What’s piquing the attention of BeverageDaily readers? From Monster’s alcohol strategy to the latest innovations in wine packaging, here’s a round-up of our most-read articles from August.
What’s piquing the attention of BeverageDaily readers? From Monster’s alcohol strategy to the latest innovations in wine packaging, here’s a round-up of our most-read articles from August.
Monster plans to launch its first flavored malt beverage RTD alcohol product at the end of the year: promising a drink that will ‘carve out its own unique space’ in the increasingly crowded sector. With the company’s pledging this is not just a one-off, what can we expect from future products?
Monster will start with ‘The Beast Unleashed’, a 6% ABV alcoholic beverage later this year. But the company has also filed for a raft of trademarks in the alcoholic beverage category, suggesting possible future directions.
“Our alcohol innovation pipeline is robust, with a number of additional innovative product lines currently under development,” said CEO Rodney Sacks.
We explore what direction this strategy could take.
Rising costs, supply chain challenges and an increased focus on sustainability provide the perfect opportunity for the wine industry to rethink its packaging. So what alternatives are emerging to the traditional glass bottle?
From bag-in-box to kegs, we take a look at some of the innovations emerging.
And what’s most interesting is that – according to Rabobank analysts – multiple formats have a chance to take a slice of the market.
“We think there is more room for creativity and innovation around different types of lined packaging that could further cut costs, reduce emissions and open up new opportunities," they say.
Capri Sun’s original juice drink pouches now have an average of 40% less sugar, as the brand reformulates to use monk fruit concentrate in its drinks.
The reformulation across the portfolio reduces total sugars from an average of 13g to 8g per serving (a 6 fl oz pouch); and from 11g added sugar to 5g.
The reformulated version is now available across all flavors with new packaging highlighting the reduction.
The Kraft Heinz Company brand tells us it turned to monk fruit concentrate as a natural sweetener that it sees gaining popularity in the food and beverage industry: with those natural credentials being all-important.
Coca-Cola HBC has acquired mixer and adult sparkling beverage brand Three Cents for €45m ($46m), noting an ‘exciting growth opportunity’ in the category.
Three Cents is a popular super-premium mixer product line, offering artisanal beverages crafted without preservatives or artificial colorings. It was founded in Greece in 2014 by founders George Bagos, Dimitris Dafopoulos, George Tsirikos and Vassilis Kalantzis, a group of bar tenders and F&B professionals.
The brand has established itself as a super-premium, adult sparkling beverage and mixer for long-drinks and cocktails.
Three Cents will complement Coca-Cola HBC's existing adult sparking beverage portfolio, which includes the established adult brands, Schweppes and Kinley.
Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages will start using Graphic Packaging International's fiber-based KeelClip solution for multi-pack packaging: making it the first in the US to do so.
The KeelClip packaging uses fiber-based packaging for can multipacks, eliminating the need for plastic rings and shrink wrap. It was launched in Europe in 2019 and has now been used with more than 550 million packs worldwide, including Coca-Cola in Europe.
It is estimated to have saved more than 3 million pounds of plastic in 2021.
As the local bottler for northeastern US, Liberty will use the KeelClip with its products in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Delaware. A new KeelClip 1600 multipacking machine at Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages’ Elmsford, NY production facility is the first to be installed in the US.
This transition will remove 75,000 pounds of plastic packaging per year from the supply chain for approximately 3.1 million cases.
As well as reducing plastic, KeelClip lists its benefits as including enhanced hygiene (as can tops are protected by the fiber packaging), plus easy-to-remove cans and finger holes for ergonomic carrying. The assembly process also enables cans to be oriented for optimal brand presence.
