Get ready for Round Two.
The New Beverage Showdown 2, an exciting new showcase for new beverage companies, is returning at this winter’s BevNET Live in Santa Monica, CA. It will offer six new beverage brands the opportunity to win cash, exposure, and advice as part of the challenge to be chosen as the most promising new brand of the competition.
The New Beverage Showdown, which awards $5000 to the winner, is sponsored by Venturing & Emerging Brands (VEB), a business unit of Coca-Cola North America. Winners also receive valuable advertising and merchandising materials from BevNET and other BevNET Live sponsors.
In addition, all applicants who are selected to be a part of the New Beverage Showdown 2 will receive table top space at the BevNET Live Mini Expo on December 5. This will allow the brands to gain exposure and feedback prior to the New Beverage Showdown.
“We are excited to be partnering with BevNET for Round Two,” said Deryck van Rensburg, President of Venturing and Emerging Brands. “Our VEB team was created to help our Company identify the next big thing in the beverage space, and we are always looking for opportunities to support entrepreneurs working to build these hot new brands. The New Beverage Showdown is a great place to see this in action.”
The New Beverage Showdown gives six new beverage entrepreneurs the chance to present their forthcoming brand, business plan and company in front of a panel of expert judges, as well as the BevNET Live audience. The presenting brands will be chosen from a pool of applicants before the event. BevNET Live will be held on Dec. 5 and 6 at the Loew’s Santa Monica Beach Hotel.
Begun as a way to offer instant feedback to brands that are coming to market, as well as a way to provide the audience a glimpse of some of some of the innovations taking place in the world of the independent beverage entrepreneur, the New Beverage Showdown presents BevNET Live attendees with a mix of information and suspense. To help better understand what the New Beverage Showdown is all about, here are some videos from the last New Beverage Showdown (held in June 2011 in NYC): video 1, video 2, video 3.
All brands chosen for the New Beverage Showdown will also have a chance to sample their products during the BevNET Live Mini Expo on the afternoon of Dec. 5. Brands will present to judges on Dec. 6.
“Both the brands and the audience derived tremendous publicity and business insights from the presentation and judging process when we held our first New Beverage Showdown during BevNET Live in June,” said John Craven, founder and CEO of BevNET.com, Inc. “We – and VEB — look forward to showcasing a new slate of promising brands in Santa Monica to our audience of distributors, investors, suppliers, and beverage entrepreneurs, and we can’t wait to award the prize.”
Interested in applying for the New Beverage Showdown 2?
Apply for the New Beverage Showdown 2 and register for BevNET Live.
Questions about the New Beverage Showdown can be directed to John Craven at jcraven@bevnet.com.
About BevNET Live
BevNET Live will return to the Loew’s Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa Monica on Dec. 5 and 6, 2011. Over the course of the two-day event, BevNET Live provides presentations from leading beverage executives, in-depth breakout sessions, a “mini-expo” of supplier and beverage exhibits, and ample networking time. The conference is attended by entrepreneurs, suppliers, distributors, retailers, investors and others who are interested in the cutting edge of the beverage business.
About Venturing and Emerging Brands
Venturing and Emerging Brands (VEB) is a dedicated operating unit of Coca-Cola North America charged with identifying high-potential growth brands in the North American beverage space for investment or ownership by The Coca-Cola Company and exploring potential synergistic relationships with these investments. With direct access to the global resources and industry expertise of The Coca-Cola Company and its system, VEB is uniquely positioned to develop emerging beverage brands of The Coca-Cola Company to their full potential. In addition to the recent acquisition of Honest Tea, VEB currently manages brands such as illy issimo, Cascal, Sokenbicha and has an equity investment in Zico
Coconut Water.