Wow – 2011 went so fast! As we put this year in the rearview mirror, let’s take a minute to look at what issues we covered this year.
We’ve provided a lot of information about our member companies’ products and programs, including our Clear on Calories and School Beverage Guidelines initiatives. And that includes clearing up the misinformation surrounding energy drinks and other beverage categories. And speaking of misinformation, sadly we found a number of articles out there this year that needed more information to complete the story – or just didn’t get the facts straight.
We covered counterfeit soft drinks, discriminatory taxes, over-the-top and outrageous studies and the misuse of federal stimulus money that is going to fund smear campaigns aimed at our products as written about by The Heritage Foundation and U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.).
Fortunately, we share information from an industry that has accomplished plenty of good work and continues to be a leader in developing meaningful solutions. We are so proud to be working with Knoxville, Tenn., on its “Do Your Part with the Cart” program – an initiative that will provide the option of curbside recycling services to thousands of residents. We also covered some other unique and thoughtful recycling initiatives.
But, that’s not all we have going on in communities. Across the country, our industry and its employees are very involved in their local communities. Here in our backyard of the nation’s capitol, the American Beverage Association and the D.C. Beverage Association announced in September our support for afterschool programs run by DC SCORES. Check out our blog post on this by clicking here.
And we can’t forget the myriad beverage options available in the marketplace. Or how proud we are of Susan Neely, president and CEO of the American Beverage Association, who received the Seton Hall University Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations’ Global Citizen of the Year Award just a few weeks ago!
Thanks for checking in with us this year. We appreciate you keeping up with us, whether it’s Earth Day or Food Day. Every day we hope to provide you only the best and most interesting information from the non-alcoholic beverage industry.
