Pepsi Bottling Group to make, sell Crush in U.S.
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- August
- 22
Pepsi Bottling Group of Somers will manufacture and distribute Orange Crush and its related brands at PBG operations nationally under a licensing deal the bottler announced yesterday with Crush’s owner, Dr Pepper Snapple Group in Plano, Texas.
Crush has been around since 1906, but it is not a large brand. It accounted for just 15 million cases out of 10 billion cases of soft drinks sold last year, said John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest in Bedford Hills.
Distribution currently is spotty around the country, but that’s likely to change with yesterday’s announcement, he said. Pepsi Bottling Group has operations in all or part of 41 states and the District of Columbia. The licensing deal gives PBG a perpetual right to the brand in about 80 percent of its territories.
“They get a small but well-known flavored soda brand, which has good potential for growth,” Sicher said.
Crush is available in less than 40 percent of the U.S. market, but the deal will nearly double that penetration, Pepsi Bottling Group said. Distribution will start in 2009. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The company already makes and distributes Crush in Canada.
“Our success with the Crush brand in Canada makes us feel good about the outlook in the U.S.,” PBG spokesman Jeff Dahncke said.
Orange and grape flavors account for a 5 percent share of the U.S. carbonated soft drink market, the company said. PBG, the world’s largest distributor of PepsiCo Inc. soft drinks, also distributes Dr Pepper.
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on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 1:00 pm by Jerry Gleeson.
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Category: Contract, Corporate doings
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