Reyes’ Coke Empire Grows. Great Lakes Coca-Cola Bottling, owned by Reyes Holdings, has agreed to acquire...

Farm Bill Legalizes Hemp. The newly-passed $867 billion U.S. Farm Bill, awaiting President Trump’s signature, includes a provision to legalize hemp nationally. This could make it easier for beverage companies to market products infused with CBD, a non-psychoactive ingredient derived from hemp...

Keurig Dr Pepper has agreed to acquire the sales and distribution rights of Swire 7Up Dr Pepper of Pasco, Washington, which covers territory in Franklin and Benton counties on the Columbia River; brands being moved also include A&W, Sunkist, Schweppes, Cactus Cooler soda, Deja Blue bottled water and Venom energy drink

Lemon Lemon and Izze Fusions, launched in early 2017 as part of PepsiCo’s “Next Gen” CSD push, have been mostly phased out of the U.S. market. Both sodas were formulated with a stevia/sugar blend and less than 70-calories per 12-oz can. Lemon Lemon, a sparkling lemonade, contains 6% lemon juice. Izze Fusions contained 5% juice. Lemon Lemon reached almost 435,000 cases in the U.S. during the second quarter of 2017, according to retail data. While not discontinued, the brand dropped to almost 30,000 cases during the third quarter of this year. However, Lemon Lemon is gaining momentum overseas, according to a source

Pricing for the carbonated soft drink category (excluding energy) grew 2% during the first nine months of this year, according to quarterly data tracked by BD. That was an acceleration over the +1.3% gain achieved during the first half of the year (not in table). Coke, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper all boosted pricing, with Coke outperforming the category (table below). Private label pricing fell