News

Four years after the launch Coca-Cola’s Freestyle, an innovative soda fountain dispenser that allows consumers to create customized drinks, PepsiCo will begin testing “Touch Tower,” a new machine that gives people the ability to add a variety of flavors to a range of its soda brands, according to the Associated Press. News of the test launch was first reported by industry publication Beverage Digest.

Many companies are keeping to a business-as-usual approach of emphasizing growth while trying to keep costs in line. But very few of those are able to pay attention to that larger ideal of winning the future itself, to becoming the companies that define that new reality. Mr. Zacka’s talk will look at key examples and methods of companies that are “redefining reality” and provide ways for companies in the BevNET Live audience to try to guide their own business futures.

MarketsandMarkets, a market research and consulting firm, projects that by 2018, the global market for sugar substitutes will be worth $13.8 billion. Based on increasing awareness, consumption and demand for low-calorie sweeteners including stevia, sorbitol, tagatose, aspartame, sucralose and xylitol, MarketsandMarkets expects the sugar substitute market to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5 percent over the next five years.

Just a friendly reminder that time is running out to submit your brand for inclusion in BevNET Live’s popular “Sampling Bar.” The free promotional opportunity allows you to have samples of your product in an unmanned area that is designed to showcase new, innovative, or successful beverage brands. The sampling bar will be displayed during both days of the conference.

With apparently no immediate options for new financing, Skinny Nutritional, the marketer of Skinny Water, a line of zero-calorie, electrolyte-infused waters, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to protect its brand name and other intellectual property rights from falling into creditors’ hands, the company announced on Wednesday.

Sergio Zyman, the former chief marketing officer of The Coca-Cola Company and the chairman and founder of Zyman Marketing Group, was appointed to Castle’s board of directors, it was announced Thursday in a release.

Over the past few years, I’ve become more aware of the “enhancers” that are taking a larger role in our industry. “Enhanced beverages” have been a major part of the industry for many years now. From the original SoBes and Vitaminwaters to present day functional products, these drinks now dominate the retail landscape and are the major drivers of volume in many categories.