Growth in the distribution of tea drinks in convenience store and natural foods channels as well as rising consumer demand for Fair Trade Certified tea products, will help propel U.S. sales of tea and ready-to-drink tea products to reach $8.3 billion by 2014, according to a new MarketResearch.com report. The report estimates that the U.S. tea market will reach $6.5 billion in sales in 2011, up 5.2 percent over last year, and steadily rise over the next three years.

Following recent distribution agreements with Polar and De Crescente, Karma Wellness Water has gained an even larger foothold in the Northeast as the company announced new ties with several distributors in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Karma, a cap-activated enhanced water, is also now authorized for sale in a number of retailers in the New England region including Roche Brothers and Market Basket.

After a year in which Diet Coke surged past Pepsi as the third bestselling soft drink in the U.S., PepsiCo will dramatically increase the size of its marketing budget in 2012 and lay off more than 1,000 employees – included some at its Purchase, N.Y. headquarters - to partially offset the costs, according to The New York Post. While PepsiCo declined to comment on the matter, The Post cited three sources who confirmed the details of the plan.

The deadline to create your listing for the 2012 BevNET Supplier and Services Guide is Dec. 21, 2011. BevNET’s Supplier and Services Guide is an annual resource to the 1,000+…

Expecting an eventual ease in the cost of commodities, Dr Pepper Snapple will increase prices modestly in 2012, according to the Wall Street Journal. Dr Pepper President and CEO Larry Young anticipates that the company will raise prices by 1.5 to 2 percent next year and believes that the rising swell in the cost of commodities will subside.

Though carbonated soft drinks face weakened demand and declining sales as a result of higher prices, sales of energy drinks and ready-to-drink teas remain on a hot pace, according to a recent report from Morgan Stanley. Utilizing Nielsen scanner data results, the investment bank detailed a year-over-year comparison in which category sales of energy drinks and RTD teas leapt by 12.5 and 4.5 percent, respectively, while sales of CSDs declined by 0.8 percent over a four-week period ending on November 26.

In a court settlement that may have wide-ranging implications for the beverage industry, the FDA agreed yesterday to decide whether to ban BPA, a controversial plastic and resin ingredient commonly used to line plastic bottles and metal cans. The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed against the agency by the Natural Re­sources Defense Council, and requires the FDA to make a final decision on BPA by March 31, 2012.