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FINANCIALS
Pryor, Oklahoma's Gatorade production plant will lay off another 87 employees as demand for the sports beverage declines in a slumping economy. •• Drivers for United Beverage Co., the company that distributes Budweiser to downtown Kansas City, went on strike Monday.
LAW AND POLICY
The West Virginia Citizen Action Group is making a 10-cent refundable deposit
on beverage containers a legislative priority for the 7th time, hoping
lawmakers will accept the group’s contention that such laws have cut
down on litter in other states. •• The city of Albany expects to receive millions of dollars as a result of the decision by PepsiCo
not to build a planned Gatorade plant. The company announced last week
that because of market conditions the plant was not needed and would
not be built. City officials said earlier that in the event the company
reneged on the contract, it would owe the city tens of millions of
dollars because the benefits of the project, including more than 200
jobs, would be lost. •• Ronald Peters, a University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health professor, said he worries that drinks like Purple Stuff and Drank
could be a gateway for youth who want to experience the slowed-down
effect of cough-syrup abuse. He called the products a step in the wrong
direction and criticized them as "one of the most asinine things I have
ever seen." •• New York City Councilmen Eric Gioia (D-Queens) and Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) will introduce a bill
next week that would stop city agencies from buying bottled water and
water coolers for workers at city agencies. The city spends $2.1
million annually on bottled water, according to the Department of
Citywide Administrative Services. •• A new study
suggests that cutting sodas and other sugar-sweetened drinks from
school cafeteria menus will have little effect on teens' overall
consumption of the beverages. •• The Coca- Cola Co., Heineken N.V. and SABMiller plc
were among more than 100 companies pledging on World AIDS Day to fight
workplace discrimination and stigma against people with HIV, the virus
that causes AIDS.
MISCELLANEOUS
The Cleveland Police Department arrested a Coca-Cola
employee on charges she allegedly stole more than $15,000 from the
company. The money was reportedly taken from the company's vault room.
PEOPLE
The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. announced that Eric Llopis has joined the company as Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. Llopis will be responsible for leading the company's planning efforts and report to PBG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Eric Foss. Prior to joining PBG, Llopis served as Director of Competitive Strategy at Miller Brewing Company. He also spent eight years with Dove Consulting, where he advised PepsiCo, Nestle, Kraft and others.
DISTRIBUTION
Celsius will now be available in the Midwestern retailer, Kum & Go, with 438 locations starting in early December 2008.
PROMOTIONS/APPEARANCES
On Saturday, December 13, Coca-Cola
will host the first annual "Live Positively Holiday Parade" in downtown
Los Angeles. The parade will begin at 5:00 p.m. A tree-lightingceremony
will follow on Nokia Plaza from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. •• Sam’s Club teamed up with Aquafina
to encourage recycling with the “Return the Warmth” program. “Return
the Warmth” challenged local communities and schools to recycle 80
million (PET) bottles during the 2008 Great American Cleanup, which
took place nationwide from March 1 through May 31. The actual results,
189 million recycled bottles, exceeded that goal. •• The Coca-Cola Foundation has given Alabama State University $50,000 in scholarship grants, the school announced recently. •• Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent
said at a recent Wharton Leadership Lecture that his company has "a
less-than 10% share of the global hydration market. This is how we see
our opportunity." •• PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi spoke recently at Convent of the Sacred Heart on the role of women in business. •• The Coca-Cola Company and Yakult U.S.A.
Inc. both supported the 2008 Global Summit for Ecology that took place
November 19 and 20 at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Al Gore, Vice
President of the United States of America and environmental champion,
gave the opening address on Wednesday morning in Okuma Hall. This
year's theme was "Changing the Course - Making a Difference."
Source: BevNET.com Staff