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The just-drinks Interview - Pernod Ricard's MD of Finance - (11th March 2010)
Late last month, Gilles Bogaert, the recently-appointed managing director of finance - CFO, if you will - for Pernod Ricard came to the UK to look over the company's most recent set of figures. While in the country, Olly Wehring took the opportunity to grill Bogaert about the last six months for Pernod, how the downturn has affected the company, and what Pernod would do if - when? - the bargains come knocking.
Focus - Beer growth set to continue in Asia - (4th March 2010)
On a continent-by-continent basis, Asia is top of the pile when it comes to beer consumption. The region offers many opportunities for growth for the global brewers - welcome words in these trying times. Despite Japan's flat performance of late in the brewing sector, the potential offered by the likes of China and India means Asia is where the beer world is looking in 2010. Gavin Blair in Tokyo, Frances Wang in Shanghai, Raghavendra Verma in New Delhi and Karryn Miller, take a closer look at the region.
Focus - Is minimum alcohol pricing dead in the water? - (23rd February 2010)
Plans to introduce minimum alcohol pricing in Scotland appear to be faltering, while political support for such a move south of the border appears thin on the ground. With questionable legality under EU law a key stumbling block, Ben Cooper examines the question of minimum pricing in the context of the wider alcohol policy debate in the EU.
Focus - CAGNY 2010: Coca-Cola Co targets Latin America's middle class - (19th February 2010)
The Coca-Cola Co is looking to invest billions of dollars in key Latin American markets to target a growing number of middle class consumers in the region.
Comment - Nelson's Column - Lessons from the Malaise - (16th February 2010)
You wouldn’t think the normally jovial Leo Kiely akin to a harbinger of doom. Yet for the veteran US beer man, who in 1993 joined Coors and today heads the energetic efforts of an increasingly muscular MillerCoors, times have never been tougher, writes Larry Nelson.
Focus - Coke and Pepsi vie for bragging rights - (12th February 2010)
The bitterest rivalry in the soft drinks market and arguably in the entire consumer goods arena is that between Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Conveniently for those wishing to see how that battle is progressing, the two companies publish their annual results within a few days of one another. Ben Cooper takes a look at their performances and assesses who currently has the bragging rights.
Comment - View from A Farr - The question of ethics for soft drinks and water - (9th February 2010)
Weather-beaten consumers are keen to jump back on board the ethical express, when it comes to soft drinks and water. Whilst companies operating in the sector are well-tuned to say what they'll do in the ethical arena, Annette Farr asks if they also mean what they say.
What if… 2020 is for alcohol what 2010 is for the tobacco industry? - (4th February 2010)
Continuing his series of quarterly columns assessing potential shocks which the drinks sector may face, Chris Hart, a partner at business performance consultancy McKinney Rogers, considers what would happen if the next ten years bring dramatic social changes that challenge the drinks sector in the way the past ten years have done for tobacco.
Comment - The Losh Cause - USAviour for wine? - (2nd February 2010)
Economic talk of late has suggested that the world is about to turn the corner after a tumultuous 18 months. Chris Losh considers what the prospects look like for wine producers, and sees the US as the promised land – if it can first pull out of its nosedive.
Focus - Soft drinks advertisers set to feel the Obama effect - (28th January 2010)
The US government is planning to introduce voluntary guidelines governing the advertising of food and drink to children, while the First Lady will soon be heading her own campaign to fight childhood obesity. The next few months are therefore likely to be more than a little interesting for representatives of the soft drinks industry stateside. Ben Cooper reports.
