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Home » Topics » Blue Cloud

Blue Cloud
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Hard Mtn Dew Now on National Expansion Fast Track After Strategy Shift

PepsiCo Moves Blue Cloud from Alcohol Distribution to Brand Licensing
March 7, 2024

PepsiCo Unit Renamed Blue Cloud National.

Hard Mtn Dew Producer Boston Beer, Lipton Hard Iced Tea Maker FIFCO to Retain Roles.

In May, Boston Beer will begin expanding Hard Mtn Dew to 50 states using its beer distribution network, the brewer said last week. As BD reported last week in an exclusive news alert, PepsiCo is shifting its...


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PepsiCo Shifts Blue Cloud Alcohol Strategy from Distribution to Brand Licensing

Hard Mtn Dew Producer Boston Beer, Lipton Hard Iced Tea Maker FIFCO to Retain Roles
February 27, 2024

PepsiCo is shifting its alcohol business strategy from distribution to brand licensing as the company looks to expand Hard Mtn Dew and Lipton Hard Iced Tea nationally at a faster pace, PepsiCo has confirmed to BD. Blue Cloud Distribution will be renamed...


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Coke, Bottlers Discuss Revised Compensation Agreement For Alcohol

PepsiCo’s Blue Cloud Names New Leader Amid Stalled Expansion
January 31, 2024

Coca-Cola and the company’s US bottlers are negotiating a possible new compensation agreement for alcohol beverage extensions as the company pushes further into the sector with its Red Tree Beverages subsidiary, according to BD sources. The revised...


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Briefs: August 30, 2023

August 30, 2023
A collection of recent developments from around the industry to keep you up to speed...
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Dueling Alcohol Models

July 25, 2023

What’s better: a Blue Cloud, or a Red Tree?

For the past decade, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have diverged in the US when it comes to soft drink distribution strategy. Coke owns no soda distribution operations, leaving that in recent years to independent franchised bottlers. On the other hand, PepsiCo owns and operates most of its US bottling distribution system. Now that both companies are seeking a growth path through alcoholic beverages, their strategies in the US have diverged once again.

As you’ll read in today’s issue, PepsiCo is going all-in on the distribution of alcoholic beverages such as Hard Mtn Dew with its Blue Cloud Distribution subsidiary. The company appears...


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Coca-Cola Executive Details Red Tree Beverages Alcohol Subsidiary

Interview: ‘No Plan’ to Move Into Distribution
July 25, 2023

Coca-Cola has established a federally permitted alcohol subsidiary called Red Tree Beverages to further explore the US alcohol beverage business, Coke’s Chief of New Revenue Streams Dan White told BD in an interview. The unit, created late last year and “firewalled” from Coca-Cola’s non-alcoholic operations, is permitted to participate in marketing and strategy around ready-to-drink alcohol brands based on Coke trademarks that are produced by third parties including...


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PepsiCo’s Blue Cloud Executives Address Critics

Interview: 'We’re Created to Honor the Three-Tier System.’
July 25, 2023

Despite PepsiCo’s considerable work to keep its Blue Cloud alcohol distribution operation separate from its non-alcoholic business, the subsidiary has become a magnet for criticism as it forges new ground in the highly regulated and competitive US alcohol beverage market. In a new interview, Blue Cloud Distribution GM Emiliano Di Vincenzo, and Blue Cloud Chief Legal Officer Randy Liebowitz, said the organization has...


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Buffalo Rock Latest Pepsi Bottler Eyeing Alcohol Distribution

Hard Mtn Dew Enters Arizona, Kentucky as Three States Resist Blue Cloud
April 19, 2023
Buffalo Rock President and CEO Matthew Dent said the Birmingham-based Pepsi bottler intends to distribute alcohol in the three states where...
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Speculation Ended: PepsiCo’s Blue Cloud Not Acquiring Corwin’s Beer Business

Plus, Blue Cloud Now Permitted by TTB in 40 States (Map)
April 6, 2023

PepsiCo’s Blue Cloud alcohol distribution subsidiary will not acquire Corwin Beverage’s beer distribution business in southwest Washington state, Corwin CEO Keith Richards confirmed to BD. PepsiCo’s recent agreement to buy back Corwin’s Washington-based Pepsi franchise (see Territory Changes & Deals) sparked speculation as to whether PepsiCo would acquire Corwin’s beer business to distribute Hard Mtn Dew and perhaps...


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Monster to Develop Small Brands In-House with Coke’s Blessing

Monster Targets Liquid Death, Celsius, Hard Mtn Dew With 2023 Launches
February 1, 2023

The Beast Unleashed Alcohol Offering to Walk Careful Line, CEO Makes Clear

Monster Beverage executives announced they will use a new in-house non-alcoholic beverage incubator called Monarchy to distribute brands that aren’t yet large enough for partner Coca-Cola’s direct store delivery system. Monarchy will be operated out of...


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