ON TOP
- BevNET’s 2010 Supplier and Service Guide – BevNET.com’s 2010 Supplier & Services Guide provides a catalog of companies whose products and services for the beverage industry. Link
- BevNET’s 2010 Beverage Guide – From Iced Teas to Energy Shots, take a look at the 2010 BevNET.com Beverage Guide for a catalogue of beverage products on the market in 2010. Link
- Video: 2010 Predictions – See what experts like Greg Steltenpohl, co-founder of Adina predict for the future of the beverage industry. Link
ON THE SHELVES
- BeBevCo announced a new SKU for Koma Unwind that will be shipped in the earth friendly, recyclable, EnVino wine bottle. Link
- Dr Pepper Snapple Group plans to keep Dr Pepper Cherry in its permanent portfolio, said CEO Larry Young. Link
- Seattle’s Best Coffee announced that it has entered the RTD coffee category with a new line of Seattle’s Best Coffee-branded iced latte coffee drinks. Link
- IZZE Beverage Company announced that it has launched its newly reformulated, low-calorie IZZE esque nationwide. Link
DISTRIBUTION
- ON GO Energy announced its shots are on the shelves of all 54 Quickway Food Stores in Upstate N.Y.
- Misericordia University has agreed to a five-year exclusive pouring rights agreement with Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. Link
- Innovative Beverage Group Holdings, Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement with Volunteer Distributing Company to expand the reach of drank to five counties in the western Tennessee region. Link
- Apple Rush Co., Inc. announced that the Company’s Western U.S. Licensee, Apple Rush Maui LLC, has appointed Real Soda Beverage Distributors for the distribution of Apple Rush’s Organic products throughout central and southern California. Link
- Bond Laboratories, Inc. announced the addition of Loveland Distributing Company in Virginia to the distribution network for Fusion Premium Beverages. Link
- New Leaf Brands, Inc. announced that it has reached home delivery agreements with BeverageUniverse.com and Mitchell’s NY. Link
IN THE COURTS
- Jason Eric Kay, age 38, of Longmont, Colo., was arrested on charges of misbranding and altering Gatorade labels with intent to cause serious injury to the business of any person, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations announced. Link
BRAND MARKETING & PROMOTION
- Milk Processor Education Program has tapped actress Rebecca Romijn as a spokeswoman for the National Milk Mustache “Got milk?” campaign. Link
- Wave Energy Drink announced that 2010 will mark the second straight year that brand has sponsored professional angler, David Cooke. Link
- Cytosport is promoting Muscle Milk in Ohio through an on-package augmented reality feature that lets consumers (with the aid of their web-cams) see Cleveland Cavalier Shaquile O’Neal pop out of the bottle like a genie. Link
- As of Wednesday, PepsiCo Inc.‘s refresheverything.com is open to submissions for the first round of community projects to receive financial awards. Online voting for the awards begins Feb. 1. Link
- The Coca-Cola Co., Inc. debuted two new global advertisements on American Idol Link It also sponsored the show, and Front Row Analytics said coke had “exposure by 340 total sequences, including logo recognition, product endorsement, and signage,” which amounted to $11,966,667 during the shows Jan. 12 season debut. Link
- Red Bull will return to Long Beach in August to hold its Flugtag flying contraption competition. Link
- Blue Gem Enterprise announced that Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers will be pitching their Title Sports Drink in the Southern Florida region. Link
- The Red Bull Racing Formula One Team released a new iPhone game. Link
TRENDS AND STUDIES
- Compounds that activate calcium receptors on the tongue may enhance the flavor of low-sugar or low-salt foods, thereby reducing the need for extra flavourings, according to a new study from Ajinomoto. Link
- Daily calcium and vitamin D supplements reduce the risk of fractures in women and men of all ages, but vitamin D supplements alone don’t offer significant protection, a new study has found. Link
- Americans are still fat in general, but obesity rates appear to be leveling off for women, according to new government data. Link
IN THE MEDIA
- There’s a new fad in sports drinks: coconut water, according to public radio show Marketplace – with bonus interview with O.N.E. founder Rodrigo Veloso. Link
- PepsiCo Inc.‘s Refresh Project got off to a poor start as its website, refresheverything.com, suffered privacy failures that incorrectly distributed submitters’ private information, the Washington Post reports. Link
- Cargill is hoping to cash in on Truvia zero-calorie sweetener by taking it into packaged-foods, the Wall Street Journal reports. Link
- U.S. sugar farmers hope the recent move by some beverage makers back to sugar becomes permanent, reports Capital Press. Link
FINANCIALS
- American Beverage Corp., Pittsburgh-based manufacturer of juices and drink mixes, is scheduled to be sold in 2011, Pittsburgh Business Times reports. Link
- Reed’s, Inc. announced that the company experienced record revenue growth in the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, seeing sales rise approximately 21 percent over the same quarter in 2008. Link
- The Coca-Cola Co., Inc. will release fourth quarter and full year 2009 financial results on Tuesday, Feb. 9, before the stock market opens. The company will host an investor conference call at 9:30 a.m. (EST), on Feb. 9. The Company invites investors to listen to the live audiocast of the conference call at its website, www.thecoca-colacompany.com/investors/index.html.
- During a quarterly conference call, Supervalu Inc. announced it will reduce the number of items it offers per store by as much as 25 percent in a move that will more prominently feature store-branded items and extract lower prices from vendors. Link
SUPPLY SIDE
- Fuji Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. has attained GRAS status for its AstaREAL brand of astaxanthin for use as an ingredient in food and beverages. AstaREAL is an antioxidant found most abundantly in seafood. Link
INTERNATIONAL
- The Coca-Cola Co., Inc. supplied nearly $1 million to a project to reduce the impact of sugar cane farming on the Great Barrier Reef and other waterways. Link
PEOPLE
- The Gatorade Company, announced Andrea Fairchild as its new vice president of brand marketing. Fairchild, 38, comes to PepsiCo after 10 years at Nike. Link
- Cody Sommer joined Wave Energy Drink as motorsports director. Sommer will coordinate all sponsor-based activities with NASCAR Sprint Cup race team partner, Tommy Baldwin Racing and driver, Mike Bliss.
ETC.
- PepsiCo Inc. opened a research laboratory at Yale University. The corporation will also fund a graduate fellowship in the M.D.-Ph.D. program at the Yale School of Medicine to support research on nutrition and obesity-related diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes. Link
- The Coca-Cola Co., Inc.‘s charitable arm is donating $1 million to the American Red Cross to go toward earthquake relief in Haiti. Link
- Due to a shift in focus both by PepsiCo Inc. and NASCAR, the previously titled Pepsi 500 Sprint Cup race will now be called the Pepsi Max 400. Link
- The PepsiCo Foundation announced it will donate $1 million to the earthquake victims in Haiti and that PepsiCo Inc. will provide Quaker products as well as bottled water and Gatorade for the disaster victims through its bottlers in Florida and the Dominican Republic. Link
- A tractor trailer with 1,100 cases of soda was stolen from the Coca Cola Warehouse in Lemoyne, Pa. The truck and trailer was later found in New Jersey, but all of the product was missing. Link
- The Coca-Cola Co., Inc. recently revealed a guerrilla marketing stunt where they placed a very special vending machine on a college campus. The machine started giving away free Coke. And sandwiches. And balloon animals. Yes, balloon animals. Link