Coca-Cola at World Economic Forum; PepsiCo launches new Mtn Dew Kickstart flavors; and more beverage bites

This week Coca-Cola’s CEO Muhtar Kent has been at the World Economic Forum in Davos; Diageo increased availability of nutritional information about its brands; and PepsiCo added four flavors to its Mtn Dew Kickstart range. Read on for more beverage bites…

Coca-Cola invests in Argentina

Coca-Cola will invest $1bn in bottling and distribution operations in Argentina over the next four years.

Muhtar Kent, Coca-Cola CEO, is at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, where he met with Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

The investment will include a new bottling plant and two new distribution centers.

Kent took part in a session on ‘The 21st Century Dream’ – looking at dreams and ideals that inspire young generations around the globe.

Coca-Cola also launched its new global marketing campaign ‘Taste the Feeling’ this week.

Rémy Cointreau reports 7.9% growth

Improved sales in Greater China and the US have helped drive growth in the latest quarter, said Rémy Cointreau, as it released its Q3 results yesterday.

Europe, the Middle East and Africa also saw good performance over the quarter.

The French alcoholic beverage company, whose brands include Cointreau and St- Rémy, generated sales of €799.2m during the first nine months of the 2015/2016 financial year, achieving reported growth of 7.9%.

Midnight Grape and Blood Orange: new flavors for Mtn Dew Kickstart

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Mtn Dew Kickstart (PR NEWSWIRE)

Mtn Dew Kickstart has added four flavors to its portfolio: Midnight Grape, Watermelon, Blueberry Pomegranate and Blood Orange.

It follows the launch of Pineapple Orange Mango and Strawberry Kiwi in January last year; and its other flavors Orange Citrus, Fruit Punch, Black Cherry and Limeade.

The four new flavors will hit the shelves in the US nationwide on Monday.

PepsiCo says Mtn Dew Kickstart is one of its most successful beverage launches in the past decade, generating annual retail sales of more than $300m.

All Blacks switch to Gatorade

The All Blacks, and New Zealand Rugby’s other teams, have signed a five year partnership with Gatorade as Official Hydration Partner.

It replaces the All Blacks’ partnership with Coca-Cola’s Powerade.

The New Zealand Maori, Sevens, Women’s Sevens, Black Ferns and New Zealand U20 are all covered in the new Gatorade partnership.

Gatorade’s other sports partnerships include ones with Michael Jordan, Usain Bolt and Serena Williams.

Diageo furthers nutritional information commitment

Diageo has launched a new version of its DRINKiQ.com website, which gives consumers information about nutrition, calorie and alcohol content of all of its brands.

“We know that consumers want nutritional information about what they drink; just as they do with the foods they eat”

Diageo

Details for consumers include a breakdown of calories, carbohydrates, protein, saturated fat, sugar, caffeine and sodium.

Last year Diageo - whose brands include Guinness, Smirnoff and Baileys - said it would voluntarily provide nutrition and alcohol content per standardized serving on all drinks. The first brand to do so was Crown Royal in the US in October, labelled with macronutrient and calorie information.

“We know that consumers want nutritional information about what they drink; just as they do with the foods they eat,” said Carolyn Panzer, alcohol in society director, Diageo.

The site DRINKiQ.com is available in 24 countries in 12 languages.

See the related news section below for more of this week’s top stories.