Trade Show Highlights Poppi, Sparkling Ice, Lemon Perfect, and More
April 4, 2024
New York direct store distributor Big Geyser is known for helping turn aspiring non-alcoholic brands into stars by incubating them up and down the street in one of the most competitive beverage markets in the world. Brands handled by Big Geyser often graduate to the national distribution systems of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, or Keurig Dr Pepper. Notable examples include Vitaminwater and Smartwater, BodyArmor, and Monster Energy. Even more impressive recently is Big Geyser’s ability to hold onto hot brands even after they sign national distribution deals. Recent examples are...
In the summer of 2021, Dave Burwick’s career path collided with itself. That’s when Boston Beer, the maker of Sam Adams craft beer and Truly Hard Seltzer, announced a partnership with PepsiCo to create Hard Mtn Dew. Burwick was President and CEO of Boston Beer. Earlier in his career, he spent 20 years at PepsiCo, where he once managed the Mtn Dew brand before eventually becoming...
Bottlers Allege a New Pallet Program Breaches Last Year's Gatorade Agreement
March 20, 2024
PepsiCo Calls Action ‘Improper Attempt’ to Rewrite Contract Terms.
Says Agreement With Bottlers Reserves PepsiCo’s Right to Warehouse Delivery.
Pepsi bottlers Admiral Beverage and Newburgh Bottling have sued PepsiCo in a New York court over plans to ship pallets of Gatorade to the warehouses of Walmart and Kroger. The independent bottlers allege the plan will undermine an...
PepsiCo Moves Blue Cloud from Alcohol Distribution to Brand Licensing
March 7, 2024
PepsiCo Unit Renamed Blue Cloud National.
Hard Mtn Dew Producer Boston Beer, Lipton Hard Iced Tea Maker FIFCO to Retain Roles.
In May, Boston Beer will begin expanding Hard Mtn Dew to 50 states using its beer distribution network, the brewer said last week. As BD reported last week in an exclusive news alert, PepsiCo is shifting its...
BodyArmor Stabilizing, Coke CEO Says. Brand Responds to Changing Category.
PepsiCo Addresses Question of US Bottler Refranchising Amid Margin Woes.
The CEO’s of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo painted a rosier than expected picture of consumer strength and sentiment in the US during their companies’ recent fourth-quarter earnings reports. That came despite...
Move to Warehouse Delivery Under Serious Consideration
February 20, 2024
Proposal Seen by Some as ‘Slippery Slope’ for Direct Store Delivery. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo Emphasizing Premium and Immediate Consumption Water
Serious discussions are underway in the US Coke and Pepsi systems about plans to ship Dasani and Aquafina case pack bottled water to Walmart by warehouse delivery instead of...
G&J Pepsi-Cola Bottlers announced it will invest $24 million to modernize a bottling plant and add a 77,000-sq-ft warehouse expansion at a facility in Columbus, Ohio.
C4 Energy maker Nutrabolt said it has taken a roughly 20% stake...
Collection of key deals from around the industry so you don't miss a beat...
PepsiCo’s Blue Cloud Names New Leader Amid Stalled Expansion
January 31, 2024
Coca-Cola and the company’s US bottlers are negotiating a possible new compensation agreement for alcohol beverage extensions as the company pushes further into the sector with its Red Tree Beverages subsidiary, according to BD sources. The revised...
Buffalo Rock Pepsi and Coke Consolidated Plan for Return to Pricing, Volume Normalcy
January 18, 2024
During Beverage Digest’s recent Future Smarts conference in New York, Editor & Publisher Duane Stanford conducted on-stage interviews with two of the largest independent PepsiCo and Coca-Cola bottlers in the US, Matthew Dent and Dave Katz. Below are key takeaways from those discussions.
Matthew Dent President & CEO Buffalo Rock
PRICING GROWTH OUTLOOK. “There's going to have to be a study around the effect on elasticities during the pandemic and what that did for our products,” Dent said, adding that price elasticities are