The Breeze With Beverage Digest

Beverage Digest Editor & Publisher Duane Stanford and industry expert John Sicher dig into whether Coke and Pepsi bottlers should get serious about distributing alcohol, and why the three-tier system makes it far harder than it seems to “just put it on the truck.” Along the way, they unpack PepsiCo’s Blue Cloud experiment and Coke’s licensing-first strategy. They also take a few minutes to assess whether Coca-Cola’s new prebiotic versions of Coke Zero, Sprite Zero, and Fresca are a scalab...

What happens to the U.S. beverage industry when the big categories can’t count on easy growth, and pricing becomes the only lever left to pull? Are the major companies positioning themselves for future growth? In this episode of The Breeze, Duane and John zoom out to a big strategic question for Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper. If liquid refreshment beverages are flat to down, how do these companies avoid missing the next energy drink-style wave, whether it’s gut hea...

Beverage Digest Editor & Publisher Duane Stanford and industry expert John Sicher uncover the hidden impact of SNAP soda restrictions in the U.S. as these policies threaten consumer behavior across the carbonated soft drink market. From court challenges to SNAP eligibility cuts, they also explore what SNAP sales data reveals so far, why diet soda gets lumped in to restrictions, and how the industry is responding. In this episode: • Federal judge blocks SNAP soft drink restrictions in five...

Beverage Digest Editor & Publisher Duane Stanford and industry expert John Sicher bring Wall Street beverage analyst Kaumil Gajrawala of Jefferies into the room to separate consumer reality from consumer headlines. They pressure-test what “value” really means across today’s beverage aisle and dig into why energy drinks keep winning, how Coke’s price/mix strategy works, and where protein and non-alcoholic beer could steal the next occasion. Also: • How Jefferies tracks consumer healt...

John Sicher turns the tables on Beverage Digest Editor & Publisher Duane Stanford to interview him about Beverage Digest’s newly-released Fact Book 31st Edition. They trade notes on what the data says about where U.S. beverage demand is actually going. They dig into: • Why total LRB volume turns negative, why energy keeps winning, and why per capita CSD per capita consumption is the number that industry insiders should we watching most closely. • How Fuze Tea’s staying power in Sp...