Coca-Cola offered glimpse today of what looks to be sweeping reorg intended to flatten hierarchy while easing collaboration process across geographies and segments. "The company is building a networked global organization, combining the power of scale with the deep knowledge required to win locally," per announcement this morning. What's that mean in practical terms? All the answers aren't clear yet, but Atlanta giant is chopping out a layer of regional prexies in reporting structure, moving everything thru prexy/coo Brian Smith, ceo James Quincey's #2. What have been 17 biz units sitting under 4 geographical segments become 9 operating units sitting under 4 geographical segments. Also in mix before and after are Global Ventures, where co parks assets like Innocent juices and Monster Bev investment, and Bottling Investments, so-called "hospital ward" where troubled bottling assets are parked on way to being moved into hands of healthy franchise partner. Along the way, co will offer enhanced separation packages to 4K N Amer employees initially, followed by similar move overseas, with view to capturing savings that Morgan Stanley analysts pencil out around $450-600 mil, equivalent to 5-7.5% of Coke's estimated 2020 profit. KO will incur $350-450 mil in costs in doing so. This news comes on heels of announcement days back that N Amer prexy Jim Dinkins is retiring at age 58, succeeded by LatAm vet Alfredo Rivera (BBI, Aug 24).

Already postponed from initial May dates, Beverage Forum planned for Chicago on Oct 15-16 has been dropped, with cosponsors Beverage Marketing Corp and Beverage Industry magazine announcing May 11-12 as dates for event next year. "This was a tough decision and we are disappointed we won't be able to hold the event for the first time in 25 years but it was a necessary one for the safety and wellbeing of all our event participants," the partners said.

If you were on social media yesterday, you likely noticed it was National Dog Day, as so many pet owners showed pics of their pooches. To recognize dogs even more, Anheuser-Busch used occasion to roll out Busch Dog Brew. Busch Dog Brew's described as a "bone broth" that has "lots of nutrients," including bone-in-pork butt, whole corn, celery, basil, mint, turmeric and ginger. And hey, if your dog is feeling generous, it's safe to share with humans too. "After a long day there's nothing quite like having a Busch with a friend, and with so many new pet owners across America this year, we wanted to create a brew to give our fans a chance to share a Busch Brew with their 'best friend,'" said value brands vp Daniel Blake. Busch Dog Brew is available for online order only at $9.99 per 4-pk, and A-B will donate $1 for each case of six 4-pks sold (up to $50K) towards Best Friends Animal Society.

Are marketers willing to roll dice on a $5.5 mil 30-second spot for Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla, next Feb? "Let's assume it's happening" has been "the motto for advertisers looking to buy sports programming in the Covid era and is the current game plan for those planning to air commercials in the pinnacle of all live TV events," wrote Ad Age. While that price is in line with what Fox charged earlier this year, it's a big ask when no one can be certain if the Super Bowl - let alone the entire season - can be played. "It will either be least-watched Super Bowl of all time or most watched, and I don't think it will fall in the middle, so it's a big bet to take," said Rob Reilly, global creative chmn for McCann Worldgroup. CBS "is currently in serious conversations with a few brands," source told Ad Age, "however, few brands seem eager to strike deals just yet," noted mag. "One critical point of negotiations is flexibility, with CBS willing to give money back" to Super Bowl advertisers in case Super Bowl ends up canceled.

US beverage can production will top 100 bil cans this year vs 97 bil in 2019, Can Manufacturers Institute estimates, as reported this week in Wausau Daily Herald article called "Can Crunch." Everyone is scrambling. "We're working 24/7 to meet the unprecedented demand," CMI prexy Robert Budway said. "We'll be over 100 billion cans easily this year. If we keep going, we'll be producing at a level we haven't seen for many, many years, if ever," he added. Cans grew 5% in Q4 2019, 8% in Q1 2020. Cans up slightly less in Q2, Robert told BBI's sibling newsletter Insights Express, "attributed to lack of available capacity" during "high season." No 1 can maker Ball is working on expansion to add 6 bil cans, but that won't come online until end of 2021, Robert told paper. Overall, can mfrs will add 12 bil cans by next yr, institute told Wall St Jnl in another article this week.

