Super Bowl sponsor PepsiCo is used to being in enemy territory. The last four Super Bowls were hosted by cities where Coca-Cola enjoys a market share lead in carbonated soft drinks, as the table below shows. While the same holds true this year for Super Bowl LIII, the stakes are even higher as Coke’s hometown Atlanta plays host. 

BD’s Dec. 7 Future Smarts conference featured an interview with Kate Daly, executive director of Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Starbucks and McDonald’s are among 14 consumer product companies that have partnered with Closed Loop since 2015 to make recycling more viable. 

Last July, Winston-Salem, NC-based Primo Water found itself caught up in President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. The U.S. imposed import tariffs on about 6,000 Chinese goods worth about $200 billion.

On Dec. 20, Dirty Lemon parent company Iris Nova announced $15 million in seed funding that includes a minority investment by Coca-Cola. Coke’s Venturing & Emerging Brands unit has paid close attention to Dirty Lemon. The brand gained attention for its unique go-to-market strategy, which founder and CEO Zak Normandin has named c-commerce, or “conversational commerce.”

Coca-Cola North America has upgraded its customer center in Atlanta to make better use of technologies such as virtual reality. The newly-renovated and renamed KOlab 600 is linked to existing space where sales teams collaborate with retailers and restaurant operators. BD got a look at the center during a Jan. 3 ribbon cutting by CCNA President Jim Dinkins.