TPSA 2010 Convention - Texas Package Stores Association

Source: PR Newswire

Mexcor to Produce, Import and Distribute Drinks' Portfolio Brands Nationally

Drinks will Continue to Own, Market and Expand Portfolio

Drinks Americas Holdings, Ltd. (OTCBB: DKAM.OB - News) (the "Company" or "Drinks"), a leading owner, developer and marketer of premium beverages associated with renowned celebrity icons, announced today it has signed a production and distribution agreement with Mexcor, Inc., a producer, importer and distributor for hundreds of high quality brands nationally and internationally.

Mexcor has agreed to manage the production, importing and distribution of Drinks Americas portfolio of brands nationally. Drinks Americas will continue to focus its efforts on its core business of building a portfolio of iconic brands as well as developing, coordinating and executing marketing and promotional strategies for Drinks icon brands. Drinks anticipates that the Production and Distribution Agreement with Mexcor will rapidly drive additional revenues and substantially reduce overhead costs.

Under the terms of the agreement, the parties have agreed to a 15 year term. Drinks Americas will issue Mexcor up to 12 million shares of Drinks Americas Holdings common stock, and Mexcor will receive up to a 5% ownership interest in Drinks Americas portfolio brands, provided the parties deliver and attain certain minimum performance requirements. Mexcor has agreed to deliver five or more additional new brands to Drinks portfolio, which the companies plan to jointly acquire, develop and market.

Patrick Kenny, President and CEO of Drinks, stated, "Mexcor has available resources to support the production of Drinks brands which has been the primary barrier to Drinks expansion. Our portfolio, added to their national sales platform, will be greatly strengthened. Drinks can now focus on what it has a key track record of success with, which is developing and launching icon brands. We are very excited about the resources, skills and instant impact Eduardo Morales and Mexcor bring to our future. We have already started filling substantial open orders. The agreement provides Drinks the resources to produce as much product as we can sell, as well as a national sales platform. Our sales team will be joining and become part of Mexcor. We are thrilled that this joint venture removes the impediments to Drinks rapid expansion and growth in financial strength."

Eduardo Morales, President of Mexcor, said, "Drinks Americas portfolio of brands and access to marketing of those brands is a great addition to our portfolio, as are the sales team and network of distributors that have built their brands. We look forward to rapidly expanding brands like Olifant Vodka, Old Whiskey River Bourbon, Trump Vodka and the balance of their portfolio, and working with Drinks Americas. The economics and strategic fit for this venture is favorable and impactful to both companies."

Patrick Kenny added, "Our overhead will shrink from more than $4 million historically to approximately $1.2 million annually. We are aggressively adjusting our business model to fit the economic realities of today with a model and partnership that will support rapid sales growth. In this new business model, we are assured a per case payment that will be paid on every case sold. Drinks retains ownership of the brands. Rather than having to face raising substantial equity in this market to grow both infrastructure and brands, we can focus our resources on generating brand volume with a consistent return. This is a complete revision of the Drinks business model that recognizes the challenges of today's financial and lending markets for small cap companies, and gives Drinks a clear path to resuming revenue growth and brand value creation. The orders that we are already fulfilling support this new business model. Drinks will move rapidly to profitability executing this plan."

Source: Gainesville Sun

By Diane Chun

Mixing energy drinks with liquor can be a cocktail for disaster, a new University of Florida study shows.

There's a $5 billion market for so-called "energy" drinks, and it is fueled largely by college-age consumers -- or younger.

With such names as "Monster," "Full Throttle," "Red Bull" and "Rockstar," the caffeine-laden drinks are marketed to appeal to the young.

UF researchers found that college students who choose to party like a rockstar at a bar or club by mixing energy drinks with alcohol are putting themselves at real risk.

Mixing alcohol and energy drinks in combinations such as the Jager Bomb (Jagermeister and Red Bull) or Red Bull and vodka isn't just a crime against taste. Doing so can trick the brain into believing you're not as drunk as you are.

In the UF study, appearing in the April issue of the journal Addictive Behaviors, researchers were posted outside popular Gainesville bars and clubs between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. They asked college-age customers leaving the bars what they had been drinking and did an assessment of their sobriety. The patrons were asked about their drinking history and whether or not they intended to drive that night.

The study was funded by the UF President's Office.

When the data from more than 800 randomly selected bar patrons were compiled, researchers said those who'd been drinking energy drinks mixed with alcohol were three times more likely to leave highly intoxicated and four times more likely to intend to drive than bar patrons who'd been drinking only alcohol.

"Previous laboratory research suggests that when caffeine (a stimulant) is mixed with alcohol, it overcomes the sedating effects of alcohol," said Dennis Thombs, lead researcher and associate professor in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions' department of behavioral science and community health. "This may lead people to drink more or make uninformed judgments about whether they are safe to drive."

The result is a partier who is "wide awake and drunk," said study co-author Bruce Goldberger, director of toxicology in the UF College of Medicine and co-author of the study.

"There's a common misconception that if you drink caffeine with an alcoholic beverage that the stimulant effect of the caffeine counteracts the depressant effect of the alcohol," Goldberger said. "That is not true.

"We know that caffeine aggravates the degree of intoxication, which can lead to risky behaviors," he added.

Bar patrons who reported drinking alcohol mixed with energy drinks -- 6.5 percent of study participants -- had an average breath-alcohol concentration reading of 0.109, well above the legal driving limit of 0.08. Fueled by energy drink cocktails, they left bars later at night, drank for longer stretches, ingested more grams of ethanol and were four times more likely to say they intended to drive within an hour of leaving the bar.

Another researcher who has studied the combination of alcohol and energy drinks is Dr. Mary Claire O'Brien of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

O'Brien says that mixing the caffeine of energy drinks with alcohol is like "getting into a car and stepping on the gas pedal and the brake at the same time."

"Students whose motor skills, visual reaction times and judgment are impaired by alcohol may not perceive that they are intoxicated as readily when they've also ingested a stimulant (caffeine)," O'Brien said. "Only the symptoms of drunkenness are reduced, but not the drunkenness. They can't tell if they're drunk; they can't tell if someone else is drunk. So they get hurt, or they hurt someone else."