Wnder CBD (sometimes styled W*nder) launched in Ohio by former BrewDog exec Tanisha Robinson has added craft beer house Cavalier to handle statewide DSD duties in Indiana. As reported, brand launched during Covid-19 pandemic has been taking deliberate tack, sticking to heartland region where consumers have fewer CBD bev choices and conserving capital (BBI, May 4). Tanisha told us today that brand is continuing slow build, finding sweet spots in non-alc cocktails served at on-premise accts in Ohio that want to stay open past mandatory 10 PM cutoff for serving alcoholic bevs and among spa and salon chains. She's eyeing Mich and Ill as next areas to recruit DSD partners . . . YaYaYa RTD yaupon tea is launching chainwide in Sprout's next month . . . Hudson News, which offers DSD services in Northeast to food/bev brands via infrastructure that brings magazines to retailers (BBI, Aug 19), has picked up Kitu Life Super Coffee as client, joining client roster that includes La Croix, Hint, OWYN and Celsius . . . Scottsdale, Ariz-based Alkaline Water Co said its Alkaline88, A88 Infused and A88CBD items have been picked up by Dot Foods, country's largest redistributor, effective Sep 21 as it seeks to boost presence in foodservice channel. Lineup includes new aluminum-bottle entry.

NY-based entrepreneurial duo that entered cocktail mixer space via brand called Be Mixed has made move into RTD with canned zero-sugar lemonade brand called Swoon, new moniker that was adopted across all the co's products in Mar. Swoon trademark had debuted last year for simple syrup launched by Be Mixed cofounders Cristina Ros Blankfein and Jennifer Ross as they considered moving beyond cocktails to other segments that might serve the two-thirds of Americans who're pre-diabetic and need to avoid sugar. "Our mission is to take sugar out of society," Cristina reminded in discussion yesterday. Once the Swoon brand panned out for the simple syrup, the cocktail mixers were cut over in late Mar, in multiserve bottles of Margarita, Ginger Lime (for mules) and Cucumber Mint (mojitos), all prominently labeled as "naturally zero sugar." And 2 weeks ago, Swoon Lemonade hit its first NY accts, on way to national rollout. Beyond marking co's move beyond mixers, Swoon Lemonade for first time puts co in higher-velocity RTD space. As it does so, it's recruited as advisor an entrepreneur who's been there, done that many times, Tom First, who cofounded Nantucket Nectars and lately has been a principal at private-equity firm Castanea Partners.

PepsiCo, already a "key sponsor" for Europe's biggest club competition, UEFA Champions League, for past 5 years, has now expanded to multi-year partnership with UEFA Women's football, "further strengthening its presence across the elite football landscape," co announced today. "This is an energizing moment in the evolution of the sport - and for our business around the world. We look forward to helping accelerate the vibrant women's game and are committed to the future of women's football," said Ram Krishan, global chief commercial officer. Five-year deal will make PEP a partner across all levels of UEFA Women's leagues, including UEFA Women's Champions League, UEFA Women's EURO, UEFA Women's Under-19 and Under-17 Championships, and UEFA Women's Futsal EURO, as well as UEFA's Together #WePlayStrong program, which is aimed at encouraging more girls and women to play football. (UEFA is regional administrator in Europe of soccer organizer FIFA.) "Having a major sponsor like PepsiCo sign on to UEFA Women's football is the influence and recognition women's football and its athletes and fans need and deserve," said Dutch star player Lieke Martens. "I've loved partnering with PepsiCo and their iconic brands like Lay's and look forward to how they'll spotlight women's football - because this is not just a version of the men's game, it's a league that's all its own." Men's competition just concluded this past weekend in spectator-less stadium in Lisbon with German powerhouse Bayern Munich edging out dominant French club Paris St-Germain 1-0.