UK Soft Drinks

Responsibility Report 2nd edition March 2012

Recipes

Consumers can choose from a wide range

of drinks, including 100 per cent natural

drinks, functional drinks, and also diet

and low calorie options for those who

prefer them. Consumers respond to this

choice: for example, drinks without added

sugar now make up around 60 per cent

of the market, up from 30 per cent 20

years ago.

Portion sizes

Drinks are offered in a wide range of

pack sizes, so that consumers can choose

the ones that suit their needs. Multiserve

packs state on the label the number

of servings that each contains, and

nutritional information is included

per portion.

Quality

Every batch of product is rigorously

tested before it is released for sale. If

it is not good enough, it won’t be sold.

Consumers need to be assured that they

are buying safe, high quality drinks for

themselves and their families.

Samples of fruit juices on sale are

randomly selected and tested by an

independent laboratory to ensure that

the quality meets the high standards of

authenticity that consumers expect.

Achieving 5 a day

Fruit juices and high juice content

juice drinks can provide one of the fi ve

servings of fruit and vegetables that

everyone is recommended to consume

every day, and fruit smoothies can count

as two. Soft drinks companies provide

more than 6 billion servings of fruit juice

every year, an average of 100 per person

in this country.

Labelling

Soft drinks carry nutritional information,

including calorie content, in a clear

format on the front of the pack. The

GDA format enables consumers easily

to compare one product with another

and choose the one most suitable for

their diet.

Marketing and promotion

The soft drinks industry has adopted a

policy whereby it does not advertise soft

drinks containing added sugar to children;

a number of companies go further and

will not advertise products of any kind to

children. Companies that offer diet drinks

within their range are also devoting more

of their promotional expenditure to their

lower calorie drinks.

Acting responsibly is at the heart of being a successful business. While every business has to satisfy its consumers, of course, and also its investors or shareholders, it also has to take into account the concerns of the wider community. It has to act responsibly towards all those who might be affected by its actions.

This includes responsibility to:

• its consumers• its suppliers• its employees• the communities in

which it operates

Some of the steps that responsibility demands are visible to the outside world; others might only be seen within the business. But

they are nevertheless all important.

This UK Soft Drinks Responsibility Report describes some of the ways in which the soft drinks industry meets its obligations towards its consumers and the wider public.

The soft drinks industry provides a wide range of high quality, safe and refreshing drinks, with a range of ingredients, calorie contents and pack sizes – and full nutritional information about each of them – enabling consumers to make informed decisions about which drinks are suitable for themselves and their families.

Responsibility to our consumers

Pepsico has continued to focus

100 per cent of its Pepsi advertising

on no added sugar and natural

varieties; 66 per cent of total Pepsi

retail sales are in no added sugar

Max or Diet brands. Its fruit juice

brand Tropicana has been introduced

to a further 3,500 quick serve

restaurants and other outlets to

increase the availability of options

contributing towards 5 a day.

Rubicon has launched a no

added sugar variant, Rubicon Mango

Light, with all the taste of exotic

Alphonso mangoes but with 70 per

cent fewer calories and no added

sugar. Consumers wanted a lighter

alternative to Mango original, so

Rubicon created a low calorie option

without compromising on taste.

Britvic has extended its

portfolio with Fruit Shoot My 5

for children, a drink made up of

80 per cent juice and 20 per cent

spring water and counting as one

of their fi ve a day. The company

also launched its no added sugar/

low sugar carbonates range in a

600ml pack, priced the same as its

500ml full sugar range, offering

better value for money for those

consumers switching from full

sugar to diet.

Advertising

Soft drinks companies observe all

applicable codes relating to their

advertising and on their websites. This

includes the obligation to be consistent

with public health policy in emphasising

good dietary behaviour and an active

lifestyle as a means of promoting

health. Marketing communications

must not condone or encourage poor

nutritional habits or an unhealthy

lifestyle in children, nor may they advise

or ask children to ask their parents

to buy soft drinks for them: the use

of “pester power” is forbidden. Soft

drinks containing added sugar are

not advertised on children’s channels

or during programmes made for or

predominantly watched by children.

