Two stories dominated last week. As results season winds up for another quarter, Gruppo Campari were one of the last out of the gate on Monday. The Italy-based company seemed happy enough with its performance in 2011, and reeled out my new favourite cliche "cautiously optimistic" to describe the year ahead.

In a conference call later the same day, CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz conceded that sales of Campari's Skyy vodka brand in the US have been flat of late, but noted that the company has no plans to drop prices.

Has the vodka bubble finally burst in the US? Maybe some of our US readers could tell us what they see.

The other big story last week was a boring old HR announcement: Also on Monday, PepsiCo shuffled its senior executive pack. The story might not sound like a particularly glamorous one, but its repercussions could prove pretty seismic for PepsiCo, if it plays out the way many have suggested.

The week ahead looks lively for just-drinks: We're at the Consumer Analyst Group Europe conference in London for three days, rubbing shoulders with the analyst community and chasing the inside line from the likes of SABMiller, Coca-Cola Co, C&C Group and Coca-Cola Enterprises. Then, on Thursday, I'll be chairing a session at this year's World Whiskies Conference. If you're at either event, please come and say hello.

Until next time...

Olly Wehring
Managing Editor
Web: http://www.just-drinks.com
Email: editor@just-drinks.com
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