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The best views and opinions in beverage industry publishing, all in one place, from beverage's monthly columnists and in-house experts.
just-drinks thinks - CEO change at Constellation
After more than a ten years at the helm, we at just-drinks can't really say we're surprised that Constellation Brands CEO Rob Sands has deci...
just-drinks thinks - Tmall's market research deal
Will there come a time when companies know more than we know ourselves about what we want? If Alibaba's latest move is anything to go by, it...
Why wine producers won't have China their own way
Fresh off the plane after a trip to China, just-drinks' wine commentator, Chris Losh, brings us his take on the category in the country and...
How soft drinks co's can work to ensure growth
The ongoing fallout from the merger of Keurig Green Mountain and Dr Pepper Snapple Group earlier this year has prompted soft drinks commenta...
Don't let complacency kill Global Travel Retail - Comment - TFWA 2018 16 Oct 2018
Change happens slowly in the Global Travel Retail channel. At this month's Tax Free World Association exhibition in Cannes, delegates were still discussing the same problems as two years ago - how to make money in a channel squeezed by the landlord/retailer/supplier model. The difference is, however, that two years ago, because of a backdrop of declining sales, there was a hardened sense in Cannes that "something needs to be done". This year, no such urgency exists. Global Travel Retail - right now - looks in pretty good shape.
What just-drinks thinks - Heineken's partnership with Formula E 15 Oct 2018
Is Heineken now looking to secure the brand loyalty of the petrol (and electric) heads among beer consumers?
Why the usual vodka suspects will have to sit out the short-term in the US - Comment 2 Oct 2018
What are the prospects for vodka in the category's vital US market? Spirits commentator Richard Woodard takes us back, to look forwards.
What brewers need to be aware of before stepping into cannabis - Comment 25 Sep 2018
With brewers eyeing the cannabis industry with both interest and enthusiasm, beer commentator Stephen Beaumont has some words of warning for them, before they take their first steps into unknown territory.
Why the spirits category needs to rethink its future positioning - Comment 18 Sep 2018
Our spirits commentator, Neil Ridley, is all riled up. Again. This time, it's about the positioning at the higher end of the spirits category.
Who needs alcohol when Coca-Cola can have versatile cannabis? - Comment 17 Sep 2018
Back in March, I asked what the odds would be on the launch of Coke Cannabis after The Coca-Cola Co's total beverage strategy led the group into the alcohol market in Japan. Today, those odds got a whole lot shorter with a report from Bloomberg that the soft drinks giant could be about to enter the cannabis market in a deal with Canada's Aurora Cannabis.
Why PepsiCo's SodaStream purchase marks the future path for soft drinks - Comment 11 Sep 2018
Last month's announcement that PepsiCo will buy the SodaStream home carbonation market leader has shaken up a sector of the soft drinks industry that, until now, had proved idiosyncratic at best. This month, soft drinks commentator Richard Corbett tells us why he believes the sector is primed - finally - to change the game.
Why wine is dangerously exposed to the cannabis tidal wave - Comment 6 Sep 2018
just-drinks' regular wine commentator Chris Losh has been away this summer. While away, has he been smoking something? If he has, it's given him something to warn the global wine category about.
Why is The Coca-Cola Co buying Costa? - Comment 31 Aug 2018
If you take it at an ingredient level, The Coca-Cola Co's move today to buy UK-based coffee chain Costa for US$5.1bn makes some kind of sense. Both cola and coffee contain caffeine, after all. But from a business perspective - where is the boost in this move?
Do consumers know about beer terminology as well as you do? - Comment 30 Aug 2018
When a brewer talks about the value category, does the consumer understand what is meant? How about premium? Super-premium? And, what about craft? just-drinks' beer commentator, Stephen Beaumont, considers whether these terms mean as much to consumers as they clearly do to the global brewing industry.
Are spirits brand owners driving Global Travel Retail customers to distraction? - Comment 23 Aug 2018
With the Global Travel Retail channel becoming such an important testing ground for new innovative expressions, have brown spirits brand owners found the perfect launch pad for NPD, or are they slowly but surely confusing consumers with mixed messages? Neil Ridley checks in for a nose around.
Is SodaStream the 'twofer' solution PepsiCo is looking for? - Comment 20 Aug 2018
It was not that long ago that SodaStream International fancied itself as something of a plucky eco-hero, portraying its plastic-free drinks machines as the antidote to Big Soda's supposed environmental waste.
Will the sugar tax story pan out as expected? - Comment 16 Aug 2018
Four months on from the arrival of the tax on full-sugar soft drinks in the UK, category commentator Richard Corbett looks at what the numbers can tell us about its effect so far on the soft drinks industry.
Indra Nooyi leaves PepsiCo in good shape, but what lies ahead for Ramon Laguarta? - Comment 7 Aug 2018
With a rumoured predisposition to going shoeless around the office and a past life as a guitar player in a band, Indra Nooyi was one of the more colourful CEOs in the corporate world of global drinks. But, that's not the only reason the woman once described as a "hippie" in one of her many stage introductions will be missed when, as announced yesterday, she passes the PepsiCo baton to her global president, Ramon Laguarta.
Why is gin flattering to deceive in the US? - Comment 6 Aug 2018
Scanning just-drink's NPD section would suggest a new gin brand is launched every day. The segment is the place to be and everyone knows it. Except, it would seem, the Americans among us. Richard Woodard delves deeper into a market that is not performing for gin like pretty much everywhere else is.
Is Heineken risking too much to chase Anheuser-Busch InBev in China? - Comment 3 Aug 2018
For foreign businesspeople in China, it is the most cliched of scenarios - the over-ambitious company lured to disaster by the appeal of China's seemingly bottomless potential. The past 30 years is littered with examples. Is Heineken about to become the latest?
How to pitch alcohol-free adult soft drinks to consumers - Consumer Trends 2 Aug 2018
In her latest consumer trends column, Laura Foster looks at the rise of non-alcoholic and adult soft drinks. The key to their success, she says, is in the way they are communicated to consumers.
Are beer festivals worth the time and expense it takes to participate in them? - Comment 26 Jul 2018
As July gently turns to August, we enter what must be considered the heart of beer festival season.
How self-serve will drive a sea-change in the soft drinks industry - Comment 19 Jul 2018
Soft drinks commentator Richard Corbett has seen the future. Again. This time, it happened when he popped out for a burger.
Who will buy Cutty Sark and Glenturret from Edrington? - Comment 17 Jul 2018
The opportunity to acquire an established, well-known Scotch whisky brand doesn't come along very often. So, you'll forgive our brown spirits commentator, Neil Ridley for being a bit excited right now.
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