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...

PepsiCo’s Gatorade, the fourth-largest liquid refreshment beverage brand in the US, is preparing to launch a caffeinated energy drink formulated specifically for athletes. The product, called Fast Twitch, could rightfully...

Late last month, former Chobani executive Federico Muyshondt took over as CEO
of BodyArmor, the sports drink and electrolyte water company that Coca-Cola purchased
in full last November. Born in Miami and raised in El Salvador, Muyshondt recalls his early introduction to the shiny US consumer packaged goods market by way of...

Reyes Holdings will merge Illinois-based Great Lakes Coca-Cola Bottling and California-based Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling into a single operating unit starting Jan. 1, BD has learned from multiple sources. Reyes Coca-Cola CEO Bill O’Brien will helm the combined unit as CEO and the entity will ...

Coca-Cola has informed employees internally of a wave of new job cuts this week in support of a global restructuring program announced in August. The eliminated positions include previously announced voluntary separations and now involuntary separations started this week, according to a

Earlier this month, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta announced a set of initiatives and related spending aimed at Hispanic businesses, consumers, communities and employees. Some of that work will pass through the relatively new Hispanic Business Unit of PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA), which is now in its third year. In 2020, the company added a similar unit for PepsiCo Foods North America. BD reached out to Esperanza Teasdale, the VP and GM who leads the Hispanic Business Unit for beverages, reporting to PBNA CMO Greg Lyons. Teasdale discussed her team’s work to capture a greater share of the $2.6 trillion in annual spending in the US by Hispanic consumers. As she put it, that market would be equivalent to the eighth largest country in the world. The following has been edited for clarity and space: