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.
Just a few months after the launch of its distilled water brand
BonAqua in Spain, Coca-Cola has signed a bottling agreement with
Italian water group San Benedetto which will step up the pace of
the brand's introduction there.
The success of J&B Twist and Smirnoff Ice in Spain has
convinced Diageo that RTD products are the way forward in a market
where it has been steadily losing sales in recent years.
Carlsberg's head of supply chain, Jette Knudsen, is to leave the
group in December after a disastrous summer season which saw the
company recall millions of cans of sour-tasting beer from the
domestic market.
The European Commission gives the go ahead to Diageo to sell its
last remaining food-related business, leaving the UK group free to
strengthen its position as the world's leading spirits and wine
producer.
Dutch brewer Heineken is already profiting from its recent
strategic alliance with Costa Rican brewer FIFCO. The two companies
have joined forces with soft drink bottler Panamco to buy Baru, one
of the leading brewers in Panama.
Beverage producers, wholesalers and retailers should join forces
with their respective industry associations to present a united
front on the issues of responsible drinking and taxation, says Paul
Clinton, head of Diageo's US...
Heinken has announced its third acqusition in almost as many days.
The Dutch firm will extend its presence in Africa with the
acqusition of a 69 per cent stake in Lebanon's only brewer, Almaza.
The first five months of the current fiscal year have been good for
the world's second largest brewer, SABMiller, despite the
devaluation of currencies in South Africa.
Al Ahram Beverage Company (ABC) is to become the latest addition to
the Heineken portfolio, a deal which might go some way towards
appeasing analysts who were hoping for more news of growth as the
company announced its first half...
Danone and its Japanese distributor Mitsubishi join forces with
Kirin to boost sales of the Evian mineral water brand, a deal which
should also boost sales Kirin's Alkali Ion brand.
Strong organic growth from the premium drinks business was one of
several key drivers of growth at Diageo, the UK company which is
now wholly focused on its beer, wine and spirits business. Smirnoff
Ice and other RTD brands performed...
The world's biggest spirits group should continue with its policy
of using the proceeds of disposals to buy back shares when the sale
of its Burger King unit is completed. But this does not rule out
further acquisitions.
Dutch brewer Heineken will take responsibility for the marketing
and distribution of its own brands in the UK after its licensing
agreement with Whitbread lapses in 2003.
Choglit - no, not the name the European Commission wants producers
of non cocoa-butter chocolate to adopt but the name of a new drinks
brand produced jointly by Coca-Cola and Nestle and launched in the
US earlier this month.
In an interview with French daily Les Echos on Tuesday,
Franck Riboud, CEO of Groupe Danone, quickly denied accusations
that developments with Coca-Cola were a sign of Danone's defeat in
the US water market.
Soft drink giant Coca-Cola, facing a stiff challenge from archrival
PepsiCo in the crucial North American market, on Monday unveiled a
new vanilla-flavoured version of its flagship Coke brand, reports
Reuters.
