Coca-Cola’s new holiday ads that pay tribute to a 1995 campaign called, “Holidays Are Coming,” have generated lots of attention this week over the company’s use of “Real Magic AI” to produce the spots.
The New York Times ran the headline, “Coca-Cola’s Holiday Ads Trade the ‘Real Thing’ for Generative A.I..” Commenters on social media said the ads look artificial, pointing out inconsistencies like truck tires that don’t spin. Others called the...
Scrolling LinkedIn last week, a post from Walmart Associate Merchant Nick Scutari-Dunn warranted a re-post to BD followers. Scutari-Dunn was announcing a “BRAND NEW BEVERAGE CATEGORY at Walmart: Modern Soda!” The emphasis was his.
A photo of the new store set showed Poppi, Olipop, Culture Pop, and Zevia. While a limited assortment, the suite of brands is by now well-established, pitching gut health or, in the case of Zevia, a “better-for-you” soda. In the post’s comments, Olipop Co-founder David Lester called the set an “incredibly bold and exciting move.” And Poppi CEO Chris Hall thanked Walmart for “allowing us to partner with you on the...
TikTok is helping to make soft drinks as fun as ever, and far more experimental.
Hopefully by now you’ve seen the TikTok of Mississippi Memaw ordering and sipping a Dr Pepper dressed with pickles for a sweet and salty combo. Maybe you saw NBC Today show anchors trying the concoction on television, or superstar singer Dua Lipa adding both pickles and jalapeño peppers to the concoction. Memaw points out in her TikTok video with 5.1 million views that the Sonic clerk didn’t miss a beat.
TikTok is helping to make soft drinks as fun as ever, and far more experimental.
Hopefully by now you’ve seen the TikTok of Mississippi Memaw ordering and sipping a Dr Pepper dressed with pickles for a sweet and salty combo. Maybe you saw NBC Today show anchors trying the concoction on television, or superstar singer Dua Lipa adding both pickles and jalapeño peppers to the concoction. Memaw points out in her TikTok video with 5.1 million views that the Sonic clerk didn’t miss a beat. “I’m not the only person that’s ever ordered this baby.”
That’s one of many viral beverage trends that have echoed from social media to mass media in recent years — things like...
My goal for our annual Future Smarts conference is to curate a lineup of speakers who are on the cutting edge of the most interesting story lines of the year.
Just this morning, we announced that PepsiCo Global Foodservice President Anne Fink has joined our Dec. 16 program in New York City. Her team won a major victory this year by closing a 10-year beverage supply agreement with Subway in the US. And her team is collaborating with partner Celsius on the energy drink company’s foodservice strategy (pg 8).
In today’s issue (pg. 9), we write about Coca-Cola’s Fairlife business, led by protein shake brand Core Power, which has been a resounding success for the company. Future Smarts Speaker John Murphy, Coke’s president and CFO, played a major role in the company’s 2020 acquisition and integration of Fairlife.
From the world of retail, Future Smarts will host Stuart Aitken, who is Kroger’s chief merchant and marketing Officer. The retail chain is in the midst of an almost two-year merger process with Albertsons that would create the country’s largest supermarket chain (pg. 14).
In beverage distribution, another story this year is Keurig Dr Pepper’s work to optimize and bolster its company-owned distribution system. KDP’s US Refreshment Beverages President Andrew Archambault will join us to discuss that strategy. We’ll also...
Our lead story (pg. 3) uncovers how Olipop Cofounder Ben Goodwin intends to pursue $1 billion brand status — and he says he can do it without direct store delivery, at least for now. This digestive health drink, or gut soda as some refer to it, didn’t exist before six years ago. And Olipop helped spawn a formidable competitor in Poppi. Many alternative sodas have marketed themselves at the expense of traditional sodas. Olipop has been among the most successful so far. I’ll note, as well, that in an era when barriers to entry in non-alcoholic beverages are lower than ever, Olipop is a brand built on function, R&D, and efficacy. That’s worth watching.
