Our year in review: 2018’s top read stories

We take a look at some of the most viewed food and beverage stories of 2018, counting down from the 5th to the top-most viewed of the year. 

5th: Danone and Mars join Givaudan’s new Mista innovation platform

Danone, Mars and Ingredion signed up as founding members of Givaudan’s innovation platform for the food industry.

Called Mista, the initiative is said to be more encompassing than an incubator or accelerator and aims to enable start-ups and established corporations to optimise ideas, products, people and investments.

Givaudan said that the project will be able to help both large and small companies with scale up, distribution, building a team and searching for partners.

4th: Coca-Cola launches Adez drink line in the UK ahead of sugar tax

Coca-Cola European Partners announced the launch of plant-based drink line Adez in the UK, which went on sale at the end of March before the upcoming sugar tax was implemented.

With no added sugar, Adez is a dairy-free smoothie which contains seeds, fruit juices and vitamins. The three-strong range is available in 250ml single-serve bottles.

3rd: PepsiCo joins Nestlé and Danone’s bottle research alliance

PepsiCo joined the NaturALL Bottle Alliance, a research consortium formed by Danone, Nestlé Waters and Origin Materials to accelerate the development of 100% renewable and sustainable bottles.

The overall goal of the alliance is to create packaging solutions which significantly reduce the carbon impact of plastic beverage bottles, and the alliance is currently attempting to produce a PET bottle made purely from bio-based materials such as cardboard and sawdust.

2nd: Corona to introduce plastic-free six-pack rings on its beer cans

Mexican lager brand Corona piloted plastic-free six-pack rings made from plant-based biodegradable fibres, with a mix of by-product waste and compostable materials.

The brand said it sees an opportunity to help redesign a common source of plastic in the category.

Earlier this year, Carlsberg announced plans to ditch plastic rings which connect multi-packs of its beer and replace them with glue.

1st: Diageo promotes gender equality with new Jane Walker Scotch

Diageo launched a Jane Walker edition of its Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch whisky in an aim to promote gender equality.

The new variant became available in the US from March to coincide with Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day celebrations.

To support the initiative, Johnnie Walker will be donating $1 for every bottle of the Jane Walker Edition made to organisations championing women’s causes, with a total donation of up to $250,000. Johnnie Walker will also celebrate the next generation of female leaders by donating a portion of Jane Walker Edition proceeds to She Should Run, which is dedicated to inspiring women to run for office.