NEW YORK, N.Y. - PepsiCo says it plans to start testing new fountain equipment at restaurants that offers nearly 100 different flavour combinations. The test follows Coca-Cola's introduction in 2009 of its Freestyle machine, which also lets customers touch a screen to pick from a wide array of flavour combinations. PepsiCo's test, set to begin at five restaurants in Denver, was first reported by the industry tracker Beverage Digest.

CHICAGO - Grains futures were mixed Wednesday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for July delivery fell 3 cents to $7.06 a bushel; July corn fell 7 cents to $6.33 a bushel; July oats added 1 cent to $3.7825 a bushel; while July soybeans rose 8.5 cents to $13.9075 a bushel. Beef futures fell, while pork prices rose on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. June live cattle fell 0.62 cent to $1.2020 a pound; May feeder cattle fell 1.27 cent to $1.3560 a pound; June lean hogs added 0.47 cent to 91.77 cents a pound.

By Euan Rocha and Susan Taylor TORONTO (Reuters) - Tim Hortons Inc <THI.TO> named a long-time Nestle executive as its new chief on Wednesday, a job that will be no easy task given drooping demand at the Canadian coffee and doughnut chain and a push by a U.S. hedge fund for better returns. Shares of Tim Hortons, which boasts that it sells eight of every 10 cups of coffee sold in Canada, fell more than 2.5 percent after the company posted its first decline in established store sales since its 2006 initial public offering.

Chef Dan Barber’s New York City dining destination Blue Hill has been inducted into an exclusive club of restaurants deemed to be the best in the US at an event known as the Oscars of the American food scene. On Monday night, Barber took home the gastronomic equivalent of the Best Picture award at the James Beard Foundation Awards in New York, where Blue Hill was named Outstanding Restaurant.