Milo's Tea Company has expanded its operations in Alabama, US, with the opening of a 150,000-square-foot refrigerated distribution centre off Lakeshore Parkway in Birmingham. Located near the company's manufacturing facility in Bessemer, the new site employs approximately 50 people and is expected to increase storage capacity while improving logistics, safety and distribution efficiency. The development is Milo's fourth major facility investment since 2020 and forms part of almost $400 million invested in its US manufacturing infrastructure since 2019. During this period, the family-owned refrigerated tea producer has more than tripled its production capacity in response to increased demand. Its investments include a $150 million manufacturing and distribution facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which opened in 2020, and a facility in the Spartanburg, South Carolina, area that opened in 2025 following an investment of more than $200 million. Milo's has expanded its original Bessemer production site from 30,000-square-feet to more than 200,000-square-feet. Together, the projects have created more than 500 jobs across Alabama, Oklahoma and South Carolina. Tricia Wallwork, chair and CEO of Milo’s, said: “This distribution centre isn’t just about adding square footage – it’s about improving safety and efficiency for our associates and logistics partners and deepening our commitment to our retail partners to deliver excellent on-time, in-full service.” The company said refrigerated infrastructure is central to its expansion because its freshly brewed tea products contain no preservatives, acids or dyes and must therefore be distributed through the cold chain.

Heineken Costa Rica has signed an agreement to acquire RainForest Water, a Costa Rican premium artesian water brand, through its subsidiary Distribuidora La Florida. Founded in Sarapiquí, RainForest Water bottles artesian water directly at its natural source and packages it in recyclable and reusable aluminium bottles. Its operations are powered by renewable energy and supported by initiatives focused on reforestation, forest conservation, biodiversity and community development. The acquisition is expected to provide RainForest Water with a platform to expand into new markets while retaining its focus on sustainability and reducing plastic use. Ariel Aizenman, founder and CEO of RainForest Water, said: “When we started this project, we wanted to demonstrate that a brand born in Costa Rica could compete with the best in the world. This agreement confirms that innovation, quality and purpose can transform a Costa Rican product into a brand of international value.” He added that the deal recognised the contribution of the company’s employees, customers, suppliers and partners to the development of the brand. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. Financial details were not disclosed.

The National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) has opened nominations for its 2026 Coffee Legend of the Year Award, which recognises long-standing leadership within the coffee services sector. The award is open to NAMA members who have contributed to the industry for at least ten years. Eligible nominees may include coffee service operators, roasters, manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, brokers and educators. Nominations should outline the individual's achievements, leadership and long-term influence, as well as their contribution to the wider convenience services industry. Christine Cochran, president and CEO of NAMA, said: “NAMA’s Coffee Legend of the Year Award recognises a person whose work elevates the entire coffee services ecosystem". “A Coffee Legend innovates, sets standards and opens doors for others. When you nominate someone, you’re helping spotlight the individuals whose contributions make a meaningful difference, not only in coffee service, but across the broader convenience services industry.” Jim Carbone, vice president of operations and coffee experience at WithMe and last year’s Coffee Legend recipient, added: “It celebrates the leaders whose passion and commitment keep coffee services advancing across convenience services, and being part of that legacy is something I’ll always be grateful for.” Nominations will close on 17 August 2026. The recipient will be recognised during NAMA’s Coffee Tea & Water event, taking place in Austin, Texas, from 18-19 November.

