Middleby Corporation has announced the acquisition of Marco Beverage Systems, a beverage dispensing solutions manufacturer, for an undisclosed sum. Marco’s products include Pour’d cold coffee on tap, which is a cold coffee solution that improves the speed of service in the out-of-home coffee business. The company has annual revenues of $30 million with facilities in Dublin, Ireland and Ningbo, China. The company’s operations – in the latter market, in particular – will expand Middleby’s manufacturing and sales teams and capabilities. “Marco is a leader in innovative beverage dispensing systems. This acquisition is highly complementary to our growing beverage portfolio, and the Marco product line further expands our offerings in coffee brewers, cold brew dispense and a variety of hot, cold and sparkling water dispensers,” said Middleby CEO Tim FitzGerald. “Touchless and in-counter dispense technology is rapidly gaining popularity due to space and labour advantages, along with enhanced aesthetic features. Marco is well-positioned with solutions for these growing trends.” Marco’s management team will remain unchanged.

Lavazza Professional has announced the acquisition of Scottish vending operation SV24-7 Vending (Stirlingshire Vending). SV24-7, a family business with over 60 years of vending industry experience, offers vending and office coffee services, including micro markets. Ken MacIsaac, UK business leader at Lavazza Professional, said: “By welcoming such a well-established and reputable provider to the Lavazza Professional family, we can continue to deliver a ‘one-stop-shop’ solution for machines, drinks, snacks and exceptional service to customers in the central belt of Scotland; from Glasgow to Edinburgh, to Tayside and everything in between”. He added: “The changes have been well received, and we’re looking forward to unlocking the opportunities that the acquisition presents". Fiona Chambers, former director of SV24-7, commented: “Over the years, we built our business on providing our clients with the most effective vending solutions, underpinned by our commitment to service excellence and a product portfolio tailored specifically to the needs of each client – aligning perfectly with Lavazza Professional". “We have built strong relationships with our customers over the last 11 years, so with both businesses sharing the same values, it was a logical step for us to move the operation when the opportunity arose.” Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Trigo has raised $100 million in an equity financing round led by Singaporean investment firm Temasek and 83North. The round included participation from new and existing investors, such as SAP, Hetz Ventures, Red Dot Capital Partners, Vertex Ventures, Viola and supermarket giant Rewe Group. Based in Israel, Trigo uses artificial intelligence to build the infrastructure for autonomous grocery stores. The company works with retailers to convert their existing stores into frictionless shopping experiences. Employing technologies such as ceiling-mounted cameras and shelf sensors, Trigo’s retail automation platform identifies picked-up shopping items with very high levels of accuracy, enabling a seamless checkout process. In addition, the company says that its StoreOS store operating system can track inventory in real-time, minimise out-of-stock and expired items, and manage store and supply chain operations predictively. Trigo solutions are employed by leading grocery retailers around the world, including Tesco in the UK, Aldi Nord in the Netherlands, Rewe, Netto, Israel’s Shufersal and Wakefern Food. The company will use the new capital to scale the deployment of its cashier-free technology across the US and Europe, expand into new geographies and further develop its StoreOS store and inventory management software application suite. Michael Gabay, Trigo co-founder and CEO, said: “By opening multiple autonomous stores with five of the world’s leading grocery retailers, we have proven that we can deploy computer vision and AI to empower physical stores with the same kinds of insights and capabilities that e-commerce stores have. This investment allows Trigo to build on this success and focus on three core initiatives: expanding our autonomous retail platform, building increasingly larger stores and executing a pipeline of contracted stores around the world.” Joern Keller, EVP at SAP, added: “Trigo’s superior computer vision technology built the infrastructure for grab-and-go shopping and laid the foundation for additional in-store scenarios of the future. As a leading provider of enterprise software for the retail industry, SAP is delighted to join as a strategic investor to Trigo to support the development of the StoreOS autonomous supermarket operating system. Their solutions will complement SAP’s cloud solutions for retail, integrating seamlessly with SAP S/4HANA and pave the way towards building an intelligent store.” #Israel #Trigo

