Organisation

Zenith International

Zenith International provides a full range of specialist consulting services to the food and drink industries worldwide. Recognised since the 1990s as Europe’s leading food and drinks consultancy, Zenith International has more than 1,000 clients across more than 50 countries.


View Larger Map

Vital statistics

Recent stories

Opinion

213 beverage transactions in 2011

BevBlog.net tracked 213 beverage transactions in 2011 out of a total 468 across the food and drink sector, involving businesses in 74 countries.

Opinion

‘The Grocer’ celebrates 150th anniversary

Many congratulations to ‘The Grocer’ magazine on its 150th anniversary. I’ve picked out some of the 150 defining moments it identifies in grocery history, starting with the first.

Opinion

33 acquisitions in December 2011

Although the year ended quietly on the transaction front, I still found more than one a day in December, stretching across 26 countries.

Opinion

Monster to overtake Red Bull … again

It wasn’t so long ago I made the bold prediction that Monster would outsell Red Bull on the US market in volume. Now it looks as if Monster will also topple Red Bull’s US lead in value.

Opinion

White Fungus Bird’s Nest Drink

No, I haven’t invented this. It’s not a casual idea, nor is it a technical description. It’s actually part of the branding.

Opinion

From PlantBottle to GreenBottle

Several beverage categories depend on oil-​based PET packaging, and Coca-​Cola is leading the way for alternative materials with its PlantBottle.

Opinion

Starbucks to start juice chain

Lots of news stories reported on Starbucks’ $30m acquisition of premium juice producer Evolution Fresh earlier this month. Few remarked on what I thought was the more significant announcement of:

Opinion

It takes 7,800 PET bottles to build a house

Filled with water, PET bottles make great light bulbs; recycled, they can be turned into bridges; and filled with sand, they’re now being stacked on their side to build houses in Nigeria.

Opinion

Road bridge made from plastic bottles

After discovering that used PET bottles can be turned into light bulbs, I now find that recycled bottles are being converted into road bridges.

Opinion

Milk fat makes a comeback

Most of us have become accustomed to viewing fat as something to take out of healthy products, along with sugar and salt. But milk fat now appears set for a renaissance.

Opinion

Time to be Zenifyed

Innovation abounds in the pages of FoodBev Media’s magazines. My eye was drawn most recently to page 12 in the November issue of Beverage Innovation.

Opinion

44 acquisitions in October

In terms of acquisitions, there was no let-​up on the transaction front in October. It was another strong month, with 44 in total and three over the $1,000m mark.

Report

East Europe water coolers return to growth

The East European water cooler industry regained momentum in 2010, with the total installed base of water coolers and dispensers rising 0.6% to 1.56m units, according to Zenith International.

Opinion

Curry cheese or bacon jam?

In August, I wrote about some curious taste combinations in recent product launches, but these latest ideas seem to take the biscuit.

Opinion

A new twist on bioplastic caps

Following in the green footsteps of PET bottles that are no longer entirely oil-​based, I was pleased to read over the summer about similarly good news for bottle caps.

Opinion

Communicating juice benefits

Much of the debate at a recent fruit juice conference in Istanbul was about communicating juice benefits.

Opinion

Bottled water restarts train

Last week, a passenger train came to a creaking halt in the East of England because a safety feature cut off power after a leak had led to a loss of coolant.

Opinion

Coke predicts the demise of energy drinks

In an interview with the Financial Times yesterday, Coca-Cola’s Muhtar Kent was forthright in many views about global market opportunities and was particularly dismissive about energy drinks.

News

46 acquisitions in August

Despite widespread talk of slowdowns in August, this did not apply to mergers and acquisitions. I recorded no less than 46 deals in the month.

Opinion

Shop of the future

Look at photographs of product shelf displays on a wall. Scan the QR codes of those you want to buy with your mobile phone and your shopping basket will be delivered home within hours.

Opinion

Water for the world

There’s so much water around, but we can’t use most of it, and a lot of it is in the wrong places.

Opinion

US energy drink surprises

And now, what about US energy drinks? Are they bigger than, say, carbonates, or still water or coffee?

Opinion

Food fusion for taste confusion

Over the summer, I’ve seen launches of some increasingly curious combinations of food and drink offerings, but it seems some are not altogether new.

Opinion

Recycling needs a bigger push

European PET collection reached 48.3% in 2010. That’s good, but the level was exactly the same as for 2009 (which is bad).

Opinion

40 acquisitions in July

There’s been no let-​up in the pace of acquisitions over the summer, with the BevBlog database recording 40 in July.