Challenges and Opportunities Focus of Beverage Forum 2009

Representatives of beverage companies big and small converged on New York City for the opening of this year's Beverage Forum. This year's Forum was notable for taking place during one of the most challenging economic environments most participants could recall in their lifetimes.

Nevertheless, the word from many of the speakers at this year's Forum, which took place in New York's Waldorf=Astoria Hotel, is that beverage companies should be grateful that they are part of a vibrant industry that is holding its own overall despite the challenging times.

"I fundamentally believe we are in the best industry in the world," said Neville Isdell, chairman, The Coca-Cola Co, who was presented with the Forum's 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award. Isdell said if he had the chance to live his life over again, he'd do it exactly the same way, working at Coca-Cola. "I want to see this industry grow and grow and grow. That's what will make me happy," he said.

He then went on to say that we should be looking at these challenging times as an opportunity to grow our businesses. "These are the times that you build your market share," he said.

Among the Forum's other notable events:

- David Peacock, president and CEO of Anheuser-Busch Cos., shared his insights about the integration of Beligum-based InBev with A-B and opportunities for A-B brands in the US market.

- During a panel discussion about the successful strategies of beverage entrepreneurs, several leading innovators --- Scott Henderson, president, 5 Hour Energy, Mark Rampolla, founder and CEO of Zico Pure Coconut Water and Greg Pickett, founder and CEO of CytoSport, maker of Muscle Milk --  agreed that while a great product and great strategies could get a company through the door, distribution is key to getting to the next level.

- A panel of Wall St. financial analysts discussed the strong possibility of the eventual merger of a major alcohol company with a non-alcohol one in the US. They also said the move by PepsiCo to merge with its anchor bottlers made sense in a market they described as "dysfunctional, with overlapping and conflicting routes to market."

- And finally, CytoSport/Muscle Milk was named the Forum's Small Company of the Year and Hansen Natural was named the Large Company of the Year.