Headlines

Pepsi Portfolio: Three Brands Cross $1 Billion

It might have seen Pepsi-Cola get leapfrogged by Diet Coke for the number two carbonated beverage slot, but PepsiCo did anoint three core holdings as brands that have sold more than $1 billion in the past year, announcing that Diet Mountain Dew, Brisk and Starbucks RTD Beverages had crossed that threshold.

Boylan Bottling Enlists Castle to Boost Production, Supply

Boylan Bottling has enlisted Castle Co-Packers to boost its production and supply lines as the premium soda maker looks to meet rising demand for its products on the East Coast, according to an article in Drinks Business Review. Castle, a Pennsylvania-based independent bottler, will provide production, warehousing, and logistical support for Boylan, which produces a line of premium birch beers and sodas in glass bottles.

Going, Going, Gone – Financial Updates on New Leaf, Adina, RelaxZen

There’s breaking news today concerning the fates of three beverage companies whose financial travails have been touched on frequently on BevNET and in the media at large. RelaxZen, Adina, and New Leaf are all fairly new, entrepreneurial beverage companies run by executives of varying degrees of industry experience.

Dairy Alternative Beverage Market Reached $1.33 Billion in 2011

Led by rising sales of almond milk, the market for dairy alternative beverages reached $1.33 billion in 2011, according to a new report from Packaged Facts. The report states that as consumers seek out healthier substitutes for dairy drinks, many are increasingly turning toward consumption of soy milk, almond milk, and rice milk.

Kraft Cuts Jobs, Relocates Beverage Unit

Kraft Foods will eliminate 1,600 positions in North America and relocate its beverages and snacks unit from Chicago, as the food and drink conglomerate prepares to split into two companies, the company announced Tuesday. The company hopes the changes will place it in a stronger position to execute its global sales strategies.

Winter 2012 Fancy Food Show Recap

The Winter 2012 Fancy Food show in San Francisco wrapped up this past Tuesday afternoon; while the overall number of beverage companies was light for the third year in a row (approximately 40), the stalwarts seeking specialty channel retailers and distributors were present – sparkling juices and juice, gourmet sparkling and still waters, coconut waters, coffee and teas, and gourmet CSDs. As in previous years, exhibitors said they were pleased by the density of the foot traffic and “meetings” with large influential retailers and wholesalers walking the aisles.

Morgan Stanley: Beverage Prices Up Year-Over-Year

They’ve crunched the Consumer Price Index numbers over at investment bank Morgan Stanley, and the takeaway is this: beverages got more expensive last year, and as the year went on,…

Dublin Dr Pepper Fans Start DPS Boycott

It hasn’t reached the same level of tumultuous rage directed at the recently proposed “Stop Online Piracy Act,” but fans of Dublin Dr Pepper are downright angry that their beloved brand is now gone, and some are taking to the streets to voice their dismay. A number of devoted enthusiasts and former retailers of Dublin Dr Pepper have begun a boycott of Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) products to protest a recent legal settlement that will end a trademark infringement lawsuit between the two companies.

Repole Gets Into Body Armor

With the addition of former Vitaminwater president Mike Repole to the board of year-old multifunction beverage Body Armor, the second of three key executives on the team that grew and sold Glaceau to the Coca-Cola Co., Inc. is now back in the beverage business. Repole, has spent the past four years -- and his share of the $4.1 billion Coke paid for Glaceau -- breeding horses and growing both the Pirate's Booty snack brand and Energy Kitchen restaurants.

PepsiCo Back to Using All-Florida Juice for Tropicana Pure Premium

After nearly five years of using orange juice from a variety of sources, PepsiCo will return to using 100 percent Florida orange juice in its Tropicana Pure Premium products, according to a new report by Beverage Digest, an industry newsletter. The report comes only days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) halted shipments orange juice from Brazil while it tested for traces of carbendazim, an anti-fungal chemical banned in the U.S. Despite the FDA’s recent decision to halt Brazilian orange juice shipments, a PepsiCo executive said that the decision to return to 100 percent juice from Florida was made “some months ago.”

Piña Pullback: Zico Changes SKU Names

As a product class, coconut water is heading to the mainstream. But at least one company has decided that, in some cases, the liquid is exotic enough without the extra…

Beverage Companies Flooding the Snack Aisle

Just when you thought it couldn't get any more crowded with beverage company relations, particularly given the dueling investments from Glaceau millionaires Rohan Oza (Popchips) and Mike Repole and Darius Bikoff (Pirate's Booty) the snack aisle is once again facing incursions from its liquid relations. Which is a complicated way of saying that iced tea and juice titan AriZona is heading into the snack food business with AriZona Chips 'n Dip, a square package with separate compartments for tortilla chips and either cheese dip or salsa.

Press Clips: Coke Tipped FDA on O.J.; New Soda Tax Study; Pepsi Beverages Settles Race Charges

First it was apple juice and arsenic; this week it's orange juice and fungicide. Earlier this week, the FDA halted shipments of the citrus juice in its bottled and frozen form while it tested for traces of the anti-fungal carbendazim, a chemical that is banned in the U.S. but is still used in Brazil. A recent story on CNN.com explains that it was Coca-Cola that originally alerted the FDA about the fungicide.

Dublin Dr Pepper Done; Suit Settlement Saves Sugar

A trademark infringement lawsuit filed in June by Dr Pepper Snapple Group against Dublin Dr Pepper, the soda's oldest distributor, has been settled, with the larger company regaining control of the brand in Dublin Dr Pepper's six-county area. Dublin Dr Pepper -- founded in 1891 -- had a cult following for its use of unique glass bottles featuring the Dublin name and a recipe that used cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in its version of Dr Pepper.