Content about Coca-Cola

ATLANTA — Three years after purchasing a minority stake in Honest Tea, an organic bottled tea company, Coca-Cola said it has exercised its option to acquire the remaining portion of the company.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Coca-Cola did note that Honest Tea would continue its operations outside of Bethesda, Md., and will continue to operate as a stand-alone business. Honest Tea will be led by current CEO Seth Goldman, his management team and current Honest Tea employees.

ATLANTA — Expect to see Heinz in a whole new way.

The company said it has entered a strategic partnership with Coca-Cola to implement the soft drink giant's PlantBottle packaging in the production of its Heinz Ketchup bottles. PlantBottle packaging is made of PET plastic bottles that are fully recyclable and use less nonrenewable resources than traditional PET plastic bottles, according to the companies. Heinz said the adoption of the PlantBottle technology will be the biggest change to its iconic ketchup bottles since they first introduced plastic in 1983.

PLANO, Texas — Earnings per share for Dr Pepper Snapple Group increased 5 cents to 49 cents, compared with the year-ago period, thanks to an increase in consumer spending and new licensing agreements with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

WASHINGTON — The American Beverage Association announced that consumers across the United States soon will find new front-of-pack labels on their favorite beverages as part of an effort by America's leading nonalcoholic beverage companies to bring the Clear on Calories initiative to stores.

ATLANTA — A Minute Maid product has achieved $1 billion in sales worldwide.

Coca-Cola, which owns the Minute Maid brand, reported that Minute Maid Pulpy marked the first Coca-Cola brand that was launched in an emerging market — the drink was launched nationally in China in 2005 — to reach the billion-dollar mark.

Last year, Minute Maid Pulpy was introduced in Algeria, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, followed by rollouts in Mexico and Kazakhstan.

LONDON — The Advertising Standards Authority, an agency that regulates ads in Britain, said that Coca-Cola needs to stop running certain claims for its Vitaminwater brand.

According to published reports, the agency said that Coca-Cola described the flavored water drinks as "delicious and nutritious" in ads that ran last year. The Advertising Standards Authority said that Vitaminwater's drinks contain 4 tsp to 5 tsp of sugar, and did not qualify to tout the "nutritious" claim.

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola is looking to spread holiday cheer by asking consumers to donate their My Coke Rewards points to help generate gifts for unprivileged children.

By logging onto MCR.com/holiday, registered My Coke Rewards members can donate their points to Toys for Tots by entering codes found on 13 participating Coca-Cola products. The points will be awarded to Toys for Tots. Coca-Cola also is donating $120,000 to Toys for Tots; the money will be divided between eight cities across America.

PITTSBURGH — Chinese retailer Bright Food Group is looking to potentially grow its portfolio with the acquisition of specialty retailer GNC, according to several reports.

The Bright Food Group acquisition would be backed by Hony Capital, one of China’s biggest buyout firms. What's more, the global buyout firm the Blackstone Group is expected to join Hony in backing Bright Food Group’s potential GNC bid, published reports have noted.

ATLANTA Coca-Cola is beefing up its noncarbonated beverage portfolio with four new varieties of Fuze and Gold Peak teas.

According to published reports, Fuze raspberry and unsweetened green tea should be available by December, with green tea and tropical versions of Gold Peak available early next year.

WHITESTONE, N.Y. Coca-Cola has unveiled a new Vitaminwater drink, which is enhanced with vitamin D.

Vitaminwater Stur-D, a blue agave, passion fruit and citrus-flavored blend, is the first enhanced water and juice beverage to include vitamins C and D and calcium, Coca-Cola said.

NEW YORK Revlon has hired Julia Goldin as SVP and global chief marketing officer, overseeing all marketing activities for its portfolio of brands, including Revlon, Almay Revlon ColorSilk, Revlon beauty tools and Mitchum.

Goldin, who has more than 20 years of experience within the consumer packaged goods industry, most recently served as SVP and deputy chief marketing officer of Coca-Cola Japan, where she oversaw the company's coffee business. Prior to that, she led Coca-Cola's marketing in the United Kingdom and later in northwest Europe.