Who are they? Members of a hip-hop collective, picking up a Grammy? Nope.

They’re part of a new line of beverages put out by Function Drinks, a company that today was named the overall winner of the ‘Best New Product of 2007’ award by the beverage industry trade publisher BevNET.com. The company also won for Best New Functional Beverage, capitalizing on a group of innovative ingredients that Function Drinks’ makers say will provide hangover relief, protection from disease, athletic recovery, and energy.

This year’s winners covered 12 different categories and were chosen from a field of more than 100 entries. With more than 430 new beverage products identified and catalogued by BevNET.com last year, the products receiving Best of 2007 designation emerged from a broad pool of competitors as superlative in terms of innovation, taste, execution, and packaging. The competition was sponsored by WILD Flavors, Inc.

Brand new companies and well-established giants were both represented in the winner’s circle. The winner of the Best Packaging Innovation award, NOS, is owned by the Coca-Cola Co. and Mark Hall, the president of energy drink giant Monster, was named Beverage Executive of the Year. But freshman efforts like the kids’ bottled water, bot (Best Children’s Product), and fast-growing Yerba Mate tea company, Bombilla & Gourd (Best Non-Carbonated Product), also produced award-winning drinks.

“This year’s entries demonstrated a breadth and depth that went far beyond any of the previous years,” said BevNET CEO John Craven. “It’s exciting to see how many companies are eager to receive recognition for their hard work, and gratifying that they look to us as the avenue for conferring that recognition.”

The complete list of entries follows:
Best New Product of 2007 – Function Drinks
Best Carbonated Beverage – Bionade
Best Non-Carbonated Beverage – Bombilla & Gourd Yerba Mate Tea
Best Energy Drink – Steaz Energy and Syzmo (Tie)
Best Children’s Product – bot beverages
Best Enhanced Water – O Water Infused
Best Packaging Innovation – NOS 22 oz. bottle
Best Functional Beverage – Function Drinks
Best Water – Icelandic Glacial Natural Spring Water
Best Packaging Design – 420 Water
Best Marketing Campaign – Fred Water
Beverage Executive of the Year – Mark Hall, Monster Energy

For more information, including judges’ notes and photos of all the entries, please visit BevNET.com at http://www.bevnet.com/bestof2007.

About BevNET.com:
BevNET.com, Inc. provides beverage professionals and consumers with the most comprehensive, up-to-date news and information in the beverage industry through several vehicles. Its online publication, BevNET.com, maintains an independent, unbiased database of reviews and content designed to offer extensive and timely coverage of new products, industry news, and events. Through the use of its BevBoard message forum, BevNET also offers another industry first: an ongoing, real-time forum where beverage industry professionals communicate.

BevNET (http://www.bevnet.com) is one of the most recognized and accepted authorities in the soft drink industry. Major media outlets, including USA Today and The New York Times, frequently look to BevNET for expert opinions on industry trends. BevNET has earned its stellar reputation by providing honest, independent, and comprehensive coverage of all newsworthy soft drink products and events.

About WILD Flavors, Inc.:
WILD Flavors, Inc. provides concept ideation through product development to ensure their customers' beverages have the competitive edge to move quickly into the marketplace and obtain success. Their turn-key approach to each project, along with flavor/color/health and wellness systems and solutions, and total business support from all departments, allows WILD to partner with customers to provide the winning products they require and request. For more information about WILD, visit www.wildflavors.com.