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...

We’ll close out the year on Monday with our annual Future Smarts conference in New York City. And I can’t wait to see what comes out of the program we've assembled.

I love the conversation we generate during the course of the day, with discussion threads that weave through the speaker sessions. Points from an earlier session often find their way into a later interview as dots are connected. The impact of consumer stress on industry growth, practical implications of technologies such as Ai, the competition for soft drink market share, and expectations for the new presidential administration will be some of those threads.

We’ll start the day with executives from Coca-Cola, Keurig Dr Pepper, and PepsiCo before convening our annual analyst panel to riff on what they’ve heard that morning. Bottlers from both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo will layer in their perspectives. And we will fold in a wholesaler’s view of the retail landscape with UNFI’s CEO. Olipop’s co-founder will provide some emerging brand and category spice. And Boston Beer’s former CEO will stir the pot in the best of ways with a view across beer and non-alcoholic beverages.

Future Smarts attendees will head into 2025 with a complete view of the most urgent industry topics, as voiced by smart industry insiders. It’s great to get a helping of clarity right before we all wrap up a busy 2024.

Like last year, we’ll host a welcome reception on Sunday for all registered attendees. I love that the evening is so anchoring, helping to deepen industry relationships on a human level — mine included.

If you can’t join us, rest assured we’ll share some slices of the Future Smarts pie in our newsletter next year. In the meantime, enjoy your families this holiday season. The team at Beverage Digest wishes you all the very best.

Let me catch you up on what we’re planning for this year’s Future Smarts conference on Dec. 16 in New York City.

Just this week we announced that Coca-Cola President and CFO John Murphy has joined our program. The 36-year Coke veteran has a massive job overseeing the financial strategy for a global company with a $270 billion market cap. That’s not all. The Global Ventures operating segment that reports to Murphy is responsible for scaling globally Coke’s Costa Coffee business, as well as the company’s almost decade-long strategic partnership with Monster Beverage.

Speaking of Monster Beverage, the company is headed for a changing of the guard in the coming years, as you’ll read in today’s newsletter starting on page 3. The evolution of Coca-Cola’s relationship with Monster will be one to watch. At Future Smarts, I’ll certainly ask Murphy for his view on this important relationship and the future of the energy drinks category.

In fact, Swire Coca-Cola CEO Rob Gehring, who will soon leave to join Monster as chief growth officer, is a past Future Smarts speaker from 2021. That illustrates our priority to host the brightest leaders who are in a position to shape the future of the beverage industry.

Already announced so far for this year’s Future Smarts is Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling CEO Bill O’Brien, and former Boston Beer CEO Dave Burwick. As we...

Dr Pepper reached a milestone in 2023, as you’ll learn in today’s newsletter. The brand’s regular-calorie version ended the year... In an interview in this issue (see article), Keurig Dr Pepper’s new CEO Tim Cofer and the company’s previous CEO, Executive Chairman Bob Gamgort, discuss how they plan to maintain Dr Pepper’s performance, including through the recruitment of young consumers. They also address their vision for expanding KDP’s company-owned distribution system, including for brands such as Dr Pepper (which has been a hot topic this week).

You can find these Dr Pepper performance details and much more in BD’s Fact Book, 29th Edition, which we just released last week (order HERE). This in-depth resource covers 2023 sales results and data across the US non-alcoholic beverage industry. The data differs from...

I’m excited to announce Dec. 16 as the date for our 2024 Future Smarts conference in New York City.

This event is likely to reach a pre-pandemic attendance level this year, so we’re hosting at Convene on Manhattan’s West 46th Street. The venue is around the corner from Times Square and the theater district, so go ahead and grab those Broadway tickets!

Part of what we love about this roomy venue are the amenities that make life easier for conference attendees — power at every table in the presentation room, private phone pods to steal away for important calls, and small conference rooms useful for sideline meetings.

During the event, networking will be centered as usual around our popular and energetic sampling expo. The night before the event, we’ll host a welcome reception for speakers and attendees with food and an open bar to make connecting easy and fun.

Most importantly, we’re already making plans for another high-level slate of speakers and panelists from major companies including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper, as well as from successful emerging brands. We’ll also hear from key beverage bottlers, retailers, and Wall Street analysts.

Conference attendees say they find great value in our special trend panels. Last year, we hosted a panel that took us behind the scenes and into the mechanics of the creator economy. Two years ago, a panel of Gen Z consumers gave us an unvarnished look at how they view the world. We’ll assemble another compelling panel this year to illuminate a critical and emerging corner of the beverage landscape.

More details will be released soon. Until then, make sure to save the date for Future Smarts 2024 on Dec. 16. The team here at Beverage Digest can’t wait to see you.