Content about Coca-Cola

ATLANTA — Coke Zero has seen double-digit sales growth over the last five years, according to the company, and Coke is hoping to increase those numbers even more this summer with the release of Caffeine Free Coke Zero.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens is opening its latest New York flagship store in the Empire State Building, the retail pharmacy chain said Friday.

The store, scheduled to open Saturday at 10 a.m., will include an enhanced pharmacy designed to encourage greater interaction between pharmacists and patients, a health guide to help customers find health-and-wellness products and healthcare services ranging from immunizations to health tests. An "Ask Your Pharmacist" desk, private consultation rooms and Express Rx kiosks are included as well.

NEW YORK — Costco will replace Coke with Pepsi at its in-store lunch counters, according to published reports.

Costco will start selling Pepsi instead of Coca-Cola products at its food courts starting in April, news media reported. Stores in two of its eight regions already had switched to Pepsi. The company has long sold a $1.50 hot dog-and-soda combination meal at its stores.

According to reports, the switch was not related to a dispute between Costco and Coca-Cola in 2009, when the club retailer temporarily stopped carrying Coke products in its stores.

ATLANTA – Coca-Cola and Sanofi are partnering to launch a line of "beauty drinks" in France under the Oenobiol Beautific brand. The drinks claim to "help strengthen hair and nails, embellish skin, lose weight and improve vitality."

The beauty drinks will be sold in a "small scale pilot" to a limited number of pharmacies in the country, according to a statement from the Coca-Cola business unit in France. Coca-Cola declined to provide further details.

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola has announced new leadership appointments to support the company's new global operating structure.

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola has streamlined its operating structure and the senior leaders for those businesses, the company said.

Effective Jan. 1, 2013, Coca-Cola will organize around three major operating businesses: Coca-Cola International — which will consist of the company's Europe, Pacific and Eurasia and Africa operations; Coca-Cola Americas — which will consist of the company's North America and Latin America operations; and the Bottling Investments Group, which oversees the Coca-Cola-owned bottling operations outside of North America.

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola is giving fans a chance to get an insider's look at Team USA through its London 2012 Olympic Games campaign.

CHICAGO — Coca-Cola announced it will distribute a dairy product that is produced and marketed by Fair Oaks Farms Brands, a collective of American family farmers.

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola’s Honest Tea brand began the rollout of its Not Too Sweet Tea, a traditional sweet tea with 40% less sugar and calories than the leading sweet teas. The new addition to Honest Tea’s lineup is brewed with organic black tea leaves and is sweetened with “just a tad” (25 g) of organic cane sugar and organic stevia. Each 16.9-fl.-oz. bottle contains 100 calories, compared with leading brands of sweet tea, which contain an average of 43 g of sugar and 174 calories per 16.9-fl.-oz. bottle.

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola reportedly is gearing up to roll out mid-calorie beverages in select markets.

Scott Williamson, a Coca-Cola spokesman, was quoted as saying that the beverages, which will be marketed under the Sprite and Fanta brands, is "a limited test of new formulations to see if they might appeal to consumers."

Carbonated beverage sales may be flat, but new low- and no-calorie introductions, and a bigger marketing spend, could mean the category may have some sparkle left.

PepsiCo is poised to roll out Pepsi Next, a soft drink with 60% less sugar than original Pepsi, designed to appeal to consumers who want the taste of a full-calorie cola but with reduced sugar. The company also is putting hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising behind its carbonated beverage brands in an effort to grab share from archrival Coca-Cola.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Diet Coke brought its heart health awareness program The Heart Truth to The Ohio State University for a fashion show.

First Lady of Ohio Karen Kasich joined Diet Coke, OSU student leaders and community representatives at the event, which provided a platform for the community to “show their heart” while demonstrating a personal commitment to heart health education.

At the conclusion of the show, Diet Coke presented a $5,000 check to the Columbus Black Nurses’ Association in support of community heart health programs.