Articles by Jessica Jacobsen

In the 1959 film “Some Like It Hot,” the comedic stylings of Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon offer an entertaining twist about two musicians who witness the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre and dress in drag to avoid mafia gangsters.

As beverage manufacturers and contract packaging companies see more SKUs entering the warehouse, operations professionals are tasked with ensuring that all processes are operating efficiently and effectively.

When summer was winding down, my family and I headed up north for a friend’s wedding in Door County, Wis. Aside from my sister getting a kick out of the goats grazing on the roof of Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant & Butik, we also got a chance to try Island Orchard Cider, a French-style hard cider that is produced in Ellison Bay, Wis.

When Seth Goldman co-founded Honest Tea in 1998, he set out to not just develop not-too-sweet, organic beverages, but also a company that exemplifies honesty and integrity throughout its supply chain, product development, packaging and much more.

Whether it’s the highly trained athlete or the casual runner, more consumers are turning to beverages to support their workout regimens. According to Chicago-based Mintel’s January report “Nutritional and Performance Drinks – US,” dollar sales of these drinks reached $11.5 billion in 2014.

Clearly the readers of Beverage Industry are fans of kombucha as Clearly Kombucha won the August New Product of the Month poll. The organic beverage obtained 21 percent of the votes. Voting took place between Sept. 8 and 18.

SKU proliferation has left its mark on the consumer packaged goods (CPG) market. But innovative new products aren’t just for the retail shelves. Foodservice operations also are developing new beverages to entice consumers.

Consumers know the importance of health and wellness. According to a survey conducted by New York-based Nielsen, consumers not only recognize the need to institute a healthy lifestyle, they also are willing to pay for it.

As a new mom, I have learned to embrace the phrase multi-tasking. I did not think that I would have perfected the morning ritual of singing “Pop Goes the Weasel,” applying makeup and rocking a baby at the same time, but I have. Although beverage-makers don’t need to include nursery rhymes in their product formulations, they are doing their own type of multi-tasking.

In 1976, the United States was celebrating its bicentennial, the National Basketball Association and the American Basketball Association agreed to a merger, and the CN Tower was built in Toronto, making it the tallest free-standing land structure at the time.