ON TOP
- From Beverage Spectrum Magazine: Forget Cooperation, Let’s Talk Collaboration – Retailers and suppliers should consider innovating together. Link
- BevNET Live Summer 2010 and Beverage School are SOLD OUT – Wait list available. Link
- Poll: Which government or consumer force should the beverage industry pay closest attention to right now? Link
- Hansen's Beverage Company unveiled new packaging, its first major packaging change in 10 years. Hansen's new can has more vibrant colors and changes the orientation of "Hansen's" from diagonal to horizontal. Link
DISTRIBUTION
- Neuro announced United Oil, G&M Oil, Famima and Circle K will be carrying Neuro in Southern California.
- Crazy Water announced its expansion into more than 400 grocery locations across the state of Texas, includingH-E-B, Albertsons and Brookshire Brothers locations. Link
- Reed's, Inc. announced that Trimana, a specialty upscale foodservice restaurant chain throughout the greater Los Angeles area, has authorized Reed’s and Virgil’s sodas and candy at 46 locations. Link
- DNA Beverage Corporation announced that it has expanded distribution with CVS by adding the greater Miami market. The products will be marketed as part of a joint program between CVS and the Florida Marlins. DNA also added Race Trac stores throughout Florida and Louisiana. Link
- Jones Soda Co. announced a deal with Walmart that authorizes Jones to retail its products at approximately 3,800 U.S. Walmart stores. The deal increases Jones’ total retail outlet distribution by nearly 10 percent. Link
LAW, POLICY, AND ADVOCACY
- The Washington D.C. City Council gave preliminary approval to a budget that extends the city's 6 percent sales tax to sports drinks, energy drinks and soda. Link
- Health Canada has now approved the sale of alcoholic beverages with caffeine, as long as the caffeine is from a natural source, reports the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Link
BRAND MARKETING & PROMOTION
- Tropicana Trop50 teamed up with E! News host and fashion expert Giuliana Rancic to share 50 tips for looking and feeling great this summer. Link
- The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN RISE, announced Mollie Pathman of Durham Academy (Durham, N.C.) as its 2009-10 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Link
- New Leaf Brands, Inc. announced the launch of its new web site, www.newleafbrands.com. Link
- Red Bull announced a new spin on (American) football with Red Bull Game Breakers. At six regional qualifiers, 96 high school teams will compete in a 7-on-7 style tournament for the chance to play at the Cotton Bowl in downtown Dallas. Link
- WhiteWave Foods announced that it will award five BolderBOULDER runners with free WhiteWave products for a year as part of the company’s BolderBOULDER sponsorship. Link
- NOS Energy Drink is sponsoring the Night Before the 500 at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis on May 29. Link
TRENDS AND STUDIES
- Food and beverage companies are employing bolder flavors in an attempt to boost sales as American palates expand, the Wall Street Journal reported. Link
IN THE MEDIA
- Marketers need to make their brands a central part of their consumers' cultures, Frank Cooper, PepsiCo Americas Beverages chief consumer engagement officer told Forbes. Link
- Dr Pepper Snapple Group senior vice president of marketing Andrew Springate and executive vice president Jim Trebilcock spoke to BrandWeek about Snapple's restage and its recent tie-in with the Celebrity Apprentice. Link
- Canadian researchers say they've discovered that some bottled waters in Canada contain more bacteria than tap water — though they're keeping the brands secret, the Vancouver Sun reported. Link
- Nestle Waters North America is testing to see if a species of trout can survive in municipal water in an effort to calm environmentalists' fears about the company taking water from a spring and replacing it with water from the tap. Link
- Big food and beverage firms have made so many health claims about their products lately that it can be hard to tell a supermarket from a pharmacy, according to Forbes. Link
- Consumers are starting to calculate the calories they drink as researchers analyze our beverages' effects, reports the Los Angeles Times "Booster Shots" blog. Link
- Relaxation drink drank has drawn strong reactions in the Huntsville Ala., area, where some consumers like it and some doctors fear it, WHNT News reported. Link
- Acquisition talks between The Coca-Cola Co., Inc. and Coca-Cola Enterprises stretched back to late 2008, when executives talked in general terms about Coca-Cola possibly taking over bottling operations in North America, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. Link
- Bruce Silverglade of the Center for Science in the Public Interest told the Washington Post that many food health claims are a "rip off." Link
FINANCIALS
- Ball Corporation will speak to the investment community on June 2 at the Goldman Sachs Basic Materials Conference in New York City. Link
SUPPLIER SIDE
- PepsiCo Americas Beverages CEO Massimo D'Amore said that PepsiCo's merger with Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas Inc., has increased its ability to listen to small, independent bottlers. Link
- Dr Pepper Snapple Group has begun hiring temporary workers to replace striking union workers at a Mott's apple sauce plant in Rochester, N.Y., ABC News reported. Link
- Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman attended the “ribbon cutting” ceremony at the recently acquired Milk Specialties Global manufacturing facility in Norfolk, Nebraska.
- PureCircle announced that it has created the Global Stevia Institute, which will launch in June and promote accurate, credible and consistent information and resources about stevia to health professionals, consumers and the food industry. Link
- WILD Flavors, Inc. announced it has expanded into the coconut water trend through the research and development of flavors that test well in coconut water applications and new marketable concepts that utilize coconut water. Link
INTERNATIONAL
- Venezuelan authorities ordered the removal of a Pepsi-Cola light display that President Hugo Chavez's declared an unwanted symbol of capitalism, Reuters reported. Link
- With three weeks left before the 2010 World Cup, The Coca-Cola Co., Inc.'s and Adidas' sponsorships have achieved the largest share of consumers’ minds in Australia, China, Singapore and Thailand, reported Media.Asia. Link
TOOTING THEIR HORN
- The Coca-Cola Company received high honors at the 22nd annual, global DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation. The Company's PlantBottle packaging earned a gold award for its demonstrated breakthrough packaging innovation. Link
- 'Wavin' Flag – Coca-Cola Celebration Mix', the soundtrack recorded by K'NAAN for Coca-Cola and its sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, has broken into the top ten on music charts in eleven countries including peaking at number one in China, Mexico, Germany, Canada, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Link
- The Coca-Cola Co., Inc.'s “Happiness Machine” commercial won CLIO’s Gold Interactive Award at the 51st annual awards dinner held in New York City. Link
PEOPLE
- Drinks Americas Holdings, Ltd. announced that Jack Kleinert has been elected to join the Company's Board of Directors. Kleinert is the CEO and co-founder of Velocity Portfolio Group. Prior to founding VPG, Kleinert ran his own private investment group, JCK Investments. Link
- PepsiCo. General Counsel and Secretary Larry Thompson was elected to energy firm Southern Co.’s board of directors. Prior to joining PepsiCo in 2004, Thompson was a senior fellow with The Brookings Institution. Thompson also served in the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2002, President Bush named Thompson to head the Corporate Fraud Task Force, where he led the Justice Department's investigation into Enron, reported the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Link
- Steaz rearranges leadership team – The company announced the appointment of Jim DePietro as CEO and Steven Kessler as President. Eric Schnell, who started the company with Kessler in 2002, has departed the company. Link
ETC.
- The Coca-Cola Co., Inc. introduced a new line of foodservice coffee products at the 2010 National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. Link
- The Coca-Cola Freestyle soda fountain will enter the Chicago market in August. Link
- Caleb Bradham, the founder of Pepsi-Cola, would celebrate his 143rd birthday this week. Link