The last few years have seen a quickening in the pace of new
product launches by the world's top two soft drinks companies, with
new flavour or formula variants of the traditional Coca-Cola and
Pepsi brands leading the way.
Carlsberg Breweries has again increased its shareholding in
thePolish brewer Carlsberg Okocim through the acquisition of a
further 6 per cent of its share capital.
France is the home of some of the world's biggest mineral water
brands - Perrier, Vittel, Evian, Volvic, to name just four - but a
new entry into the market early next year is likely to give brand
owners such as Danone and Nestlé...
Differing fortunes in the east and west: Follwing disappointing
third quarter results, Carlsberg has rationalised its operations in
Sweden while at the same time increased its influence in the
Bulgarian brewing industry.
Europeans seeking refreshment from one of the hottest summers on
record have enabled Coca-Cola to celebrate what would have
otherwise been a disappointing set of third quarter results.
Lipton's lead position within the fast-growing ready-to-drink
global tea market is to get stronger after Unilever and PepsiCo
announced a joint venture to expand marketing and distribution of
the RTD range.
CCHBC, one of the world's largest Coca-Cola bottlers, is now about
to become a leading supplier of savoury snacks, at least in its
home market of Greece.
Danone and Suntory are to combine their US home and office delivery
bottled water businesses, a move which will make them the leading
global players and which lays down a challenge to European rival
Nestlé.
Diageo has come a long way, he strength of the group's brand
portfolio allows it to register overall growth despite some
substantial setbacks for brands such as Captain Morgan, Smirnoff
and J&B.
Coca-Cola is planning to further expand its range of flavours by
launching Cherry Coke into the Australian market. The move follows
the somewhat mixed success of Vanilla Coke.
Carlsberg's first half sales were down 7 per cent compared to the
previous year, mainly as a result of the impact of exchange rates
at its fast-growing subsidiary Baltic Beverages Holding.
Danone's move into the high profit home and office delivery sector
of the bottled water market made little impact on first half
results which were instead reduced by negative exchange rates and
disposals.
Feldschlösschen, the Swiss unit of Denmark's Carlsberg group, is to
sell its soft drink unit to compatriot juice and cider maker
Thurella in order to focus on its core beer and mineral operations.
Arca Systems, which develops products and systems for materials
handling, has developed a new packaging system for soft drink
products together with The Coca-Cola Company.
Will Coca-Cola be able to reach is annual volume growth target of
5-6 per cent this year? First quarter growth was just 4 per cent,
as declining volumes in Japan and Germany, and lower-than-expected
increases in US sales took their...
PepsiCo is to launch a vanilla-flavoured version of its cola brand
later this summer, almost a year after Vanilla Coke hit US shelves.
And Coca-Cola is not to be outdone, with the launch of Sprite Ice,
a mint version of the lemon-lime...
CUB, the Australian beer arm of Foster's, is to extend its
marketing partnership with Diageo to include the latter company's
premixed spirit brands for the first time. The deal should see the
rapid growth of the draught...
Vrumona, the Netherlands-based soft drinks arm of Heineken, has
specified Tyco flow control equipment for an extension to its main
production facility.
Coca-Cola is set to invest around €100 million to expand its
existing beverage manufacturing facilities in India in an effort to
keep up with increasing demand for bottled water and carbonated
drinks.
Hot on the heels of Pepsi-Cola's announcement that it is to update
the labelling of its entire Pepsi range, Coca-Cola has this week
unveiled a new package design for its Diet Coke soft drink.
Pepsi-Cola has unveiled an updated, bolder-looking package graphics for Pepsi-Cola and Caffeine Free Pepsi-Cola at the Beverage Digest's Future Smarts conference in New York City.
Coca-Cola and Disney have joined forces to launch a new soft drink
for young children in the Spanish market. The drink, which is
fortified with vitamins, features characters from Disney cartoons
and has already been successfully launched...
Green Apple is the latest flavour variant to join the Smirnoff
vodka range from Britain's biggest drinks group, Diageo. The vodka
is being launched this month in the key US market, and is the fifth
flavoured variant of the Smirnoff...
Already the world's leading water cooler supplier, France's Danone
has further strengthened its business with the acquistion of the
Canadian firm Sparkling Spring, giving it strong positions in the
UK and the Netherlands...
The European Commission has been forced to drop its case against
brewers Heineken and Carlsberg after failing to find any recent
evidence that they agreed not to compete in each others' markets.
Both companies have long protested...
Five months after its initial launch, and just as the diet version
hits the shelves in the US, Vanilla Coke is to be launched in
Europe. Sweden will be the first country on this side of the
Atlantic to get the drink, followed by the...
It is barely two months since the world's number one spirits and
wine group announced 9 per cent organic sales growth for the first
half, but Diageo is already warning that growth in the second half
will be harder to achieve.