Bacardi U.S.A., Coral Gables, Fla., brought back its “60 Second Cocktails” summer program that benefits the USO and its support of U.S. soldiers and their families. This year’s program combines simple and premium cocktail recipes with a program to donate prepaid international phone cards to deployed troops. The company has committed to donate 1 million minutes to the USO’s Operation Phone Home, which delivers prepaid international phone cards to deployed troops to help them contact their loved ones. 

The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, awarded several chance-of-a-lifetime opportunities to race fans during the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida. The Coke Zero Lap promotion awarded 17 experiential prizes, including a VIP visit to the rooftop of the speedway, tickets to the exclusive Daytona 500 Club and an honorary trip to visit Victory Lane following the race.

The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, is creating greater awareness for the Special Olympics World Summer Games Athens 2011 through an integrated marketing campaign. “We share the values of Special Olympics and the vision of acceptance, inclusion and optimism,” said Muhtar Kent, chairman and chief executive officer of The Coca-Cola Co., in a statement. “One of the best ways we can support Special Olympics is by communicating those positive messages to the millions of people that reach for a Coca-Cola every day.”

Store brands capped a decade of growth by posting sales increases across all three of the major retail channels in 2010, and pushing dollar share to new all-time highs in supermarkets, drug stores and total outlets, according to PLMA’s 2011 Private Label Yearbook. The PLMA Yearbook tracks private label sales and market share trends based on data from The Nielsen Co., Schaumburg, Ill.

Silk, a brand of Broomfield, Colo.-based WhiteWave Food Co., announced that all products in its beverage portfolio have been officially verified by the Non-GMO Project, a non-profit collaboration of manufacturers, retailers, distributors, farmers, seed companies and consumers dedicated to ensuring the sustained availability of non-genetically modified organism (GMO) food and beverage choices. Silk’s beverage portfolio includes Silk Soymilk, Silk Pure Coconut and Silk Pure Almond.

Foster’s Group Ltd., Southbank, Australia, rejected an acquisition proposal from SABMiller plc to acquire all shares of Foster’s at a rate of $4.90 each share. The board of Foster’s announced it “believes that the proposal significantly undervalues the company in the context of a change of control and, as such, it does not intend to take any further action in relation to it.”

The Brewers Association, Boulder, Colo., announced the formation of the Senate Small Brewers Caucus by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). The senators sent a letter to colleagues sharing, “In recent years, the more than 1,700 craft brewers all across America have met growing consumer demand for their products by brewing flavorful and innovative beers, which they encourage Americans to enjoy in a responsible manner. 

Radio host Rush Limbaugh introduced the Two If By Tea line of ready-to-drink iced teas. The line includes Regular, Raspberry, Diet Original and Diet Raspberry flavors and has been in the works for one year by Limbaugh, his wife, Kathryn, and a small development team. The Two if By Tea name is a twist on the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” that features the line “one if by land, and two if by sea.” 

Today, Flag Day, the men and women of Budweiser will take to bars and restaurants around the country to raise awareness for the Folds of Honor Foundation (FHF). FHF, an organization that provides post-secondary educational scholarships for families of U.S. military personnel killed or disabled while serving their country, is working with Budweiser to raise money for its scholarship program. 

Old Orchard Brands, Sparta, Mich., announced a new line of premium juice made from pure tart cherry juice called Very Cherre. The 100 percent juice comes in multi-serve 64-ounce bottles and is available at select grocery and supermarket stores this month with national distribution expected mid-summer. Suggested retail price is $4.99 a bottle.