Category Dollars Grew +4.3% at US Retail. Volume Fell Slightly

PepsiCo’s CSD Portfolio Lost Share. KDP’s Portfolio Gained

The Coca-Cola Co’s surprising carbonated soft drink (CSD) decline, driven by brand Coke, continued into the third quarter of 2025 at US retail as the Trump Administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement kept Hispanic consumers away from stores and some consumers ...

Red Bull has launched a Fuji Apple & Ginger flavor as its most recent Winter Edition extension.

Monster Beverage has added a passionfruit and citrus flavored...

SPARKLING WATER CATEGORY GREW. The US sparkling water category grew +2.6% by volume and +7.2% by dollars at retail for the first nine months of 2025, according to BD data. As shown in the Green Sheet with this report, volume leader LaCroix by National Beverage posted volume and dollar sales...

Our Future Smarts 2025 speaker lineup is set. Get ready for a power packed day on Dec. 15 in New York City.

Just this week, we announced PepsiCo Beverages US CEO Ram Krishnan. He joins the conference as investors pay renewed attention to PepsiCo’s performance and structure. On stage, Ram and I will discuss the product, consumer, retail, and economic changes that are shaping PepsiCo’s beverage business.

Last week, we announced the addition of Keurig Dr Pepper CMO Drew Panayiotou. He, too, joins at a pivotal time, as KDP looks to close the $18 billion acquisition of JDE Peet’s before separating its coffee and refreshment beverage businesses. We’ll discuss how Drew’s team is enticing consumers of both portfolios.

We’ll also spend time with another high-profile marketing leader: Coca-Cola Global CMO Manolo Arroyo. Of high interest in this discussion is how technology, such as AI, and social media are influencing marketing investment and organizational decisions.

And this will be compelling: Monster Beverage Co-founder Rodney Sacks will discuss the soaring energy drink category he helped forge over two decades on the way to building a $7.5 billion global powerhouse with a $65 billion market cap. I will be honored as well to present Rodney with the Beverage Digest Visionary Award. Past honorees have included the late PepsiCo CEO Don Kendall and the late Coca-Cola President and COO Don Keough.

No Future Smarts event is complete without the presence of our beverage bottling community. This year, we’ll hear from Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages President Jean Claude Tissot, as well as from Kelly Clay, president and CEO of Pepsi bottler Admiral Beverage. These leaders are experts on local market execution, the retail landscape, and just about anything else beverage related.

We’ve also assembled a panel to dissect one of the hottest beverage trends: Hemp-based ready-to-drink THC. The category is on a regulatory roller coaster ride. Brand owners Drea Groeschel of Better Than Booze and David Mukpo of Pamos Cannabis Cocktails & Spirits will illuminate this challenging and potentially lucrative category. To help make sense of the ever changing regulatory haze, cannabis and hemp Attorney Seth Goldberg of Pashman Stein Walder Hayden will join the panel as well.

Experts from our conference sponsor EY will share insights on industry disruptors and the future of beverages. You’ll hear from Americas Beverage Sector Leader Sean Harapko, EY-Parthenon Partner and Beverage Transactions Leader Greg Miller, and Former Chief Digital Transformation Officer and EY Executive in Residence Dan Werth.

Future Smarts 2025 will tackle regulatory issues and Wall Street views, too. Our popular sell-side analyst panel will feature Kaumil Gajrawala from Jefferies, Bonnie Herzog from Goldman Sachs, and Nik Modi from RBC Capital Markets. In an additional session, Nik will use data to dive into several topics our readers often ask us about. Plus, American Beverage President and CEO Kevin Keane will help assess everything from ingredient regulation to SNAP soda bans and what’s being done to create a constructive outcome.

This is another Future Smarts you don’t want to miss.

The third quarter earnings season brought a series of critical progress reports from Keurig Dr Pepper, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola at a time of global consumer volatility. The period also comes as KDP prepares for a massive strategic change and PepsiCo faces activist investor pressure. The following are key takeaways from the companies’ reports...

Performance beverage brand Syncron has launched a line of pre-workout and post-workout beverages developed with MLB baseball star Shohei Ohtani, who just led the Los Angeles Dodgers to the team’s second straight World Series Championship. The drinks contain L-citrulline, L-arginine, taurine, and BCAAs for energy and recovery, then company said...

PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew brand will get in on the dirty soda trend with a Dirty Mountain Dew to roll out early next year. PepsiCo will launch the Cream Soda Dew flavor nationally in regular and zero sugar options after a ...

PepsiCo Hands Over Energy Strategy to Celsius Holdings

Celsius Now Owns Rockstar. Alani Nu Moves to Pepsi Trucks. Daing Named CMO.

Q&A: US Beverage CEO Krishnan Discusses Deal Rationale

Celsius Holdings announced this morning that former PepsiCo and Mark Anthony Brands marketer Rishi Daing has been hired as CMO. This comes a little more than a week after Celsius Holdings and PepsiCo announced...