The latest food and beverage industry news and trend analysis

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.

Brand Licensing Europe (BLE), in partnership with License Global, has announced its "call for speakers" for the event’s 2026 edition, seeking expert insights across five key pillars: Sports, Fashion, Food and Beverage, Retail, and Trend and Future, to drive the 2026 program.