December 11, 2019
Coca-Cola
Coke CEO Quincey Reaffirms Commitment To Greater Investment In Africa Operations
Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey reaffirmed the company’s commitment to African investment following meetings in Nigeria and South Africa. Quincey said the company would be consolidating the bottling system to build scale, and investing in new businesses to accelerate growth and expand its beverage offering. Coke also plans to invest in what it calls the “talent engine” in Africa. In September, South Africa-based Coca-Cola Southern and East Africa said it would invest $1 billion in its operations over the next five years because it still sees great potential in the region. Southern and East Africa is already one of the group’s top 10 markets in the world in terms of volume and profit. Regional President Bruno Pietracci said the money would be spent on new products, expansion of capacity, new trucks, innovations, and support of the group’s brands.[Image Credit: © Business Wire, Inc.]
Coca-Cola Co. Tries To Eliminate “Fear Of Failure” From Innovation Process
Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey says “fear of failure” of new products in a large company can stem the “creativity and innovation” that drove its growth in the first place. Quincey calls that hesitation to try something new “the New Coke syndrome” and it must be avoided. In fact, failure should be “celebrated, he says, which is why the company launched an innovation award “that celebrates projects that fail.” Recent (2018) award winners were not publicized, however, because the company is applying those lessons internally. But Ali Akbar, sparkling beverages director for the Middle East and North Africa business unit, received the Celebrate Failure Award in 2017 for a failed effort to launch energy drink Sprite3G in Pakistan. He used what they learned to launch a more successful product in that country.[Image Credit: © THE COCA-COLA COMPANY]
Coca-Cola Switches To Clear Bottles For Sprite in South East Asia
Coca-Cola has decided to convert all new Sprite bottles produced in the South East Asian region from green to clear. The decision conforms to the company’s objectives of increasing PET plastic use in a sustainable manner. Coca-Cola emphasized at a recent meeting of the U.N. environmental program SEA of Solutions (Bangkok, Thailand) that it is committed to recyclability and PET bottles as a “sustainable solution.” Colored PET bottles are more likely to contain pigments such as titanium dioxide that would contaminate the recycling process.[Image Credit: © WebWire/THE COCA-COLA COMPANY]
Nestle
Nestlé To Implement Nutri-Score Labeling In Five European Countries
Nestlé announced that it will use the voluntary front-of-pack scheme that classifies foods and beverages according to their nutritional profile in five European countries beginning next year. The color-coded Nutri-Score nutrition labeling system – the scale ranges from A (healthier choices) to E (less healthy choices) – will be implemented across brands of its wholly-owned businesses over two years. More than 5,000 products in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and Switzerland will be relabeled. Cereal Partners Worldwide, the international breakfast venture between Nestlé and General Mills, will also implement Nutri-Score on its product packaging in the same countries.[Image Credit: © Nestlé]
Other Companies
Beverage Industry Considers Sweetener Alternatives To Sugar
The beverage industry is looking seriously at fruit-derived ingredients as a “natural” alternative to sugar, which is out of favor among consumers and governments, as a sweetener. The upshot is that beverages that use sugar need to be reformulated, and there are many options for that, including “shrinkification,” artificial sweeteners, and so-called natural alternatives. Among these are monk fruit, a plant native to southern China and northern Thailand. that contains natural antioxidants that are 300 times sweeter than sugar. Monk Fruit Corp. has developed a process to capture the fruit’s sweetness for use in food and beverages. Taura Natural Ingredients offers a range of fruit pieces and pastes with no added sugar called JusFruit, which can reduce sugar content by 30 percent, while increasing fiber by 60 percent. In terms of clean label concerns, Monk Fruit Corp is expecting a positive safety opinion for monk fruit from the Scientific Panel on Food Additives and Flavorings (FAF). Taura’s JusFruit Fiber+ range is also regarded as clean label because the sweetness comes from the fruit itself.[Image Credit: © Monk Fruit Corp]
China’s Mengniu Dairy Buys Australia’s Lion Dairy From Kirin
Two weeks after Australian authorities conditionally approved Mengniu Dairy’s (China) acquisition of infant formula producer Bellamy, the company has agreed to buy Australian Lion Dairy & Drinks from Kirin Holdings for $407 million. The deal includes all white milk, milk-based beverages, yogurt, juice and water ice brands and assets, as well as Dairy & Drinks’ licensing agreement for the Yoplait brand. Mengniu will own Lion’s beverage unit’s international business and its share of the joint ventures with Vitasoy Australia Products and Capitol Chilled Foods Australia. The deal does not include Lion’s alcohol businesses in Australia and New Zealand, nor its Lion Little World Beverages firm.[Image Credit: © China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited]
Mythical Chinese Emperor Inspires New Range Of CBD-Infused Teas
Connecticut-based start-up Sh’nnong Beverage Company, co-founded by former PepsiCo exec Jill Beraud, has introduced a range of plant-based and CBD-infused iced teas in more than 500 Vitamin Shoppe stores in the U.S. Each Má Functional Iced Tea with CBD+ Natural Botanicals “elevates” the benefits of CBD infusion by combining it with nearly 20 herbs and spices “inspired by the original Má brews of Emperor Shennong,” a mythological deity in Chinese folk religion. The drinks, naturally sweetened and containing fewer than ten calories, are available in three CBD variants: focus, with ginkgo biloba, gotu kola, and rhodiola rosea; relax, with caffeine-free bai mudan tea blended with chamomile, lavender, lemon balm, elderflower, and passionflower; and detox with green tea, lemon, chamomile, schisandra berry, and dandelion root. Each flavor is available for $4.99.[Image Credit: © Sh'nnong Beverage Co.]
