Diageo, the world's largest alcoholic drinks firm, denied it
planned to launch sparkling spirit drinks in the UK in the near
future after filing a patent for a new way of adding fizz to hard
spirits.
Heineken has teamed up with IBM and a shipping company to test the
use of a global coding standard in simplifying customs clearance
for the company's beer exports.
Coca-Cola and Nestlé will limit their joint venture group to black
tea drinks, allowing the two giants to revitalise their position in
this sector and compete openly on other fast-growing beverages.
Emerging markets and a hot summer in Europe helped Coca-Cola to
pick up momentum in the third quarter, buying it time to address
problems in Japan and North America.
A sparkling green tea drink developed jointly by Coca-Cola and
Nestlé claims to help consumers burn off calories, catapulting both
companies further into the growing health and wellness market.
PepsiCo's new wave of healthier soft drinks, including Gatorade and
Aquafina, helped the group to shrug off declines in its trademark
Pepsi cola to increase sales by 13 per cent in the third quarter.
Diageo, the maker of Johnnie Walker whiskey and Guinness stout, has
opened a S$13 million (6.54m) logistics hub in Singapore to cut the
time it takes for its alcoholic drinks to reach Asian markets.
Danone has signed a deal to buy 49 per cent of Danish bottled water
company Aqua d'or, in an attempt to improve the group's position in
an increasingly competitive bottled water market.
Heineken today reported organic revenue growth of 6.3 per cent
during the first half of 2006 compared to the previous year, held
up by strong US demand for the company's light beer and sales
increases in central and eastern Europe.
Sales of Guinness have slipped in the beer's Irish homeland over
the past year, its maker Diageo has announced, taking the shine off
a solid sales rise for the drinks firm.
Coca-Coca Australia will relabel all of its drinks to include the
number of kilojoules on the front of the package, as part of a
major new marketing campaign to show the group's healthy
credentials.
Coca-Cola is to be sued by an Indian state after new tests showed
its soft drinks contained pesticide residues above the proposed
legal limit, says a report.
PepsiCo has appointed Indian-born Indra Nooyi to be its new chief
executive, displaying the group's international credentials as it
looks to build on recent success.
International brewer SABMiller said it had signed a joint venture
deal with Coca-Cola Amatil to import, market and distribute premium
beer brands in Australia.
Carlsberg raised its profit prediction for the year after beer
sales rose eight per cent in the first half of 2006, thanks to a
limited recovery in Western Europe and more gains in the East.
Pressure was growing on the soft drink giants early this week after
India's Supreme Court ordered them to reveal every ingredient in
their drinks, following tests that found they were contaminated
with pesticides.
Soft drinks belonging to PepsiCo and Coca-Cola in India were
contaminated with pesticides at an average 24 times higher than the
government's proposed maximum limit, warns a new environmental
group study.
Emerging markets and new 'health products' helped Danone to
continue its strong sales growth in the second quarter of 2006,
though the group has struggled to turn around losses on its home
French market.
Lossmaking water delivery firm Palm Springs has finally succumbed
to an offer from the Asia-Pacific drinks group Coca-Cola Amatil,
allowing the bigger group to continue its expansion in this
fast-growing market.
Yes, that's right. Freshly retired French footballer Zinedine
Zidane may yet be selected to join the board of dairy, water and
biscuit giant Danone, says a report.
Heineken has said profits this year were likely to be better than
it thought, thanks to surprisingly good beer sales in both Eastern
Europe and the more stagnant US market.
Coca-Cola beat several predictions with a seven per cent profit
rise in the second quarter of 2006, as improved performances in
Europe and Latin America offset difficulties in Japan.
PepsiCo has signed a deal with Ocean Spray to bottle and distribute
single-serve cranberry juice drinks, as the soft drinks firm looks
to expand its offering to health-conscious consumers.
Coca-Cola has recalled 40,000 cases of soft drinks in South Korea
and claimed it was the victim of a blackmail campaign, after a
consumer was allegedly poisoned by drinking a bottle of Coke.
Blockbuster brands helped the world's largest alcoholic drinks
firm, Diageo, to a six per cent sales rise over the last year, but
trading in Europe remains tough.
Coca-Cola said nearly all of its new refrigeration equipment for
sales and marketing will work without puffing out powerful
greenhouse gases, as the group jumps aboard the trend for
sustainable production.
Coca-Cola and Cadbury Schweppes have joined the list of beverage
firms set to be sued in Florida over allegations their drinks
contained benzene, 15 years after the industry first pledged to fix
the problem.
Carlsberg's plan to scale down operations in Western Europe in
favour of emerging beer markets in Eastern Europe and Asia has
helped it to improve first quarter results this year.
Lawyers have filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo in California,
alleging one of its drinks may contain the cancer-causing chemical
benzene, BeverageDaily.com has learned.
Heineken has used its subsidiary brewery in Asia to make a move in
India, recognising the country as the next big emerging market for
the major brewers to conquer.
Quality not quantity was the catchphrase for Coca-Cola at its first
quarter results conference, as the group said it would sacrifice
volumes for higher margin beverages to lift profits.
Coca-Cola can continue selling orange juice fortified with calcium,
after having settled with Procter and Gamble over a patent
infringement lawsuit a development that opens the way forpotential
collaborations in the future.
US soft drinks giant Pepsi opened its first research and
development centre outside the US in Shanghai yesterday, signalling
its commitment to the fast-growing Chinese market.
Coca-Cola said it was testing its soft drinks around the world for
benzene, as the group sought to reassure consumers that soft drinks
were only a very small contributor to daily benzene intake.
PepsiCo has launched a range of flavoured waters enriched with
vitamins across the US, in a further sign that functional drinks
are pushing their way into the mainstream soft drinks sector.
Coca-Cola said it would fight to put down a lawsuit filed against
it by more than 50 of its own bottlers over the distribution of
sports drink Powerade to Wal-Mart stores.
More than 50 bottlers have now lined up to sue Coca-Cola in the US
in a move to stop the soft drinks group distributing its Powerade
sports drink directly to Wal-Mart supermarkets around the country.
Emerging markets across Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America came
good for both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola in 2005, increasing their
importance in the two rivals' growth strategies.
Coca-Cola saw profits tumble by more than a quarter in the last
three months of 2005, underlining the challenges that still lie
ahead for the soft drinks firm in 2006.
PepsiCo's bottling arm has bought up US functional drinks maker
Ardea Beverage, as the iconic soft drinks firm positions itself for
growth on the functional drinks market.
Coca-Cola faces a challenging 2006 as the firm experiences rising
levels of bad publicity on alleged human rights abuse and, of
course, obesity. In the first of two parts,
BeverageDaily.com takes a closer look, starting with human...
PepsiCo's successful diversity and faster action on health has
taken it ahead of Coca-Cola in the market for the first time in 112
years, but don't be fooled into thinking Coca-Cola is dead wood.
As Coca-Cola prepares to launch mid-calorie cola containing coffee
in France, the group faces a challenge to win over sceptical
consumers who view the move as more of a gimmick.