• 🍉 Suja Takes a Slice
• 🤖 The Robots March Ahead
• 👨🏻‍⚖️ PRIME Steps Into The (Legal) Ring
• ⚡ Pepsi Zeroes Out
• 🛒 Talking Shop With Insiders From Walmart, Sprouts & Gelson’s

Do you like drinking coffee, watching “Bridgerton” and scrolling TikTok? There may be a career in it.

Of course, as a VP of Beverages at Danone, there’s a lot more to Brittney Polka’s work than that. Along with helping guide a growing portfolio of LTOs tied to hot IPs like the aforementioned Netflix hit, she’s tasked with keeping both the International Delight and Stok Cold Brew coffee brands growing while also keeping an eye on ever-evolving coffee trends on social media that can be potentially be integrated into new product R&D (see: “cold foam”). And with the recent launch of its popular Reese’s-licensed iced coffee in 16 oz. cans, she’s also taking one of its most potent properties into a format primed for c-store coolers.

Against the backdrop of rising coffee competition across the board, handling that array of well-known properties can be either a blessing or a burden. The trick, Polka explained, is to find something that can generate “a big spike in trial around the fandom that's associated with either the flavor or the property itself,” but not at the risk of the dependable core SKUs.

“I think that the most important thing from a business standpoint, as you're thinking about launching some of these limited time offerings or unique collaborations, is that you ensure that you're bringing something that's incremental to the category, to the consumer, to the retailer, and certainly to your own business,” Polka explained.

That’s part of the thinking that’s taking Danone’s coffee interest outside of RTD: see International Delight Cold Foam, a product directly inspired by an explosion of user-generated content on social media. Cold foam’s popularity has been further confirmed by new menu additions at Dunkin’ and Starbucks, but the endless customization and creativity displayed on platforms like TikTok suggests there may be greater runway for use off-premise.

“That social activity that was already happening is really what's driving this ‘fourth wave’ of coffee consumption -- essentially purchasing your own coffee and making yourself exactly the personalized cup that you want, at home,” Polka said. “That is something that we only see continuing and social as a way for us to participate in that both from a branded messaging standpoint, as well as with very organic user-generated content that's happening constantly.”

BevNET Insiders can read about the evolution of International Delight’s single-serve lineup and how that brand complements Stok Cold Brew in Danone’s coffee portfolio in the full interview here.

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Suja Life wants a slice of the soda category. The beverage company, which owns juice brands Suja Organic and Vive Organic, has acquired legacy soda brand Slice, with plans to relaunch a clean and low-sugar version of the drink next year.

🍊 Slice was originally created in 1984 by PepsiCo as a fruit-flavored soda brand, but was discontinued in 2005. Since then the trademark has been bandied about and reintroduced at least twice by different owners, including in 2018 (re-envisioned as a sparkling water) and again in 2021.

🍇 Under Suja, the company said it plans to embrace a better-for-you positioning of Slice while still invoking “the classic, nostalgic sodas people know and love,” the company said in a press release.

💰 The move also shows Suja is continuing to look towards M&A to expand its platform. In 2022, the company acquired juice shot brand Vive Organic. This now marks their first purchase since that deal closed. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Stay tuned to BevNET for more details.

As A.I. makes good on its promise to be a disruptive force throughout the business world, the food and beverage industry is continuing to see more companies adopt these new technologies. Here’s a sample of the latest updates:

🛒 From the labor side, Erewhon has partnered with workforce management solutions firm Legion Technologies to adopt A.I.-powered automated scheduling and demand forecasting. The retailer intends to use the software to “maximize labor efficiency,” which includes the “InstantPay” app that offers “gig-like flexibility.” 

📈 GlobalData found this month that A.I. was the “second most common theme” in global M&A activity in Q1 2024 across industries, second only to supply-chain disruption but ahead of shale oil, digital banking and ESG. 

🥤 Just Drinks, a subsidiary of GlobalData, reported that U.S.-based beverage businesses led the world in placing A.I.-related job listings last year, with 1,315 listings as of January 2023. Beer giants were eager to add to their A.I. divisions, as Anheuser-Busch InBev had 125 A.I.-related jobs posted in that time while Heineken had 104.

🧑🏽‍💻 A Jefferies Equity Research report this week called it “Early AI-nnings” for beverage and household products, and analysts believe PepsiCo and Colgate PalmOlive have had the biggest head start on the competition. Pepsi’s Pep Worx platform – which helps it ID target audiences for new innovations – was used in preparation for the launch of Quaker Overnight Oats, for example.

Logan Paul’s PRIME beverage brand might be the hydration sponsor of both the WWE and the UFC but that doesn’t mean that all people who fight for a living love it. Professional boxer Ryan Garcia has taken to social platforms – where he has an audience of 20 million – to paint the energy and hydration drink brand as “poison,” according to a complaint filed by PRIME last week.

🧑‍💻 The Congo Brands-owned drink maker filed a defamation suit against Garcia on Thursday in a Texas federal court that contends Garcia’s “calculated online ‘rants’” do not contain any evidence and “lack any modicum of support.”

😡 Garcia has gone on multiple podcasts and given various interviews disparaging PRIME in what sounds like personal attacks on the brand.

❌ The beverage brand sent a letter to Garcia in March demanding him to stop defaming PRIME and was ignored. The lawsuit alleges that Garcia’s goal is to start his own beverage brand that will compete with PRIME.

In its race to reach net zero emissions by 2040, PepsiCo Beverages North America announced this month it’s expanding its fleet of electric trucks in California, adding fifty new Class 8 Tesla Semi trucks to its manufacturing and distribution site in Fresno, Calif. and 75 Ford E-Transit vans to all 13 of its facilities across the state.

🌟 The 170,000 sq. ft. Fresno factory makes and distributes PepsiCo-owned brands like Pepsi cola, Starry, Gatorade, Rockstar and Aquafina, among others.

🧑‍🏫 The rollout also coincides with the start of a new job training program for students enrolled at local Reedley College and Duncan Polytechnical High School, which includes education in “the field of electric trucks and infrastructure maintenance,” according to the company.

If you’ve ever wanted to get inside the mind of a retail buyer or merchandiser, this episode, in which we sit down with key executives representing mass, specialty and natural grocery retail chains, is required listening.

Check it out now.