Concern over the potential negative impact to food and beverage sales from obesity medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy is overblown.

This summer, Morgan Stanley rightfully dug into whether the rapidly growing use of diabetes drugs for weight loss would dampen food and beverage sales in a country racked with obesity. Analysts at the firm estimate a -2.0% to -3.0% decline in carbonated soft drink and snack consumption in 2035 driven by the drugs. Other firms...

Coca-Cola has established a federally permitted alcohol subsidiary called Red Tree Beverages to further explore the US alcohol beverage business, Coke’s Chief of New Revenue Streams Dan White told BD in an interview. The unit, created late last year and “firewalled” from Coca-Cola’s non-alcoholic operations, is permitted to participate in marketing and strategy around ready-to-drink alcohol brands based on Coke trademarks that are produced by third parties including...

Despite PepsiCo’s considerable work to keep its Blue Cloud alcohol distribution operation separate from its non-alcoholic business, the subsidiary has become a magnet for criticism as it forges new ground in the highly regulated and competitive US alcohol beverage market. In a new interview, Blue Cloud Distribution GM Emiliano Di Vincenzo, and Blue Cloud Chief Legal Officer Randy Liebowitz, said the organization has...