The New Beverage Showdown!
The 'New Beverage Showdown' - an opportunity for emerging brands to pitch their wares in front of an expert panel and win a prize from Coca-Cola's Venturing and Emerging Brands unit - attracted a wide range of entrepreneurial brands including Food Vision USA trailblazer Shaka Tea, ready-to-drink, naturally caffeine free tea made with māmaki, a plant that only grows in the Hawaiian islands.
The panel (BevNET founder and CEO John Craven, Los Angeles Distributing Company co-founder Richard Medina, Coca-Cola SVP & general manager for craft beverages Jeremy Faa, and Brand Sense Partners senior director of modern marketing Rachel Andersson) loved the product but felt co-founder Bella Hughes could do more to accentuate māmaki so that it was more immediately obvious to consumers what was different about the product.