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Can someone please tell me what is wrong with gums and stabilizers—and why did so many of the beverage entrepreneurs in the beverage competition at the BEVNET show (www.bevnet.com) refer to it as “filler”. As far as I a concerned, something used to help suspend and thicken at the 0.05% usage level that comes from the root of a tree is hardly filling up any space at all—we should be grateful that some genius food scientist was kind enough to identify it, isolate it, purify it and sell it in powder form so entrepreneurs don’t have to dig up roots and grind it themselves. But yet, the company MALK based their Bevnet winning pitch on the fact that their product does not have all those “fillers”.
I just got back from Bevnet.com and was amazed, amused and hydrated all at the same time. I was invited there by Draco, a company in northern California that sells whole fruit and vegetable extract powders, they asked me to speak on their behalf as an unbiased third party and educate attendees on functional ingredients.
While at the show I got to taste everything and make a mental summary in my mind of what is trending in the beverage world. First and foremost—coconut is not going anywhere any time soon—we no longer want just the water but we really need to drink in all that heavy coconut cream fat as well—MCT’s and other fatty acids are good for us!
Aside from that there were the usual interesting and exotic options like lemon juice with charcoal (to detox me), lots of coffee, lots of Kombucha and one drink that even claimed to work as a sunscreen if you drank it 30 minutes before going into the sun.
I love to report back on the trade shows I attend and this is one of the interesting ones. For a consultant like me I get to see what is new and interesting as well as connect with local ingredient suppliers and co packers. For beverage entrepreneurs, they get to attend classes, connect with suppliers and learn about how to commercialize and market beverage products. The BEVNET website is a wealth of information for anyone interested in reading about the beverage world. Up to date and relevant material!