Drinks high in caffeine

BSDA and its European trade

association, UNESDA, have agreed codes

of practice regarding the promotion of

soft drinks with a high caffeine content,

often referred to as energy drinks. (Each

contains about as much as caffeine as

a cup of coffee.) The codes of practice

specify advisory labelling statements

about consumption by children, pregnant

women and persons sensitive to caffeine.

Furthermore, marketing and promotion

activities are aimed only at over-16s.

Manufacturing

State of the art lines for fi lling cans,

bottles and cartons and a scrupulous

attention to hygiene serve to minimise

waste, keep energy use low, and ensure

the highest health and safety standards

in the workplace.

Sourcing

The industry has established a system of

self-regulation whereby suppliers of fruit

juice are required to adhere to a code of

conduct covering their labour standards

and environmental performance. Regular

independent monitoring of suppliers all

around the world ensures that consumers

can enjoy fruit juice in the knowledge

that it has been produced in a fair and

environmentally sensitive manner.

Responsibility to our communitiesThe soft drinks industry seeks to provide rewarding careers for its employees and to play a positive role in the communities in which it does business.

Danone has set up Eat

Like A Champ (ELAC), an

education campaign to address

the issue of poor nutrition and

obesity among school children

in the UK. The six week

programme is designed to help

children in Key Stage 2 learn

about healthy eating in a fun,

exciting way. The ELAC school

lessons have been developed

in partnership with the

British Nutrition Foundation

and include themes such

as ‘Healthy Lunchboxes’,

‘Nutrients & Water’ and

‘Snack Swaps’. Together with

teachers, the ELAC resource

packs and lesson plans are

brought to life in schools by

Danone employee volunteers.

Over 3,000 children from

53 London primary schools

took part in 2011 and the

campaign was supported by

Diversity Dance Troupe, winners of

Britain’s Got Talent.

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola has

launched a three year partnership

with national charity StreetGames.

Its partnership is helping over

110,000 young people in

disadvantaged communities get

active and participate in sport.

Last year, StreetGames delivered a

programme of mass participation

festivals across the country – in

cities including London, Manchester,

Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol and

Cardiff. Summer festivals alone will

reach over 3,000 young people

from some of Britain’s poorest

communities. The investment has

also helped create the fi rst ever

StreetGames Sport for Change

Training Academy, equipping 100

tutors to deliver 11 specifi c new

StreetGames training course to

around 600 coaches.

Employment

The soft drinks industry is a progressive

employer, and employs around 12,000

people. It is committed to offering

equal opportunities so that talent can

shine. Companies offer on-the-job and

off-site training and apprenticeships,

with the achievement of Investors in

People awards. The British Soft Drinks

Industry Foundation has been given

the mission of attracting science students

into the industry and supporting those

working in the industry through funding

apprenticeships.

Education

Many soft drinks companies support

educational activities in schools. For

example, BSDA’s own Liquids Mean Life

education pack has been used in more

than one third of schools, supplied to

them on request only. It mentions no

products and no brands, and is not used

for commercial promotion.

Encouraging physical activity

A key objective of the soft drinks

industry is to promote physical activity.

Soft drinks companies sponsor many

grassroots sporting activities, including

swimming, cycling and walking, and their

own staff, too, are encouraged to live

more active lifestyles.

The community

Soft drinks companies are active corporate

citizens in their communities. They

sponsor community groups and activities,

members of their staff are frequently

found as volunteers on community

projects, and they offer charitable

donations and donations in-kind.

Fighting litter

BSDA supports the Love Where You Live

campaign, a new campaign with the aim

of inspiring everyone to think about their

communities and take action to reduce litter

in the locations where they live, the places

they visit and the spaces that they use.

