UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe

🌍🌿 EU Green Week is here and our Director General, Nicholas Hodac, is out with a new article on the upcoming EU Circular Economy Act (CEA).

📌🌍 Producing 30 million soft drinks every year in Slovakia, using locally sourced ingredients? Yes. 👨👩‍🦰 Supporting local jobs by employing 186 people? Of course. 🤝 Generating value for Slovakia’s economy and families? Naturally.

Know Sanmy? It is Spain’s oldest soft drinks company, employing more than 176,000 people and generating over €10.7 billion in revenue. A strong example of our sector’s local roots. ⬇️ Discover how Sanmy supports Spain’s economy and communities.

💧 Several of our members are participating in the Global Water Summit this week in Madrid. Water is a priority for our sector. It is an essential ingredient in our soft drinks, making up over 90% of their content. It is also vital for the communities we serve.

🏠📍 It all happens close to home. Our sector invests, innovates and produces over 97% of our soft drinks locally across more than 500 manufacturing plants in Europe. 🌍 A strong example of this deep local presence is Sumol Compal.

Everywhere you go in Europe, from Portugal to Finland, you can see our sector is deeply rooted locally, investing in and producing our soft drinks in the communities we serve. A clear example is Merlin’s Beverages.

Does Roma sound familiar to you? This soft drinks company has supported local jobs and invested significantly in Norway for more than 100 years by producing beverages at its local manufacturing site just outside Oslo.

📜 Not every EU law is simple, clear, coherent & properly assessed. And that needs fixing if the EU is to drive competitiveness & innovation. Ahead of the forthcoming @ec.europa.eu’s Communication on Better Regulation, our sector has some key insights to share on how the EU can simplify regulation:

Schools across Europe may close for the Easter holiday, but our sector’s commitment does not pause. We remain focused on the implementation of our school policies across the continent: 🔹We DO NOT sell our soft drinks in EU primary schools

It’s World Health Day, and this is a great reminder of how our sector’s innovations contribute to supporting balanced diets for Europeans. Through innovation, we advance our voluntary sugar reformulation efforts.

Today is #WorldWaterDay. 💧 Water is a vital resource, and a resource that we all share. That’s why it is everyone’s responsibility to use it wisely and protect it. For our sector, water is essential not only for producing our soft drinks, but also for supporting the communities we serve.

What does Bornholms Mosteri A/S mean to Denmark and to Europe? A lot! It means local jobs and local production, given that Bornholms Mosteri A/S is a beverage company producing soft drinks in Denmark with local workers. As Josephine Senger Svendsen, CEO of Bornholms Mosteri, puts it:

Are you an Association professional? Europe’s biggest Association gathering is coming back to Brussels! Join us at the European Association Summit on 26 March, hosted by the European Society of Association Executives (ESAE), of which UNESDA is a member.

It has been one year since the @ec.europa.eu launched the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food. How far has the Commission come in delivering on it?

More than 150 years of supporting local jobs and driving investment and sustainable growth in Slovenia? Yes, that’s what beverage company Radenska Adriatic has been doing by investing locally and producing soft drinks in Slovenia. 🎥 Discover this local story in the snippet below ⬇️

A few days ago, our Director General Nicholas Hodac was in Romania for the launch of the study ‘The socio-economic impact of the soft drinks industry in Romania’, conducted by the Academia de Studii Economice din București (ASE) for our Romanian member association.

Making further progress only happens with clear goals. Here are this year’s key priorities we at UNESDA are focusing on to continue driving innovation, advancing environmental sustainability and supporting balanced diets across Europe:

Nothing beats a local story to demonstrate how our sector matters to Europe’s economy and communities. 🎥 Watch the video snippet below from Merlin’s Beverages, a soft drinks company that is creating hundreds of jobs and driving sustainable growth across Romania

Ever heard of Roma? This company has been producing refreshing soft drinks in Norway for over 100 years, generating jobs and supporting the country’s sustainable growth. 🎥 Watch the video snippet below to find out how Roma is strengthening Norway’s competitiveness. 👉 unesda.eu/our-industry...

It’s almost time for the Annual PETCORE Europe Conference and we won’t miss it! Our colleague Alessia Montillo will follow the discussions on the impact of regulatory and legislative developments on the PET value chain & how the PET packaging & recycling industry keeps driving #circularity forward.

Many of you have probably set new intentions for this year. And what about us? For our sector, there is one resolution that stands firm every year: continuing innovating for our consumers and the environment.

If you have not read our latest article on @euronews.com yet... Wait, why not?! 😉 We are breaking down for you the top three facts that explain why our sector matters to Europe’s economy and citizens. 🔎 Find out more in the article 👉 www.euronews.com/business/202... #OurSectorMatters

New school term underway, same strong commitment to our school policies! Our sector will keep delivering on our school commitment to supporting balanced diets from an early age: 🔹 We do NOT sell our #SoftDrinks in EU primary schools (through direct distribution)

🎄 All of us at UNESDA send our warmest wishes for a happy holiday season with your loved ones and a bright start to the new year. Thank you for being part of our journey in 2025! We look forward to reconnecting with you in January. 🙂