The second story in today’s issue (pg. 6) features a conversation with former Coca-Cola Venturing and Emerging Brands executive Matt Hughes. He is a well-known and respected industry voice whose expertise bridges the gap between mainstream and emerging brands. Now with private equity firm Franchise Equity Partners, Hughes is tracking the winds of change within
I finally tried A.G. Barr’s Irn-Bru during a trip this month to Scotland. The carbonated soft drink is said to outsell even Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in the country. Irn-Bru is dubbed “Scotland’s other national drink,” coming after, of course, Scotch whisky. The soda has its own closely guarded “secret recipe.” At Edinburgh airport, an Irn-Bru branded orange and blue vending machine awaited my arrival — it also contained Coke, Diet Coke, and 7Up.
Irn-Bru’s flavor is hard to describe. I’ll try. While the drink has a medicinal orange color, it doesn’t taste anything like the orangy flavor of a Fanta or a Crush. There are bitter tonic notes owing to the quinine in the formula. Perhaps Irn-Bru would work well as a mixer for gin? I’m not sure of that. Apparently, young Scots...
Check out BD’s podcast this week if you haven’t. Former Beverage Digest Editor and Publisher John Sicher and I had a compelling discussion about gut sodas like Poppi and Olipop.
While the two products and a host of similar prebiotic and probiotic sodas represent only a share point or so of the carbonated soft drink category, they are grabbing an outsized share of attention on social media and at retail. Both Poppi and Olipop have been the subject of M&A rumors, which haven’t panned out and were likely premature. Poppi grabbed headlines early this year when it snagged a last-minute Super Bowl ad spot to cast the drink as “the future of soda.”
The question we explored on the podcast is whether the gut soda category has the kind of staying power that would make it attractive for companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper. We ended up seeing
The pandemic put a temporary chill on choice as CPG companies waded through supply shortages and retail disruption to keep core products on the shelf. As we move further away from crisis mode, expect to see a return to the kinds of customization and personalization that was growing prior to the global upheaval.
Here are a couple of examples that have come across my desk in recent months:
Dream Tea NYC — A consumer answers a few basic questions so the company can create a personalized small batch tea blend for them. BD’s Laura Stanford, a hot tea drinker, gave the program a try. She chose loose leaf chamomile tea with added lavender, bergamot, and vanilla. The can, which she selected in green, was printed with her first name and a list of tasting notes: honey, smoke, citrus, vanilla, and “inspiration.”
Pax — The product is sold in a resealable pouch containing drink mix packets — three each of Cranberry Cosmo, Margarita, Pineapple Paloma, and Moscow Mule. The flavor mixes can...
Let me catch you up on what we’re planning for this year’s Future Smarts conference on Dec. 16 in New York City.
Just this week we announced that Coca-Cola President and CFO John Murphy has joined our program. The 36-year Coke veteran has a massive job overseeing the financial strategy for a global company with a $270 billion market cap. That’s not all. The Global Ventures operating segment that reports to Murphy is responsible for scaling globally Coke’s Costa Coffee business, as well as the company’s almost decade-long strategic partnership with Monster Beverage.
Speaking of Monster Beverage, the company is headed for a changing of the guard in the coming years, as you’ll read in today’s newsletter starting on page 3. The evolution of Coca-Cola’s relationship with Monster will be one to watch. At Future Smarts, I’ll certainly ask Murphy for his view on this important relationship and the future of the energy drinks category.
In fact, Swire Coca-Cola CEO Rob Gehring, who will soon leave to join Monster as chief growth officer, is a past Future Smarts speaker from 2021. That illustrates our priority to host the brightest leaders who are in a position to shape the future of the beverage industry.
Already announced so far for this year’s Future Smarts is Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling CEO Bill O’Brien, and former Boston Beer CEO Dave Burwick. As we...
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