Nov. 17, 2010 at 1:15 p.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
By Wailin Wong
(Associated Press)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned four makers of alcoholic energy drinks on Wednesday that their products could be seized if they continue to combine caffeine and alcohol in their beverages.
The move by the FDA, which described caffeine as an “unsafe food additive” in malt alcoholic beverages, was anticipated by at least one company – Chicago-based Phusion Projects, which manufactures Four Loko. The company announced Tuesday that it is removing caffeine and two other ingredients from its products. Get the full story »
Nov. 17, 2010 at 6:05 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
By Associated Press
The Chicago-based manufacturer of popular caffeinated alcohol drink Four Loko said Tuesday it will remove the caffeine from its products, pulling the blend off the market just as the Food and Drug Administration is poised to ban it.
Phusion Projects said in a statement posted on its Web site that the company will remove caffeine and two other ingredients from its products going forward. The announcement came as the FDA is expected to find as early as Wednesday that caffeine is an unsafe food additive to alcoholic drinks. That finding essentially would ban Four Loko and other drinks like it.
Nov. 16, 2010 at 1:43 p.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Four Loko, Joose and other caffeinated alcoholic drinks will effectively be banned soon by federal regulators due to rising concerns that they are dangerous, U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer announced Tuesday. Get the full story »
Nov. 16, 2010 at 5:55 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
By Reuters
Sara Lee Corp. will not rush to make acquisitions in the U.S. coffee market, even as it revamps its business to focus on coffee and meat, its interim chief executive said.
Speculation about deals in the U.S. coffee business has circulated since earlier this month when Starbucks Corp said it wanted to end its distribution deal with Kraft Foods Inc, which has sold bagged Starbucks coffee at supermarkets for the past 12 years. Get the full story »
Nov. 14, 2010 at 8:46 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Beverages,
Food
By Associated Press
The maker of a caffeinated alcoholic drink that has been banned in four states has agreed to stop shipments to New York state.
Gov. David Paterson and the State Liquor Authority announced the agreement Sunday with Chicago-based Phusion Projects, which makes the drink Four Loko, and with the state’s largest beer distributors to stop selling caffeinated alcoholic beverages. Get the full story »
Nov. 12, 2010 at 6:08 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
By Dow Jones Newswires
Starbucks Corp. plans to launch coffee machines in the U.S. to ensure growth in the consumer packaged goods market.
The Seattle-based coffee chain is looking to expand its presence in the U.S. consumer packaged goods arena and will sell single-service coffee machines and instant coffee pods to accompany them, Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said in an interview Friday. The timeline for the product’s rollout hasn’t yet been determined, Schultz said. Get the full story »
Nov. 10, 2010 at 1:24 p.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Regulations
Seattle Times | Washington state’s Liquor Control Board on Wednesday banned of caffeinated alcohol drinks, the type of beverage that sickened nine Central Washington University students last month during an off-campus party.
Nov. 5, 2010 at 11:54 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Retail,
Updated
By Emily Bryson York
(Charles Osgood/Chicago Tribune)
Kraft is apparently steamed by Starbucks’ announcement that it plans to fire the company as its grocery store distributor.
On Thursday night, Kraft Foods Inc. said its agreement to supply packaged Starbucks coffee to grocery stores “is perpetual…if Starbucks decides to exit its relationship with Kraft Foods, the agreement requires Starbucks to pay Kraft Foods the fair market value of the business plus, in certain instances, a premium.”
Starbucks fired back today with a company statement saying, “We consider it unfortunate that Kraft has chosen to make public statements that we believe mischaracterize the nature of the agreement between our companies, including the term of the agreement.” The statement went on to note that the companies’ agreement contains a clause for the resolution of disputes. Both companies maintain that regardless of how their relationship is terminated, customers shouldn’t expect service interruptions.
Get the full story »
Nov. 5, 2010 at 8:43 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Chicago-based BDT Capital LLC has purchased City Beverage, Chicago’s largest wholesaler of Budweiser, Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch beers, for an undisclosed sum. Get the full story >>
Nov. 4, 2010 at 10:23 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs,
Management
By Reuters
(Reuters)
Four years ago, generous benefits and opportunities for advancement convinced Leigh Swanson to use her new master’s degree in human resources to manage a Starbucks cafe. She called it one of the best workplaces she had ever experienced.
Then, in 2007, with the coffee chain in the midst of a building binge, the worst downturn since the Great Depression hit, hammering Starbucks’ bottom line. Sharp cost-cuts, the introduction of corporate efficiency tools like scheduling software and an increased emphasis on pushing product sales have helped the company return to record profitability.
They also led Swanson to quit in May. The disappearing perks and the financial fixes dampened her enthusiasm for recruiting potential new partners, as Starbucks calls its employees. “I found it really sad. I was really invested,” said Swanson, who was in charge of a Starbucks in the Florida Panhandle. “I just didn’t feel proud anymore. I wasn’t in it to manage a McDonald’s.” Get the full story »
Nov. 4, 2010 at 6:04 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Restaurants
By Associated Press
Burger King is looking to put some pep into its new breakfast push by giving out free cups of coffee every Friday morning this month. The goal is to promote the company’s new breakfast menu, which rolled out in September. The company launched a major marketing blitz, with the aim of eating up some of McDonald’s market-leading morning business. Get the full story »
Nov. 3, 2010 at 7:18 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Earnings,
Food
By Emily Bryson York
MillerCoors said cost cuts and price increases helped it improve third-quarter profit 36 percent despite soft sales in a “sluggish U.S. beer market.” Excluding special items, net income increased to $334 million from a year ago. Get the full story »
Nov. 2, 2010 at 3:39 p.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Stock activity
By Reuters
Barry Diller, chief executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp, spent $7.4 million on 120,000 more shares of Coca-Cola Co, according to a securities filing made public on Tuesday. Get the full story »
Oct. 28, 2010 at 10:40 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Earnings
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Some of Fortune Brands' products. (Candice C. Cusic/Chicago Tribune)
Fortune Brands touted the “value proposition” of remaining a diversified company Thursday but said it’s open to meeting with all its investors, including hedge fund manager William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, which has taken a 10.9 percent stake in the company.
“We’re open to constructive discussion with all our shareholders and that includes Pershing Square,” Chief Executive Bruce Carbonari said. “Our board is very engaged and very involved and along, along with management, at looking at how our business is structured.”
Added Craig Omtvedt, chief financial officer, “We’re pretty relaxed. We look forward to having a dialogue with Ackman and his team as much as we do anybody else.” Get the full story »
