BEVERAGE INDUSTRY

Quaker Oats to Unveil Plan to Boost Snapple Sales: Quaker Oats Co. will unveil a major sampling and new advertising campaign within the next few days that’s designed to jump-start sales of its Snapple Beverage brand, a person familiar with the campaign said. Chicago-based Quaker will spend about an extra $20 million on the campaign, which is more than a 50% increase from what it had previously budgeted for the brand’s summer marketing, the person said. In the campaign, Quaker will give away free samples of its Snapple teas and fruit drinks in major markets across the country at sites ranging from beaches to Little League games. The campaign will start in about two weeks and run through mid-September. The announcement comes just days after Quaker said Snapple would post a loss for the year, the second consecutive since Quaker bought the line for $1.7 billion in December 1994.