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Coke Zero Jump Starts NCAA March Madness

Coke Zero School Shout Out Rallies Fans to Show Their School Spirit and Receive Free NCAA® March Madness® Live Access, Plus Chance to Win Trip to the 2012 NCAA Men’s Final Four®

ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March Madness is starting early this year for fans and viewers. That’s because Coke Zero is tapping into the intense loyalty NCAA basketball fans have for their favorite teams

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New Product Introductions at Expo West

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Expo West Intro: New Goodbelly Flavors

Probiotic fruit drink company GoodBelly will have a pair of new quart-sized juices for sampling at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim on March 8-11. The new products include juice blend Tropical Green and also Pink Grapefruit. The company also recently introduced a probiotic coconut water in a quart size.

Anheuser-Busch to Invest $70 Million to $80 Million in Arnold, Mo. Metal Container Corp. Facility

Investment will expand capacity and add jobs at can-making facility

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Anheuser-Busch today announced plans to increase production capacity at its Metal Container Corporation (MCC) facility in Arnold, Mo., an investment estimated between $70 million and $80 million, to increase production and create at least 20 new jobs at the facility. The Arnold facility produces aluminum cans for Anheuser-Busch …

Reed’s, Inc. Announces New Distribution Agreement for Southeastern Michigan

Reed’s Continues Building Distribution Footprint Throughout North America

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – Feb 22, 2012) – Reed’s, Inc. (NASDAQ: REED), maker of the top-selling sodas in natural food stores nationwide, announced today that it has reached a new distribution agreement with Canada Dry Bottling of Lansing (CDBL), MI, a full-service direct store delivery distributor of premium non-alcoholic soft drinks, energy drinks and juices with

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PoP Shoppe’s Reach Expands into Connecticut and Rhode Island

Portland, OR – February 21, 2012 – Re-born retro soda The PoP Shoppe today announced new alliances with distributors in the Northeastern US, bringing their beverages into the Connecticut and Rhode Island markets. Rogo Distributors and both the Connecticut and Rhode Island divisions of Northeast Beverage Corp are now carrying PoP Shoppe’s eight flavor lineup – Cream Soda, Lime Ricky, Black Cherry, Root Beer, and …

Skinny Nutritional Corp. Signs Agreement with Cott Corporation’s Cliffstar Subsidiary

BALA CYNWYD, Pa., Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Skinny Nutritional Corp. (OTCBB: SKNY), the maker of Skinny Water® and a leader in the zero-calorie enhanced water category, announced today that is has entered into an exclusive agreement with the Cliffstar subsidiary of the Cott Corporation (NYSE: COT, TSX: BCB), one of the world’s largest beverage companies focusing on private label and contract manufacturing. Cott operates …

Hershey Increases Stake, Takes Controlling Interest in Mix1

With a recent $6 million investment, The Hershey Company now owns a controlling interest in mix1 Beverage Company. In its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Hershey revealed that it had made the investment in January and increased its ownership interest in mix1 to approximately 69 percent. Hershey’s investment was part of $7.25 million that mix1 had raised in two rounds of funding last month.

Boylan Bottling Company Strengthens Distribution Network

Super Premium Soda Maker Makes New Appointment in Western PA

TETERBORO, N.J., Feb 21, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Boylan Bottling Company (Boylan) today announced that it has added Full Circle Distributors LLC (Full Circle) to its network of distribution partners for Boylan super-premium sodas.

“We have conducted a strategic review of our distribution network, and have determined that changes are necessary, in some cases, …

Review: Bossa Nova (90 calorie drinks)

Bossa Nova, which is a part of Sunny Delight, has recently retooled their lineup to be at 90 calories per bottle. Like many other beverage marketers, they’ve done this by adding a touch of stevia which, in this case, has relatively little impact on the final flavor of the drink.…

Tri-City Distributors of Texas Finds its Modjo

SE Texas Budweiser distributor among elite group to carry new Modjo Hydrate Elite^™natural coconut water infused sports drink and Modjo forLIFE^™ the award winning line of Functional Beverages

SUNRISE, FL – February 18, 2012 – Cellutions, LLC, the leading maker of new age dietary supplements and beverages (www.modjolife.com) today announced that New Braunfels, Texas distributor Tri-City Distributors, L.P. will join …

Hockey Soda Energy, Official Energy Drink of Magnolia Pictures’ Goon

February 20, 2012, East Hartford, CT - Hockey Soda Beverage Company, LLC signed an agreement to become the Official Energy Drink of the upcoming Magnolia Pictures release of Goon, starring Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, and Liev Schreiber and will sponsor the New York City Movie Premier on Thursday, February 23rd.

