US and native microbrewers could profit if Mexico’s antitrust regulator rules that controversial exclusivity deals, which benefit local giants Grupo Modelo and Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma, owned by AB InBev and Heineken respectively, are illegal.
A top Anheuser Busch InBev (AB InBev) exec tells BeverageDaily.com that challenging targets are crucial for the firm as he defends its lack of a ‘total target’ for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
The director general (DG) of the Law Society of Ireland has reportedly said that the Irish government should stop foreign dignitaries like Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip from being pictured with a pint of Guinness, branding it the ‘greatest PR coup...
With the bunting barely cleared away following Coca-Cola’s triumphal march on Rangoon earlier this month, the company’s local partner has already indicated more celebrations are on the horizon.
The co-director of a London, UK microbrewer founded by a group of fathers who named it after the local elementary school their children attend tells BeverageDaily.com that receiving a threatening legal letter from Anhueser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) came...
Anheuser-Busch InBev's (AB InBev) new environmental commitments include an ambitious pledge to reduce use of packaging materials by 100,000 tons annually by 2017, but the bulk of its new commitments will not result in overall reductions for energy...
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.
SETH GOLDMAN, CO-FOUNDER, SAYS BRAND 'CONTINUES TO INNOVATE'
Seth Goldman, co-founder and ‘TEA-EO’ of entrepreneurial success story Honest Tea, tells BeverageDaily.com that Coke’s ownership has helped the brand take Fair Trade and Organic credentials into the US mainstream.
Nestlé tells BeverageDaily.com that ‘competition is nothing new’ to Nespresso after bitter rival Mondelez said it would launch system-compatible pods in the EU, but one beverage industry analyst warned it was 'very bad news' for the brand.
Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) says its performance in the next six to seven weeks is ‘very important’ as it issued a profit warning yesterday after terrible spring and summer weather hit 2013 sales to date.
Campaign marks shift from 'saying and showing' to more real actions
A senior Coca-Cola Company executive tells BeverageDaily.com that the company is ‘working hard’ to decide whether it can viably scale-up its phenomenally successful ‘Sharing Can’ pilot launched in Singapore.
Nestlé has started construction of a new €220m facility in Germany for manufacturing its Nescafé Dolce Gusto coffee capsules – the company’s largest ever German investment.
Brown-Forman CFO Donald Berg says he is encouraged by ‘nice consumer interest’ in the Australian launch of Gentleman Jack RTD, the first market where the spirits giant has rolled out the Jack Daniel's line extension in this form.
New York AG probes MillerCoors backing of Puerto Rican Day Parade
MillerCoors' has sought to defuse anger amidst New York Puerto Ricans over its use of the US territory’s flag on cans as the state’s attorney general (AG) enters the row, but no-one seems offended by Budweiser's use of the Stars and Stripes.
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’.
Néstle Waters denies it is depleting local water supplies via a Canadian well, but two environmental interest groups claim revisions to the firm’s recent permit signed off by the Ontario Ministry of Environment (OMOE) offer the local area insufficient...
MillerCoors has stressed its strong history of responsible marketing after a new can design upset a grassroots movement of Puerto Ricans Americans claiming ‘exploitation’ of their culture and unhelpful associations with alcohol use.
Bacardi is in danger of losing its ‘coveted position’ as the world’s bestselling rum to Philippines rum brand Tanduay, according to a new survey of spirits brands sales in 2012.
Politcian says constituents still feel 'let down by Diageo'
A Scottish MP has attacked Diageo’s remuneration of outgoing boss Paul Walsh, and says the people she represents in Kilmarnock still feel ‘let down’ by the firm for closing a Johnnie Walker bottling plant in 2012.
The Association of German Brewers – whose members include Anheuser-Busch InBev Deutschland – tells BeverageDaily.com it wants a moratorium on natural gas fracking in the country, amidst fears the process could pollute members’ wells.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) has attacked ‘free market restrictions’ after a controversial brewery bill was passed in Ohio, but the state’s Craft Brewer’s Association says the law protects craft brewers’ route to market.
That which we call a Coke by any other name would taste as sweet?
As the Coke marketing machine rolls out personalized bottles with popular first names worldwide, it risks tarnishing its own by excluding some for fear of offending local ethnic sensibilities.
Nestlé has opened a new extension to its research and development centre in Singapore that it says will allow greater focus on the Asia-Pacific region—its fastest-growing market.
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.
DISPATCHES FROM THE 2013 INNOBEV GLOBAL BEVERAGES CONGRESS, WARSAW, POLAND
The rise of discount retailers – along German lines – will create huge challenges and opportunities in Poland’s RTD beverage market through to 2020, says the general manager of Coca-Cola Hellenic Polska.
