Analyst: The Coming Consolidation of Cola Bottlers and Beer Distributors

Dear Client:  Add soda bottlers to the growing list of folks who'd like to get into beer distribution (and vice-versa).  "PepsiCo could one day refranchise its U.S. soft drink bottling system, which could trigger further consolidation across alcohol and non-alcoholic beverage distribution." So says Matt Hughes of Franchise Equity Partners to Beverage Digest recently. Brett Cooper of Consumer Edge research noted that cross-category beverage distribution presents "ripe conditions for accelerated consolidation among U.S. alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage distribution businesses."  Citing