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In a nod of thanks to U.S. military service members and veterans, Red Bull will launch limited-edition camouflage-colored cans to be distributed beginning on Memorial Day and continue to be offered until Labor Day. The 16 oz. cans, which will come in original, Sugar-Free and Total Zero varieties, will be available for sale through military channels and retailers immediately surrounding bases.

Much-maligned in his former job as the CEO of FRS, Carl Sweat has been welcomed with open arms at kids’ beverage outfit In Zone Brands, which recently hired Sweat as its Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer. At In Zone, which markets TummyTickler and Bellywashers beverage brands, Sweat is expected to extend the company’s foray into health and wellness drinks.

Just a quick reminder — BevNET Live Summer ’13 in NYC will feature a special edition of Beverage School, BevNET’s introduction to the beverage business. The session is open exclusively to attendees of BevNET Live who are new (or relatively new) beverage company entrepreneurs. There is no additional cost for the program, however, only a limited number of seats remain.

In the rarified world of high-end coffee, there’s a broad discussion of whether the post-Starbucks rise of independent coffee shops and specialty roasts comprises a third wave or fourth wave of coffee culture in the U.S. Regardless of the wave number, however, there’s something gathering out there on the horizon; it’s cold brewed iced coffee, and it’s headed for a store near you, and likely sooner than you think.

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.