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NEW YORK — The Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group have made a commitment to reduce the amount of calories that Americans consume from their beverages.
The Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group have made a commitment to reduce the amount of calories that Americans consume from their beverages.
The effort, made in tandem with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the American Beverage Association, was announced Tuesday at the 2014 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting in New York.
Through the initiative, Coke, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper Snapple would leverage marketing, distribution and packaging to reduce beverage calories consumed per person nationally by 20% by 2025.
Nationally, the beverage companies would increase and sustain consumer interest in and access to beverage options such as smaller sizes, water, and other no- or lower-calorie drinks. Sales of water and other lower-calorie beverages are expected to surge as a result, they said.
The three beverage giant also will engage in consumer education and outreach to heighten consumer awareness of smaller size beverages and low- or no-calorie choices. Each company, too, will provide calorie counts and promote calorie awareness on all controlled point-of-sale equipment nationwide, including more than 3 million vending machines, self-serve fountain dispensers and retail coolers in convenience stores, restaurants and other locations.
"I am excited about the potential of this voluntary commitment by the beverage industry. It can be a critical step in our ongoing fight against obesity," former President Bill Clinton said in a statement. "Our work with beverage companies to reduce the number of calories shipped to schools by 90% demonstrates the power of creative cooperation. We look forward to continuing to work together to achieve the goals outlined in this commitment."
Along with President Clinton, appearing at the 2014 CGI annual meeting were Wendy Clark, president of sparkling brands and strategic marketing for Coca-Cola North America; Rodger Collins, president of packaged beverages for Dr. Pepper Snapple Group; Albert Carey, chief executive officer of PepsiCo Americas Beverages; Susan Neely, president and CEO of the American Beverage Association; and Howell Wechsler, CEO of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. Founded by the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation, the alliance empowers kids to develop lifelong, healthy habits.
At the local level, Coke, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper Snapple plan to sharpen their focus on communities where there has been less interest in and/or access to low- or no-calorie beverage choice, with a goal of achieving a 20% per person reduction of calories consumed from beverages in those communities within 10 years.
The beverage companies said that they will instead promote consumption of their bottled water products. Each company also may engage in other activities, such as introducing and expanding new lower-calorie products and smaller-portion packages; product placement such as end-cap and checkout displays featuring only reduced-calorie beverages; merchandising efforts such as repositioning reduced-calorie beverages on shelves; providing coupons and other incentives promoting no/lower-calorie options; and taste tests/sampling programs in and out of store.
"This is the single-largest voluntary effort by an industry to help fight obesity and leverages our companies’ greatest strengths in marketing, innovation and distribution," Neely stated. "This initiative will help transform the beverage landscape in America. It takes our efforts to provide consumers with more choices, smaller portions and fewer calories to an ambitious new level."
In conjunction with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, the beverage makers will retain an independent, third-party evaluator to monitor progress and interim benchmarks toward their commitments. The beverage industry and the alliance also will work jointly to define the reporting schedule for the agreement.
"Calories from beverages such as regular sodas and fruit drinks make up 6% of Americans’ daily caloric intake," Wechsler noted. "Reducing the number of calories consumed from beverages in the United States is imperative to helping curb obesity. We commend the beverage industry for making this strong commitment to reducing the number of beverage calories consumed per person by 20%."
