We use our own and third-party cookies to optimize your experience on this site, including to maintain user sessions. Without these cookies our site will not function well. If you continue browsing our site we take that to mean that you understand and accept how we use the cookies. If you wish to decline our cookies we will redirect you to Google.

Beverage Innovation

Tracking The Drinks Marketplace

Coca-Cola

Coke Says Being “Plastics Free” Is A Distant Solution Because Customers Like Single-Use Bottles

Coca-Cola head of sustainability Bea Perez says pleasing customers is more important than ending plastics pollution, so the company won't be phasing out its popular single-use plastic bottles anytime soon. According to Perez, despite the company’s reputation as a global plastics polluter, customers like the bottles because they are lightweight and easily reseal. Getting rid of them, Perez said, would hurt sales. "Business won't be in business if we don't accommodate consumers," she said. The company plans to focus on recycling, promising to recycle as many bottles as it uses by 2030, to use 50 percent recycled materials in packaging by that date and to work with nonprofits to better collect its waste. Environmental groups argue that recycling is not the most effective solution to the plastic pollution crisis.[Image Credit: © The Coca-Cola Company]

Keurig Dr Pepper

KDP Sells All Sport To Jel Sert


Chicago-based powdered and frozen beverage maker Jel Sert, which has been producing All Sport for KDP for several years, has acquired the hydration drink brand for an undisclosed sum. Launched by PepsiCo in 1993 as a competitor to Coca-Cola’s Powerade and Gatorade, All Sport was sold to The Monarch Beverage Company before being acquired in 2007 by Big Red, partially owned by KDP. The acquisition comes as Jel Sert begins a nationwide rollout of several lines of licensed powder and liquid drink mixes that feature brands such as Starburst, Skittles, Hi-C, and Sunkist Soda, as well as its own brands Wyler’s and Pure Kick. The company believes the new products, containing zero sugar and sweetened with aspartame, will be a major growth driver. [Image Credit: © Jel Sert]

KDP Acquired Sparkling Water Maker Limitless

Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) has acquired Chicago-based caffeinated sparkling water maker Limitless for an undisclosed sum, adding to the company’s “already strong water lineup” which includes brands such as CORE Hydration, Bai, and Evian. Limitless produces a line of zero-calorie sparkling waters containing 35 mg of caffeine per 12 oz. can. Flavors include watermelon, ginger mint, cucumber pear, blood orange, lemon lime and grapefruit hibiscus flavors. The products are mainly sold in Walmart stores, but KDP says it will expand distribution ”to introduce [Limitless] to more consumers.” The company also produces a line of cold brew coffees and green teas available in kegs, as well as wholesale coffee beans. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.[Image Credit: © Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.]

Dyla Brands Now Managing KDP’s Liquid Concentrate, Powdered Mix Products



Dyla Brands, parent company of Stur and FORTO Coffee, has been overseeing marketing, manufacturing, and sales for Keurig Dr Pepper’s (KDP) liquid concentrate and powdered mix products since signing a long-term licensing agreement in late 2019. KDP, a minority investor in Dyla since 2018,  distributes FORTO and Stur through its allied brands portfolio. The licensing agreement has been in effect for several months, but was not disclosed publicly until this year. KDP’s 20-year-old, $100 million liquid concentrate and powdered mix business includes products from Snapple, Hawaiian Punch, Canada Dry, 7Up, Crush, A&W and RC Cola. KDP will retain control of the brand names and trademarks.[Image Credit: © Dyla LLC]

Other Companies

7-Eleven Adds Energy Variant To Slurpee Line


7-Eleven has unveiled a new Slurpee based on its private brand energy drink. The Quake Energy Berry Blast Slurpee borrows its flavor from the energy drink Quake, launched last June. To be sold at certain 7-Eleven, Stripes and Aplus stores, the new 12-ounce Slurpee features Quake’s blend of B vitamins and electrolytes, as well as 69 mg of caffeine, but without much sugar (one gram). Though Berry Blast is the only Quake flavor moving into Slurpees, the energy drinks themselves are available in original, Orange Fusion and Tropical Lemon flavors.[Image Credit: © 7-Eleven, Inc.]

Robinsons Expands Fruit Creations Line With Berry Flavor

Britvic-owned fruit drink brand Robinsons is adding a Blackberry & Blueberry flavor to its Fruit Creations range. Available beginning in February in a one-liter bottle ($2.59), the variant contains twice the fruit of the core range but without added sugar. The flavor “delivers an intense and juicy burst of tangy blackberry, paired with rich blueberry,” according to the company, which launched the Fruit Creations portfolio in January 2018.[Image Credit: © Britvic PLC]

Numi Refreshes Brand To Include More Wellness, Functional Beverages

Organic tea brand Numi (Oakland, Calif.) introduced its refreshed brand at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco last week along with new functional sleep teas and premium drinking chocolates. The company says it is shifting from being purely a tea company to becoming a wellness-focused beverage company. Its first better-for-you drink is Sweet Slumber, a stress-relief and relaxation tea made with valerian root, hops, passionflower, chamomile, and lavender. The company recently launched two-ounce daily wellness shots featuring pomegranate, turmeric, matcha, reishi mushroom, and apple cider vinegar. Also previewed was a line of four dark chocolate crumbles packaged in pouches and designed to be melted down and mixed with either milk or water. The brand refresh includes new packaging that highlights ingredients, and redesigned logo, imagery, and graphics to “stand out on the shelf, while still maintaining core values.”[Image Credit: © Numi, Inc.]

Cott Subsidiary Acquires Roaring Spring Water Of Pennsylvania


Home and office bottled water delivery service Cott announced that subsidiary DS Services of America (Lakeland, Fla.) has acquired most of the assets of Roaring Spring Water, a Pennsylvania-based water delivery company whose market includes Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. DS will acquire 7,500 customers in the transaction. In 2018, Roaring Spring Water, a fifth-generation company, sold its Gettysburg, Pa., location and water store to Nestlé Waters North America.[Image Credit: © PR Newswire Association LLC]

ITO EN Adds Jasmine Variant To RTD Milk Tea Lineup

Brooklyn, N.Y. tea-based beverage maker ITO EN North America announced it will add RTD Jasmine Milk Tea to its lineup, which also includes Matcha Milk Tea and Black Milk Tea. Brewed with green tea leaves scented with jasmine flowers and all-natural ingredients, the new RTD Jasmine Milk Tea will be available in 11.8-ounce PETE bottles and in quart-size bottles, both decorated with cow patterns and Japanese kanji characters. The 11.8-ounce size ($2.49) contains 140 calories per bottle; the quart size bottle ($3.99 contains three servings.[Image Credit: © ITO EN (North America) INC.]

Boxed Water Introduces New Package Size

Michigan-based Boxed Water Is Better announced the addition of a 330-ml size to its line of water packaged in 100 percent recyclable and paper-based cartons. Also available are 250-ml, 500-ml and 1-liter boxes packed in six-pack, 12-pack and 24-pack configurations. The new package will be available at retail in the first quarter of 2020, as well as online at boxedwater.com and Amazon.[Image Credit: © Boxed Water]
This is an image-free monthly sample. Contact us to get something focused on your business at the frequency you want…