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...

During a Jan. 30 conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss Coca-Cola’s fourth-quarter earnings report, CEO James Quincey was asked about potential impacts from the Coronavirus outbreak in China. And in an interview, he discusses plans for Costa Coffee in the US...

Coca-Cola-owned dairy company Fairlife is considering a new ice cream or frozen yogurt, according to recent US trademark applications. The products, as contemplated by the filings, would carry the same Fairlife name and cow face icon used on the brand’s products including filtered milks and protein shakes such as Core Power. The innovation would mark the company’s first departure from beverages since it was founded in 2012...

Coke CEO James Quincey joined Future Smarts after a visit that morning to the New York Stock Exchange, where he and other executives celebrated Coca-Cola’s 100th anniversary as a public company by ringing the opening bell. Quincey now is in his third year as CEO of Coke. He was additionally named chairman of the board in April. Quincey joined Coke in 1996 and has spent the majority of his career in Latin America and then Europe before becoming COO under former CEO Muhtar Kent in August of 2015. Quincey’s focus as CEO has been to grow brand Coke while diversifying the company’s portfolio to everything from coffee drinks to plant-based offerings. Early this year, he closed on the acquisition of UK-based Costa Coffee, a chain of cafés stretching across Europe...

This story is a recap of highlights from his Future Smarts conference appearance Dec. 9 in New York.

In an interview, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said the company is “not in a rush” to bring its new Costa ready-to-drink coffee to the US given the lack of awareness for the Costa brand in this market. “Our focus will be...

Dave Holmes created an alcohol beverage category by founding and developing SpikedSeltzer, which he sold to Anheuser-Busch in 2016. Now his ambition is focused on the burgeoning hemp-based CBD...