Endo Sport Launches Line Of CBD-Infused Fitness Drinks
Looking to tap into the fitness market, U.K.-based Endo Sport has launched a line of CBD-infused sports drinks. Endo Sport’s 500 ml bottles each contain 10 mg of CBD and are meant to be taken as a pre- or post-workout drink. As a pre-workout beverage, Endo Sport delivers a boost of energy and increased focus; after a workout, the beverage’s anti-inflammatory properties help reduce post-exercise muscle soreness and speed up recovery. The beverages also replace electrolytes lost through physical exercise and by provide enhanced hydration. The Endo Sport range is available in orange, and berry and tropical flavors.[Image Credit: © ENDO SPORT]
Canada’s Canopy Growth Unveils A Line Of Cannabis-Infused Sparkling Waters, Mixers
Ontario, Canada-based Canopy Growth Corporation has unveiled a line of sparkling waters, mixers, and chocolate infused with cannabis. The company’s technology distills whole flower cannabis into a clear liquid that is the active ingredient in its THC- and CBD-infused beverages offered in a range of brands, flavors, and sizes. Tweed RTD beverages are pre-mixed with the Distilled Cannabis process and offered in 355 ml cans. The company will release a range of premixed beverages under the Tweed brand that are flavored to represent three core cannabis strains featured: Penelope & Tonic, which has two mg of THC and 1.5 mg of CBD, while Bakerstreet & Ginger Ale and Houndstooth & Soda both contain two mg of THC per can. Regulations governing the production and sale of derivative cannabis products – such as edibles and infused beverages – went into effect in Canada on 17 October, one year after recreational cannabis became legal in the country.[Image Credit: © Canopy Growth Corporation]
Mood33 Debuts Hemp-Infused Herbal Teas
California-based cannabis beverage company Mood33 has launched a line of hemp extract-Infused herbal teas that contain herbs, botanicals and fruit. The company says bottles of Mood33 hemp teas contain 33mg of full-spectrum hemp sourced by Evo Hemp that supports the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS). Six mood-specific flavors include joy, energy, peace, calm, passion, and well-being. Suitable for vegans, the drinks are non-GMO, free of preservatives, artificial colors or sweeteners. They are available now at select grocery outlets in New York, with a nationwide release following in January.[Image Credit: © mood33]
Boston Startup Slate Introduces Ultrafiltered Chocolate Milk For Millennials
Boston-based chocolate milk startup Slate – one of whose goals is to deliver a product for adult consumers that is “a bit more hip than that bottle of YooHoo” – has introduced an ultra-filtered, high-protein, lactose-free chocolate milk that contains the “nutrition and taste of dairy.” The product is protein-rich and contains vitamins and electrolytes, delivered in shelf-stable cans that “a millennial won't be embarrassed to carry around.” Slate uses ultrafiltration to concentrate the protein, eliminate the lactose/milk sugar, and remove some water. It then adds back nine grams of cane sugar and some monk fruit for sweetness. The end result is a chocolate milk with 50 percent more protein and 75 percent less sugar than regular chocolate milk. The products have launched on the Slate website, and will hit stores including Whole Foods (North Atlantic region), Harris Teeter, and Roche Bros in Boston by year end. Prices anywhere from $2.99-3.99 per 330 ml can.[Image Credit: © Slate Milk]
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