Soft Drinks Europe

We have the perfect read for you to find out why #OurSectorMatters to Europe! All in just three key facts: 1.Our sector is a key driver of jobs and economic growth. Discover the stories of local #SoftDrinks companies across Europe. 2. Our sector innovates. In fact, we are the most innovative in the food and drink industry 3. Our sector takes ambitious actions that drive meaningful progress across Europe 🔎 Discover more in our NEW article in @euronews 👇 euronews.com/business/2025/…

☀️ Whether you are on holiday or at work, remember to stay hydrated. Wishing you a relaxing summer, and happy holidays to those enjoying a summer break - now or soon.

🗺️ Has 🇪🇸Spain’s World Cup victory inspired you to spend your summer holiday there? We have another reason for you to explore Spain: Sanmy, Spain’s oldest soft drinks company, founded in 1895. Sanmy is one of the soft drinks companies in Spain helping drive a sector that contributes more than €10.7 billion to the economy and supports 176,000 jobs across the country. 🎥 Watch the video to find out more from Pilar Puértolas, Director General of Sanmy, about the company’s socio-economic footprint in Spain 👉youtube.com/watch?v=BYlHFq… → Our sector is essential to building a more competitive Europe. With 500+ production sites across the continent, we produce more than 97% of our soft drinks here in Europe, supporting over 1.8 million jobs and generating €242bn in revenues across our European supply chain. → Staying competitive is critical and this depends on clear, coherent and evidence-based policies that do not discriminate against any food, drink or ingredient, and that drive innovation. #OurSectorMatters

💡 UNESDA #FridayTip 🇧🇪 Belgium’s National Day is almost here! Which of these 10 Belgian Intangible Heritage Practices are you familiar with? 👉 traveltomorrow.com/10-belgian-int…

Thank you Citeo for inviting UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe to participate in today’s Expert Roundtable on the upcoming EU Circular Economy Act. Bringing together policymakers, trade associations, waste management organisations, brand owners and NGOs, the discussion highlighted the critical role of 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 (𝐄𝐏𝐑) schemes in strengthening the European market for secondary raw materials and accelerating the transition to a circular economy. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: ✅ Pull investment into secondary raw materials and stimulate demand ✅ Strengthen the business case for circularity ✅ Simplify rules and remove barriers to material reuse ✅ Address the price gap between virgin and recycled materials while supporting EU recyclers ✅ Deliver real harmonisation of EPR schemes across Europe, without opt-outs For 𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐃𝐀, the Circular Economy Act is an opportunity to strengthen and harmonise EPR systems by: 🔹 Enforcing Article 8a of the Waste Framework Directive to ensure EU-wide minimum requirements 🔹 Ensuring EPR fees are reinvested in the collection, sorting, and recycling of the packaging they were paid for 🔹Banning state-run PRO models that risk undermining efficiency and recycling outcomes To further support Europe’s circularity ambitions, the Act should also: 🔹 Support the 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 principle introduced in the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) as a tool to prioritise high-quality closed-loop recycling 🔹 Create a 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 through targeted incentives for recycling and recycled content use 🔹 𝐀𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 on imported recycled materials that could disrupt supply and increase costs The EU Circular Economy Act is a key opportunity to create a more efficient, harmonised and competitive circular economy that delivers for both industry and the environment.

🍽 Very informative interview on how the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) ensures the food we eat in Europe is safe. FoodDrinkEurope spoke with Christophe Wolff, Policy Officer at EFSA, about how the agency conducts rigorous food assessments based on solid evidence, and how it undertakes continuous reviews to ensure its reassessments reflect the latest science: 🗨 ‘’𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘜, 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘌𝘍𝘚𝘈 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴. 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤. 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦: 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴𝘦? 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺. 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘌𝘍𝘚𝘈 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦-𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦-𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺'𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴.’’ 🔎 Find out more by reading the full interview ⬇️ linkedin.com/pulse/behind-s…

🤔 Wish you knew more about how to lead an association in a complex and fast-evolving environment? Then, the 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗔𝗠) could be just what you need. Powered by Solvay Brussels School, the European Society of Association Executives (ESAE) is launching EMIAM, Europe’s Reference Programme for Association Leaders. It follows the logic of real-world business planning. Each module builds on the previous one, guiding you from personal leadership to full strategic execution. 📣 Applications are open! ⏳ Early-bird fees are available until 15 September. ✍️ Apply now ⤵️ esae.glueup.com/membership/401… 🔎 Interested? Find out more about EMIAM 👉esae.eu/emiam

