About Beverage Brokers

Beverage Brokers is a unique group of brokers, marketers and industry experts who work together to provide a single stop for brand owners looking to rapidly boost sales. With centralized marketing and contract standardization, they provide the best service at a reasonable cost. The broker–beverage brand relationship can determine the success of the product. A successful match will benefit both. Good brokers have knowledge of the local or regional market. They have established relationships with retailers and distributors. Beverage Brokers team has relationships in all of the major markets.

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Cost Efficient

Beverage Brokers represent the most cost-efficient method of doing business for many drink brands. As a direct employee, a sales representative is a fixed cost, but a commission based Beverage Broker is a variable cost directly tied to the volume sold. Beverage Brokers also enjoy a close relationship with their accounts and have in-depth market knowledge. They understand the needs and goals of their accounts and build their programs around them. The familiarity of the broker/distributor relationship adds credibility for new brands entering the market. The broker-beverage brand relationship can easily measure the success of the product. A successful match will benefit both parties. Good brokers are knowledgeable about the local or regional market. They have established relationships with retailers and distributors. Beverage Broker teams have relationships in all of the major markets.

A functional beverage is a drink product that is non-alcoholic, ready to drink and includes in its formulation non-traditional ingredients. This includes herbs, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, additional raw fruit, or vegetable ingredients, to provide specific health benefits that go beyond general nutrition. Sports and performance drinks, energy drinks, ready to drink teas, enhanced fruit drinks, soy beverages and enhanced water, among others, are some of the product segments rolled out as functional beverages in the market space. Functional beverages have become popular due to its appeal to consumers who are seeking specific health benefits in their foods and beverages with their 'healthiness-on-the-go' idea. Both convenience and health are important factors when consumers make decisions about purchasing foods and beverages. Functional drinks are with benefits such as heart health, improved immunity and digestion, joint health, satiety, and energy boosting. Functional beverage sector is a subsector of the functional food and non-alcoholic beverage industry and it is the fastest growing sector. This rapid growth is partially due to the combination of maturity of the carbonated soft drink sector and heavy investments by major food and beverage companies. In US, the market share of functional beverages has increased. This value is significantly larger than the annum growth rates of general foods and beverages market. Industry players in functional beverage industry are into four types. The traditional non-alcoholic beverage companies including PepsiCo Inc., Fuze Beverage and Coca-Cola Co are big developers. Another type consists of major food companies such as Nestlé, Altria Group, Kraft Foods Inc., General Mills Inc., and Campbell Soup Co. The third group is smaller scaled private companies, like the NOVA Group, Austria and some of which specialize in one subcategory or segment of the functional beverage market like Traditional Medicinal, FRS and POM Wonderful. The last are growers' cooperatives such as Ocean Spray and Sun-Sweet Growers. Products of functional beverage industry encompass wide range of varieties targeting different health related concerns. One trend is hybrid drinks with functional and sensory benefits such as thirst-quenching ability with daily dosage of vitamins or other nutrients. Another one is probiotics, exemplified by yogurt, for gut health and boosting natural defenses or immune system. Memory and mental sharpness is also coming into focus in the Function Drinks line. Children’s functional drinks also receive much attention in recent years. The current trend of single serve is for consumer's preference in convenience. According to Campbell's director of single-serve beverages, People know they will be seen when they are drinking single-serving beverages, so the package is critical Weight loss, health and beauty drinks account considerable market share, such as Nova the Essential Drink. Lastly, energy-boosting functional beverage products, such as Red Bull and -Hour Energy, are rated number one in growth in the functional beverage market. In this economic downturn, many products belonging the specialty food category are to have reduced sales because paying more for those specialty items are not an option for many consumers. These consumers also tend to shop in discount grocery stores and tend to make fewer grocery trips. The functional beverage market is to have an increase in growth. This is because people generally reduce restaurant expenses first before they start cutting down grocery expenses. It has also been determined that people have become more proactive in illness prevention and control. In the past, people were very reactive in their health because health problems are after they arrive. Nowadays, people will take an initiative and look for a food product that will supposedly prevent an illness from occurring Competition in the functional beverage industry is in four different ways. Companies firstly focus on their own products by clearly distinguishing their health claims from similar products and specify naturally healthy ingredients. Then, extensions of existing brand lines. The addition of Kids Essentials to the Boost (beverage) line by Nestle is a good representation of this strategy. Thirdly, bigger companies compete for market share by acquiring smaller companies that may own a particular market sector. An example is Coca Cola purchasing Glaceau from Energy Brands and Odwalla and Fuze Beverage from their respective founders. Lastly, to increase the competitiveness of the company, one may explore new functional brands by identifying new markets and demands. Market segments of the functional beverage industry are mainly by four parts. Those include hydration, energy/rejuvenation, health, wellness, and weight management. Each segment has its own target market and consumers. Overlapping of target consumers does occur, not because of undefined market needs, but due to the consumer acceptance towards functional beverages. Currently there is an increasing amount of advertising in the promotion of hydration. Nestle launched the sale of Glowelle, exclusively in Neiman Marcus. Antioxidant vitamins and fruit extracts are among the ingredient list that the company claims to "hydrate the inner and outer layer of the skin" and protect drinkers from free radicals. Gatorade’s Thirst Quencher offers a wide assortment of flavours each containing an “excellent source” of B vitamins to help meet the demands of energy metabolism; an “excellent source” of the antioxidant vitamin E to help protect the active body; an “excellent source” of vitamin C to help active people as they attack their day. . Now it delivers significant nutrition enhancements by providing an “excellent source” of B vitamins and a “good source” of vitamins C and E, all of which helpmeet the nutrient needs of active individuals. Gatorade has its hydrating qualities for athletes. Another example of a functional beverage targeting the hydration sector is Hydro One Premium Beverage from Augusta, Georgia. It contains vitamins and minerals as well as herbal extracts that are specifically and scientifically to promote healthy hydration, maintain healthy levels of blood glucose, and provide the nutrients that are beneficial for the circulatory system. Hydro One Premium Beverages delivers a form of sugar, which is the most advantageous for the body and aids in the nutritional needs of people while hydrating them in a healthy way. The company recommends two to four bottles daily.