THE EBB AND THE FLOW: BEVERAGE ROUND-UP

     Royal Crown Co. said yesterday that it has expanded its
number of Mexican bottling plants from seven to 11 "in an effort
to build the [RC] soft-drink brand" (AP, 9/19) ....Coors Brewing
has introducted Keystone Ice this week in select markets around
the U.S. (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/20). Coors also announced they
have signed Julio Cesar Chavez to support their "ongoing effort
to fight illiteracy" (THE DAILY)....Japanese brewers such as
Suntory, Kirin, and Sapporo have started producing ice beer
(JAPAN TIMES WEEKLY, 9/19)....With total sales of $1.5B this
year, Ocean Spray "dominates the juice aisles of the nation's
supermarkets," and reports that "business has been strong" since
the start of its $35M "Crave the Wave" marketing campaign (BOSTON
HERALD, 9/19)....Heineken signed an agreement to build its third
brewery in China (N.Y. TIMES, 9/20)....The Australian Football
League signed $30M in sponsorship deals during the next five
years with Carlton & United Breweries and Coca-Cola Amatil (AD
AGE, 9/19).