With institutional investors getting a bad rap in beverages these days – the National Enquirer version of the complaint is they force you to juice your projections in order to get the deal done, then steal your company when you fail to hit those unrealistic targets – a lot of early-stage beverage companies have been in a quandary as to where else to turn once they’ve reached the limits of where friends-and-family and angels can take them.

The Coca-Cola Co. and Nestle have confirmed that Beverage Partners Worldwide — their 20-year partnership marketing Nestea in the U.S. has been fundamentally altered to focus away from North America.…

The Coca-Cola Co. will be offering a new cold-filled RTD tea made under the FUZE brand to its distribution network after ceding the declining Nestea brand to Nestle, its partner in the fraying Beverage Partners Worldwide joint venture, according to a report in Beverage Digest. The move would allow Nestle Waters North America to take over Nestea in the U.S., rolling it into an expanding tea platform that includes the Sweet Leaf and Tradewinds tea brands.

Well, considering that the energy drink business comprises about 95 percent of the company’s revenue, we don’t think there’s much of a shocker here, but Hansen’s Natural Corp. is changing…

The pressure on Indra Nooyi continues to mount as the embattled PepsiCo CEO is considering plans to lay off roughly 4,000 workers and end the company’s 401(k) match in order to boost profits and increase shareholder value, according to The New York Post. The Post – which reported last month that the cola giant was preparing to lay off about 1,000 workers - noted that a final decision on the moves could come within a matter of days, citing sources close to matter.

PepsiCo has introduced new Star Wars-themed advertising, social media initiatives, and packaging to promote its Brisk iced tea and juice drinks, according to an article in The New York Times. The new marketing campaign will enlist characters from Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace 3D,” which is set for release next month. The campaign is designed to expand upon Brisk’s strong social media presence and increase sales within its target market of young adults, particularly males aged 18-29.

Led by greater market penetration and use of the stevia extract rebiana-A (reb-A), U.S. demand for alternative sweeteners will rise by 3.3 percent annually through 2015, according to a new report by market research firm Freedonia. The report indicates that the alternative sweetener market will reach $1.4 billion in sales within three years and that despite a sluggish diet soft drink market, high intensity sweeteners, including aspartame and sucralose, will remain the largest selling products within the category.