Wall Street analysts are on high alert for shifts in pricing and volume trends within the US consumer packaged goods sectors, including beverages. A worst-case scenario would be decelerating pricing growth without a corresponding bump in volume performance, which would depress dollar sales growth trends. In an Aug. 22 report, A/B Bernstein analyst Callum Elliott summed up the current state-of-play this way: “With the period of ...

All non-carbonated beverage categories tracked by BD grew pricing and dollars at retail during the first six months of this year, according to BD data. As shown in the table below, all categories also posted a volume decline. Sports drinks posted the largest dollar and pricing gains, as well as the deepest volume decline (see related story HERE). Bottled water outperformed all other categories on a volume basis...

The US carbonated soft drink category at retail raised pricing by a high-double-digit percentage during the first half of 2023, generating +13.2% dollar sales growth. Volume declined by -3.5%, however. Meanwhile, as shown in the table, private label soft drinks gained volume share against category leader Coca-Cola and No. 2 PepsiCo. Keurig Dr Pepper posted a slight share gain, bringing the company’s CSD portfolio within three

On July 31, Monster Beverage completed its $362 million acquisition of bankrupt Bang Energy owner Vital Pharmaceuticals (VPX). Last week, Monster confirmed that Coca-Cola and its bottlers will distribute Bang globally, with a US rollout to begin this quarter. “As a result, there will be a

Beverage supplier stocks tracked by BD underperformed the S&P 500 during the first half of this year. Coca-Cola’s shares declined -5.3%. While PepsiCo’s stock increased in value by +2.5%, the shares far underperformed the index’s +15.2% increase. Keurig Dr Pepper, dogged by profitability questions stemming from its...

Coca-Cola has established a federally permitted alcohol subsidiary called Red Tree Beverages to further explore the US alcohol beverage business, Coke’s Chief of New Revenue Streams Dan White told BD in an interview. The unit, created late last year and “firewalled” from Coca-Cola’s non-alcoholic operations, is permitted to participate in marketing and strategy around ready-to-drink alcohol brands based on Coke trademarks that are produced by third parties including...

Despite PepsiCo’s considerable work to keep its Blue Cloud alcohol distribution operation separate from its non-alcoholic business, the subsidiary has become a magnet for criticism as it forges new ground in the highly regulated and competitive US alcohol beverage market. In a new interview, Blue Cloud Distribution GM Emiliano Di Vincenzo, and Blue Cloud Chief Legal Officer Randy Liebowitz, said the organization has...