PepsiCo is expanding its Food for Good hunger relief program for children to include adults, as it commits to reaching 50 million people worldwide by 2030. "As a leading global food and beverage company, we have a critical role to play in realizing a more equitable global food system to ensure the communities we serve are free from hunger and malnutrition," said Jon Banner, president of The PepsiCo Foundation and executive vice president of PepsiCo global communications.

Bolthouse Farms has released a Holiday Nog and a Peppermint Mocha coffee beverage for a limited time that serve as "healthier options with less calories and fat," according to marketing director Amy Shoemaker. The company has also debuted the Red Goodness smoothie, Bolts Immunity Elderberry shot and Green Immunity Boost beverage, as more consumers seek to boost their fruit and vegetable consumption, said Shoemaker.

Blue Diamond has released an Extra Creamy version of its Almond Breeze almond milk line. "The debut of Almond Breeze Extra Creamy Almondmilk gives consumers the same texture and consistency they want from dairy milk, but with the almond milk they know and love from Almond Breeze," said Maya Erwin, Blue Diamond's vice president of innovation and R&D.

The producer of banana milk brand Banana Wave, Fresh Start Beverage Co., and its parent company Mylk Brands have entered into a purchase agreement with alternative-protein investment firm Eat Beyond Global Holdings. "With truly great flavor and compelling nutritional benefits, we believe the Banana Wave brand is a product on the cusp of greatness," said Michael Aucoin, Eat Beyond CEO.

Ocean Spray has gained valuable insights by working with Marketing Attribution to conduct randomized control trials involving 8.5 million households. The company has learned the new consumers it has gained during the pandemic are driving most of its sales growth and has been able to modify online marketing faster to net results, said Jeff Doud, Ocean Spray's director of advanced analytics and modeling.

Facebook is giving marketers access to topic exclusion categories for ads within its News Feed following trials with advertisers that it says were 94% to 99% successful. Facebook also plans to work with third-party partners to develop a way to verify whether content adjacent to an ad in News Feed matches a particular brand's suitability preferences.

This year's increasing retail demand for food and beverages will get another boost from the holiday season as AAA predicts holiday travel will return to near pre-pandemic levels this year, writes Audrey Altmann. Brands are offering alternatives for people seeking to avoid labor-intensive Thanksgiving meal preparation, such as Perdue Farms' ThanksNuggets line and multiserve prepared holiday meals from Freshly.

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