BD Informally Surveys Key Retail Chains for Deal Activity
July 16, 2024
Plus, 4-Week Retail Data Shows Stable Pricing Growth Across Categories.
An informal BD survey of July 4 weekend holiday pricing revealed a more muted promotional environment for a key carbonated soft drink (CSD) package compared to 2023. BD reviewed...
Exec Says PBNA Focus is Total Beverage Portfolio and Profitability.
PepsiCo’s noisy second-quarter earnings report driven by Frito-Lay underperformance overshadowed an improved trend at PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA). On July 11, PepsiCo reported organic sales and volume performance that fell short...
STōK RTD Coffee on Fire. Fairlife Core Power Grows Volume and Dollars
June 20, 2024
Danone grew ready-to-drink coffee volume sales during the first quarter of this year by +7.2%, taking an additional +3.2 share points in the category. The result was driven by STōK, which aired...
The former CEO of Celsius and a former Coca-Cola veteran have partnered to launch what they say is a “rapid alcohol detoxification” beverage called Unbuzzd, as the market for hangover remedy drinks moves beyond mere...
Gehring Joins List of Possible CEO Successors at Iconic Energy Drink Company
June 20, 2024
Monster Beverage’s announcement last week that the company had appointed Swire Coca-Cola USA President and CEO Rob Gehring as chief growth officer is the latest signal that a significant management succession is underway at one of the world’s largest...
Coca-Cola Bottling Company United has announced the planned construction of a $330 million headquarters and distribution center in its hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. The project includes a...
KDP to Acquire Kalil Bottling. Move Follows Effort to Take Back Reyes' Dr Pepper Territory in California
June 6, 2024
Keurig Dr Pepper has agreed to acquire Tucson, Arizona-based Kalil Bottling as KDP continues to bolster its company-owned direct-store-delivery (DSD) operation in the western US. The announcement Friday came weeks after KDP disclosed in a Texas lawsuit that it will not renew a franchise agreement with Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling to distribute Dr Pepper products in California, effective Oct. 27, 2025. Reyes, citing California franchise laws, has asked a California judge to force a renewal unless KDP can show cause for ending the franchise arrangement. That has sent some Dr Pepper bottlers into their contracts to assess termination risk. KDP’s aggressive new stance with Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling has raised industry questions about whether more such moves are planned by KDP as part of a strategy to take back Dr Pepper territory from Coke and Pepsi bottlers. Or, is the Reyes non-renewal simply a special and opportunistic circumstance driven by geography and existing synergies?
Meanwhile, CEO Troy Taylor Sees Possible New Horizon in Alcohol
May 8, 2024
Bottler Embraces Role as Tester of Product and Packaging Innovation
Plus: Parcel Delivery Effort Seeks Profitability Down to Six-Pack
Coca-Cola Beverages Florida has come a long way since Troy Taylor leveraged his relationships and expertise as an advisor to Coca-Cola to win franchise bottling territory under Coca-Cola’s massive refranchising effort a decade ago. What started as central Florida territory anchored by Tampa/St. Petersburg has expanded to the entire...