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...

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?

US Retail Stores Provide Consumer Experience to Seed Brand, Leader Says.

In Atlanta’s trendy and redeveloping historic West End neighborhood, the location for Coca-Cola’s newest Costa Coffee retail shop speaks to the brand’s aspiration. The cafe is a short walk from the Atlanta Beltline, a multi-use trail and revitalization project that attracts droves of active young Atlantans for everything from jogging and dog walking to brewpub hopping. These are the kinds of people that seek premium-priced coffee and have the means to pay for it. The new Costa store, a few miles from...