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By Gerry Kermouch and Kenneth Hein In a reflection of the sweeping pace of beverage industry consolidation, a sparsely attended InterBev show opened in New Orleans last week in the wake of announcements that fastgrowing independent brands Gatorade,Snapple and SoBe were being gobbled up by the majors, and amid rumors that Yoohoo chocolate drink is about to vanish into the maw of Cadbury Schweppes.
As indies vanish and the majors become more restrictive about what their distributors can carry, the role of the biennial show as a bazaar matching new products with distributors is eroding. "The only business getting done was vendor to vendor," complained Larry Twombly, who recently sold his Buzzy's Coffee to Virgin and was back with Caffe Bella. But new InterBev owner Reed's challenges were the least of show-goers' concerns. Most were trying to scope out the implications for distributors, agencies and new-product innovation of a volatile period that saw Pepsi agree to buy SoBe marketer South Beach and Gatorade producer Quaker Oats, and Cadbury gobble up Triarc and its Snapple, Mistic and RC brands. The buzz was that Pernod-Ricard's effort to sell off its non-alcoholic Yoohoo and Orangina drinks is in its end game,with a deal imminent with Cadbury "They're dotting the i's and crossing the t's; said a banker.
Meanwhile, with Interpublic Group signing a global...