Coca-Cola’s Bottling Investments Group (BIG) announced it is taking control of bottling operations in the Philippines after Mexico’s Coca-Cola FEMSA said it would divest its 51 percent stake in Coca-Cola Philippines after a five-year stint. FEMSA has been dealing with labor problems in the Philippines since late 2016, and there are unconfirmed reports that the company has had a tough time complying with a new tax reform law that increased levies on sugar-sweetened beverages. BIG works to ensure that global bottling operations receive the appropriate investments and expertise to succeed. According to Coca-Cola, the takeover would ensure a smooth transition of the Philippine bottling operations for customers, business partners, consumers and workers.

Moving on from recyclable and compostable drinking straws, Diageo is attaching edible straws to its ready-to-drink cans to be sold through UK online drinks vendor 31Dover later this year. There are four flavors, to complement the drink: lemon, lime, strawberry, and chocolate. This follows a similar announcement by Pernod Ricard, which is working Loliware, an edible plastics maker. Other drinks and hospitality companies, including the hotel chains Marriott and Hilton, have pledged to stop using single-use plastic straws.[Image Credit: © Diageo]

Announced in August 2017, IBM’s Food Trust is a blockchain-enabled cloud-based system designed to help retailers determine the sources of food contamination. Counting 10 food producers and retailers, including Dole, Driscoll’s, and Kroger, among its partners, the system uses blockchain to link the members using a “transparent, permanent and shared record” of the “most urgent areas” in the global food supply chain. At present, the IBM Food Trust system accounts for more than 350,000 food data transactions, covering dozens of food products, such as vegetables, meats, and spices.[Image Credit: © IBM]