Returning to her roots in Chicago after writing and marketing in California’s wine country, Sarah Graybill covers everything from beverage brand creative and innovation in packaging, to responsible manufacturing and products simply too good not to buzz about. Sarah has two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Public Relations and English from Drake University, but has been writing since age 8. Sarah’s favorite aspects of her role as associate editor are the dynamic industry wavemakers she gets to know, and the journeys and stories that make their products noteworthy.
As consumers focus on nutrition increases, the beverage market is booming with functional beverages that address sports recovery, and bone and joint health.
In the fast-paced beverage market, safety, accuracy, flexibility and sustainability are of utmost importance. For industries such as food and beverage where manufacturing processes must be contamination-free, as well as quick and accurate, increasing demand for products filled by automatic filling machines rather than by humans is projected to grow the automatic filling machine market.
Packaging innovations have become an important solution for beverage-makers in established categories. The wine market is no different. In an attempt to shatter the “stigma” associated with bag-in-box (BIB) or bagged wine, some wine brands have taken an innovative approach to the “vessel” for this type of wine packaging.
As bars and restaurants close their doors or move services to drive-up, pick-up or deliver-only in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global on-premise food and beverage industry is reeling with the repercussions.
In its 2019 Retail and Sustainability Survey, New York-based CGS, a global provider of business applications, enterprise learning and outsourcing services, noted that more than two-thirds of the 1,000 Americans surveyed consider sustainability when purchasing products.
Known as the place to pick up your meds along with those “few extra things,” drug stores are now exerting extra effort to compete with online retail giants, accommodate consumers’ growing health needs and demands, and leveraging technology to enhance their offerings.
Approximately 63 percent of Americans drink coffee, according to the 2019 National Coffee Data Trends. Although coffee exports are decreasing globally, coffee as a distinctive, aromatic ingredient in food and beverages is expanding. Beyond flavor and aroma, attributes like coffee’s purported anti-inflammatory polyphenols are helping to drive product innovations across multiple categories, experts note.
These days, consumers want customized product experiences and speed that also support a sustainable approach when it comes to the brands they purchase. Thus far, commerce has been keeping up, with goods hightailing it across the country at speeds and in volumes unimaginable in decades prior.
To demonstrate the versatility of blood oranges in culinary and mixology applications, Sunkist hosted a two-day “Taste of the Grove” blood orange immersion in the heart of its lush citrus groves in Dinuba, Calif.