US Retail Stores Provide Consumer Experience to Seed Brand, Leader Says.

In Atlanta’s trendy and redeveloping historic West End neighborhood, the location for Coca-Cola’s newest Costa Coffee retail shop speaks to the brand’s aspiration. The cafe is a short walk from the Atlanta Beltline, a multi-use trail and revitalization project that attracts droves of active young Atlantans for everything from jogging and dog walking to brewpub hopping. These are the kinds of people that seek premium-priced coffee and have the means to pay for it. The new Costa store, a few miles from...

Keurig Dr Pepper has agreed to distribute the fast-growing sports drink brand Electrolit starting in 2024, the companies announced this morning. The long-term deal with Mexico-based Grupo Pisa gives KDP significant access to the...

This year’s NACS expo for convenience store operators, held last week in Atlanta, provided a first look at product innovation from beverage makers in advance of Spring shelf resets. Buyers from both chain and independent small-store retailers attend the show. NACS is the primary trade association for the global convenience and fuel retailing industry. BD attended the event to walk the show floor. Here are some of the newest products shown:

‘We Want to be the Most Approachable Energy Drink.’

Zoa Energy, launched more than two years ago by celebrity Co-founder Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is seeking a new equilibrium. In a category where the fastest growth is coming from brands like Celsius that appeal to women as much as men, Zoa has brightened its visual identity, slimmed down its can, taken out the sugar, and cast a wider net. “We’re normalizing...

PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, the country’s No. 1 and No. 2 sports drink makers, face challenges on two fronts. On one side sits Electrolit, which has taken share by appealing to consumer desire for greater functionality and by embracing Hispanic consumers. On the other side sits Prime Hydration, which rose to...

Beverage pricing growth in the US for both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo is likely to decelerate during the second half of this year, mostly as the rate of input cost inflation slows, according to those companies’ leaders. During analyst calls and interviews with BD during the recent spate of second-quarter earnings reports, executives said pricing for the second half of this year will be driven primarily by increases already

Bang Energy owner Vital Pharmaceuticals won approval from a Florida bankruptcy judge today for a $362 million acquisition of most of the company’s assets by major creditor and competitor Monster Beverage.The companies formaly announced the asset purchase agreement July 3 after the Federal Trade Commission ended an antitrust review early. The sale would include...