Rockies Brewing Co., Boulder, Colo., is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year by expanding its distribution to New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The East Coast will now get a chance to try the company’s Hazed & Infused Dry-Hopped Ale, MoJo India Pale Ale, Sundance Amber Ale, Pass Time Pale Ale and Planet Porter. Golden State Vintners last month settled a heated takeover battle by agreeing to a $111-million acquisition by The Wine Group.

The high price of milk might force Starbucks to implement its first system-wide price hike in four years, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Orin Smith told Reuters last month. For now, the company plans to absorb the cost increases, but it has indicated rising dairy costs are a negative factor in otherwise strong results.

PepsiCo has extended its partnership with the National Football League through the 2011 season. PepsiCo will become an advertiser on the NFL Network, increase media spending on game telecasts, and continue to promote NFL calendar events.

The company also will continue to have rights to all NFL trademarks and the collective use of the 32 NFL teams for its Pepsi, Tropicana and Frito-Lay products. PepsiCo’s Gatorade division has a similar agreement with the NFL, which also runs through 2011.

The Gambrinus Co., San Antonio, Texas, and Trumer Brauerei, Obertrum, Austria, recently announced the creation of Trumer International, and Gambrinus has begun distributing Trumer Pils in South Carolina. The companies will develop a dedicated brewery for the Trumer products in Berkeley, Calif., that is expected to open this summer.

During its recent shareholders meeting, Cott Corp. awarded its sixth annual Gerald N. Pencer Award for Excellence in Innovation to its Bentonville and Sikeston teams for the launch of the Kid Connection line of products for Wal-Mart. The award, named for Cott’s late chairman and chief executive officer, includes a prize of $10,000; $5,000 in Cott stock and $5,000 in cash. The company reported record results for 2003, and first-quarter 2004 sales that were 26 percent higher than the same period last year.

Shaw-Ross International Importers, Miramar, Fla., has become the exclusive distributor of Liquid International Premium Spirits’ Sol Dios Tequila, NapaSaki Sake, Liquid Ice Vodka and Kensington London Dry Gin.

The International Bottled Water Association announced the theme of its 46th Annual Convention and Trade Show will be “Uncap the Future”. The meeting will be held in conjunction with BevExpo, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Tampa, Fla.

Crescent Crown Distributing recently purchased Miller and Coors distributor Pearce Beverage Co., Phoenix, Ariz. Pearce will continue to operate under its current name, and the sale does not include the new 284,000-square-foot distribution center in Phoenix.

Allied Domecq recently announced “first choice supplier” agreements with National Distributing Co. in Colorado and Southern Wine & Spirits in Arizona, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The distributors will have exclusive distribution rights to Allied Domecq’s wine and spirits brands in their respective states. “Allied Domecq’s long-term ‘First Choice Supplier’ agreement…features a new way of partnering with our exclusive distributors, including state-of-the-art performance assessments, increased investment in market spending and more ‘feet on the street’ than any other sales force in the marketplace,” Allied Domecq said in a statement.

A new book titled “Blood & Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel” tells the life story of the founder of one of the industry’s best-known brands. Author Peter Krass depicts Jack Daniel as a “charismatic distiller with a penchant for diamonds and young ladies”, and explores the reasons behind the name Old No. 7, the politics of the time and Daniel’s marketing savvy. The book, which began shipping last month, was published by John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, N.J., and sells for $24.95.

ChampionLyte Beverages Inc., Miami, recently announced a new long-term distribution agreement with Miami-based Havana International Inc. and FTZ Ship and Duty Free Supplies Inc. for a minimum of 18,000 cases per month of its sugar-free ChampionLyte. The company says the new deal is the largest contract order for the product in its history. Havana will distribute ChampionLyte to 16 states, cruise ships, sea stores, duty-free stores and U.S. military accounts.

It’s competition season in the beverage industry,
and both brewers and distillers recently stepped out to collect awards. The Association of Brewers recognized brewers in 81 styles of beer in the Brewers World Cup, held in San Diego, and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition ranked products in 60 categories of distilled spirits.

Held every two years, the World Beer Cup saw a record number of entries in 2004, with 1,566 beers from 393 brewers in 40 countries. The hefeweizen category scored the highest number of entries per category with 56 competitors.

“As this competition grows, we are seeing the diversity of the competition and the pride of winning grow as well,” said Charlie Papazian, president of the Association of Brewers, in a statement. “It is truly international when a brewer from Nicaragua competes in the same category as German, Czech and Korean brewers and wins.”

A little farther north, in San Francisco, judges tasted 454 spirits from 40 countries in a competition modeled after the San Francisco International Wine Competition. The San Francisco World Spirits Competition experienced a 10 percent increase in the number of entries this year, and awarded 59 Double Gold Medals, 65 Gold Medals, 141 Silver Medals and 125 Bronze Medals.

World Beer Cup Winners Small Brewing Company (1-15,000 barrels per year) Oggi’s Pizza and Brewing Co., San Clemente, Calif. Mid-Size Brewing Company (15,001-2,000,000 barrels per year) Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, Calif. Large Brewing Company (More than 2,000,000 barrels per year) Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, Wis. Small Brewpub (1-1,200 barrels per year) Laurelwood Pub & Brewery, Portland, Ore. Large Brewpub (More than 1,200 barrels per year) Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, Calif.

2004 San Francisco World Spirits Competition Best of Show Awards

DISTILLER OF THE YEAR Johnnie Walker WHITE GOODS Tanqueray Gin BROWN GOODS Bowmore 25 Year Old Single Malt Scotch CATEGORY WINNERS Vox Vodka Classic Shakers Rose Flavored Vodka Linie Aquavit Malibu Mango Flavored Rum Matusalem Gran Reserva Rum El Tesoro Reposado Tequila Old Forester Small Batch Bourbon Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey King's Crest Blended Scotch Whisky Johnnie Walker Green Label Scotch Vatted Malt Richard Hennessy Cognac Marquis de Montesquiou Vintage 1965 Armagnac Christian Drouin Coeur de Lion Vintage 1963 Calvados Valentin Tomato Viski Grand Marnier Cuvée du Centenaire, 100th Anniversary Bottling Bushmills Irish Cream