupping selections range from new crop coffees to direct trade to special selections. "Cupping" is the standardized way to evaluate coffees, a method used by roasters, retailers, growers and importers. The three qualities evaluated during Intelligentsia events are body, acidity and aroma. As each coffee is sampled, the taster records and discusses their impressions.

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