Beer connoisseurs like to try before they buy just as much as the next consumer; the only problem is that high-end bottles of the stuff can cost a pretty penny, making bartenders reluctant to open them. That's where the BeerVault comes in. Designed by Australian design firm Jones Chijoff, the BeerVault gives bars a way to preserve and display their finest beers for sampling and beyond.

The innovation began when Victoria-based Jones Chijoff was hired by Melbourne-based bar Biero to solve its sampling problem, driven by the fact that some of its boutique bottles of beer can cost as much as AUD 200. Now, with the BeerVault, Biero can siphon its various bottled beers into UV-filtering clear acrylic canisters, which are backlit and suspended above the bar. There, each beer is kept under the same pressure as it was while in the bottle, thus preserving it equally well; it's also kept cold via a clear volume of liquid glycol that surrounds it and circulates through a chiller. Bartenders can dispense quantities as small as they want, allowing patrons to not only sample Biero's beers but also order them based on the colours of those on display. The BeerVault is currently available only for hire while Jones Chijoff readies its marketing plans.

With its preservation capabilities and capacity for creating an aesthetically engaging display, the BeerVault seems highly applicable to other beverage categories as well, including wine. Which bar in *your* neighbourhood will be first to claim this new, differentiating feature?

Website: www.joneschijoff.com — www.bierobar.com.au
Contact: carl@joneschijoff.com

Hard on the heels of our story about the world's first smile-activated vending machine comes word of a similarly paradigm-busting innovation: a machine that dispenses free spring water drinks to those who can prove their mental prowess.

No mere smile earns a reward from the Smart Vending Machine, which was launched recently by British Britvic's Juicy Drench drink brand. Rather, consumers must play a series of games designed to test their mental agility. Featuring an interactive touch screen, the device is programmed with 40 different games, ranging from clever mathematical tasks to visual “spot the difference” challenges. Each of the games is designed to test alertness, underscoring the Juicy Drench brand's message that “brains perform best when they’re hydrated.” The Smart Vending Machine was installed in London last week at the Westfield shopping centre and Covent Garden Train Station. In September, it's slated to pop up in Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol.

It's hard to imagine a better way to engage consumers, encourage trial and underscore a brand's message while also dispensing some always-popular free love. Time to put on your own thinking cap and brainstorm some like-minded ideas! (Related: Vending machine dispenses free samples — Touch-screen machine for interactive vending — Retail chain for brain games targets aging population.)

Website: www.staydrenched.co.uk/game.aspx
Contact: www.staydrenched.co.uk/contactus2.aspx

Rather than list all the products we've seen offered in customized form over the years, it's getting to the point now where we might be better off listing the ones we *haven't* seen served up in personalized versions. One example? Beef jerky — until recently, that is. New Jersey-based Slant Shack Jerky is a small, artisan company that hand-crafts beef jerky to suit each individual consumer's tastes.

Available in quantities of a quarter pound, half pound or a full pound even, Slant Shack's jerky offers customers numerous choices. First, for example, is whether to use traditional USDA choice or organic grass-fed beef, which adds an extra charge. Next, buyers must decide whether they'd prefer an original or a “hot & smoky” marinade. From there, it's the rub that must be selected, with four tantalizing options or—alternatively—the “naked” approach. Last but not least, consumers can choose a brown sugar or spicy pepper glaze, or none at all. For those having trouble deciding, there's also an assortment of chef's choices to choose among. Pricing starts at USD 10 per quarter pound. The customization trend is still going strong! (Related: Design your own pet food — Design-your-own protein shakes — Custom-made energy bars.)

Website: www.slantshackjerky.com
Contact: jerkme@slantshackjerky.com

Spotted by: Chris Turner
Photos by: Liz Vidyarthi

In most fundraising schemes, the group raising the money buys something to sell at a profit—wrapping paper, for example, or chocolate bars. California-based Newhall Coffee, however, now offers a program that lets groups sell custom, branded java blends on an ongoing basis and receive quarterly donations in return.

Launched last month, Newhall Coffee for a Cause allows qualified nonprofits to sell the blends of their choice from the microroaster and receive a significant percentage of the proceeds from every purchase in return. Nonprofits begin by signing up with Newhall; if it approves their request, it then sends login information. From there, they can use Newhall's easy-to-use marketing platform to launch a custom web page, complete with a unique web address. Newhall has customizable fliers, brochures, postcards and other marketing materials to help promote sales of its custom-branded and -blended coffees. Each time someone buys coffee from the nonprofit, the order is processed on its site and then filled and shipped directly by Newhall, which contributes between USD 3 and USD 6 per bag as a donation on a quarterly basis.

Besides all the many benefits for the nonprofits involved, of course, there's no denying the generosity benefits that accrue to Newhall itself, not to mention all those increased sales. It's similar in some ways to a “buy one, donate one” scheme, but adjusted to make room for the nonprofits involved. One to emulate in your own, generosity-minded brand...? (Related: Fitness club replaces dues with charitable fundraising — Online auction site benefits Belgian nonprofits.)

Website: www.newhallcoffeeforacause.com
Contact: mitch@newhallcoffee.com

Spotted by: Ryan Barton

There's nothing like the conversion of a big brand to prove that a trend has taken hold. Case in point: Frito-Lay, which apparently aims to boost its chips' (still) made here appeal with an online Chip Tracker that lets customers see where their snacks originated.

“Lay's chips are made from potatoes grown by farmers across America,” the brand explains. More than 80 farms from 27 states across the country, in fact, grow the potatoes that become Lay’s potato chips. With that idea in mind, Frito-Lay last year launched a campaign featuring the farmers that grow them. The “Lay's Mobile Farm” Tour — which wraps up this week — has been part of that effort, as is the Chip Tracker, which lets consumers trace where a particular bag of chips was made. All they need do is enter their ZIP code along with the first three digits of the bag's product code; in return, the site gives them the specific location along with its annual output. An associated map, meanwhile, highlights both growing and production facilities.

Frito-Lay's comprehensive marketing effort to celebrate the brand's many local connections has also included on-pack messaging, local event sponsorships and 24,000 in-store displays customized for each participating state. How's the (still) made here message shaping up at *your* local brand... ? (Related: Local wines, professionally made from amateurs' grapes — A status story for spinach — Coffee life stories.)

Website: www.fritolay.com/lays/chip-tracker.html
Contact: www.fritolay.com/about-us/contact-us.html

Spotted by: Katherine Noyes