News

One key announcement in PepsiCo’s earnings call yesterday was the departure of Massimo d’Amore, the company’s Global Beverage Group chief and the former CEO of Pepsi Beverages Americas.…

The old joke is still a good one:
Q: “How do you make a small fortune in the beverage business?”
A: “Start with a large fortune.”…

This morning, PepsiCo announced that it would be trimming 8,700 employees — 3 percent of its global workforce — as part of a cost-saving program intended to recoup $1.5 billion in projected expenditures over the next three years.
News of the cuts confirmed expectations reported over the past month, and came as the company reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2011 results.…

When Mike Kirban told attendees at BevNET Live in December that the biggest low the company experienced in 2011 was getting slapped with the company’s first class-action lawsuit, he hadn’t yet had to deal with the pain that comes from writing the check that makes it go away.
Yesterday, he did.…

Big win for Xyience today as convenience chain Circle K keeps the UFC-focused zero calorie energy drink as a national brand. With 4,200 stores in the U.S. and another 1700 in Canada, that’s a whole lot of real estate for the brand, which is trying to establish itself as an alternative to the big trio of independents, Rockstar, Monster and Red Bull.…

He focused hard on turning PepsiCo into the most relevant term on the social web, but B. Bonin Bough, the director of the soft drink giant’s global and social media department, has decamped for Kraft, according to several reports.…

Experts are predicting a new marketing war between Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo, as the Atlanta-based soda giant reported it would increase its marketing budget significantly through 2015 as part of its fourth-quarter earnings call today.…