The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) released a report on 11 hospitals that have taken steps away from sugar-sweetened beverages; the news could represent another entry point for innovative beverage brands, especially if the shifts become a trend.

Essentia Water. The brand is another long-term, overnight success story, bumping along for years as a small natural channel brand but climbing to prominence as the tide of alkaline water gradually rose around it. While newer brands have done much of the hard work in raising consumer consciousness around higher-pH waters, Essentia has been the stalwart, the best-selling water SKU in many natural and specialty accounts, and it appears the patience is paying off.

When you’re covering a show that crams nearly 70,000 people, including many with beverage news, it can be easy to pass something significant without a second look. The following list is written so, for the most part, that doesn’t happen.

With news that Muscle Milk has at last hit shelves in the United Kingdom, one wonders what those Brits have been drinking after workouts all this time. A pint of Boddingtons? A cup of Earl Whey?

As the retail shelves become more and more crowded, the differences between beverages and liquid dietary supplements have become less clear. Companies looking to compete in the beverage and supplement industries have blurred the lines separating the categories, creating many similarities in packaging, ingredients and claims.

Because formulations are not easily understood, the term “relaxation” is one that consumers define for themselves, independent of ingredients — creating meanings that are often at odds with how brands position and market their products. .

CSD volume has declined for nine consecutive years, and the 3 percent decline in 2013 was worse than the 1.2 percent decline in 2012 and the 1 percent decline in 2011. Beverage Digest reports that while Coke added to its 42.4 percent market share in the CSD industry, volume declined by 2.2 percent. PepsiCo holds 27.7 percent market share, but saw volume decline by 4.4 percent. Dr Pepper Snapple’s market share is 16.9 percent, but volume declined by 9 percent.

The glaciers can slowly erode; so can the big three soda companies. It may go beyond the overall decline in consumption of sugary products and artificial sweeteners – it might just be changing tastes.