In 2026, the question of “what next” has never been more interesting. Our industry is being transformed by era-defining global shifts. The rise of AI. The mounting threat of climate change. Growing income inequality. Social-media powered trend cycles. These structural and cultural forces are impacting on everything, from how ingredients are produced to what consumers want.
That’s why the theme of this year’s edition is Tectonic Shifts. Across these pages, we explore how these forces are already rewiring the beverage industry, and what this means for the future.
The best of both worlds
Another major theme of this year’s magazine is the continued evolution of Finlays Solutions — our integrated global extract solutions business. In 2025, we acquired Leahy-IFP – a major aseptic packer and formulator of natural fruit-based beverages, headquartered in Illinois. This doubled Finlays Solutions’ footprint in the US and added juice-based beverages – including the on-trend refresher – to our portfolio.
You can find out more about how Finlays Solutions is bringing the best of both worlds to our global customer base in an interview with Darnell Ross, the business’ new CEO later in the magazine.
Growth, partnership and sustainability
Elsewhere, our tea and coffee businesses have gone from strength to strength, continuing to raise the bar and deliver excellence for their customers. In the UK, Finlay Beverages enjoyed a fantastic year in 2025 and continues to build exceptionally close customer partnerships, while leading on sustainability.
In Sri Lanka, Finlays Colombo finished 2025 strongly and is delivering an exciting programme of transformation to set it up for long-term, sustained growth. Alongside this, I’m pleased to say Finlays Colombo was named a “Great Place to Work”, reflecting the excellent culture across the business.
