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As convergence remains a driving force across alc bevs, count Arlington Capital Advisor's JB Shireman as one who's still anticipating that larger non-alc bevcos will get in the mix in a much bigger way, as he shared at Beer Business Daily's recent Summit in San Diego. JB expects "very, very large beverage players that are not really in alcohol in a meaningful way yet&hellip;will come into it and it will reshuffle the landscape of who's really big and&hellip;influential." He sees "one or two acquisitions or partnerships along that line" that "could really reshuffle the power structure at distribution and retail fairly quickly," and thinks that "will happen over the next few years." JB knows the space both from the trenches via long run at New Belgium Brewing and from bankers' suites at First Beverage Group and now Arlington. Convergence is hottest in the middle tier these days, he acknowledged separately. There's "no putting that genie back in the bottle," in JB's mind, and "that's probably going to accelerate," he said, giving Sazerac props for opening Pandora's Box. Tho it becomes "more complex" too. "I think it's repeatable" for other distribs beyond just the biggest players like Reyes, he figures, depending on what the mkt allows. And larger non-alc players could still "cross into that space" to "get more diversified." While the verdict is out on most non-alc bevcos' alcoholic extensions, which often rapidly subside after first year or two, the experimentation continues. And remember that Keurig Dr Pepper plan to bolster its coffee arm with JDE Peet's acquisition, then split coffee and soft drink units, has prompted some speculation on whether soft drink piece could prove an attractive add-on to alcohol strategic struggling with moderation headwinds.At Davos, Quincey Seems Open to Protein, Fiber Portfolio Additions Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey told interviewer at World Economic Forum in Davos that he's open to having protein and fiber infiltrate more of the co's bev portfolio. Referring to ultrafiltered milk made by its quickly expanding Fairlife arm, which retains protein and other nutritionals but removes lactose and calories, he told CNBC interviewer, "The lactose is out, and we&#39;re bringing on a lot more capacity," Quincey said, as reported by Fox News. "If you look at the two biggest growing trademarks in the US last year, it was the Coke trademark, basically driven by Coke Zero and Diet Coke . . . and Fairlife Core Power protein [shake]."As for another trending ingredient, "we might see fiber creep in this year," he added, boosted by its easy solubility in a bev. He pointed to Coca-Cola Fiber+ item sold in Japan. "You can basically put it in a drink and, more or less, mask it completely." That said, Coca-Cola Fiber+ is a "niche" drink in Japan because most people "don&#39;t buy drinks to have their fiber." Of course, Pepsi's pickup of Poppi and launch of a prebiotic extension of Pepsi-Cola reps its own big bet that fiber resonates, while Coke's own plans in gut pop space so far are confined to Simply Pop extension of its juice brand, with speculation swirling that it might advance effort via acquisition of another player. Of course, Quincey is exiting CEO role in a few months but changeover isn't expected to augur any immediate major strategic shifts.

CONFERENCE BEAT: Strategic Non-Alc Bevcos Gonna 'Reshuffle' Alc Biz in Coming Years, Arlington's Shireman Predicts; At Davos, KO's Quincey Had Protein & Fiber on His Mind

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