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Coca-Cola cannabis-infused drink? CEO addresses rumors
Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey on Tuesday dismissed rumors that the beverage giant is mulling an entrance into the legal cannabis industry, even as other beverage brands have explored cannabidiol (CBD)-infused drinks.
“We don’t have any plans at this stage to get into the space,” Quincey told analysts during an earnings call. “So that’s kind of where we are.”
Demand for products containing CBD, a non-psychoactive compound in marijuana, has grown in recent years amid pushes in various jurisdictions to legalize pot. CBD product sales are expected to surpass $1 billion in 2018, according to the Hemp Business Journal.
Bloomberg reported last September that Coca-Cola was in talks with Aurora Cannabis, a Canada-based marijuana company, to develop a CBD-infused beverage. At the time, Coca-Cola said it was “closely watching the growth of non-psychoactive CBD as an ingredient in functional wellness beverage around the world,” but said “no decisions” were made on whether to partner with Aurora.
Constellation Brands, the parent company of Corona beer, invested an additional $3.8 billion in Canopy Growth, another Canada-based pot manufacturer, while Molson Coors Brewing is developing cannabis-infused drinks in the country, Bloomberg reported. Canada legalized pot on the national level earlier this month.
Coca-Cola has sought to diversify its product offerings in recent months in order to boost sales. The company took a major stake in premium sports drink brand BodyArmor last August and agreed to buy U.K.-based Costa Coffee days later.
Coca-Cola topped quarterly sales and earnings estimates in its report on Tuesday, fueled in part by a turnaround in diet beverage sales.
Article via FoxBusiness
Alabama McDonald’s gunman killed by armed dad, who is injured in shootout
A brave dad armed with a pistol stopped what could have been a mass shooting Saturday inside an Alabama McDonald’s when he took down a masked gunman who had stormed in and opened fire.
The unidentified father was leaving the establishment with his sons when a masked man walked into the Birmingham fast-food restaurant and started shooting, WBRC-TV reported. The father returned fire and, during the ensuing shootout, the gunman, the father and one of the man’s teenage sons were struck, according to the station.
The gunman, who was not identified, later died of his injuries. The other two injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Markus Washington, one of the McDonald’s employees, told WBRC-TV he was making two quarter-pounders when bullets started to fly. Washington said he ran into the freezer, where he heard about 15 shots fired.
“I’m feeling grateful,” he told the station. “Wrapping my head around it all, I was just wishing someone would come wake me up from this nightmare.”
Washington, oblivious to the shootout taking place outside the freezer door, feared the worst.
“All we hear is like different gunfire, so in my mind, I’m imagining everybody is dead. He’s looking for us,” he said. Washington added he was thankful the armed customer was there.
“Wrapping my head around it all, I was just wishing someone would come wake me up from this nightmare.”
“He’s my hero. Because I can only imagine how it would’ve went if he wasn’t armed. We might not be here having this interview,” Washington said.
The father is not expected to face charges, police said.
Authorities are now working to determine if the gunman intended to rob the restaurant, was targeting an employee or planned something more nefarious.
“Things like this are difficult for both families. The gentleman who unfortunately lost his life, the teenage boy who is in the hospital recovering from his injuries and the father who is also recovering from his injuries,” Birmingham police spokesman Sgt. Bryan Shelton said, according to WVTM-13. “It’s not easy being a father and watching your child get injured, get hurt like that. It’s a really heartwrenching experience.”
Article via Fox News