20 Sep 2019 --- This week in industry news, Coca-Cola’s Honest Tea company is expanding into the cold brew coffee market with its own line of ready-to-drink (RTD) varieties. Coca‑Cola HBC agrees to acquire Lurisia, an Italian premium water and adult sparkling beverages company. Starbucks is seeking to transform its digital customer service in China by launching voice ordering systems and delivery capabilities within Alibaba’s smart speaker, Tmall Genie. Philadelphia cream cheese launched “Bagel That,” a new tool that helps cream cheese lovers “punch holes in the middle of anything, instantly turning it into a bagel.” Waitrose added more Japanese products such as tonkatsu sauce and miso paste to its Cooks’ Ingredients range. Meanwhile, UK groceries wholesaler Nisa is helping its independent retailers to tackle the nationwide issue of food waste by rolling out a range of wonky fruit and vegetables into stores as part of its “Marvellous Mis-shapes” event.
