Acai raises bar in good-for-you drinks.(food & consumables)(Sambazon Acai)

The juice category has a bright future, in part because kids today are raised on boxes of it. New beverage segments powered by exotic fruits and smoothie and juice bars make the category one that should provide a broader range of opportunity in the years ahead for retailers who can identify emerging trends.

New juice brands have been benefiting from the growth of specialty retailers such as Whole Foods and specialized natural/ gourmet food operations such as those launched by Supervalu and HEB, because the smaller-scale concepts can generate the freshest ideas with less risk and gauge emerging consumer demand. If initially successful, retailers and vendors can build …