With space rapidly filling up, BevNET Live Winter 11 is on track to be another sellout.  If you haven’t already registered for the event, which takes place on December 5…

Coca-Cola has agreed to acquire Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling Co., the fifth-largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the United States, for $360 million. The agreement follows Coke’s $12.3 billion acquisition of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., its largest bottler in North America, last year. The deal is expected to help Coke streamline operations and reduce its overall costs.

Could a symbol, such as a check mark, on the front of a can or bottle help consumers make healthier beverage decisions? The Institute of Medicine (IOM) thinks so. The organization recently released a government-sponsored report recommending that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adopt a single, standardized front-of-package symbol system for all food and beverage packaging.

Recent news that big soda companies like PepsiCo and the Coca-Cola Co., Inc. are planning to take price increases to compensate for supplier costs has left smaller companies wondering how they should keep up. BevNET.com spoke with several entrepreneurial beverage firms who face a tough choice: increase pricing or shrink margins. And while many seem to believe that there’s strength in their higher-end retail markets, there’s always the possibility that either they will want to expand – or the bigger fish will decide to spawn in the smaller specialty ponds, as well.

The 74th biennial tradeshow for the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) took place from October 16-18 in Las Vegas. There were more than 30 non-alcoholic beverage companies present, all of whom were very excited to get their products in front of the 4,000+ attendees -- particularly as wholesalers and independent beer distributors look to continue to diversify their NA portfolios.

Did you launch your beverage company in the past two years? If so, here’s a reminder to check out the upcoming the New Beverage Showdown 2, which is presented by Venturing & Emerging Brands. The New Beverage Showdown 2 , which will take place at BevNET Live Winter 11 on December 5 & 6 in Santa Monica, CA (register for BevNET Live here), is an amazing opportunity to put your brand on the industry’s radar — as well as take home the $5,000 prize that’s being offered.

MarketsandMarkets has projected the global sports and energy drinks market to reach $52 billion by 2016 in a new report. The report states that sales of sport and energy drinks…