DISPATCHES FROM THE 2013 ZENITH INTERNATIONAL UK SOFT DRINKS CONFERENCE
Innocent co-founder Richard Reed tells BeverageDaily.com that he anticipates the brand will probably attempt to crack Latin America using Coke’s marketing muscle, before launching in the US.
Mintel analyst Chris Wisson tells BeverageDaily.com that a 2012 slump in Scotch whisky exports to France is ‘quite surprising’ but insists the category’s global future remains bright.
A clutch of crazy and sometimes simply plain daft flavored vodka varieties took the US by storm from the early noughties, but new Mintel data suggests growth might be stalling.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) tells BeverageDaily.com it opposes a successful state bill allowing sales of malt beverages in pouches on recycling grounds, as Diageo eyes frozen alcoholic RTD success in another...
BIG BEER HIT BY TAX HIKES, ADVERTISING & KIOSK SALES BANS
Coca-Cola Hellenic (CCH) insists its brands will continue to take market share in Russia from PepsiCo, as well as brewers hit by taxes and alcohol advertising and kiosk sales bans.
INDUSTRY VOICES: GUEST ARTICLE, HEAD OF AKTIEFOKUS CHINA, JACOB DE LICHTENBERG
Danish multinational brewer Carlsberg, which once held a solid market share in the Southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, is facing tough competition from new entrants and existing competitors desiring a share of the region's booming beer market.
BUT BIG BRANDS HENNESSEY, JOHNNIE WALKER STRONG IN KEY MARKETS
Despite runaway spirits growth in Asia, 20% of global brands do not have a Chinese website, and mobile sites tend to lack investment, but Hennessey and Johnnie Walker are strong in key markets.
Diageo technical director Luca Lupini believes confectionery flavored spirits are an ‘amazing opportunity’ for the firm, and insists the sub-category brings out the best in its R&D team.
Bacardi USA has partnered with the Coca-Cola Company and university researchers to created a robotic bartending system called Makr Shakr, and says it can help ‘bring spirits into the digital age’.
Independent UK brewer Robinsons, which created a real ale in partnership with rock band Iron Maiden, says the band’s ‘Trooper’ beer is already proving a ‘big door opener’ in sales terms.
Heineken has signed a JV to produce and sell Heineken beers in Burma (Myanmar), and plans to build a $60m brewery there, following Carlsberg, Coke and Pepsi into the country.
Coca-Cola has pledged to offer low- or no- calorie beverage options in every market following criticism that it is still aggressively promoting full-sugar products in emerging markets while offering healthier options at home.
Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) MD Terry Davis has responded to an attack from the CEO of retail giant Coles, who claims that Coca-Cola costs Australian consumers too much at a 60% price premium over Asia.
Carlsberg CEO Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen says the firm is currently less concerned with building Asian margins than securing growth in a key region, particularly in markets such as China and India.
The boss of Guinness and Johnnie Walker whisky maker Diageo is to step down after 13 years at the helm, in what City analyst Investec described as “a well-flagged transition”.
Danone has signed an agreement to buy a 50.1% controlling stake in Turkish bottled water player Sirma, and said that Turkey was a 'strategic country' for its waters division.
The director general of spiritsEUROPE, Paul Skehan, tells BeverageDaily.com that he expects the row over minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol to reach the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
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?
AB InBev CEO Carlos de Brito has revealed that the world’s biggest brewer will launch UK cider sales sensation Stella Cidre in the US within the next few weeks.
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.
HOUSTON BREWERY GENERAL MANAGER INVESTIGATING CLAIMS WITH OSHA
An influential US Department of Labor safety body has cited Anheuser-Busch, alleging that the firm failed to protect Houston brewery workers from exposure to carbon dioxide and other workplace hazards.
Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) CEO Larry Young insists US retailers are working hard with his firm to develop a ‘better-for-you’ carbonates platform, and said Royal Crown Cola Ten’s initial success was a ‘pleasant surprise’.
Heineken has played down a 4.7% slump in global sales of its eponymous brand versus Q4 2012, blaming bad weather in Europe and retailer destocking in France and the US.
The French soft drinks industry has been hit hard by the government’s introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks, according to market research firm Canadean, with consumers trading down to cheaper, lower-sugar beverages.
DISPATCHES FROM THE 2013 INNOBEV GLOBAL BEVERAGES CONGRESS, WARSAW, POLAND
New UNESDA president Dominique Reiniche, also president of Coca-Cola Europe, warns that opponents ‘trying to put chains on our freedom to innovate’ risk stifling the development of the European soft drinks industry.
