The following is transcript of Beverage Digest's podcast, The Breeze, Episode 4. Duane Stanford invites beverage industry expert (and former Beverage Digest publisher) John Sicher to discuss soda pricing power.
Today we chat with long-time industry expert and former Beverage Digest publisher John Sicher to discuss soda pricing power. The carbonated soft drink category is a significant value driver in the ready-to-drink refreshment beverage market. Products like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Dr Pepper are important to retailers in generating store traffic and contributing to overall profitability. We explore how the recent surprising period of pricing growth in the category has evolved and whether this trend will continue in 2023 and beyond.
Meanwhile, Can BodyArmor Regain Pre-Acquisition Momentum
February 1, 2023
For decades, Coca-Cola’s Powerade existed to fight off US sports drink leader Gatorade, which created what is now at least a $12 billion category, according to BD all-channel data. In more recent years, Powerade all but faded into the background, overshadowed by a challenger called BodyArmor that pledged to displace PepsiCo-owned Gatorade with claims of better-for-you ingredients and an in-your-face marketing voice. That may now change. A year after acquiring BodyArmor and merging it into a standalone unit with Powerade, Coca-Cola is ready to get...
Global beverage volume growth for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo remained stable for the first nine months of this year in the aftermath of the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Russia-Ukraine war, ongoing zero-covid policies in China, and unpredictable interest rate environments disrupted an otherwise strong period for global volume sales.The table below shows...
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo reported mostly volume gains in various global markets for the first half of 2022. The table below shows volume performance for selected markets as reported by the public beverage...
Starbucks, Primo, Amazon, Target Face Long Climb Back. Coke, Kroger Gain
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The stock market was not kind during the first half of this year to most US-traded beverage and retail companies tracked by BD. As shown in the table, Starbucks...
What We Learned in Q2: BodyArmor Slide, Alcohol, Costa Coffee Robots
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Coca-Cola raised its full year guidance this week in a sign that the company’s leadership is confident in its ability to navigate volatile input costs, consumer headwinds spurred by inflation, and the looming ...
Company Looks to Expand Licensing, Co-Packing Work With Coke, Other Majors
July 15, 2022
Company Looks to Expand Licensing, Co-Packing Work With Coke, Other Majors
Owner and President Sees Long Growth Runway for Powdered Water Enhancers
During the past two years, West Chicago-based Jel Sert built a distillery, winery, and brewery into the middle of a half-million-square-foot food and beverage manufacturing plant that for almost...
Tapered Deals Haven’t Yet Deterred Soda Consumers, Informal Survey Reveals
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In an informal BD survey of US beverage bottlers and distributors, Memorial Day holiday pricing was higher than last year as manufacturers and retailers continued to pull back on promotional discounting. Bottlers have faced unprecedented costs this year for everything from labor and transportation to raw materials. One bottler told BD that...
Sprite Passes Diet Coke in Top-10 CSD Ranking, Nearly Tied With Dr Pepper
May 16, 2022
Annually, BD publishes estimated volume and value sales data for the US liquid refreshment beverages (LRB) market, as well as categories including carbon- ated soft drinks (CSD), and energy drinks. The data included in this special issue estimates beverage sales for all measured and unmeasured channels, including packaged retail, foun- tain, and vending. At retail, drinks measured are generally single-serve, direct-store-delivered (DSD) beverages. The fountain channel includes restaurants, sports and entertainment venues, and other foodservice outlets. BD now includes chilled juice in this report and in the annual Fact Book (available for purchase HERE)...