Incoming Unit President Mann Looks to Accelerate Decision Making
November 9, 2022
Coca-Cola will eliminate an unspecified number of jobs within its North America Operating Unit under a voluntary separation program announced internally last week. The employee reduction will set the stage for structural changes under...
Bottling executives within the US Coke and Pepsi soft drink systems have experienced a business environment during the past three years like no other in their tenures. A global pandemic shut down most fountain sales and drove consumers to retail, where a sudden sales spike stretched infrastructure and workforces. Then supply chain disruptions forced bottlers to...
Coke Zero Sugar Passes Diet Pepsi in 3Q After +12.6% Volume Gain
November 9, 2022
Consumers cut their carbonated soft drink consumption at US retail during the first nine months of 2022 relative to the same period in 2021. Strong pricing growth of +14% for the total CSD category drove dollar sales almost +12% higher, according to BD data. Volume declined -2.0% (decelerating from -2.2% for the first six months of this year), reflecting a...
Investment to Fuel Athletic’s North America Growth, Company Says
November 9, 2022
Keurig Dr Pepper has taken a $50 million minority equity stake in Athletic Brewing, the US-based non-alcoholic craft beer brand that has propelled interest in the growing segment. The companies will announce the investment this morning. KDP’s stake is on par with other lead investors in the brand, including TRB Advisors and Alliance Consumer Growth. “We’re thrilled to welcome Keurig Dr Pepper as an investor and strategic partner,” Athletic Co-founder and CEO Bill Shufelt told BD in an email. “...
Incoming Unit President Mann to Announce Structural Changes Later
November 3, 2022
Coca-Cola will eliminate an unspecified number of jobs within its North America Operating Unit under a voluntary separation program announced internally today. The employee reduction will set the stage for structural changes under incoming NAOU President Jennifer Mann to be announced later, BD has learned. Mann, who will succeed Alfredo Rivera in the role on Jan. 1, has met with hundreds of ...
Influencer Who Introduced Kobe Bryant to BodyArmor Looks to Parlay Connections
October 20, 2022
Darren Rovell, the journalist, investor, and social media influencer who wrote the literal book on Gatorade, is bringing heat to the fast-growing canned cocktail market. Rovell, who has 2 million Twitter followers and is credited with introducing the late Kobe Bryant to BodyArmor co-founder Mike Repole, had his lightbulb moment 10 months ago while drinking spicy cocktails. That inspiration has since led to a brand called KickStand Cocktails and a newly landed $2 million investment round. The ready-to-drink cocktail blends vodka and fruit juice with artisanal spice, which Rovell says is the key differentiator. KickStand enters a canned cocktail market that is expected to grow by an average of +11.6% through 2032, according to researcher Future Market Insights. As consumers move on from the hard seltzer craze to...
At an annual convention and trade show for beer distributors last week, the National Beer Wholesalers Association warned attendees of what they see as unfair encroachment by PepsiCo’s Blue Cloud Distribution, according to Wall Street analysts who wrote about the meeting. When asked about criticisms leveled at PepsiCo and Blue Cloud, Blue Cloud executives sent BD the following rebuttal, which is reprinted in its entirety...
Coca-Cola’s North America Operating Unit hosted executives from its franchised bottling system at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta recently to discuss market plans for 2023. Next year’s playbook is centered on “Epic Bets,” Coke North America representatives told bottlers in attendance. The bets include 1) marketing Coca-Cola during...
Q&A On State-Of-Play, Plans to Increase Available Capacity
October 20, 2022
Niagara Bottling, one of the largest beverage manufacturers in North America, is seeing a continued shift by brands from hot fill and retort beverage processing to aseptic processing for beverages that are sensitive to certain microorganisms that could cause spoilage. Aseptic filling uses high temperatures for a short period of time to sterilize a beverage liquid. The liquid is then cooled to ambient temperatures and placed into a sterilized package within a sterilized processing environment until capped and sealed. Hot fill and retort methods, also used to package drinks that contain few or no preservatives, require heavier packaging, including glass, to withstand high temperatures for longer periods and during the filling process. According to Niagara VP of Commercialization...
In the third quarter of this year, many of the public beverage companies and retailers
tracked by BD once again saw their stocks shed more value or stay in the red compared to
the first six months of 2022 as they continued to...