Quarterly results were reported this week for two thirst-quenching giants, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

Both soft-drink companies reported some "pop" in global sales volumes.

Coca-Cola announced a four percent increase in global sales volumes.

The greatest gains, not surprisingly, were seen in Asia (India: 33%, and China: 14%), where exploding populations, sugar consumption, and sugar sales are hugely impacting the food industry. North American global sales volumes climbed one percent, to boot.

Coca-Cola credits the effervescent earnings per share (up 44% over last year to $0.88) to:

• increased sales volume
• lower commodity costs
• restructuring

In April, the company's new chairman and CEO, Muhtar Kent, told shareholders that, "Coca-Cola is poised to grow in tough economic times, as it did during the Great Depression."

To confirm, the company has a long-term goal of "3-4 percent volume growth and high single digit earnings per share growth this year."

PepsiCo saw a one percent increase in sales volume, despite a three percent decline in net revenue. Gains here were also accredited to international consumption.

Although these same metrics are not as sparkling as Coca-Cola's, PepsiCo's earnings exceeded market expectations, surely sating executives and shareholders alike.

Like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo is also restructuring for growth to boost net revenue and earnings per share for the fiscal year.

Pepsi's new chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi, said,

"PepsiCo's operating agility and disciplined execution delivered solid results in a difficult year (2008)... We expect '09 will present challenges but we are confident that our robust plans will enable us to navigate through the turbulence and will continue to aggressively grow sustainably and long-term."

Current projects are underway to transform PepsiCo's North American beverage business.

So it would seem that for both companies, plans for growth during the recession are in the can.

Is Tate & Lyle on the path to recovery?

According to the recent Interim Management Statement for Q1 by Tate & Lyle, one of the world's largest sugar and starch refiners, pretax profits are ahead of expectations.

The statement pertains to Q1 fiscal dates, April 1, 2009, through June 30, 2009.

The company credits cost cutting strategies and "stable" demand from customers for food and beverage ingredients for the success.

With regards to food ingredients, T&L reports that sucralose traded better than expected.

Recall that earlier this year that T&L shut down their sucralose plant in Alabama to produce all sucralose solely in Singapore. They reasoned that the technological advantages of the Singapore site yielded faster production of sucralose with cost savings.

Seems to be working out if we use the current results as a guage. T&L has seen a six percent increase in sucralose sales volumes versus this time last year.

Demand for industrial starch, on the other hand, has been weak. Based on T&L's catalog of products and their investment strategy, this won't be taken lightly.

Still, T&L's Food & Industrial Ingredients, Europe division continues to reap the benefits of lower corn costs.

The company also anticipates "satisfactory" performance for Q2, however they don't expect to see the metrics parallel those of Q2 in 2008 when commodity prices saw growth.

If we look at the numbers as a whole, there is hope for recovery. T&L shows a net debt reduction of $268.8 million (£163 million), from $2,030 million (£1,231 million) on March 31, to $1,761 million (£1,068 million) on June 30, of this year, which is encouraging.

Shares (TATE.L) were up 2.21% today, closing at £346.50 from £339.00.

Campbell's Soup Co. has announced a successful fiscal year, likely prompting an "M'm! M'm! Good!", from shareholders, employees, and soup lovers around the world.

According to FoodBusinessNews.net, Campbell Soup Co. claimed "sales growth for fiscal 2009 with a long term target range between 3% and 4%... with net earnings per share to exceed the 5% to 7% range from the fiscal 2008 base of $2.09."

And to keep stirring the pot, Campbell's Soup Co. prepares for growth.

On the burner ;-) for this year alone, the company ambitiously plans to:

• broaden its Chunky line to include varieties with lean meats and full vegetable servings
• reduce sodium levels in the iconized Tomato soup and Healthy Request soups and feature the American Heart Association certification on these labels
• enhance the Select Harvest line with five new Mediterranean-style soup varieties
• expand its Chinese market, both product-wise and geographically
• upsize the Russian market, both product-wise and by merging with the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co.

Chief financial officer and chief administrative officer, Craig Owens, is optimistic.

"In our U.S. soup business, we have delivered one of the best top-line performances in many years.

"We've introduced market-leading innovations with the successful launch of several new products, making significant gains in the ready-to-serve segment with our Campbell Select Harvest line and improving our position in the highly competitive broth segment.

"We have achieved all of this and more in an extremely challenging economic environment."

With industry-wide product reformulations aimed at salt reduction, food ingredient distributors may want to be aware of potential changes in salt sales and the corresponding effects on substitute food ingredient sales.

But for Campbell's Soup Co., it appears that the company is true to their current slogan: "Nourishing people's lives everywhere, everyday."

Perhaps it's time for the Tomato Soup to sit for another portrait.