The South African Competition Commission has recommended approval of Coca-Cola HBC AG’s proposed acquisition of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA). The Commission announced that it has recommended that the Competition Tribunal approve the deal with conditions, concluding that the transaction is unlikely to substantially lessen or prevent competition in any relevant market. Coca-Cola HBC AG and Coca-Cola HBC Holdings BV intend to acquire CCBA, the largest Coca-Cola bottling operation in Africa. Coca-Cola HBC, headquartered in Switzerland and listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Athens Exchange, is an authorised bottler of the Coca-Cola Company’s brands across Europe, Eurasia and Africa. Its portfolio spans sparkling soft drinks, water, juice, sports and energy drinks, ready-to-drink tea, coffee and premium spirits. CCBA operates across the carbonated and non-carbonated soft drinks market in South Africa through authorised bottling subsidiaries producing and distributing Coca-Cola-branded beverages, as well as other licensed brands, including Monster Energy. Following its assessment, the Commission said the merger would not raise significant competition concerns. However, approval is subject to a series of public interest commitments agreed by the merging parties. These include a moratorium on merger-related retrenchments in South Africa, commitments to maintain historically disadvantaged persons and worker ownership levels, continued procurement from empowered suppliers, HDPs and small and medium-sized enterprises and investment in downstream distribution, retail operations and capital expenditure within the country. The parties have also committed to ensuring CCBA remains incorporated and headquartered in South Africa. In addition, Coca-Cola HBC has agreed to pursue a secondary inward listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. The Competition Tribunal will make the final decision on whether to approve the transaction.

Steve Davis The drive towards more sustainable packaging is transforming the food and beverage industry. As manufacturers replace traditional materials with lighter, recycled and fibre-based alternatives, they must balance environmental ambitions with the need to protect products, maintain production efficiency and meet increasingly stringent quality standards. Steve Davis, global director of product management at Industrial Physics, explores why testing has become essential to reducing risk, ensuring consistency and enabling manufacturers to innovate with confidence. Across the food and beverage sector, packaging is being asked to do more than ever before. It must preserve product quality, extend shelf life and maintain safety across complex supply chains, while meeting ambitious sustainability targets. This shift is changing the role packaging plays in production. The question is no longer whether a material is recyclable or renewable, but whether it can consistently deliver the performance required in real-world conditions. As sustainability strategies accelerate, packaging is becoming as much a performance challenge as it is an environmental one. For manufacturers, this introduces a new kind of risk. When packaging performance becomes less predictable, small variations can directly affect product integrity, operational efficiency and brand reputation. From material choice to product protection In food and beverage applications, packaging is not an isolated component; it is integral to product delivery. It must maintain barrier performance, ensure seal integrity and withstand the mechanical stresses of filling, transport and storage. Historically, conventional materials such as plastics have been optimised over decades to deliver consistent results across these conditions. Today, however, the introduction of new materials such as paper-based alternatives, higher recycled content and lightweighting strategies is changing how packaging behaves. It is important to recognise that paper is not a single, uniform material but a diverse group influenced by fibre source, processing methods, coatings and additives. When recycled content is introduced, variability increases further. Differences in fibre length, contamination levels and residual inks or adhesives can significantly affect mechanical and surface properties. As a result, packaging that performs well in development may behave unpredictably in production or distribution. This is the core challenge: sustainable materials can meet performance requirements, but with a narrower margin for error. In practical terms, performance is no longer guaranteed by material selection alone. It must be actively verified. Understanding performance in practice For food and beverage manufacturers, the key question is not how a material performs in isolation, but how it behaves in contact with the product and throughout its lifecycle. Small changes in packaging performance can have disproportionate effects. Variations in barrier properties can influence oxygen ingress or moisture transfer, affecting freshness and shelf life. In carbonated beverages, minor inconsistencies in strength and sealing can impact pressure retention. In chilled or temperature-sensitive products, packaging must maintain integrity despite environmental fluctuations. These are not hypothetical concerns. In high-speed production environments, even slight deviations can scale quickly into large volumes of compromised product, increasing the risk of waste or recalls. The challenge is not simply adopting more sustainable materials, but ensuring they perform reliably under real-world conditions. The limits of traditional quality checks Traditional quality control methods remain critical. Periodic sampling and laboratory-based testing provide highly accurate, standards-aligned measurements that underpin quality assurance and compliance. However, as production speeds increase and materials evolve, these approaches are difficult to rely on in isolation. Sampling provides a snapshot, although it may not capture short-term variations or process drift. In high-speed production environments, timing becomes as important as accuracy. By the time an issue is detected through end-of-line testing, it may already have affected significant production volumes. This does not diminish established methods but highlights the need to complement them with greater visibility into how performance evolves over time. Connecting measurement to performance To address this challenge, manufacturers are adopting more connected approaches to testing and quality control. Rather than treating measurements as isolated data points, connected systems link results across tests and align them with production conditions. This helps build a clearer picture of how performance is influenced by material characteristics and process variables. For example, seal strength can be correlated with dwell times or temperature profiles. Barrier performance can be assessed alongside material thickness or coating consistency. Dimensional characteristics can be linked to mechanical performance, such as pressure resistance or compression. This type of insight enables manufacturers to move beyond pass/fail assessments and understand the underlying drivers of performance. It also supports more targeted process optimisation, helping to maintain consistency even as materials and formats evolve. Closing the performance gap Sustainability will continue to reshape packaging, but its success depends on performance. Materials must not only meet environmental criteria, but deliver consistent, reliable protection. Closing this gap requires a shift in how packaging is evaluated – from a focus on material properties alone, to a broader understanding of performance in practice. Testing is no longer a supporting function. It is a critical enabler of product quality, operational efficiency and brand trust. For food and beverage manufacturers, sustainability ambitions must be matched with robust, data-driven testing strategies that ensure packaging performs as intended, every time and at scale.