Britvic has launched an employee wellbeing programme ‘wellness@work’ which supports the principles of Change4Life

– eat less, move more, live longer. Since the launch new local initiatives have been set up by employees such as a beginners

running club, lunchtime pilates and walking clubs, and last summer Britvic ran an organised 10,000 step walking challenge with

employees across every site. Over 50 million steps in total were walked in a month, with one winning individual clocking up a

massive 965,057 steps – for which he won a brand new bike and intends to cycle to work every day.

A G Barr has achieved the

prestigious Investors in People

Bronze award in recognition

of the commitment made to its

staff across all of the company’s

UK sites. The recognition has

been awarded after all 11 of

its UK sites were assessed and

confi rmed as having achieved

and exceeded the standard.

Launched in 1991, Investors in

People (IIP) helps organisations

to improve performance and

realise their objectives through the

management and development of

their people.

Strathmore Spring Water is the offi cial water of

the Prince’s Trust and assists in its

many fundraising events each year.

The company’s partnership with

The Prince’s Trust entered its fourth

year in 2011/12; in which it makes

donations including funds raised

by its staff each year. The Prince’s

Trust has become the UK’s leading

youth charity, offering a range of

opportunities, including training

and personal development,

business start-up support, mentoring

and advice.

Shloer offers healthier

alternatives for lunches at meetings,

has installed showers and cycle racks

to encourage cycling into work, and

arranges corporate rates for its

employees at local gyms.

Feel Good Drinks gives its staff fi ve extra

days leave each year to do

volunteer work at causes

they care about. These

Feelgoodness Days have been

used to help clean up the River

Thames, collect litter from the

Regent’s Canal, and building

pathways through South

London’s woodland parks.

GlaxoSmithKline has

recruited fi ve local apprentices to

work at its Coleford manufacturing

site. The site is one of the

largest employers in the Forest

of Dean and the recruitment of

these apprentices is part of the

long term strategy to develop

Coleford’s position as a world

class manufacturing site, both in

terms of production and training

and developing a new generation

of British engineers.

Responsibility to the environment

Reducing transport

The soft drinks industry is working

towards the overall food and drink

industry objective to reduce the external

impacts of transport by 20 per cent by

the end of 2012 compared to 2002.

Initiatives include amalgamating delivery

routes to reduce journey distances,

changing the way vehicles are loaded in

order to fi t more bottles into each load,

training drivers in energy-effi cient driving

techniques, and adopting alternative fuel

and engine technologies.

Saving water

The soft drinks industry aims to reduce

its waste water volumes (i.e. water

not contained in the product) as part

of a food and drink industry target to

reduce water use by 20 per cent by

2020 compared to 2007. Factories

increasingly use compressed air rather

than water for rinsing the bottles

before fi lling, water meters are installed

to measure and highlight usage, and

rainwater is harvested as it can be used

for some purposes on site.

Saving energy

In line with the aims of the Climate

Change Act, it is the sector’s ambition

to achieve at least a 35 per cent

reduction in carbon dioxide emissions

from manufacturing by 2020 compared

to 2002 levels. Soft drinks companies

have been reducing their energy use

through more energy effi cient lighting

and using more natural light in factories,

increased monitoring of energy use to

identify ineffi ciencies, and exploring the

use of renewable energy. BSDA has also

published a list of Energy Effi ciency Top

Tips for dispense and vending machines

and chillers.

Reducing packaging

The soft drinks industry is pursuing

several initiatives to improve the

sustainability of its packaging. Many

soft drinks companies are signatories

of the Courtauld Commitment Phase 2,

which aims to reduce the weight, increase

recycling rates and increase the recycled

content of all grocery packaging, as

appropriate. Through these measures the

aim is to reduce the carbon impact of

this grocery packaging by 10 per cent.