US coffee technology brand, Terra Kaffe, has announced the launch of a “super-automatic” coffee machine, TK-02. According to Terra Kaffe, TK-02 uses “whole-bean coffee, new proprietary precision brewing technology and smart connectivity to craft ultra-customised drinks”. The coffee machine is able to brew both drip coffee and espresso. TK-02 features a barista-grade smart scale; hybrid brew unit to seamlessly switch between espresso-based drinks and drip coffee; automatic grind adjustment for intelligent automatic adjustment to different espresso and drip coffee profiles, as well as bean types; and a larger group head, which allows for brewing of up to 16g of ground coffee per drink. The TK-02 is available for $1,400 on the brand’s website. #TerraKaffe #US

Hiru Corporation has announced the purchase of a full-scale water bottling company in Roseville, California. The value of the bottling plant is around $7 million, and the deal included both cash and equity. The facility offers 133,000 square feet of floor space, four automated bottling lines and the capacity to produce all sizes of water bottles, which will support the company in fulfilling its invoices from Alkaline 88 and other clients. Hiru president and CEO, Kathryn Gavin, said: “The acquisition of the Roseville water bottling plant will allow us to expand our relationship with Alkaline 88 and our other major national and regional clients. It will also let us significantly surpass our previous projected top-line revenue for 2023, which was $30 million.” Gavin continued: “We are currently working to make sure all four automated bottling lines are fully operational as soon as possible. This new location is very versatile as it will allow us to produce any size water bottle to meet all of our current client needs. Closing this acquisition was a priority for Hiru as soon as we discovered it was available. It is exactly what we needed to move to the next level and to continue the exponential growth we have experienced since inception.” #Hiru #US

Primo Water Corporation has announced it has acquired substantially all the assets of bottled water manufacturer Crystal Spring Water Company. The purchase was made by the company’s Primo Water North America (PWNA) subsidiary. Crystal Spring Water Company has manufactured and distributed spring water to Rhode Island – where it is based– and southeastern Massachusetts, both in New England, since 1907. Tom Harrington, CEO of Primo, said: “Crystal Spring Water Company offers high-quality spring water solutions and delivers superior customer service that aligns with our mission of inspiring healthier lives through water your way.” Primo operates largely under a razorblade revenue model, comprised of Water Direct, Water Exchange and Water Refill. Its Water Direct business delivers sustainable hydration solutions to homes and businesses. Meanwhile, its Water Exchange and Refill businesses offer pre-filled and reusable water containers, water dispenser sales and water refill units. Primo also provides water-filtration units. The acquisition will strengthen PWNA’s footprint in the northeastern region of the US, increasing its number of customers by an estimated 2,500. “We are excited to welcome these customers and associates to our Primo family,” added Harrington. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. #CrystalSpringWater #PrimoWaterCorporation #PrimoWaterNorthAmerica #waterdispensers

McCafé has announced the launch of its new McCafé high-grown organic dark roast coffee for home drinking. McCafé’s high-grown organic dark roast coffee is made from 100% Arabica beans grown at high elevations in Central and South America’s coffee regions featuring notes of cocoa and caramel. “The influence of elevation on coffee beans is impactful, providing the ideal growing conditions for beans to unlock brighter, livelier flavours,” said Danielle Wedge, marketing director for the McCafé retail portfolio. Wedge added: “We’re thrilled about offering this elevated coffee-drinking experience exclusively through our retail partners and know McCafé coffee drinkers will love the difference ‘high grown’ brings to the table.” McCafé’s high-grown organic dark roast coffee can be enjoyed at home in various formats including single-serve, K-Cup pods, 300g fine ground bags and 300g whole bean bags. The products are now available online and through grocery and speciality retailers in the US. #McCafé #US

Joffer Beverage Company announced the addition of a new chocolate flavour carbonated water to its portfolio of sparkling drinks inspired by Jelly Belly jelly beans. The chocolate beverage features natural flavours infused in carbonated water, with zero sugar, sweeteners, calories and sodium. Jelly Belly Chocolate Sparkling Water will join the current lineup of five other flavour varieties: juicy pear, french vanilla, orange sherbet, very cherry and watermelon, all of which have only two ingredients, sparkling water and natural flavours. Co-founder of Joffer Beverage Company, Ben Joffer, said: “We are excited to continue expanding our line of innovative flavoured sparkling water products, especially with such a popular and unique flavour as chocolate. Our goal with this product was to introduce a flavour that enables consumers to enjoy a guiltless indulgence with amazing taste, along with zero calories and sweeteners. “The drink works on its own as a refreshing and indulgent thirst quencher or as a tasty and healthy ingredient that can be used in a variety of fun beverage creations,” he added. #carbonateddrinks #JellyBelly #JofferBeverageCompany

