When Kevin Keane joined the American Beverage Association in 2005 as SVP of policy and public affairs, industry issues were well focused on a single category. “We were talking largely about soda pop,” he recalled last week in an interview after being named the U.S. trade group’s CEO late last month. “Now there are so many different products that we're ...

What’s better: a Blue Cloud, or a Red Tree?

For the past decade, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have diverged in the US when it comes to soft drink distribution strategy. Coke owns no soda distribution operations, leaving that in recent years to independent franchised bottlers. On the other hand, PepsiCo owns and operates most of its US bottling distribution system. Now that both companies are seeking a growth path through alcoholic beverages, their strategies in the US have diverged once again.

As you’ll read in today’s issue, PepsiCo is going all-in on the distribution of alcoholic beverages such as Hard Mtn Dew with its Blue Cloud Distribution subsidiary. The company appears...

Bang Energy owner Vital Pharmaceuticals won approval from a Florida bankruptcy judge today for a $362 million acquisition of most of the company’s assets by major creditor and competitor Monster Beverage.The companies formaly announced the asset purchase agreement July 3 after the Federal Trade Commission ended an antitrust review early. The sale would include...