FINANCIALS
Bill Gates investment firm, Cascade Investment LLC, has a 20 percent stake in Coca Cola Femsa SAB de CV, according to
documents filed Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Reuters reported. Cascade said in a
separate filing that it was granted a waiver by the board of directors of
Republic Services Inc to buy up to 20 percent of its stock. Cascade said it may
use the waiver to buy additional shares of Republic's common stock. • ZizZazz Explosive Energy Mix announced
that Grammy-award winning artist Nelly has joined the ownership team. • Rexam announced the closure of its
Forest Park, Georgia, beverage can manufacturing plant. The company is also
shutting an additional 12 oz. line at its Longview, Texas, plant. These moves
are part of the company's efforts to address 12 oz. overcapacity in the US
beverage can market. • Global Beverage
Innovations, developer of Anti-Ageing has agreed to engage Veridian Group
LLC of Minneapolis, MN, as a strategic marketing consultant. • Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. is
consolidating all its Southeast noncarbonated distribution facilities into one
601,500-square-foot space in Jacksonville. Read more here. • After a three week strike workers for Coca
Cola Consolidated are heading back to work. Read more here.
MISCELLANEOUS
The Los Angeles Times published an
in-depth article examining the trend away from high-fructose corn syrup. Read
it here
DISTRIBUTION
Reed's, Inc. announced that it has formed an expanded partnership with Haggen,
Inc., which operates 33 grocery stores in Washington and Oregon. Haggen has
committed to begin carrying Reed's full product line throughout all of its
Haggen Food & Pharmacy, TOP Food & Drug and Larry's Market stores. • Hall of Fame Beverages, Inc. announced
an agreement with Spencer's Gifts. This agreement will begin next month by
delivering Atomic Dogg Energy Drink to 20 of Spencer's stores. • JetBlue
Airways announced that customers on its Airbus A320 fleet will soon have the
option to buy beverages including glaceau
vitaminwater, ROCKSTAR energy drinks and Stirrings cocktail mixers.
NEW SKUs
AiriZona Beverages launched “Tea Stix,”
a concentrated and individually-packaged powder form of their popular iced
teas. The Stix come in four flavors – Pomegranate Green Tea, Lemon Tea, Peach
Tea and Green Tea with Ginseng.
PROMOTIONS/APPEARANCES
Venom energy
drink is offering free product for life and a corporate monster-hunting
sponsorship to the first person badass enough to capture a live Montauk Monster. • BEST (Blue Entertainment Sports Television) announced that Nestlé Juicy Juice signed a two-year
agreement to serve as an official sponsor of the 2008 & 2009 “Kick It” Tour
3v3 soccer event. The nationwide tour is expected to attract an estimated
500,000 spectators and participants. • Nestle Waters North America has donated 222,234 half-liter bottles
of Ozarka Brand Natural Spring Water to citizens and disaster relief workers
affected by last week's Category 2 Hurricane Dolly. • The Gatorade Company will join forces with
the NFL to lead the third annual "Beat the Heat" campaign aimed at
educating parents and football coaches about the importance of hydration in
order to keep athletes safe on the field during the annual summer sessions. • drank is participating in the
Tastemakers DJ/Music Conference & OZONE Awards in Houston, Texas, August 8
-11, 2008. • Nestlé Waters North America
announced that it has signed a two-year agreement with Cristina Saralegui, who,
according to TIME magazine, is one of the 25 most influential Hispanics
in America. Ms. Saralegui will serve as spokesperson for Nestlé Pure Life
on behalf of the company’s new Vive Sanamente (Live Healthy) marketing
campaign.
