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Operating in a business model where customer service is key, contract manufacturers have adapted their business models to best serve their customers. For some, that means helping customers deliver their products; for others it means helping beverage-makers refine their formulations. But for all contract manufacturers one value is paramount: to provide their clients with best-in-class service.

In 1999, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a health claim allowing soymilk manufacturers to state that consuming 25 grams of soy protein in a diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, says Virginia Lee, senior research analyst at Chicago-based Euromonitor International. This claim boosted the popularity of soymilk, and it continues to be the most popular dairy alternative beverage today, she says. However, the research firm estimates that sales of soymilk declined 5.8 percent from $981 million in 2009 to $924 million in 2010, and another 8.5 percent in 2010 reaching $846 million in 2011.

Imagine opening a cooler full of bottled soft drinks, water and beer only to find the labels peeling off or disintegrating. Labels are expected to hold up against environmental factors like water, ice and hot or cold temperatures. When they don’t, it can reflect poorly on the product. And if this happens at retail, it could even deter a consumer from purchasing the product.

For beverages, colors can play a crucial role when it comes to shelf appeal. They can help grab a consumer’s attention as well as correspond to the flavor and branding of a beverage. In addition, as beverage-makers seek more natural ingredients to be able to provide clean label statements, the search for colors that can deliver on all of those requests has helped spark innovation among ingredient suppliers.

Completed annually, Beverage Industry’s medium- and heavy-duty truck roundup, which consists of Classes 4 through 8, is a compilation of vehicle offerings suited to beverage industry applications. Highlighted as follows is an overview of model year 2012 trucks and selected vehicle specifications.

Rodney Sacks, chairman and chief executive officer of Hansen Natural Corp., Corona, Calif., in conjunction with his executive team comprised of Hilton Schlosberg, vice chairman and president of Hansen Natural, and Mark Hall, president of Monster Beverage Co., lead the company once known solely for its namesake natural beverages to international growth as the producer of one of the top-selling energy drinks on the market.

With about 20 years of experience in the industry, Ben Weiss has learned a lot about the coffee business, and particularly about the outer fruit of the coffee bean. Weiss’ knowledge of the coffee fruit as well as his appreciation for the Asia-Pacific region led to the launch of Bai Brands, Princeton, N.J., which offers a collection of beverages that are infused with coffee fruit.

Once a product makes it to the store shelf, brand appeal and package design can’t always carry it to success. That’s when companies turn to marketing. But when the market is filled with millions of individuals of various ages with different backgrounds, marketing can turn into a puzzle. Marketers are tasked with not only determining their message, but also the product’s audience and the best ways to reach them. If all of these pieces don’t fit, the brand’s target audience might not be enticed to purchase the product.

Bottled water sales have shown signs of growth as the category recovers from the effects of the recession. Overall, the bottled water category increased 2 percent for $7.8 billion in sales for the 52 weeks ending Aug. 7 in supermarkets, drug stores, gas and convenience stores and mass merchandise outlets, excluding Wal-Mart, according to SymphonyIRI Group, Chicago.