NEW PEPSICO 2-LITER. PepsiCo has launched a redesigned 2-liter bottle for all of the company’s carbonated soft drink brands. A new sculpted bottle will replace the current straight-wall package, making the multi-serve bottle easier to grip and pour, according to the company. PepsiCo is piloting the package now in Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Wisconsin, with a full rollout coming “in the near future,” the company said. Key brands including Pepsi and Mtn Dew will each feature a unique design on the bottle grip point, PepsiCo said. All other brands will share a standardized design at the grip. Dr Pepper brands distributed by PepsiCo will be included in the design change. The new bottle comes 12 years after Coca-Cola began the transition to a contour 2-liter bottle design, creating a more premium look to support higher retail pricing. During the first nine months of this year, dollar sales for PepsiCo’s 2-liter carbonated soft drink offerings declined by about -0.5% on volume that fell -4.0%. That compares to dollar sales for Coke’s 2-liter CSD brands that gained +4.0% on volume that declined -1.4%.

SUSTAINABILITY. According to a Nov. 13 investor presentation detailing Coca-Cola’s Environmental, Social, and Governance plans, the company said it has reformulated almost 1,000 products globally between 2017 and 2019, removing 350,000 tons of added sugar annually by the end of 2019 ... France-based Carbios, which bills itself as a “green chemistry company,” announced it has produced the first bottles containing 100% recycled PET converted from textile waste ... Nestlé and JDE Peet’s have collaborated on a nationwide coffee pod recycling program in UK ... Crown says it is now operating all of the company’s 14 beverage can plants in the US and Canada on renewable energy.

LAUNCHES, EXPANSIONS. Arctic Chill, a hard seltzer made with Polar seltzer water, has introduced a combo pack with both “safe for work” non-alcoholic seltzer and “not safe for work” alcoholic seltzers ... Ocean Spray Cranberries has introduced an enhanced water under a new B1U functional beverage brand that will add variants in the future ... SodaStream has launched a global marketing campaign fronted by US rapper Snoop Dogg ... PepsiCo will sell a limited time apple pie flavored Pepsi-Cola with notes of cinnamon and apple ... PepsiCo’s Naked Juice has launched a Rainbow Machine variant with seven fruit and vegetable juices ... Kite, a startup that makes carbonated drinks with adaptogens and botanicals, won BevNet’s 2020 New Beverage Showdown sponsored by Coca-Cola’s Venturing & Emerging Brands unit ... Sovany Beverage has debuted a sparkling water infused with organic fruit juice in four flavors ... Meal shake maker Huel has added a peanut butter flavor.

REGULATION, TAXES. The IRS has won a $3.4 billion tax case against Coca-Cola over profit attributed to lower-taxed foreign affiliates from 2007 to 2009; In response, Coke said it was “disappointed” by the outcome and was reviewing the US Tax Court opinion “to consider its impact and potential grounds for its appeal” ... The National Restaurant Association has asked the National Governors Association to “consider policies and regulations that will enable the industry to safely serve their communities for the duration of the pandemic,” saying there is no scientific evidence linking restaurants to the increase in COVID-19 cases.

INTERNATIONAL. French food and beverage company Danone announced it will cut 2,000 jobs globally, drop as much as 30% of its product range, and reorganize to add more local decision making ... Tel-Aviv-based Nutritional Growth Solutions has launched a Healthy Height protein shake in the Asia-Pacific market that the company says is clinically shown to improve children’s height.

QUICK TAKES. Maple Holdings, which is majority-owned by JAB, and Mondelez have completed a previously announced secondary stock offering of 60 million shares of Keurig Dr Pepper stock valued at about $1.7 billion ... DrinkPak will add three beverage co- packing lines for canned energy, hard seltzer and canned cocktails at a new facility in Santa Clarita, California near Los Angeles that will be capable of producing 1.9 billion units of finished product annually ... Pepsi-Cola Bottling of McAlester, Oklahoma has been named PepsiCo’s 2019 Donald M. Kendall Bottler of the Year, awarded to an independent bottler for outstanding franchise performance, including volume growth, customer service, product quality, and community involvement.