Ball Corporation has partnered with water bottling technology business, Boomerang Water, to offer consumers a sustainable way to stay hydrated. Ball will provide its refillable aluminium bottles for the Boomerang Bottling System at resorts, on cruise ships, campuses and elsewhere. The technology washes, rinses, filters, fills and caps fresh water in refillable, returnable and recyclable Ball aluminium bottles, helping avert waste and carbon emissions created by the manufacture and transportation of traditional, disposable bottles. According to Ball, the alliance will see both companies recycle the bottles rather than dispose of them at their end of life, allowing them to then be turned into new bottles within 60 days. Boomerang Water co-founder, Jason Dibble, said: “Boomerang is delivering industry-leading innovation with its bottling system that can wash, fill and cap more than 3,000 bottles of fresh, premium water per eight-hour shift. The whole idea and concept is the reusability and circularity of the aluminium bottles paired with a Boomerang system. Ball’s aluminium bottles are the perfect complement for our Boomerang Bottling System, since they can get re-used over and over and ultimately recycled easily at the end of their life.” #BallCorporation #BoomerangWater #US

Waterloo Sparkling Water has announced the launch of a new Spiced Apple flavour variation, offering a calorie, sugar and sweetener-free Autumnal experience. “After 50 versions over nine months of development, we found the perfect balance of warm baked and fresh crisp apple flavours with cinnamon and spice notes, landing on an apple pie filling finish with hints of vanilla sweetness”, said Adam Price, senior vice president of operations and flavour development lead at Waterloo. The new beverage’s blend of apple, aromatic spices and cider notes can be consumed on its own or used as a mixer for cocktails and mocktails, and like all of Waterloo’s portfolio, the drink contains no calories, sugar or sweeteners. Waterloo drinks are made with non-GMO Project Verified natural flavours and purified carbonated water, providing a crisp and refreshing experience that supports healthy, active lifestyles. #carbonateddrinks #nonGMO #nonHFSS #WaterlooSparklingWater

Keurig Dr Pepper has expanded its connected brewer line with the introduction of K-Café Smart. The new brewer connects to the Keurig mobile app for over 70 coffeehouse recipes. K-Café Smart also uses the brand’s BrewID technology, which can select the perfect settings for whatever K-Cup pod consumers choose to use. The machine includes a milk frother that features three speeds, enabling users to make rich froth from a wide range of milk options, such as dairy or non-dairy, as well as the ability to make cold froth for brewing over ice café-style beverages. The K-Café Smart also uses Keurig’s MultiStream Technology, which the company says “uses five streams of water instead of one concentrated stream to thoroughly saturate the coffee grounds more evenly throughout the pod for full flavour and aroma in every cup”. Mauricio Leyva, group president at Keurig Dr Pepper, said: “The K-Café Smart takes customisation to a new level. It goes well beyond black coffee, enabling café-style creations like London Fog Lattes and Cinnamon Macchiatos.” He continued: “With the K-Café Smart, coffee lovers can craft the speciality drinks they crave and discover new favourite recipes simply by connecting to the Keurig app. With over 70 recipes to choose from, we know our consumers will be delighted to taste and trial all the new coffeehouse beverages they can make from the comfort of their home.” The K-Café Smart is available exclusively at Keurig’s website for $249.99, with plans for expansion into retailers nationwide this autumn. #coffeemachine #KeurigDrPepper #US

Pernod Ricard -owned Olmeca Altos raises the at-home bar with new ready-to-drink Altos Margarita Classic Lime. With good taste and quality margaritas in mind, the mix uses only premium ingredients – made with Olmeca Altos Plata Tequila, natural lime flavour, triple sec, and agave syrup. Olmeca Altos bring high-quality and fuss-free margaritas to the comfort of your own home, simply unscrew the 750mL glass bottle, pour over ice, and sip! #margarita #OlmecaAltos #PernodRicardUSA #USA