US ready-to-drink protein beverage brand Splyt has expanded its portfolio with the launch of a limited-edition Banana Milk flavour, tapping into demand for nostalgic flavours within the functional beverage category. The product combines the taste of banana-flavoured milk with 20g of protein, 0g of sugar, 90 calories and 60mg of caffeine per shelf-stable can. It is made with lactose-free ultrafiltered milk. The launch is the latest addition to Splyt’s range of protein milk beverages, which includes Chocolate, Strawberry, Cookies & Cream, Peanut Butter Chocolate, Vanilla Milkshake and Max Chocolate varieties. Josh Mendenhall, co-founder and president of Splyt, said: "It delivers that familiar banana flavour people grew up with, but with 20g of protein, added energy and the bold experience Splyt is known for. It's playful, functional and built for how people actually drink today." Splyt’s Banana Milk is available exclusively through Amazon and TikTok Shop in the US while stocks last.

Nestlé has brought together its Aero and Milkybar brands in a new confectionery range launching across the UK and Ireland. The range combines Aero’s aerated chocolate texture with Milkybar white chocolate. It includes a bubbly sharing bar and a sharing bag of bite-sized pieces. Produced at Nestlé’s factory in York, the products are available in selected stores now, with the full range set to roll out nationwide from August. Rachel Beaufoy, marketing manager at Nestlé, said: “We’re very excited to see fan reactions to the team-up of two of our classic brands. The iconic Milkybar white chocolate combined with the signature Aero bubbles is a duo we know fans will love.” The launch follows several recent additions to Nestlé’s confectionery portfolio, including Aero Caramel flavour bubbles, an Aero Pistachio flavour sharing bar and Milkybar Crunchy Pops.

Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage has inaugurated its ‘largest and most advanced’ manufacturing facility in Asia, located in Tay Ninh, Vietnam. Opened on 10 July 2026, the company (a joint venture of beverage giants Suntory Japan and US-based PepsiCo) has made an investment of $300 million into the facility – its sixth manufacturing hub in the country. In a statement announcing the launch, Suntory PepsiCo said the milestone marks a key step forward in its growth journey and reflects its long-term commitment to building a ‘future-ready,’ technology-driven and sustainable business. The site is equipped with end-to-end automation and smart manufacturing systems across its operations, aiming to help the company serve customers faster and more efficiently. It includes Suntory PepsiCo’s first fully automated warehouse in Vietnam and the region, designed to boost safety, responsiveness and operational efficiency. Additionally, the LEED Gold-certified plant has been built with a sustainability-focused approach across operations, utilising biomass steam systems, solar energy, water reuse and zero-waste-to-landfill initiatives.

