Beverage introductions in 2002 are ...

Beverage introductions in 2002 are down v last year with the notable exceptions of yielding drinks, and beer and ale, according to Marketing Intelligence Service, Naples, NY Overall this year has seen 1016 of recent origin products and 3,237 SKUs compared with last year's 1097 fresh products and 3,487 new SKUs.

Soft drinks, which awoke from something of a novel products slumber this year, saw a caper from 55 new introductions last year to 63 this year. And beer and ale, thanks to the flutter of malternative launches this summer increased from 79 introductions last year