Pepsi and Dr Pepper bottler Buffalo Rock has added 10 east Alabama counties to its landmark 2020 deal with Keurig Dr Pepper to pick up brands including...
KDP CEO Says Investment, Distribution Deal to Unlock C-Stores, Cold Placements
December 19, 2022
Keurig Dr Pepper followed its surprise $50 million November investment in Athletic Brewing with a far larger deal in December – an $863 million investment in C4 performance energy drink maker Nutrabolt. KDP also becomes Nutrabolt’s long-term sales and distribution partner. While ready-to-drink C4 ...
John Fieldly Breaks Down PepsiCo Distribution Deal.
September 7, 2022
When John Fieldly stepped into Celsius as CFO in 2012, things weren’t going well. He recalls being kicked out of Costco, which was responsible for about 60% of sales. The same thing happened at retailers including Walgreens, CVS, and Harris Teeter. The velocities just weren’t there for what was then a “negative calorie drink” that promised...
The liquor store sure has changed. I popped into one last week to grab some Finnish Long Drink for our dog sitter. I left having seen the very embodiment of a trend.
A massive display of Svedka vodka sodas and teas greeted me at the door. Other floor displays throughout the store pitched bright-colored cans of premixed cocktails, like a gin and tonic from Bombay Sapphire. Newer canned spirits brands such as High Noon and Cutwater stacked the cases high and sold them – at a premium.
An entire section of shelves was permanently labeled “Ready-to-Drink.” An endcap display, big enough to incorporate a full-sized bicycle, marketed a product from craft beer trailblazer Dogfish Head (eventually acquired by Boston Beer). The display wasn’t for beer, however. It was for canned cocktails by Dogfish’s distilling unit. Even Dos Equis offered a blanco tequila ready-to-drink margarita.
I asked an alcohol distributor stocking a display about the transformation (spurred in part by consumers’ boredom with beer)...
120-Year-Old Company Navigates Unprecedented Inflation With ‘Steady’ Strategy
July 15, 2022
Nestled in Winchester, Kentucky just outside Lexington and less than three miles from the Bluegrass Heritage Museum, craft soda maker Ale-8-One Bottling is a microcosm of the complex...
Company Looks to Expand Licensing, Co-Packing Work With Coke, Other Majors
July 15, 2022
Company Looks to Expand Licensing, Co-Packing Work With Coke, Other Majors
Owner and President Sees Long Growth Runway for Powdered Water Enhancers
During the past two years, West Chicago-based Jel Sert built a distillery, winery, and brewery into the middle of a half-million-square-foot food and beverage manufacturing plant that for almost...