Bev sales growth "remains relatively soft at about 3-4% in Q2," wrote Bonnie Herzog of Wells Fargo Securities, with non-alc bevs up "only 2.4%." Those estimates are based on WFS' survey of c-store execs representing 15K locations around US. Even with gas prices at 12-year low for July 4 weekend, total bev sales rose just 3% vs gains near 5% in 2016, and 7% in 2015, noted Bonnie. Slow traffic in c-stores, cited by PepsiCo in its Q2 call, was also noted by "several large retailers" in this survey as well. These retailers commented that "gas volume is up," while customers were making "fewer visits inside the store," noted Bonnie. "Overall we have concerns about recent c-store traffic comments," but she believes that, over long term, c-store channel "represents a significant opportunity for beverage manufacturers, and are encouraged by strong sales trajectory of several categories and manufacturers."

Newly integrated with core soup-and-snacks company, Campbell Soup's Campbell Fresh div is revving up innovation engine as it puts Bolthouse Farms production snafus behind it and sets robust innovation pipeline to enter new segments and seeks the right acquisitions. At Investor Day proceedings, C-Fresh chief Ed Carolan described agile process to develop ideas that will see 6 early-stage projects proceeding in any given year, 3 of them moving into small test and one to broad launch. At same time, execs are keeping eyes peeled for right acquisition opportunities. "We remain committed to external innovation," he vowed, even as co scrambles to build capacity and iron out quality issues that bedeviled C-Fresh over past year.

Back when Campbell Soup acquired Bolthouse Farms in 2012, managers at corporate hq in Camden, NJ, vowed that they'd rarely be seen at Bolthouse's West Coast operations so as not to squelch entrepreneurial agility of hoped-for growth engine. Major quality snafus on both the bev and carrot sides soon enough put an end to that: after a thorough exec housecleaning, unit dubbed Campbell Fresh now has been settled mainly by Campbell hands with years at the mother ship. So does that mean that CPB's vow to maintain Bolthouse's small-company virtues has proved meaningless? Not at all - because Campbell Soup now views itself as a small company, the "the biggest small food company" in words of Mark Alexander, who runs its shelf-stable soups and V8 juice drinks.

PepsiCo announced today that Ramon Laguarta, currently ceo of its Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA) region, will take over as prexy, position empty for nearly 3 years now, as Wall Street Journal reminded. Ramon, who joined PEP 21 yrs ago, will focus on handling global category groups, global operations, its corp strategy as well as public policy and gov't affairs issues, continuing to report directly to chmn/ceo Indra Nooyi. His ESSA position will be filled by Laxman Narasimhan, currently ceo of Latin America, who will now oversee food/bev operations in both geographies. Laxman joined PEP 5 yrs ago from McKinsey & Co. PEP is also adding to responsibilities of Silviu Popovici, prexy of Russia, Ukraine and CIS, who will now be prexy of ESSA.

Infrastructure put into the ground to support a roughly 70% increase in annual US hop supply created a market that's currently oversupplied and will need to correct itself, Brewers Assn economist Bart Watson explained during CollabHour presentation last wk. And while stocks held by growers and dealers continue to expand, brewers seem to be slightly reducing hop usage and using a wider variety of products like oils and powders, he showed. Meanwhile, a "better, not bumper" barley crop helped stabilize pricing, but weather impacts can change the picture quickly. Be prepared for fluctuations, Bart advised.

AB is shutting down Platform's local production facilities and a couple more taprooms amid continued declines, according to reports by Cleveland.com and Cleveland Scene. And co's reducing Platform's production to just 3 core IPA brands, a Platform spokesperson separately shared with CBN.

Cold-brew seems to rapidly be becoming private-label mainstay at retailers, with Wawa latest to throw hat in ring. C-store operator based in Wawa, Penn, is launching Wawa Cold Brew in traditional black and sweet cream versions in all its stores, both in 16-oz and 24-oz sizes. Traditional sku is unsweetened entry made from just coffee slow-steeped in water. "Keeping up with consumer trends and customer demand has been part of Wawa's culture since the very beginning," said Mike Sherlock, chief fresh food & beverage officer. "So, it was only natural for us to make this new, delicious addition to our growing list of hand-crafted specialty beverages that already includes smoothies, frozen cappuccinos, iced and hot lattes, and more" . . . JAB, which has assembled coffee portfolio to rival that of Starbucks, has closed on its acquisition of fast-casual chain Panera Bread. It joins JAB portfolio that includes controlling stakes in Keurig Green Mountain, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), Peet's Coffee & Tea, Caribou Coffee, Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, and Scandinavia's Espresso House.

Under new prexy/ceo John LeBoutillier, Harvest Hill Beverage continued to shuffle assignments, promoting sales svp David Champlin to prexy of sales, managing staff of 40 that's pitching diversified portfolio that includes Juice Juice, Sunny D, Little Hug, Daily's Cocktails, Veryfine and Nutrament brands. Champlin, who spent dozen years at Nestle Waters USA after previous runs at Mott's and Veryfine, was recognized for his "seasoned, mature leadership" in his 3 years with Harvest Hill, which is funded primarily by PE shop Brynwood Partners. Also getting a bump up is Bean Kingsbury, now evp responsible for Harvest Hill's national accounts. Before joining Greenwich, Conn-based Harvest Hill earlier this year she'd worked at Impact Confections.