The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has criticized distribution changes made by Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling (RCCB) in Southern California. During a Feb. 13 investor conference call, union leaders said the bottler’s “cost-cutting strategies” have undermined service to

Beverage company share prices tracked by BD were generally weak in 2018 thanks to sluggish U.S. markets and a December decline that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed almost 2500 points. The market has since regained some of those losses. Bright spots for 2018 were Keurig Dr Pepper, Starbucks and the U.S.-traded shares of Coca-Cola European Partners.

BD held its annual Future Smarts conference on Dec. 7, 2018 in New York. Many of the sessions were covered in the Dec. 14 issue. The following is a synopsis of a panel with Wall Street analysts who cover public beverage companies. BD will publish highlights of sessions covering cannabis and plastic sustainability in the next issue.

Farm Bill Legalizes Hemp. The newly-passed $867 billion U.S. Farm Bill, awaiting President Trump’s signature, includes a provision to legalize hemp nationally. This could make it easier for beverage companies to market products infused with CBD, a non-psychoactive ingredient derived from hemp...

Without ceremony, Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Bob Gamgort shed light on the future of Allied Brands Vita Coco, High Brew and Neuro during the company’s Nov. 7 earnings conference call. Distribution agreements with all three have not changed, he said. “The Allied Brand portfolio has settled out nicely in a fairly short period of time,” Gamgort said, referring also to the additions of Evian, Peet’s Iced Espressos, and Forto Coffee Shots distribution deals, and the acquisitions of Big Red and Core water. Allied Brands represent about 5% of KDP sales and profit, Gamgort has said.

During an earnings conference call on Oct. 30, CEO James Quincey was asked about any plans for beverages infused with CBD, which is extracted from cannabis and said to relieve inflammation (among other benefits). “We don’t have any plans at this stage to get into this space,” he answered. Quincey later told CNBC: “It’s just not something we’re interested in.” The answer appears to close the door on the ingredient at Coke, for now at least. Coca-Cola had said in September that it was “closely watching the growth of non-psychoactive CBD as an ingredient in functional wellness beverages around the world.” In an interview with Quincey following the conference call, BD asked Quincey how Coke evaluates such an ingredient. Getting to “serious consideration” means crossing a number of “hurdles,” he said. “To put it in simple terms, there are at least three: Is it safe, is it legal, and is it consumable?” Quincey asked. He said safety means reaching a “consensus