BD attended the Natural Products Expo West show last week at the Anaheim Convention Center & Arena outside Los Angeles. The event has become a showcase for products capitalizing on consumer health trends, which often evolve to mainstream appeal and drive acquisitions by large consumer products companies. Food and beverage offerings as usual dominated the show, which included more than 3,500 exhibitors spread across the equivalent of almost 10 football fields. Here’s an analysis of beverage themes and trends that emerged from this year’s show:

Last August, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated named Dave Katz president and COO. He spent 25 years preparing for the role. BD spoke to Katz about refranchising, competition with a reorganized PepsiCo beverages unit, methods to fuel revenue growth and even CBD.

Sales of CBD-infused drinks reached $86 million in 2018 and will grow to more than $1.4 billion in 2023, Zenith Global and Beverage Digest have concluded in a joint report. Favorable federal regulation in the U.S. would...

The company has launched an Orange Vanilla Coca-Cola and Orange Vanilla Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. The products will be fully available by the end of the month, the company said. Packaging will include the red disc and colored neck band that is part of Coke’s global “One Brand” design strategy

There were no valentines exchanged between Coca-Cola and investors on Feb. 14 after the company offered a cautious full-year 2019 earnings forecast. Coke shares declined more than

BD held its annual Future Smarts conference on Dec. 7 in New York City. The program focused on the implications of massive changes this year to the North American non-alcoholic beverages landscape. New leaders have taken over all three of the largest soft drink makers -- Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper -- since  2017. Acquisitions of Dr Pepper Snapple by Keurig Green Mountain, Costa Coffee by Coke and SodaStream by PepsiCo have all signaled a more aggressive approach to portfolio transformation. Meanwhile