The latest food and beverage industry news and trend analysis

PLEZi Nutrition, a Public Benefit Company co-founded by former First Lady Michelle Obama, has relaunched "PLEZi Hydration" in collaboration with Stephen and Ayesha Curry. Positioned as an "elite performance" alternative to legacy sports drinks, the product utilises real fruit juice to deliver twice the electrolytes and seven times the potassium of category leaders without the use of added sugars or artificial colours.

Pepsi Global has unveiled the Pepsi Football Nation platform, a multi-year initiative designed to integrate the brand into the daily rituals and cultural conversations of global football fans. Supported by a high-profile roster including David Beckham and Vini Jr., the campaign utilises digital innovations.

Rockstar Energy is marking its return to NASCAR through a multi-faceted partnership with 23XI Racing and championship frontrunner Tyler Reddick. The move signals the start of a broader investment strategy into elite sports and music under the new "LIVE LOUD" brand identity, leveraging Reddick’s historic 2026 season start to drive cultural relevance and high-stakes brand visibility.

Minute Maid Spiked is capitalising on its 92% year-over-year growth by launching its first celebrity-led campaign featuring multi-hyphenate Action Bronson. The partnership reinforces the brand's "No Muss, No Fuss" positioning in the high-growth Alcohol Ready-to-Drink (ARTD) category, focusing on non-carbonated, juice-forward alternatives to traditional hard seltzers.

Barilla, the Official Pasta Partner of Formula 1®, is capitalising on the global surge in F1 viewership by launching "Barilla Racing Wheels," a special-edition pasta shape designed to merge high-performance sports licensing with the traditional "Domenica Italiana" (Italian Sunday) meal occasion.

Brooklyn Brewery is consolidating its award-winning "Special Effects" non-alcoholic line under the master "Brooklyn Brewery Non-Alcoholic" banner. The rebrand unifies the portfolio with style-led naming conventions and blue-coded packaging cues to simplify the consumer path to purchase in the rapidly growing, less than 0.5% ABV segment.

Nestlé UK and Ireland is expanding its Aero brand with a new Pistachio variant, timed to coincide with a high-profile partnership with the film The Devil Wears Prada 2. The launch leverages the global pistachio flavour trend and utilises a major on-pack promotion to drive cross-portfolio sales, targeting fashion-conscious consumers through high-value lifestyle prizes.

ezCater has transitioned from a catering marketplace to an enterprise-grade workplace food platform, launching a new brand identity developed with Koto and integrating deep-tier features like Slack connectivity and centralised reporting to serve multi-location organisations.