What's Happening Across Beverages

Diet Coke Fights heart Disease -- With a Supermodel!
Supermodel Heidi Klum is joining Diet Coke to help raise awareness of women and heart disease through the Diet Coke Red Dress Pro­gram. The program is part of Diet Coke's new partnership with The Heart Truth, a national awareness campaign about women and heart disease, sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Klum will play a key role in the Diet Coke Red Dress Program by wearing a red dress, the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness, to the Academy Awards presenta­tion on February 24, 2008. Beginning Janu­ary 17, consumers will have the chance to win Klum's dress through a Diet Coke sweepstakes at mycokerewards.com that benefi ts the Foun­dation for the National Institutes of Health (Foundation for NIH). Klum's original cou­ture dress will be created by renowned designer John Galliano of Dior.

Additionally, to celebrate American Heart Month in February, Diet Coke’s Red Dress Program will take center stage at high-profi le events, including sponsorship of The Heart Truth’s Red Dress Collection fashion show at Fashion Week 2008. Diet Coke will also un­veil new packaging and programs featuring The Heart Truth and Red Dress logos and messages on heart health.

The program will kick off on February 1, National Wear Red Day, when Diet Coke pres­ents the annual Red Dress Collection Fashion Show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week 2008. In what’s become one of the hottest tickets at Fash­ion Week, the Red Dress Collection will feature one-of-a-kind dresses made by top fashion de­signers and worn by celebrities on the runway to show their support of The Heart Truth cam­paign and the Red Dress – the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness.

In support of raising awareness of women’s heart disease Diet Coke will unveil new packag­ing featuring The Heart Truth and Red Dress logos on Diet Coke, Caffeine-Free Diet Coke and Diet Coke Plus products.

Two and a half billion new packages, which include tips and information on women’s heart health, will be on shelves from January 22 through May 31. Diet Coke will amplify the message through a national television, print and online advertising campaign. Additionally, Diet Coke will be making a contribution to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, which will be used to further efforts of women’s heart health aware­ness and research. Coca-Cola North America will also launch a nationwide program to help raise awareness and provide education about women’s heart disease among its own associ­ates. The month-long campaign will reach more than 5,000 associates through heart- health activities such as educational luncheons and on-site health screenings.

Legislating Liquids

Two Democratic representatives asked the Government Account­ability Offi ce to investigate what effect the bottled water indus­try has on consumer health and the environment. Albert Wynn (D-MD) and Hilda Solis (D-CA) noted that the bottled water mar-

ket has exploded while the U.S. has what they called “one of the safest supplies of tap water in the world.”

Their request also asked the GAO – which functions as the federal government’s internal watchdog – to in-

vestigate Environmental Protection Agency

standards and procedures regarding pollutants

in drinking water.

Hawaii may follow the example set by Chicago, which recently instituted a fi ve-cent per-bottle tax on bottled water. The bill currently before Ha­waiian legislators would expand Chicago’s precedent and levy a five cent surcharge on each bottle of water sold or produced in the state – though language in the bill would prevent any bottle from being taxed by the state twice. The IBWA has challenged Chicago’s law in court, and said Hawaii’s bill, which would take effect Oct. 1, would damage the econo­my and inhibit consumers’ ability to buy beverages free of sweeteners and artifi cial color and fl avorings.

From a regulation point of view, we’re going through a fairly hot period when it comes to the beverage industry. Here are some high­lights that we’ll be following:

Kentucky state representative Danny Ford (R-Mt. Vernon) introduced a bill that would ban the sale of energy drinks in his state to anyone under the age of 18. Ford said a student from Brodhead Ky. inspired the bill when he submitted his heart-rate-raising experience with an energy drink for a contest Ford called “It Ought to be a Law.”

Industry professionals said the bill unfairly targets energy drinks.

Ford said he received a positive response to the bill, which has been assigned to Kentucky’s Health and Welfare Committee, but has not yet been heard there.


OMG: It's OG's. Or Maybe Not.


We were all ready to tell you all about famous running back Jim Brown’s new beverage venture, OG Nation, but now we aren’t.

The company has switched over to a new moniker, Hall of Fame Beverages.

*nOte: APParentlY, there’S SOme SOrt Of laWSUIt gOIng On betWeen the PInK Sheet Shell COmPanY that baCKed

OG NatIOn and OGS themSelVeS.

But anyway, it looks like most of the drinks are the same. Hall of Fame is still promising a pair of truly Funkadelic energy SKUs in Atomic Dogg and Atomic Dogg Sugar Free. Most delightfully, however, there’s still the Larry Johnson Beverage Division, featuring Grandmama at his fi nest, dunking into a bottle of sweet tea.
We can’t wait. But we have a feeling we’ll have to.



Costco Gets into the Beer Business



Under its Kirkland Signature label, Costco has long sold dry and paper goods, as well as private label knockoffs of everything from pine nuts to paper towels.

But now the warehouse giant is moving into the beer game. The com­pany has been approved for sales of amber ale, pale ale and hefeweizen, along with a pilsner. Domestic brewer Gordon Biersch has signed on to product the brews.

While store-brand and generic beer has not been a winner in the past (who can forget generic yellow cans with “BEER” on the side) the upscale nature of Costco might be a good fit. The brewer has al­ready made beer for quirky gourmet house Trader Joe’s for several years.

Costco and Trader Joe’s both also sell private la­bel wines and sodas.


Nestle and Jamba go From Juice Bar to Your Store



Here’s one to watch: Nestle and Jamba Juice have announced a world­wide licensing agreement to produce and distribute a line of RTD beverages under the Jamba brand name.

The products will launch domestically in the spring of 2008 in a distinctly New Age package: Smoothies, which include low-fat milk, and Juicies, which include non-fat milk.

Both will contain vitamin and mineral boosts simi­lar to the ones added in to Jamba Juice products in their retail stores.

Jamba Juice has nearly 700 stores worldwide, while Nestle is one of the world’s largest food companies.