As bars and restaurants see a growing sect of consumers abstaining from alcohol beverages, operators are getting creative with their drink menus in order to encourage consumers to visit the establishment but for an alcohol-free evening.

For foodservice operators, new, specialty beverages are helping innovators deepen their offerings to consumers.

Caribou Coffee, Minneapolis, is unveiling its own twist on flavor-infused sparkling beverages with a line of ready-to-drink cans and in-store handcrafted beverages. 

The calendar and climate still say summer, but for pumpkin lovers across the country, the excitement and demand for the favorite flavor of fall already is here. Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ is fulfilling fans’ fall wishes by bringing back classic Pumpkin Flavored Coffees, introducing a new pumpkin espresso beverage and even rebranding eight Dunkin’ shops across the U.S. as Pumpkin’ to serve guests a first taste for free.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Los Angeles, has partnered with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the TV series “Friends.” To commemorate the milestone, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf collaborated with Warner Bros. to create special-edition Central Perk Coffee and Central Perk Tea products, named after the show's legendary coffee shop. The Friends-inspired coffee products now are available for purchase online and will be available in retail stores starting July 31 through the end of summer.

More adventurous consumers are demanding luxurious, upscale offerings or traditional favorites offered in new ways.

Coca-Cola North America, a division of Atlanta-based The Coca-Cola Co., is launching a digital marketplace this fall that connects its foodservice customers to pre-vetted, industry-best restaurant technologies with competitive pricing, it says. The marketplace of solutions for front of house, back of house and outside of house is powered by Omnivore, a universal point-of-sale connectivity platform that offers seamless integration into restaurants' point-of-sale (POS) systems.

PepsiCo Inc., Purchase, N.Y., announced the launch of PepsiCo Foodservice Digital Lab, a first-of-its-kind suite of capabilities built to connect foodservice operators with the companies, services, insights, and solutions best-suited for their specific digital and online needs. Digital Label is powered by extensive proprietary and syndicated research into restaurant and food ordering interactions as part of the consumer digital journey, the company says.

Red Bull and SONIC, Oklahoma City, Okla., have combined forces to create the all-new Red Bull Slush this summer. The new SONIC Red Bull Slush serves up Red Bull in a frozen, icy Slush form. The foodservice outlet also is offering Cherry Limeade Red Bull Slush, which combines Red Bull with a SONIC icon.

The product’s capsule design, which debuted at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, not only makes wine easier to open but preserves the time-honored traditions that are important to discriminating aficionados, it adds.