Looking ahead to the Beverage Innovation Awards at Drinktec 2013

With not long to go until the entry deadline for the Beverage Innovation Awards @ Drinktec, it’s a good time to look back at previous awards shows.

The first time we ran the Beverage Innovation Awards at Drinktec in Munich was in 2009, when Preshafruit took top honours with ‘Best overall concept’ and ‘Best new juice or juice drink’.

We interviewed Preshafood founder Andrew Gibb at the event, who went on to co-found Coldpress, a winner of the FoodBev.com Awards 2011.

 

2009 was also the year that saw Pepsi Natural (or Pepsi Raw) win the ‘Best adult or gourmet drink’ award, but the drink was eventually discontinued in many countries, including the US and the UK.

More successful in that category was finalist Hopper Soft Brew by The Juice Brewery, which has achieved solid growth since 2009, and has added new flavours to its range.

Since 2009, the Beverage Innovation Awards has been held atInterBev (2010), with functionaldrinks (2011), which we labelled the ‘BIFDAs’ the year after (2012).

Now that Drinktec has come around again (the event is held every four years), we’re looking forward to seeing a range of winners and finalists from the bustling beverages sector. If you haven’t entered yet, now’s the time to do it.

A Global Protocol for Bottled Water

I finished a small project recently that involved an interview in Bath, at the Royal Crescent, on a particularly windy day.

Richard Hall, chairman of Zenith International, is interviewed by my colleague Bill Bruce about a set of guidelines for the bottled water industry.

Gulfood 2010 roundup

You must have been completely wrapped up in the John Terry/Wayne Bridge affair (or was it Cheryl and Ashley Cole?) to have missed the fact that Gulfood 2010 occurred recently in sunny Dubai.

And when I say occurred, I’m understating horribly. I attended the trade show on the opening Sunday and the inaugural Gulfood Awards on the Monday night and was impressed with both. Here’s a brief roundup of Gulfood coverage on FoodBev.com …

GALLERIES

• Gulfood Awards judging panel (18 Jan)
• Gulfood image gallery, part 1 (22 Feb)
• Gulfood image gallery, part 2 (24 Feb)
• Gulfood Awards 2010 – the winners part 1 (1 Mar)
• Gulfood Awards 2010 – the winners part 2 (1 Mar)
• Gulfood Awards 2010 – the winners part 3 (1 Mar)

NEWS & BLOGS

• Gulfood Awards to champion food and beverage innovation (15 Oct 09)
• Gulfood Awards judging panel announced (18 Jan)
• Gulfood 2010 diary (21 Feb)
• Gulfood is my life (21 Feb)
• Gulfood Awards 2010 – the winners and finalists (24 Feb)

VIDEO

• Gulfood Awards 2010 (26 Feb)
• Gulfood Awards 2010 opening speeches (1 Mar)