I returned last week from a 2,000-mile motorcycle trip to a Harley-Davidson rally in Springfield, Missouri. For those interested, I ride a 2025 Street Glide Ultra. Our route took us through Tupelo, Mississippi to see Elvis’ birth home, and then to Elvis’ Graceland...

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper face a host of challenges in the US in 2025, ranging from declining consumer sentiment to negative policy actions. All three companies addressed the...

A big question for independent US Pepsi bottlers is whether they are in line to distribute two brands at the center of key PepsiCo-related deals this year. The newest deal is PepsiCo’s pending acquisition of prebiotic soda leader Poppi for $1.95 billion, announced on March 17 (BD sent an email news alert to subscribers). The other is the...

My wife and I got away late last month for a vacation to Southern Italy’s Amalfi Coast. I was taking some time off but couldn’t help making a few casual beverage observations.

First, when it comes to carbonated soft drinks, Coca-Cola appears to dominate the region. From the small local market near our Airbnb rental in tiny Conca dei Marini, to the trendy restaurants in mid-size Sorrento, there was always a Coke for sale. We didn’t stumble on a Pepsi until we hit a market in the much larger city of Naples.

While this was no formal survey, the disparity actually makes sense to me, knowing something about Coca-Cola’s and PepsiCo’s global strategies. PepsiCo’s global beverage expansion strategy has historically focused...

Beverage Digest hosted its annual Future Smarts conference last December in New York City. The day’s lineup of speakers included leaders from three of the largest US beverage companies — Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper. The executives sat for interviews on stage with Beverage Digest Editor & Publisher Duane Stanford. Here are highlights as the speakers looked ahead to 2025...

Brand Coca-Cola posted a surprising sudden decline at US retail in the four weeks ending Feb. 23, according to multi-channel Circana data published by Evercore ISI. The drop coincides with social media calls for a boycott of the brand among Hispanic consumers. The boycott appears to have...