Bacardi Americas’ headquarters has officially opened for business in Coral Gables, Florida. The move, which consolidates 300 employees previously dispersed over 7 buildings, represents a step towards a more efficient and green-friendly future for the family owned spirits company. The state-of-the-art office building was opened on Thursday, February 4, for which Coral Gables Mayor Don Slesnick was on-site to, officially, declare Bacardi Day.

“South Florida has been our home for more than forty years, and it’s exciting to accomplish our goal of uniting all employees previously spread throughout seven different buildings under one roof,” said John P. Esposito, president and CEO of Bacardi U.S.A., Inc. “Working out of this new location will further strengthen our collaboration, communications, cross-functionality and teamwork to continue to market the most recognized and top-selling spirits in the United States.”

The 15 story, 230,000 square-foot complex is the largest built in Coral gables in many years and boasts the latest IT infrastructure; including voice over IP telephone calls, faster access to Internet-based services, collaboration tools, and rich media intranets, to name a few.

Gatorade was one of the first sponsors to drop Tiger Woods, and one of the last to admit it. Little more than a week after Woods infamous Thanksgiving Day altercation with his wife that involved him running out of the house and crashing his car into a tree and a fire hydrant, and the subsequent string of women who came forth admitting to affairs with him, Gatorade announced that they would be discontinuing their Tiger Woods Focus Gatorade line.

At the time, Gatorade said that the decision to end the Tiger Woods line of drinks was made prior to the crash and the National Enquirer story that broke the story of his affair with NYC party girl Rachel Uchitel. The timing was certainly more than suspect.

In early December, despite speculation that Gatorade was distancing themselves from the fallen star, the company assured us that all was fine, stating:

"We made the decision several months ago... our relationship with Tiger continues."

WIth another few months to think it over, Gatorade has apparently decided to finally admit what we all knew back in December -- that they no longer want to be associated with Tiger Woods.

A representative for Gatorade said:

Starbucks launched oatmeal as a breakfast offering in 2008 and it quickly became one of their top-selling breakfast food. Hoping to take a bite from Starbucks, McDonalds is now hopping on the oatmeal bandwagon and has begun offering oatmeal on their breakfast menu at restaurants in Washington D.C. and Baltimore.

McDonalds maple brown sugar oatmeal sells for $1.99, and is topped with apples, raisins, and cranberries and is blended with cream. The oatmeal has only 260 calories and 4 grams of fat.

A spokesperson for McDonalds said that oatmeal has bene "well-received by customers", but that the company has not yet decided whether to expand the test to other markets or offer the item nationwide on its menus.

Little Brownie Bakers, makers of the delicious Girl Scout Cookies, are recalling batches of Lemon Chalet Crèmes cookies. While the company says that the cookies are safe to eat, they are not up to quality standards.

The recall was prompted by complains that the cookies had an odd smell and an off-taste. No other Girl Scout Cookies were affected.

The company posted a press release, which said that they found no traces of bacteria:

“Certain lots of Lemon Chalet Crème cookies contain oils that may be breaking down which can result in an off taste and smell. We determined that while the cookies are safe for consumers to eat, they are not up to our quality standards.”

Each box of cookies has a code on the bottom. The affected batches are labeled: 7455881, 7455882, 7455883, 7456741, 7456742, 7456743, 7457661, 7457662, 7457663, 7458521, 7458522, 7458523, 7459401, 7459402, or 7459403.

Refunds can be requested by calling the Little Brownie Bakers at 800-962-1718.

Burger King executives announced Tuesday that the country's No. 2 burger chain will begin adding Starbucks Corp.'s Seattle's Best Coffee to all of its U.S. restaurants in a phased roll-out that will begin this summer.

Such a move clearly takes a page from rival McDonalds Corp.'s book, which has seen success with its McCafe line-up of coffee drinks that have been credited with boosting its performance. It also throws an interesting new twist into the coffee wars, as McDonalds' ads have been taking aim at Starbucks.

John Schaufelberger, senior vice president of BK's global product marketing and innovation, said that improving the company's breakfast business is amongst its "top strategic priorities, and added that:

"We'll be delivering a better cup of coffee."

