Diageo pours cold water on P.Diddy tequila rumour, but toasts stellar Scotch performance

10-Feb-2012 - Diageo said today that super premium Scotch had been a stellar Chinese performer in the first half of 2011/12, but the firm poured cold water on press reports that US rap star P.Diddy planned to launch his own tequila brand.

‘Our business was built for (volatile) times like these’, Coke CEO

08-Feb-2012 - Coca-Cola Company CEO Muhtar Kent says the company fourth quarter (Q4) and full-year 2011 growth – despite economic volatility, volatile commodity markets and natural disasters – testifies to the strength of the business.

Cheer in Vietnamese beer for O-I after Aussie doldrums

07-Feb-2012 - Only weeks after it scaled-back production in Australian due to a flat market for glass caused by slow beer sales, glass packaging giant Owens-Illinois (O-I) has opened a new production plant in Vietnam.

The People’s Republic of Beverage Cans: Ball Packaging plans to shift US lines to China

02-Feb-2012 - Ball Packaging says it is selling every beverage can it makes for the Chinese market, with huge opportunities in sectors such as beer, and wants to relocate equipment there from ‘mature markets’ such as the US.

Crown Holdings CEO shrugs off full-year profit slump

02-Feb-2012 - Despite a slump in 2011 net profits, Crown Holdings chairman and CEO John Conway said new beverage can lines in “promising emerging markets” such as Brazil, Vietnam and China boosted the company’s fourth quarter (Q4) and full-year trading performance.

News in brief

Coke takes Turkish delight in potential for 'built-in' sustainability

31-Jan-2012 - The Coca-Cola Company says that it has opportunities to build sustainability in to its plants in the emerging markets such as Turkey, through integration of best practice and the latest, most efficient technology.

Ball Packaging bids to ‘centralise administration’ with European HQ switch

30-Jan-2012 - Ball Packaging has revealed plans to relocate its European headquarters from Germany to Switzerland in 2012 to centralise administration and align operations more closely with customers.

We helped create new Chinese beverage category that's going global: SIG Combibloc

23-Jan-2012 - SIG Combibloc says the runaway Chinese success of its drinksplus technology is ‘going global’, with top food firms impressed by its premium beverage applications.

Cut-throat, cut-price European competition sees SABMiller beer sales stall

19-Jan-2012 - SABMiller said today that ‘intense competition’ within European lager led to a fall in beer volume sales during the last quarter, but the brewer told BeverageDaily.com that it didn’t think there was a fundamental problem with the category in this market or the US.

‘King’ can maker Rexam has high hopes for Russian 75cl move

18-Jan-2012 - Rexam has revealed that it will produce Europe’s first 75cl can, first launched onto the Russian and Eastern European markets at the end of 2011, and says the product also has promise further west.

News in brief

PepsiCo and Ocean Spray announce strategic alliance to crack Latin America

17-Jan-2012 - PepsiCo and Ocean Spray have annonced a strategic alliance in Latin America in a bid to strengthen the former's juice portfolio in the region and increase accessibility of the latter's products in this region.

Eco concerns clear in recent Chinese, Indian customer visits: Tetra Pak

16-Jan-2012 - Tetra Pak says that during recent client visits in both India and China, customers have shown an increased interest in environmental issues such as energy use, water consumption and product loss.

Nuclear headlines overstate Beverage Partners Worldwide RTD tea rescope: analyst suggests

12-Jan-2012 - Following Nestlé and Coke’s decision to slim down its ready-to-drink (RTD) tea business, Beverage Partners Worldwide, Euromonitor analyst Richard Haffner told BeverageDaily.com that nuclear headlines suggesting a ‘global retreat’ perhaps overstated its significance.

News in brief

Diageo completes Ethiopian acquisition

12-Jan-2012 - Diageo claims its new acquisition of Meta Abo Brewery in Ethiopia allows it to gain access to a fast-growing market. In beer to complement its existing spirits business.

Nestlé and Coke scale down Beverage Partners Worldwide JV

09-Jan-2012 - Nestlé and The Coca-Cola Company have announced plans to ‘rescope’ their Ready-to-Drink (RTD) business Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW), with the Swiss firm cagey about the decision to phase-out the existing global JV and focus primarily on Canada and Europe.

News in brief

Brazilian can demand prompts $50m Novelis investment

22-Dec-2011 - The world's largest producer of rolled aluminium, Novelis, has announced plans to invest around $50m to install a coating line for beverage can end stock at its site in Pindamonhangaba, Brazil.

Leatherhead cites category overlap as ‘overriding’ soft drinks trend

19-Dec-2011 - There is an overriding trend within the world soft drinks market towards an overlap between categories, while economic unrest is expected to consolidate a trend towards cheaper products, according to Leatherhead Food Research.

Glass could strike gold riding Chinese beverage bandwagon, analyst

19-Dec-2011 - Opportunities abound for glass as a premium beverage container in China, the world’s fastest growing packaging market, according to business research specialist the Freedonia Group.

Gin revival rumours greatly exaggerated: Euromonitor

14-Dec-2011 - Like author Mark Twain reacting to false reports of his death in reverse, rumours of gin’s sales revival have been greatly exaggerated, according to Euromonitor International.

Nampak claims license to thrill with ‘007’ closures line

08-Dec-2011 - Nampak Closures has opened a new wine closure production line at its Cape Town facility nicknamed ‘007’ that it claims is the fastest of its type in the world.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: DISPATCHES FROM BRAU BEVIALE 2011

Brewing enzymes help ensure sustainable production, Danisco

24-Nov-2011 - Ulf Brøchner Sørensen, global product manager, brewing and distilling enzymes at Danisco, told BeverageDaily.com at Brau Beviale that there was trend globally towards less expensive, more sustainable production.

Nestlé's new Brazilian beverage factory reflects dairy demand

22-Nov-2011 - Nestlé has opened a new CHF 83m (€67m) beverage factory in Brazil to cater for increased demand for dairy-based and other beverages in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Sustainability drive hits European plastic packaging growth

04-Nov-2011 - Despite a market recovery following the 2008-9 recession, demand for European food and beverage packaging in specific areas is being hit by “structural changes” including the sustainability trend.

‘It’s our fault’ if we can’t grow US business, bullish Coke CEO insists

21-Oct-2011 - Coca-Cola Company chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent insists that if Coca-Cola can’t continue to grow sales in the US then the company only has itself to blame.