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...

BD caught up with former Coca-Cola sales executive Jim Brennan a month after he was hired full-time by startup beverage brand Lemon Perfect. Brennan has served as an advisor to the Atlanta-based company’s Founder and CEO Yanni Hufnagel since early 2021, helping open doors at key retailers including Kroger, Costco, and Safeway. That requires meetings with retailers and other hands-on work, and as Brennan was pulled deeper into...

Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages has become the first beverage manufacturer to replace plastic rings and shrink wrap with paperboard holders for can multipacks. The bottler is now using a KeelClip paperboard packaging system by Graphic Packaging to hold together six- packs of 7.5-oz minicans. More package sizes could be added...

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...

US Inflation surged by +9.1% during the 12 months ending in June, according to newly released Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the largest year-over-year spike in the consumer price index in more than four...

Coca-Cola is considering compensating its franchise bottlers in the US for company- sanctioned ready-to-drink alcohol beverages sold in bottlers’ exclusive territories, BD has learned from bottling executives. Just last week, Jack Daniel’s whiskey maker Brown-Forman and Coca-Cola announced a “global relationship” for a Jack & Coke canned cocktail to be launched in Mexico later this year. While other...