Califia Farms announces passing of founder, Greg Steltenpohl

Califia Farms, Los Angeles, announced the passing of its founder and executive director, Greg Steltenpohl, on March 11 at the age of 67.

“It is with a heavy heart we share the news of the passing of our company’s founder, Greg Steltenpohl. He built the Califia Farms brand from the ground up with a passion for nourishing people and the planet. Greg touched so many lives on his plant-fueled journey to make the world a healthier place. He will be profoundly missed. We tip our hats to our visionary founder,” the statement said.

In 2010, Steltenpohl founded Califia Farms, a high growth California-based health-and-wellness company with the leading premium brand of plant-based beverages in the United States, and a rapidly growing global presence.

Steltenpohl first entered the natural food industry in 1980 when he ignited the fresh juice revolution by co-founding the Odwalla Juice Co. in Santa Cruz, Calif., and selling juice out of the back of a van. In growing his small start-up to a publicly held corporation with an average growth rate exceeding 50 percent a year, Steltenpohl also was a pioneer in applying environmental sustainability, employee empowerment, creative corporate culture and community-based marketing as core drivers of business success.

The visionary’s career also included being a founding member of the Slow Money Institute,
co-founder of Adina for Life, and co-founder and chairman of The Interra Project. BI

Diageo North America expands operations to support RTD category

To support New York-based Diageo North America’s growth strategy in the ready-to-drink (RTD) category, the company announced plans to expand its manufacturing footprint and install two can lines at a new facility in Plainfield, Ill. With an investment of approximately $80 million, the site will have the capacity to produce more than 25 million cases of RTDs a year, including Smirnoff seltzers and the newly launched spirits-based RTD cocktails from Crown Royal and Ketel One Botanicals.

“As the ready-to-drink category continues to grow rapidly in the United States, this expansion is very exciting as it will support our plans to meet increased consumer demand in line with emerging trends for convenient formats that are ideal for casual and at-home occasions,” said Debra Crew, president of Diageo North America, in a statement. “The new operation will supplement our existing ready-to-drink production across North America and strengthen our path to continue building our RTD offering.”

Sitting on a 225,000 square-foot property in Plainfield, Ill., the new facility will include a 500 cans per minute (CPM) line and a 1,200 CPM line, both of which are expected to be available for commercial production by summer of 2021. All told, the two high-speed can lines will support capacity of more than 25 million canned beverages, the company says.

Once open, the new site will employ approximately 50 full-time team members. Diageo North America has built a 55-year-old partnership with the Village of Plainfield and has played a role contributing to its economic development. Diageo’s presence has grown and expanded over the years: the Plainfield Bottling site ― open since 1966 ― and the warehouse collectively employs more than 600 additional people. BI

VOSS Water, New York, named Rachel Chambers as senior vice president of marketing. Chambers joins VOSS from Perfetti Van Melle, where she served as vice president of marketing (U.S. and Canada) leading the Airheads, Mentos and Fruit-tella brand franchises. Under her leadership, brand sales grew more than 60 percent driven by breakthrough brand re-positionings, a focus on core growth, as well as success in bringing numerous innovations to market. Glenn Hartman, chief executive officer of VOSS Water, shared: "We are delighted to have Rachel join our team as we elevate the talent in our company. We are confident that her experience and talent will be instrumental in reinvigorating the VOSS innovation and marketing plans driving sales to record levels."

Nestlé USA acquires Essentia Water

Nestlé USA, Arlington, Va., announced that it has acquired Essentia Water, Bothell, Wash. Essentia pioneered ionized alkaline water more than 20 years ago and is a leading brand in that space in the United States. This transaction is part of Nestlé's continued transformation of its global water business, which was announced in June 2020.

The company is sharpening its portfolio to focus on international premium and mineral water brands and healthy hydration products, such as functional water. This follows the agreement to sell Nestlé's U.S. and Canadian regional spring water brands, purified water business and beverage delivery service announced in February.

"With the addition of Essentia we continue to transform and best position our water business for long-term profitable growth here in the U.S. and globally," said Steve Presley, chairman and chief executive officer of Nestlé USA, in a statement. "We are excited to welcome the Essentia team to the Nestlé family as we expand our premium water portfolio. Essentia gives us an immediate strong presence in the high-growth, functional water segment and supports our efforts to capture opportunities with emerging consumer trends such as healthy hydration."

Essentia uses a proprietary process to ionize water, delivering a clean, smooth taste and a pH of 9.5 or higher. Its 2020 sales were $192 million.

The ionized alkaline water brand joins other recognizable water brands Perrier, S.Pellegrino, San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna as part of the Premium Waters portfolio of Nestlé USA. BI