BD held its annual Future Smarts conference on Dec. 7, 2018 in New York. Many of the sessions were covered in the Dec. 14 issue. The following is a synopsis of a panel with Wall Street analysts who cover public beverage companies. BD will publish highlights of sessions covering cannabis and plastic sustainability in the next issue.

Coca-Cola’s Venturing & Emerging Brands unit is experimenting with a new non-alcoholic adult sparkling beverage called Bar None. VEB created the ready-to-drink product for people who don’t wish to indulge during “occasions when alcohol is usually served,” a spokeswoman said. Bar None is essentially a line of bottled premium “mocktails” that mimic popular cocktails, providing temporary or permanent abstainers with a more interesting alternative than club soda or non-alcoholic beer. A website

Monster Beverage CEO Rodney Sacks has disclosed an arbitration case with the company’s chief distributor and equity partner Coca-Cola. At the center of the disagreement is a product Coke is developing under its flagship brand called Coca-Cola Energy. The drink will contain “caffeine from naturally-derived sources and guarana extract,” according to Coke. “It would be developed as a preferred option for people who want these types of ingredients in an energy drink.” The innovation would include a