Major drinks manufacturers and grocery retailers have called on the Welsh government to appoint an administrator for Wales’ Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) by the end of July. Executives from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, PepsiCo, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Carlsberg Britvic, The Co-operative Group, Asahi UK and Highland Spring are among the signatories to a joint open letter addressed to First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth. The businesses are urging the government to appoint Exchange for Change, which was selected to administer the schemes in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland in May 2025. They argue that using the same organisation offers the most practical route to launching the Welsh scheme on schedule while ensuring compatibility with the rest of the UK. Wales’ DRS is due to launch on 1 October 2027. With less than 15 months remaining, the signatories warned that continued delays could make commercial and operational preparations more difficult, potentially increasing costs for businesses and consumers. They also raised concerns that Welsh consumers could be charged deposits on eligible drinks containers without having access to a functioning return network through which to reclaim their money. The inclusion of glass has been a point of contention in the development of the Welsh scheme. Industry representatives claimed that requiring full-scale glass collection at every return point from launch could add approximately 50p to the cost of each drink sold in a glass bottle. They said this could disproportionately affect smaller Welsh breweries and drinks manufacturers that rely on glass packaging. However, the letter welcomed the government’s manifesto commitment to bring glass into the scheme only when its inclusion becomes practically feasible. Exchange for Change’s appointment in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland unlocked more than £1 billion of industry investment, according to the letter. The schemes are expected to support more than 4,300 jobs. A spokesperson for Coca-Cola Europacific Partners said: “A well-run Deposit Return Scheme reduces litter, boosts recycling rates, reduces carbon emissions and creates a cleaner environment for communities – every week without a scheme administrator for the proposed Welsh scheme makes delivering those benefits more challenging". “Businesses want to focus on building a scheme that genuinely serves Welsh consumers and the environment. Therefore, we respectfully encourage the Welsh government to move forward with appointing a scheme administrator before recess.” The Co-operative Group said appointing Exchange for Change would help accelerate progress towards a circular economy while protecting the price and availability of drinks in Wales. Andy Bagnall, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association, said the new Welsh government had inherited the delays from the previous administration but still had time to deliver the scheme. “There is still time to deliver a scheme that works for shoppers, businesses and retailers alike, but that window is closing rapidly,” Bagnall commented. “Appointing Exchange for Change offers the quickest and most practical route to delivering the scheme on time and alongside the rest of the UK.” He added that the government should adopt a “pragmatic approach” to glass instead of requiring full-scale collection from the scheme’s first day.

Nichols and Myprotein have launched Myprotein Clear Whey Protein Water in the UK under a multi-year brand licensing agreement. Nichols will manufacture the new ready-to-drink product and distribute it through its nationwide UK retail network. The launch combines Myprotein’s expertise in sports nutrition with Nichols’ soft drinks manufacturing and distribution capabilities. The protein water is designed to offer consumers a lighter and more refreshing way to increase their protein intake during the day. It also marks Myprotein’s expansion into the ready-to-drink category and builds on its existing partnership with Nichols’ Vimto brand. Andrew Milne, CEO of Nichols, said: “Functional drinks are currently one of the most exciting growth areas in soft drinks, as consumers increasingly look for products that combine great taste, refreshment and added benefits". “Myprotein Clear Whey Protein Water has been developed to meet that demand, offering shoppers a lighter and more refreshing way to add protein into their day.” Neil Mistry, CEO of THG Nutrition, Myprotein's parent company, added: “More and more consumers are looking to boost their protein intake, and functional drinks are becoming an increasingly important way for them to do so.” Mistry described the product as a “natural next step” for the Myprotein and Vimto partnership, adding that it signals the sports nutrition brand’s planned expansion into the chilled and impulse retail channels.