Schools across Europe may be closed for the summer break, but our commitment to implementing our robust school policies is not taking a holiday. We remain ready to continue delivering on our school policies when the new school year begins: 🔹We do not sell soft drinks in EU primary schools (through direct distribution) 🔹The only soft drinks we sell in EU secondary schools are low- and no-calorie (through direct distribution), and only in non-branded vending machines, without logos or commercial communications ✅ We are fulfilling our pledge, as shown by the latest monitoring conducted by third-party auditor BVA BDRC in three EU countries where a voluntary school commitment is in place. We reached the following compliance rates: Belgium🇧🇪 ▪️ 100% compliance (primary schools) ▪️ 98% compliance (secondary schools) Portugal🇵🇹 ▪️100% compliance (primary schools) ▪️100% compliance (secondary schools) Spain🇪🇸 ▪️ 100% compliance (primary schools) ▪️ 100% compliance (secondary schools) 🔎 Find out more👉unesda.eu/our-priorities… #DoingOurPart

This is not just another Friday as we are saying goodbye to Alessia Montillo, who has been with us since January, covering for Delphine Close during her maternity leave. We have very much enjoyed working with you, dear Alessia! Many thanks for your great work and for being such a friendly colleague. We wish you all the best for the next chapter in your career, and we hope to keep seeing you in Brussels. 😉 And a warm welcome back to Delphine, who has returned from maternity leave. It is great to have you with us again!

💡 UNESDA #FridayTip With hot weather and heatwaves across Europe, don’t forget to stay hydrated. Here are some simple tips 👇 euronews.com/health/2026/06…

⚽️ Every great match needs a strong, proactive team to deliver results. Meet our sector’s Packaging Circularity Starting 11! 🥅 11 players with one goal: Driving a circular economy for beverage packaging in Europe. Every player plays a key role: 🔄 In defence, our sector keeps working towards circular packaging. 🔄 In midfield, we connect circular packaging, consumer convenience, and long-term environmental goals. 🔄 Up front, we deliver sustainable packaging solutions. For circularity to work effectively, two fair play rules are also essential: ♻️ Making high-quality and closed-loop recycling the norm for every product, providing fair access to recycled material. ♻️ Ensuring a level playing field between virgin materials and recycled materials, making recycled materials more competitive through cost reduction and fiscal incentives. 🏆 Who is the winner? When policymakers create policies that are simple, clear, coherent, growth-oriented and drive innovation, and when the industry plays its part, everyone wins: the environment, citizens and businesses. 🔎 Swipe through to discover how our sector plays its part in the circular economy. 👇

♻️ Wondering what closed-loop recycling really means? And why fair access to sufficient recycled materials is so important for our sector in advancing packaging circularity? 🎥 Our colleagues from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Dries Van Aerde and Maria Negut, make it all clear and easy to understand. Watch the video! ↓ linkedin.com/posts/coca-col… 🔔 Fair access is a cornerstone of packaging circularity. It enables closed-loop recycling by ensuring beverage manufacturers have access to sufficient recycled content so that used packaging can be turned into new packaging. This helps the industry meet EU recycled content targets as well as its own voluntary targets and encourages other sectors to invest in collecting and recycling their own products.

♻️ Latest update on glass packaging collection progress! Close The Glass Loop released the latest annual data on European glass packaging collection rates for recycling. 🤔 How is the EU doing? ✅ The EU’s glass value chain achieved 82.2% glass packaging collection rate in 2024. 🔎 Check out the press release for more details 👉closetheglassloop.eu/glass-collecti… ✨ UNESDA is a member of Close The Glass Loop and is working towards closing the glass packaging loop, as part of our sector’s strategy to reach 90% collection of our beverage packaging by 2030. #CloseTheGlassLoop #GlassCollection #GlassRecycling #CircularEconomy

🌍 Local impact, global reach. Sounds familiar? Coca-Cola produces its beverages in multiple plants across Europe. See what it looks like in practice. ↓ For example, in Romania, Coca-Cola has had a strong local presence since 1991 through two companies: Coca-Cola Romania, and its local bottling partner, Coca-Cola HBC Romania. ➡️ With three plants in Ploieşti, Timişoara, and Poiana Negrii, Coca-Cola supports 20,700 direct and indirect jobs and generates €911m value added across the Romanian value chain. By doing so, it contributes €520m to state revenues. ➡️ It is not just about local jobs and growth. It is also about the value the company brings to the local community. Only in the last 10 years, Coca-Cola has also invested in more than 40 social projects in Romania. 🎥 Watch the video to explore Coca-Cola’s socio-economic footprint in Romania with Mark Docherty, General Manager of Coca-Cola Romania, and Cornel Cărămizaru, General Manager of Coca-Cola HBC Romania. #OurSectorMatters