Deal Opens the Energy Shelf Wider for Mtn Dew. PepsiCo CFO Sees Increased Rockstar Investment.
March 11, 2020
PepsiCo has agreed to buy Rockstar Energy for $3.85 billion. The deal, announced today, gives PepsiCo full control of a brand it has distributed since 2009 and removes the handcuffs on PepsiCo’s ability to innovate within the growing energy category...
Beverage Digest's Green Sheet details performance for select brands within the water, sports drinks, tea and juice categories. The format for this data has been enhanced...
Bubly to Launch Caffeinated Sparkling Water Variant. Dew Refocus Underway, CFO Says.
February 21, 2020
Since early January, speculation has circulated as to a buyout of Bang by PepsiCo, which has struggled within the energy category for years as its past success with Rockstar faded. When asked by an analyst about the possibility of using an acquisition to dig out of the energy hole, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta...
Plus: Bang Launches ‘Natural’ Line Sweetened With Stevia
February 21, 2020
After flying under the radar following its 2012 launch, Bang Energy sent a sonic boom across the US energy drink market during the past two years, surpassing an 8.0 dollar share in 2019. The brand, owned by Vital Pharmaceuticals (VPX), ignited what is now known as the “performance energy” segment, taking on established players such as Monster Energy by touting better ingredients, low or no sugar, and supplements such as creatine and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). Under threat, Monster Beverage launched a counter-attack early last year with Reign Total Body Fuel, using the company’s partnership with Coca-Cola’s US bottling system to shower retail stores with incremental floor displays and c-store cooler placements. Fast forward a year and the threat posed by Bang may have subsided...
Any Sale of Brand ‘Shouldn’t Have Substantive Ramifications,” for PepsiCo, CFO Says.
February 21, 2020
During PepsiCo’s Feb. 13 earnings conference call with analysts, CEO Ramon Laguarta and CFO Hugh Johnston appeared to throw cold tea on the idea of the company acquiring Unilever’s Lipton tea brand. Unilever has said it is considering a sale of the global brand as demand for...
Joins Entrepreneurial Rush to Capitalize on Solutions
February 21, 2020
Here’s what the entrepreneur Tal Shub imagines: A patron walks into a café holding a stylish, re-usable cup that includes a built-in lid and retractable straw. The consumer inserts their cup upside down into a port that resembles a shallow automobile cup holder. In seconds, the port.......this company offers a window into a beverage frontier where entrepreneurs are leveraging consumer concern over plastic waste and looking beyond the bottle to create new commercial opportunities...
Product Targets Supermarket Juice Aisle. Limited Packaging. No Sugar Added.
February 21, 2020
Next month, PepsiCo will launch a new sports drink, Gatorade Juiced, aimed at youth athletes and earmarked for the juice aisle. In an exclusive interview, Gatorade Senior Vice President and General Manager Brett O’Brien said the brand is looking to expand its base by creating a sports drink for pre-high school consumers that includes an ingredient profile attractive to their adult caretakers. “It’s bringing younger athletes into the portfolio with a product that their moms, dads and coaches feel great about,” O’Brien said. “We’re not asking them to step up into base Gatorade at an early age. We’re now creating this product specifically for this generation of athletes.” The launch comes as a critical time for the Gatorade brand...
Costa Coffee Accelerating Express Machine Expansion. Plus, 4Q Coke Revenue Jumps +7.0%. Shares Hit Record High.
February 7, 2020
During a Jan. 30 conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss Coca-Cola’s fourth-quarter earnings report, CEO James Quincey was asked about potential impacts from the Coronavirus outbreak in China. And in an interview, he discusses plans for Costa Coffee in the US...
LaCroix Lost Share as Bubly Gained. Coke Poised to Further Shake Up Category With Aha Launch.
February 7, 2020
The US sparkling water category grew in 2019, driven by the consumer shift to lower-sugar beverages with simpler ingredient panels. Here's a brand-level look and comprehensive data table detailing the category.
Globally, as in the US, the diet soda segment has performed better than the regular soda segment as consumers worldwide heed medical advice to reduce sugar consumption and governments tax sugar-sweetened drinks to discourage use. Volume sales for the diet soda segment globally in 2019...