Trash, a new functional beverage made from upcycled cacao fruit, has officially launched following its public debut at Taste of London, offering retailers and consumers a new take on sustainable hydration. Created by British entrepreneur and chocolatier Flo Broughton, founder of premium chocolate brand Choc on Choc, the new drink is made by rescuing the nutrient-rich pulp that surrounds cocoa beans, a part of the fruit that is typically discarded during chocolate production. According to the company, around 70% of the cacao fruit is currently wasted at source despite its naturally sweet flavour and nutritional profile. Trash aims to capture this overlooked ingredient by cold-pressing the fresh fruit into a lightly flavoured functional water. Each 250ml recyclable aluminium can contains 30% rescued cacao fruit, not from concentrate, and 70% water, with no added sugar. The drink delivers 40mg of vitamin C, 150mg of potassium and 28mg of magnesium, alongside naturally occurring electrolytes and antioxidants, while remaining low in calories. The resulting beverage offers a crisp, tropical flavour profile designed to appeal to consumers seeking naturally functional drinks with strong sustainability credentials. Broughton said: "I spent twenty years making chocolate before I really sat with the fact that we throw most of the fruit away. Once you have seen it, you cannot unsee it. Trash is my way of proving that trash can become treasure as we rescue this fruit. Farmers benefit too, earning around 30% more income per cacao pod when the whole fruit is used." The launch reflects growing momentum behind upcycled ingredients as food and beverage manufacturers seek to reduce waste while meeting consumer demand for products with measurable environmental benefits. The drink is Upcycled Certified and positions itself at the intersection of sustainability, natural hydration and functional nutrition. For Broughton, whose Choc on Choc brand has built national distribution across retailers including Selfridges, Waitrose, M&S, Ocado and Next, TRASH represents a move beyond confectionery into the rapidly expanding functional drinks category. The brand introduced the product to consumers at Taste of London in Regent's Park, where visitors sampled the beverage and learned more about the potential of cacao fruit as an underutilised food ingredient. Trash is available in a 250ml can with an RRP of £3.

Nestlé is investing CHF 563 million (approx. $696 million) into building a new Nescafé production facility in Thailand. The facility will also house an advanced, on-site distribution centre, set to enable shorter delivery times, improved inventory management and greater agility. Located in Thailand’s Samut Prakan province, the factory will manufacture a full range of products under the Nescafé brand, including soluble coffee, coffee mixes and ready-to-drink coffee beverages. It will be equipped with advanced automation technology and AI-enabled systems to boost efficiency, sustainability and product quality. This includes Nestlé’s latest next-generation coffee extraction and aroma recovery technology, which preserves the aromas released from roasted coffee and helps to deliver a fresher drinking experience. Automated systems and robotics will also be used to streamline packing, transport and inventory management at the site. The investment highlights the company’s commitment to Thailand’s coffee market, worth roughly $1.2 billion. Remy Ejel, executive vice president and CEO of Nestlé’s Zone Asia, Oceania and Africa, said: “Coffee is Nestlé's largest business globally, and Thailand is one of our biggest coffee markets.” “By investing in Nescafé, one of our most iconic global brands, we are strengthening our ability to meet growing consumer demand and ensuring local brand relevance to deliver consistent, volume-led growth.” Expected to begin operations in the second half of 2028, the facility will employ more than 500 people. Nestlé will work with Thai farmers and suppliers through use of local ingredients and raw materials, supporting the local economy and surrounding communities. The project has secured backing from Thailand’s Board of Investment due to its alignment with the country’s ambitions to promote a Bio-Circular Green economy. Nestlé has been present in Thailand for more than 130 years and is a major buyer of locally grown robusta coffee. The new factory builds on more than 40 years of support for Thai coffee farmers through the supply of coffee plantlets and programmes that promote regenerative agriculture and climate resilience.