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PLANO, Texas — A citrus soda made by Dr Pepper Snapple Group is making a major splash in the Southern states in which it’s currently sold. And with plans for nationwide distribution early next year, it has the potential to rival the success of Mountain Dew. 

Sun Drop is made with orange juice and more caffeine than Mountain Dew. Southern fans have used it in everything from glazes for holiday turkeys to alcoholic mixed drinks. 

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola is looking to spread holiday cheer by asking consumers to donate their My Coke Rewards points to help generate gifts for unprivileged children.

By logging onto MCR.com/holiday, registered My Coke Rewards members can donate their points to Toys for Tots by entering codes found on 13 participating Coca-Cola products. The points will be awarded to Toys for Tots. Coca-Cola also is donating $120,000 to Toys for Tots; the money will be divided between eight cities across America.

NEW YORK — Harris Interactive on Thursday released the 2010 results of the first annual "Youth EquiTrend" study, which asked 8-to-24-year-olds to rate brands on several key elements of brand equity, including familiarity, quality and purchase consideration.

SEATTLE — Jones Soda received a nod for its product revamp of the company's WhoopAss energy drink.

At BevNet Live Winter 2010, Jones Soda was awarded BevNet's 2010 best product revamp honor.

Jones relaunched its WhoopAss energy drink earlier this year with new packaging and functional ingredients. Each 16-oz. can of WhoopAss retails for $2.39 each.

CHICAGO — Trident, which is owned by Kraft Foods' Cadbury unit, is rolling out a new gum lineup called Trident Vitality that includes a new flavor, Vigorate, which contains "10% of the daily value of vitamin C" in each piece, according to the company.

BOULDER, Colo. — Celestial Seasonings is bringing its Sleepytime bear to life with weekly Twitter sessions called "Tea Time with Sleepytime Bear."

Beginning Dec. 14, a different Celestial Seasonings tea will serve as "sponsor" for the weekly, hour-long Twitter "Tea Time" session, enabling online users to learn about the all-natural varieties of Celestial Seasonings tea, including herbal, green, white, red, chai and wellness. The sessions will take place every Tuesday at 1 p.m. MST.

OLD TAPPAN, N.J. — New Leaf's line of lemonades was recognized at the BevNet Live Winter 10 forum.

New Leaf took home the best of 2010 noncarbonated beverage award for its four lemonades, which are made with 6% to 10% of real fruit juice, the company said.

BevNet Live 10 is a premier beverage industry event that was held in Santa Monica, Calif., this week.

Last month, New Leaf announced it tapped New York Giants football wide receiver Steve Smith as its first celebrity spokesman.

Supplier News — PepsiCo and GNC are teaming up to develop and sell fortified coconut water products. The Phenom brand will launch during second quarter 2011 and will be sold exclusively at GNC stores and GNC.com. 



One of Hershey’s popular mint brands is adding a powerfully cool taste experience to its line. Ice Breakers Frost sugar-free mints are coated with xylitol, cooling and flavor crystals and will be available in Wintercool and peppermint varieties. The mints are now available in 1.2-oz. containers.