20-oz ‘Fallen Off a Cliff.’ New Retail Data: Beverage Category Sales Slowed.
April 14, 2020
As COVID-19 home lockdowns drag on, beverage bottlers in the Coke, Pepsi, Dr Pepper and independent beverage distribution systems have seen large store sales slow in April compared to the extreme stock-up buying by consumers last month, according to BD’s ongoing informal survey. Bottlers are increasingly concerned about the shift to future consumption from immediate consumption, which has pressured profit margins. The following are comments from bottlers since late last week, organized by topic...
Same-store gasoline sales in the US fell during the week ending March 14, according to data released late last week by the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS). Initial data for the week ending March 21 indicates the decline could be...
Pantry loading this month by US consumers reacting to the COVID-19 crisis wasn’t limited to large hydration categories, according to all-outlet US data provided to BD by Nielsen. As shown in the table on the next page, categories and segments ranging from carbonated soft drinks to kombucha saw significant...
As consumers reacted in March to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, Beverage Digest provided live updates on the impact to the US non-alcoholic beverage industry. Here is that coverage in its entirety.
Given triple-digit percentage growth rates for hard seltzers and the increasing trend
toward ultra-low-calorie beers, BD decided to take a look at calorie counts for alcoholic
beverage segments and brands...
The table with this story shows global beverage volume performance for CocaCola and PepsiCo, culled from the companies’ most recent annual regulatory filings. The companies disclose growth or decline for selected markets or business units, and those included can vary from...
Beverage Digest's Green Sheet details performance for select brands within the water, sports drinks, tea and juice categories. The format for this data has been enhanced...
Plus: Bang Launches ‘Natural’ Line Sweetened With Stevia
February 21, 2020
After flying under the radar following its 2012 launch, Bang Energy sent a sonic boom across the US energy drink market during the past two years, surpassing an 8.0 dollar share in 2019. The brand, owned by Vital Pharmaceuticals (VPX), ignited what is now known as the “performance energy” segment, taking on established players such as Monster Energy by touting better ingredients, low or no sugar, and supplements such as creatine and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). Under threat, Monster Beverage launched a counter-attack early last year with Reign Total Body Fuel, using the company’s partnership with Coca-Cola’s US bottling system to shower retail stores with incremental floor displays and c-store cooler placements. Fast forward a year and the threat posed by Bang may have subsided...
Any Sale of Brand ‘Shouldn’t Have Substantive Ramifications,” for PepsiCo, CFO Says.
February 21, 2020
During PepsiCo’s Feb. 13 earnings conference call with analysts, CEO Ramon Laguarta and CFO Hugh Johnston appeared to throw cold tea on the idea of the company acquiring Unilever’s Lipton tea brand. Unilever has said it is considering a sale of the global brand as demand for...
Product Targets Supermarket Juice Aisle. Limited Packaging. No Sugar Added.
February 21, 2020
Next month, PepsiCo will launch a new sports drink, Gatorade Juiced, aimed at youth athletes and earmarked for the juice aisle. In an exclusive interview, Gatorade Senior Vice President and General Manager Brett O’Brien said the brand is looking to expand its base by creating a sports drink for pre-high school consumers that includes an ingredient profile attractive to their adult caretakers. “It’s bringing younger athletes into the portfolio with a product that their moms, dads and coaches feel great about,” O’Brien said. “We’re not asking them to step up into base Gatorade at an early age. We’re now creating this product specifically for this generation of athletes.” The launch comes as a critical time for the Gatorade brand...