According to Center for Public Integrity reporter Dave Levinthal, an expert on lobbying and lobbyists, the flock of nine skilled operatives from the top-tier Podesta Group represents a move that will take an “all-of-the-above” approach to trying to work the levers of power in D.C. at a time when politicians – particularly Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have been holding regulatory agencies’ feet to the fire when it comes to investigating their concerns about the beverages.

It’s been proven time and time again that in blind taste tests, under equal conditions, the average person is rarely able to distinguish between tap water and bottled water. So if taste isn’t why consumers are drawn to high-end water brands, what is it? Like a fancy car, it’s the packaging, and not what’s under the hood (or bottle cap), which most people crave. In the $10 billion plus world of bottled water, branding is everything. And for premium waters, everything begins with the bottle.

The country's largest supermarket company has formed a strong internal strategy under VP of Natural Foods Mary Ellen Adcock to try to remake itself in the minds of natural and organic consumers as a place where they can go to discover new, on-trend drinks and other products, partnering with L.A. Libations on the beverage end.

John Lenore & Co. – which has distributed Monster for the brand’s entire existence – will no longer carry it as of April 1. The energy drink volume sales leader is moving to a pair of wholesalers affiliated with Anheuser-Busch, including an AB-owned affiliate in the south half of the city and Markstein Beverage Co. in the north.

For the first time since 1997, Pepsi will introduce a new bottle shape next month. The brand will also debut new graphics, according to Ad Age.

Looking to bolster operating efficiency and customer service at the local level, PepsiCo today announced that it will transfer several bottling franchises with two of its largest bottling partners, Pepsi Bottling Ventures LLC (PBV) and the Honickman Group's Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of New York (PCNY).