More than 7,000 Burger King restaurants will begin to sell the coffee, as well as iced varieties that will come with a choice of plain, vanilla, or mocha falovrs and whipped toppings. The drinks will be sold all day, and while prices will be set by franchise owners, the suggested prices will range from $1 to $2.79.

On Thursday, McDonalds unveiled its new Strawberry Banana and Wild Berry Real Fruit Smoothies at the Olympic media center in Vancouver. Golden Arches' executives showed off the new line-up of beverages along with gold medalits Cassie Campbell (US hockey), Shawn Johnson (US gymnastics), Picabo Street (US skiing), and Katarina Witt (German ice skating).

The two flavors of smoothies will be offered in McDonald's three Olympic restaurants in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia during the Winter Games for the next two weeks. As for them being made available elsewhere, the company is planning to have them on the menu in McDonalds' US locations by summertime as a part of its McCafe menu.

After almost a decade of amazing sales in the energy drink sector, a new selection of relaxation drinks are slowly making their way to store shelves. With names like Dream Water, iChill, and RelaxZen, marketers are attempting to attract teens who are trying to wind down and adults who have difficulties falling asleep.

So far the relaxation drinks account for about $20 million in sales per year, which is pretty impressive but leagues behind the $5 billion that energy drinks pull in annually. Their popularity is growing, but so are concerns for the sleep-inducing melatonin that is one of the main ingredients in the drinks.

Last month the Food and Drug Administration ordered the makers of Drank, a melatonin based drink which launched in 2008, to prove that using melatonin, a hormone found naturally in the human body, is safe. It has 2 milligrams of melatonin, which is 20 times the amount found in the body naturally.

After forty-years, Heinz is finally revamping their ketchup packets to make eating on-the-go easier. While the traditional packets will still be sold, Heinz has already begun placing the new packets in test markets in the Midwest and Southeast. The new packets will also roll out at select fast-food restaurants in the fall.

Heinz sells more than 11 million cases of ketchup packets in the United States alone each year, and have long struggled to find a design that would allow diners to dip or squeeze ketchup that they could also sell at a price acceptable to restaurants who buy them. Two years ago, Heinz gave its design team a used minivan to see if their ideas would really work while dining on the road.

The results of all the company's testing and innovation is seen above. The new packet will allow the diner to have the option of either dipping or squeezing the ketchup, and features a base that is more like a cup for dipping and a tear off end for squeezing. An added bonus is that the new packet holds three times as much ketchup as its traditional packet, which for consumers means you won't have to squeeze out six packets just to go along with your fries or try to figure out where to squeeze it if you prefer to dip your fries rather than douse them in ketchup.

In 1885 at a small drug store in Waco, Texas, one of the America's favorite drinks was invented. Dr Pepper, which has gone so mainstream that it is now in most McDonald's stores, is now 125 years old.

"Dr Pepper has an unrivaled taste and a maverick spirit," said Tony Jacobs, vice president of marketing for Dr Pepper. "Starting out 125 years ago as a regional drink, Dr Pepper has expanded into a revered national brand by connecting with consumers because of its unique taste and the brand's dedication to making emotional connections with its consumers."

The celebrations of the company start today at the New York Stock Exchange. The Dr Pepper Snapple Group will ring the bell to close the exchange. Next month, the company will run its first Super Bowl commercial which will feature Gene Simmons and other members of KISS with the featured song, of course, being "Doctor Love".

Unemployment has hit Ohio hard, and it's nowhere more evident than it its liquor sales. Down-in-the-dumps Ohioans have been slinging back more liquor than ever in the past year, hitting record state liquor sales.

The state Department of Commerce reported that the state liquor sales hit $734..8 million in 2009, exceeding the 2008 figure by $15.7 million, or 2.18 percent.

According to Commerce Director Kimberly Zurz, the sale of liquor in dollars has increased for several years now, mainly due to increases in product prices, an increase in the purchase of premium products, and a rise in the level of consumption.

Zurz also noted that there was a record net profit of $224 million, and an all-time high profit margin of 30.1 percent. This allowed for a total contribution of more than $299 million to the state treasury in 2009.

Of that $299 million, $163 million was transfered to the state's General Revenue Fund. $61.2 million was earmarked for services including liquor law enforcement, alcohol treatment, education and prevention programs, and the retirement of economic development and Clean Ohio revitalization bonds. $69.5 million was deposited into the state's treasury.