PepsiCo started new year off strong and accelerated gains as coronavirus spread, albeit with some margin pressure as lucrative channels like foodservice and c-stores suffered traffic slowdown or entire shutdown. Net revenue rose 7.7% to $13.88 bil but operating profit contracted 4.2% to $1.92 bil. All reporting segments in key North American market scored gains as at-home snacking buoyed Frito-Lay, return of at-home breakfast occasion offered lift to Quaker Oats and pantry loading in US boosted PepsiCo Beverages North America. Overseas, the later onset of coronavirus impact in many developing markets kept things steady there for now. PBNA reported 7.3% sales gain to $4.84 bil tho operating profit contracted 23.7% to $297 mil. Given uncertainty surrounding pandemic, co said it's suspending financial guidance thru rest of year, as many CPG players have been doing.

Organic Valley evp marketing Lewis Goldstein, who earlier in career had long runs on Snapple and Sam Adams brands, is heading back from rural Wis to his native New England to accept cmo role at cannabis co Insa. Move, which concludes nearly 9-year run at dairy co-op based in La Farge, Wis, puts Goldstein in position of leading first concerted marketing effort at vertically integrated player whose name is portmanteau of indica and sativa cannabis strains. It currently doesn't play in bevs, but Lewis said that's certainly a possibility down the road as co pursues category's opportunities. At Organic Valley, Goldstein wielded wide range of marketing tactics to build awareness, from popup stores in urban centers that were manned by actual dairy farmers to "Save the Bros" campaign that went viral in its mock-earnest effort to wean workout junkies from reliance on brands like Muscle Milk in favor of OV's own Organic Fuel.

When confectionery giant Cadbury spun off its bev group in 2008, new team made much of fact that Snapple brand was so important to future that it would find a place right in the corporate moniker: Dr Pepper Snapple Group. But innovation sputtered and the tea/juice brand continued to lose ground for a decade to point that, when DPS was acquired by Keurig, nobody could have been surprised to see its name drop out of surviving entity Keurig Dr Pepper.

Prices of inputs often go up, but sometimes they go down, too. Here's a gentle warning we spotted on social media from Jewel Osco's dairy category mgr, Ian Neitzke:

Longtime bev advisor Greg Moore is taking somewhat contrarian approach to legions of sparkling-water-style CBD bevs via his own juice-based hemp CBD line called Tam. Glass-bottle line, named after his base in foothills of Mt Tamalpais in SF Bay Area, is comprised of 5 juice-based sku's each with 15 mg of organic full-spectrum hemp CBD along with complementary ingredient such as turmeric or L-theanine to yield a "CBD-plus" bev, Greg told us last week. While the juice content leaves most of the entries with calorie count of 45-110 calories per 12-oz bottle, beyond where some consumers prefer to go, it allows Tam to mask the challenging taste of full-spectrum hemp, more efficacious ingredient to which Moore believes consumers will be gravitating as they're educated about new category. (Coconut Melon sku called Miwok uses stevia to get down to 15 calories.) Formulation choice also enables brand to skirt the price battles of La Croix-like CBD waters and cold-brews vying at $3.99-4.99 per pack, in favor of more robust $6.99 SRP, which he expects to glide down to $5.99 as hemp CBD prices continue to descend. Tam has edged out since last summer to about 150 accts in NorCal, opened SoCal and was readying plans to tackle New England when virus shutdown put those on hold.

Nutrabolt continues to refine go-to-retail strategy for its C4 performance-energy drink while assessing dynamics of brand-new sibling drink, Smart Energy, that's finding spots nestled alongside it, including at Walmart. The launch marks key refinement of Austin-based co's strategy as it balances more workout-oriented "super-human performance" fostered by C4 with "super-brain performance" fostered by Smart Energy. As reported, zero-sugar Smart Energy contains 250 mg of Kirin's Cognizin form of citicoline to support mental acuity, along with 200 mg of naturally derived caffeine called InnovaTea that's made from fermented green tea leaves and 50 mg of N-acetyl L-tyrosine, another ingredient familiar to core Nutrabolt/C4 users from fitness realm (BBI, Feb 18). "Unleash your inner Einstein," Smart Energy promo exhorts.

Laird Superfood is latest plant-based bev play to draw investment from Danone Manifest Ventures. Venture arm of global dairy giant has committed $10 mil to co launched by big-wave surf icon Laird Hamilton and entrepreneur Paul Hodge and likely is best known for its MCT powdered creamers, per announcement yesterday. Laird Superfoods operates out of Sisters, Ore, where it produces the majority of products. It enters DMV portfolio that reflects Danone's efforts to promote sustainability and plant-based foods, including Harmless Harvest coconut water, Forager Project shakes, Halsa yogurt and Kona Deep water.