“We are very excited to align ourselves with Magnolia Pictures and the Goon…

Snapple Officially Launches Diet Half ‘n Half Lemonade Iced Tea

Fans to #Hash it Out in Support of Their Favorite Flavor for Cash Prizes and Daily Giveaways

PLANO, Texas –(BUSINESS WIRE) — Snapple today officially launches Diet Half ‘n Half Lemonade Iced Tea, joining the ranks of such great combinations as the spork, labradoodle and the keyboard guitar. The half lemonade, half iced tea blend is made from healthy green tea, tasty black

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Barq’s Getting Back to its Roots

The first redesign of Barq's packaging in 20 years takes the beverage back to its founding roots in the Gulf Coast region where the brand was founded 114 years ago. While Barq's cans and labels will maintain their distinctive silver sheen, Coca-Cola, which purchased Barq's in 1995, pays homage to the brand's heritage in New Orleans, Louisiana and Biloxi, Mississippi.

Review: Vignette Wine Country Soda’s 750ml Bottle

Using wine grapes to make their high quality sodas, Vignette Wine Country Soda is one of the more unique things to come out of Sonoma County. Their latest entry comes in the form of a 750ml bottle — the same one used for wine — and gives the product an upscale, sophisticated feeling that would look great on a table at a fine dining restaurant.…

uFlavor: Open Source Beverage Startup

Call it long-tail CSD manufacturing. Call it Jones Soda crossed with Threadless. Call it a virtual Freestyle machine. Call it the world's biggest Sodastream. To use the parlance of the entrepreneurial world, you can just plain call it disruptive. The basic idea? Put a bottling plant inside a small machine, and let everyone start contributing flavor and ingredient combinations.

Greenlight Beverages Introduces New Flavors, Design to Line of Hemp-Infused Drinks

Greenlight Beverages, the maker of Chronic Ice, a line of hemp iced teas, has announced the introduction of two new flavors, a hemp soda, and plans for future line extensions. Greenlight will launch Chronic Ice Grape Escape and Peach Perfection as well as Chronic Ice Ginger Ale next month. Along with the new flavors and soda, Greenlight will also introduce a new packaging design "that expresses the hemp beverage’s refreshing-now-and-healthy-later benefit."

Dr Pepper Beats Forecasts, Though Muted Growth Expected for 2012

Boosted by higher prices, decreased marketing spending, and strong sales from Dr Pepper TEN and Sun Drop, Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) beat Wall Street earnings expectations for the fourth-quarter of 2011. Despite an overall decline in sales volume, DPS announced yesterday that its fourth-quarter net income increased by 48 percent to $166 million, as the company earned $0.82 cents per share, easily besting consensus estimates of $0.74 per share.

Review: PowerCoco

PowerCoco is an entry into the expanding category of coconut water based sports drinks. While their first effort is a pretty good one, we are looking forward to try it again in future runs (they are supposedly working on a proprietary bottle). Also notable are the folks behind the brand, which include Steve Vasquez (formerly of ONE and Glaceau) and Tyler Beuerlin (a former baseball player), while the capital is rumored to be coming from the trio behind Phusion Projects (makers of Four Loko).

Pulse Secures Distribution for Montana and Vermont

DENVER, CO–(Marketwire – Feb 16, 2012) – The Pulse Beverage Corporation (“Pulse”) (OTCBB: PLSB), makers of Cabana™ 100% Natural Lemonade and Pulse® brand of NutriPurpose™ beverages, today announced it has secured Gusto Distributing for Montana and Farrell Distributing for Vermont which increases Pulse’s New England distribution system. Pulse’s distribution system now reaches Canada and 20 US States.

Bob Yates, CEO of Pulse, said, “We …