The US FDA has issued a ‘No Objection’ GRAS letter allowing beverage manufacturers to use Pure Circle’s high-purity Reb D stevia to sweeten US products, a move that could reignite the Pepsi/Coke cola wars.
Speculation is sure to mount over the coming months as to whether Coke will extend the launch of mid-calorie Coca-Cola Life, the first version of its flagship cola to use stevia, beyond Argentina.
With orange juice sales sliding in the US, PepsiCo’s Tropicana Trop50 brand is one of the ‘few notable successes’ in the space, although its status as a nectar signals the potential of this category.
PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi believes a ‘maniacal focus’ on cola's woes is unhelpful within the US beverage market, and despite the firm’s heavy investment in Rebaudioside D-based sweetener innovation, claims Stevia ‘does not work well in colas’.
Mid-calorie carbonated soft drink manufacturers must deal with the aftertaste issues associated with stevia, as the natural sweetener becomes more widely accepted by consumers, according to Datamonitor consumer analyst, Melanie Felgate.
Beam Inc. revealed yesterday that bourbon brand Maker’s Mark Q1 2013 sales rose 44% due to short-lived plans for an alcohol cut that prompted a sales spike, but is this PR blunder turned marketing masterstroke one brands could intentionally replicate?
PepsiCo’s has pulled a Mountain Dew advert created by controversial US hip-hop artist Tyler the Creator, after causing uproar after viewers claimed it embraced racial stereotypes and trivialized violence towards women.
While the US juice market has been “essentially flat” for five years, Packaged Facts predicts stronger growth in future driven by reduced calorie products, better-for-you premium juices and blends, and an increase in the number of ‘multicultural’ households...
A patent application filed by PepsiCo reveals some of the more “surprising” properties of Rebaudioside D (Reb-D) - the steviol glycoside claimed to have one of the best sweetness profiles of them all.
Heineken has refused to comment on rumors it has now put its Finnish business Hartwall up for sale seeking around €500m, after starting a strategic review of the unit in February.
PepsiCo tells BeverageDaily.com that it seeks partnerships with ‘relevant and attainable designers’ who keep the focus on the Diet Pepsi brand rather than overshadow it.
An international patent application filed by PepsiCo last September - and published yesterday - reveals the firm is seeking to patent high-protein nutrition beverages in 4floz ‘hydration units’ containing alpha-lactalbumin, whey protein hydrolysates,...
Coca-Cola lost UK volume share in 2012, while Pepsi grew both its volume and value share and Lucozade and Red Bull’s success reflected growing consumer interest in functional drinks.
Scientists in the US have genetically modified an E.coli strain so that it is ‘addicted’ to caffeine, where it feeds on the stimulant and serves as a biosensor to measure levels thereof in common beverages such as Coke.
The CSPI last week released a report arguing that big beverage uses philanthropy to protect its image and profits, and short circuits public health and regulatory policies aimed at limiting soda consumption.
PACKAGING EXPERT NOTES DISTANCE FROM CLASSIC COKE BOTTLE
PepsiCo will roll out its first new shape Pepsi bottle since 1996 across the US from April and says further launches will follow in 2013, and packaging expert Andrew Streeter tells BeverageDaily.com he thinks the brand has distanced itself from the classic...
PepsiCo has the jump on The Coca-Cola Company in the newly released Access to Nutrition Index (ATNI) that ranks 25 large food and beverage firms in terms of nutrition-related performance globally.
Dispatches from the RCA annual conference & culinology expo
The market for dairy-based soft drinks is still small, but demand is on the rise, analysts have claim – backing up a 2012 Rabobank forecast that soft drink-dairy category “convergence” would increase.
Oxfam will step up its campaign to improve the treatment of people and resources that form part of the supply chain of the world’s biggest food conglomerates, after it cast industry responses to its damning Behind the Brands report as ‘bland’ and ‘complacent’.
The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo both received dismal scores in a new Oxfam report that claims the world’s ‘Big 10’ food and beverage companies fail to protect workers, especially women.
PepsiCo CFO Hugh Johnston tells analysts the firm believes its new sweetener innovations will be 'more evolutionary than revolutionary' and that work in this direction has delayed a beverage business review until 2014.
Whether it’s the latest starlet bouncing round in a boob tube, or that bad boy musician who swops his rap records for raki, there’s no doubting that celebrity endorsements are big business for the beverage industry
Americans have rights. To bear arms, to enjoy free speech, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They also have the right - argue opponents of NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s super-size soda ban - to drink a 44oz soda containing more than 30 teaspoons of...
PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi says the firm has a ‘terrific position’ as the top food and beverage business in Russia, where 10% organic revenue growth in 2013 helped offset weaknesses in Western Europe.
Uncertainties over the $2.2bn merger of AG Barr and Britvic remain, as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) yesterday referred the deal to the UK Competition Commission, citing concerns over the closeness of Britvic brands Pepsi and Tango to Barr staples.
Growth in the US sports nutrition market has been pretty explosive in recent years, but the failure of high profile launches such as PepsiCo’s Gatorade G Series Fit range shows that even the biggest players sometimes get things badly wrong, says one market...
The Coca-Cola Company insists it remains confident in the long-term resilience of its Chinese business, despite a 4% slump in volume sales during the last quarter of 2012.
PepsiCo brand Mountain Dew will launch a new fruit juice and coffee-based drink across the US from February 25 to provide a morning ‘pick me up’, and tap a key 2013 ‘natural energy’ trend.
Clinching global culture club membership by swigging Pepsi or Coke is not enough for soft drinks consumers in emerging markets, who are increasingly swayed by regional tastes, according to Euromonitor International.
PepsiCo has reportedly strengthened its relationship with US PR firm Weber Shandwick, by briefing the latter to oversee an extension of its AMP energy portfolio that taps the brand’s racing heritage.
The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo are looking to shift bottling assets onto strong franchise partners in order to refocus in house efforts on brand building and marketing.
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Draws Advocacy Fire
The Coca-Cola Company tells BeverageDaily.com it is fully committed to improving US health by partnering groups such as the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), after an advocacy report claimed undue big beverage influence on the body.
While brominated vegetable oil (BVO) has been sitting on a list of food additives “permitted on an interim basis pending further study” for decades, it is not in ‘regulatory limbo’ and is safe to use in fruit-flavored beverages, insists the Food and Drug...
A 16-year-old student is claiming victory after PepsiCo announced it will remove emulsifier Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) from Gatorade in the US, but the firm says it will continue to use the patented flame retardant in Mountain Dew.
PepsiCo is significantly ahead of Coke in terms of the share of its UK cola sales in low or no calorie versions, the latest figures sent to BeverageDaily.com suggest.
PepsiCo has signed a deal that confirms it as the strategic beverage supplier for all Burger King’s (BK’s) restaurants across China, via franchise bottler Pepsi Beverage Business (PBB).
Packaging firm Manjushree Technopack aims to double sales by 2015, driven by the growth of the middle class in India, and is poised to start construction on a fourth factory.
Increasingly, the Pepsi v. Coke cola fight is raging within the social media space, as well as in factories and between brands in stores. But who is delivering that Facebook knockout?
Non-profit watchdog the Center for Science in the Public Interest has urged Beyoncé to reconsider her $50m endorsement deal with PepsiCo so her image is not used “to promote Pepsi-Cola, a product that contributes to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, tooth...
Despite giving us object lessons in corporate word wash, can PepsiCo pull off what seems like a slightly puzzling mission, namely a long-term plan to ‘drinkify' snacks and vice versa under its Power of One banner?
PEPSICO BOOSTS DISTRIBUTION & MERCHANDISING EFFICIENCY
PepsiCo says that its merchandising and distribution efficiency has improved radically since it began using the Apple iPhone and iPad alongside custom software apps specially developed in house.
PepsiCo has tweaked its US sweetening formula for Diet Pepsi to include acesulfame potassium as well as aspartame, a combination that Ajinomoto admitted today would boost the cola's sweetness potency.
WHAT'S AMERICA DRINKING? FEWER CARBONATED SOFT DRINKS...
Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC), data and research group head, Gary Hemphill, does not think mid-calorie CSDs like Dr. Pepper TEN and Pepsi NEXT can restore the overall category’s ailing fortunes.
A US student who launched an online petition demanding that PepsiCo brand Gatorade remove patented flame retardant brominated vegetable oil (BVO) from its sports drinks has gained over 180,000 signatories.
A US-based investment firm insists that PepsiCo needs to focus on its most profitable brands and emerging markets such as China to bolster margins and regain ground on Coke.
PepsiCo’s tie-up with top Chinese beverage player Tingyi, given the green light in March, will significantly reduce growth opportunities for smaller market rivals, according to Martin Wu from Rabobank.
