A Rockstar branded vodka canned cocktail is available in Canada. Rockstar Vodka contains 6.9% alcohol by volume.
Coca-Cola’s BodyArmor brand and Dude Perfect have teamed up for a limited time summer flavor called Perfect Pop. BodyArmor is the official sports drink of Dude Perfect, a sports and comedy group that gained a wide following by posting videos of...
Meanwhile, CEO Troy Taylor Sees Possible New Horizon in Alcohol
May 8, 2024
Bottler Embraces Role as Tester of Product and Packaging Innovation
Plus: Parcel Delivery Effort Seeks Profitability Down to Six-Pack
Coca-Cola Beverages Florida has come a long way since Troy Taylor leveraged his relationships and expertise as an advisor to Coca-Cola to win franchise bottling territory under Coca-Cola’s massive refranchising effort a decade ago. What started as central Florida territory anchored by Tampa/St. Petersburg has expanded to the entire...
Executives Responding to Weakness Among Lower-Income Consumers
May 8, 2024
Coca-Cola Writes Down Value of BodyArmor as Fairlife Soars.
PepsiCo: Away-From-Home Outpaced At-Home Sales in First-Quarter.
Monster’s Sacks May Leave CEO Post in 2025. U.S. Price Hike Announced.
Consumer resilience was the theme from Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper executives for the US market during their first-quarter earnings reports. That’s despite two years of persistent grocery...
Growth Priorities Include Aluminum Bottles, Saratoga, Expanded 5-Gallon Reach
April 17, 2024
Bottled water producer BlueTriton is rolling out a new premium aluminum bottle for its Pure Life and regional spring water brands, including Poland Spring, Arrowhead, and Deer Park. The package is among a host of growth priorities for the company, said CEO Joey Bergstein in an interview. BlueTriton was formed about...
PepsiCo and Lipton have launched a Pure Leaf Zero Sugar Sweet Tea nationally in the US. Sweetened with sucralose and acesulfame potassium, the ready-to-drink bottled tea contains no calories. The drink, packaged in an 18.5-oz single-serve carafe, will retail for $2.49 per bottle. It’s the first zero sugar tea produced in the US by the PepsiCo’s Lipton tea joint venture with Unilever. In an interview with BD, North America Pepsi Lipton Partnership GM Julie Raheja-Perera pointed out that...
Trade Show Highlights Poppi, Sparkling Ice, Lemon Perfect, and More
April 4, 2024
New York direct store distributor Big Geyser is known for helping turn aspiring non-alcoholic brands into stars by incubating them up and down the street in one of the most competitive beverage markets in the world. Brands handled by Big Geyser often graduate to the national distribution systems of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, or Keurig Dr Pepper. Notable examples include Vitaminwater and Smartwater, BodyArmor, and Monster Energy. Even more impressive recently is Big Geyser’s ability to hold onto hot brands even after they sign national distribution deals. Recent examples are...
We tried it. My family assembled at the house this past weekend to sample one of the oddest examples of social media targeted collaboration we’ve seen. I’m talking about Empirical’s Doritos Vodka.
This is the nacho cheese flavored spirit that made the rounds of lifestyle publications, blogs, and social media feeds last December. We took the bait and bought a bottle. All in, the $65 vodka cost us $81.50 for 750-ml after fees and taxes. It arrived in March.
You likely didn’t get a bottle yourself unless you acted fast — the limited run sold out immediately. After all, this bit of laboratory fun by an avant-garde Danish distillery was taken to the masses by PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay to generate free media attention and TikTok level excitement. Guilty as charged.
The first thing I can say is that Doritos Vodka absolutely tastes like Doritos nacho cheese. Empirical describes the flavor as “nacho cheese, corn tostada, umami, hint of acidity.” No disagreement here.
In the summer of 2021, Dave Burwick’s career path collided with itself. That’s when Boston Beer, the maker of Sam Adams craft beer and Truly Hard Seltzer, announced a partnership with PepsiCo to create Hard Mtn Dew. Burwick was President and CEO of Boston Beer. Earlier in his career, he spent 20 years at PepsiCo, where he once managed the Mtn Dew brand before eventually becoming...
Bubly Burst, Jones Soda, Plezi Nutrition, and More
March 20, 2024
PepsiCo has now launched a sweetened sparkling water called Bubly Burst, an answer to Talking Rain’s popular Sparkling Ice. Bubly Burst is an extension of PepsiCo’s flavored sparkling water brand, Bubly, which debuted in 2018. BD previously reported the expected Bubly Burst launch when PepsiCo gave a sneak peek to convenience retailers in October at the NACS show. Bubly Burst will be available nationally starting next week. Flavors are ...