Reducing waste

The soft drinks industry is progressively

reducing the quantity of waste from its

factories that ends up in landfi ll sites,

and aims to reduce that amount of

waste to zero by 2015. Ways to reduce

the quantity of landfi ll waste include

reducing the amount of material used

in packaging, reducing product waste

due to unsold stock in warehouses,

segregating waste to minimise cross-

contamination and increasing access to

recycle points.

The soft drinks industry is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its activities to conserve resources for future generations.

GlaxoSmithKline has installed a new bottle-blowing system at its

factory in Coleford, Gloucestershire. This new onsite facility has cut the

number of lorry journeys by 2,441 each year. The bottles themselves have

been redesigned to use 14 per cent less plastic, and the factory is powered by

an in-house Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system. The site is now able

to generate 5.5 megawatts of power, the same as 90 acres of wind turbines

working at full capacity. The waste heat given off during power generation is

captured and used to create steam, which is then sent to absorption chillers

to turn the steam to chilled clean water, used throughout the process of

making the drinks. Without this tri-generation process – power, steam and

chilled water – the factory would require a further 2 megawatt generator just

to produce enough chilled water.

Britvic has launched its new

Robinsons Double Concentrate to

reduce dramatically the amount

of packaging used in its soft

drinks. Producing the new 1.25

litre and 1.75 litre bottles of

Double Concentrate cuts over

14,000 tonnes of CO2 every

year – the equivalent of taking

3,300 family cars off UK roads

for a year. It reduces CO2e

(carbon dioxide equivalent) in

packaging by over 55 per cent

each year compared to the 2L,

3L and 4L Robinsons bottles it

replaces. The new packaging

format uses less than a third of

the materials usually required,

for every litre drunk.

Vimto Soft Drinks

has completed a major

lightweighting project for Vimto

cordials, which has reduced

PET usage by 17 per cent (145

tonnes per annum). At the

same time, the opportunity was

taken to incorporate 25 per cent

recycled PET (180 tonnes per

annum). A further benefi t has

been an increase in the number

of bottles carried per pallet,

which saves some 10,000 lorry

miles per year.

Encouraging recycling

The recycling of used packaging is

an important means of reducing its

environmental impact, closing the

so-called packaging loop. The amount

of plastic bottles recycled last year

increased by 7 per cent. Furthermore,

increasing amounts of recycled material

are now used in the original bottles – it

is common to fi nd bottles with 25 per

cent or 50 per cent recycled content. In

fact, demand for recycled PET plastic

exceeds supply, so soft drinks companies

are sponsoring campaigns to encourage

the public to recycle, including the

installation of facilities for collecting

bottles for recycling on-the-go.

Carton manufacturers have invested

heavily in the infrastructure needed to

recycle cartons, so that an increasing

number of local authorities have added

cartons to the materials that they collect

from households for recycling.

BSDA members support the Every Can

Counts campaign, a partnership that

aims to encourage greater recycling of

aluminium and steel cans, whether it be

at work, at college, at an event or festival

or whilst you are out and about.

Protecting water sources

Natural mineral water and spring water

only come from underground sources

that are protected from all pollution.

Each source is also managed sustainably:

water may only be abstracted from it

for bottling at a rate which ensures

that the level of water in the source is

not depleted. There are more than 70

sources of natural mineral water in the

UK, supplying around 1 billion litres of

water each year.

About BSDA

The British Soft Drinks Association is the national trade association representing the collective interests of the producers of soft drinks, including carbonated drinks, still and dilutable drinks, fruit juices and smoothies, and bottled waters.

The soft drinks industry provides over 14 billion litres of soft drinks each year (an average of 229 litres per person) with a retail value of more than £13 billion. It employs around 12,000 people, and its products are enjoyed in homes, in pubs and restaurants and on-the-go throughout the country.

Contact

British Soft Drinks Association 20-22 Bedford Row

LondonWC1R 4EB

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7405 0300Fax: +44 (0) 20 7831 6014

Email: bsda@britishsoftdrinks.comWebsite: www.britishsoftdrinks.com