During an Oct. 28 conference call with analysts, Femsa CEO Eduardo Padilla said the Mexico-based company remains interested in expanding into the US convenience store market. The company, which controls Latin American bottler Coca-Cola Femsa, also owns Oxxo, the largest chain of convenience stores in Mexico and Latin America with about 18,000 locations. Padilla’s comment was in response to

Coca-Cola has now confirmed details of its mainstream sparkling water launch, which we first wrote about in August. Called Aha, the brand’s March debut will challenge National Beverage’s LaCroix and PepsiCo’s Bubly. Until now, Coke has resisted entering the mainstream sparkling water category with a sweeping challenger, opting instead for line extensions of Dasani and Smartwater, plus Topo Chico. Aha marks a reversal of that strategy as Coca-Cola aims to capitalize on the struggles of market leader LaCroix while slowing down the relatively unchecked growth of category disruptor Bubly. Aha’s success will depend largely on Coke’s ability to grab consumers’ attention in a crowded category that offers little differentiation between mainstream formulas. The following details of the Aha launch are based on Coca-Cola and system sources:

In Washington DC, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper announced a joint US initiative organized by the American Beverage Association to reduce plastic waste from bottles. The program, called...

Coca-Cola grew US carbonated soft drink (CSD) dollar and volume sales during the first-nine months of this year, according to retail data tracked by BD. The company outpaced the...

G Fuel plans to test retail sales of its new canned energy drink in as many as three states starting in January, CEO Cliff Morgan told...

A federal judge in Florida has denied a request for a preliminary injunction by Bang Energy-owner Vital Pharmaceuticals (VPX) to stop Monster Beverage from distributing its Reign Total Body Fuel energy drink in its current trade dress. In March...

BD caught up with Celsius and A Shoc during the recent NACS show in Atlanta. Celsius CEO John Fieldly said the company has embarked on aggressive plans to...

Bang Energy founder and CEO Jack Owoc appears to be proceeding with plans to launch a new “pre-workout energy drink” under a trademark “Reign.” The name was at the center of a lawsuit filed last spring by Bang parent company Vital Pharmaceuticals against Monster Beverage...