In November 2019, the Beverage Calories Initiative (BCI) released a progress report on its goal to reduce consumption of calories from beverages. BCI is an effort by Healthier Generation, the American Beverage Association (ABA), The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper to reduce the per capita consumption of calories that Americans obtain from beverages by 20% by 2025.

By the Numbers

20% by 2025
BCI goal to reduce the per capita consumption of calories from beverages

203 to 196.9
decrease in beverage calories per person from 2014 to 2018

The report found that daily per capita calorie consumption fell at a faster rate in 2018 than in previous years, driven by reductions in calories consumed from carbonated soft drinks, 100% juices and juice drinks. These calorie reductions occurred even though volume sales of all beverages per person increased by 1.5% in 2018, according to the analysis.

A significant reduction in consumer calories took place in packaged beverages (bottles, cans and packs) purchased in places such as large chain stores that account for more than half of the beverage market. Decreases in consumer calories also were observed for the first time since the BCI launch within market segments that include fountain beverages sold at foodservice outlets, as well as small and independent retailers.

Overall, the analysis shows that from 2014 to 2018, beverage calories per person fell from 203 to 196.9. The calorie reductions came in the third and fourth years of the initiative (three calories per person in 2017; 3.3 in 2018).

Additional takeaways from the 2018 data include:

• Average calories per 8-ounce serving of beverages decreased as consumers increasingly selected lower calorie versions of all beverage categories.
• This decrease in average calories per 8-ounce serving also was driven by the share growth of waters, including carbonated waters, in the overall product mix.
• For the first time since the launch of this initiative, the share of consumers choosing low- and no-calorie carbonated soft drinks over higher calorie options grew.

The full report and methodology can be viewed at www.healthiergeneration.org/BCI.

Casey’s Advances Gender Parity

With more than 50% female board representation, Casey’s General Stores Inc. has been recognized by the Women’s Forum of New York for moving toward 50/50 gender-balanced boardrooms by 2025. With 55% of corporate board seats held by women, Casey’s exceeds the national average of 23.4% for female-held board seats.

The current Board of Directors for the chain of convenience stores in the Midwest and South includes five women who bring unmatched value and oversight to the growing convenience and pizza retailer:

• Diane Bridgewater, executive vice president/chief financial and administrative officer of LCS
• Cara Heiden, retired co-president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
• Larree Renda, retired executive vice president of Safeway Inc.
• Judy Schmeling, former chief operations officer of HSN Inc., and former president of Cornerstone Brands
• Allison Wing, chief consumer officer of Bright Health

“At Casey’s, we are committed to gender parity and are honored to be part of an outstanding group of organizations that are reshaping the makeup of America’s boardrooms,” said Darren Rebelez, president and CEO. “We also recognize that there is still work to be done, and we challenge leaders to continue championing gender parity throughout their organizations.”

In addition, Julie Jackowski, senior vice president, corporate general counsel and secretary at Casey’s, is the current Chair of the NACS Board of Directors.

Dash In convenience stores and Splash In ECO car washes honored U.S. troops with a free sandwich and car wash at all locations across Delaware, Maryland and Virginia on Veterans Day.

High’s offered a free 20-ounce coffee on Veterans Day to all veterans, active duty military members and their families.

OnCue sold thousands of “Support Oklahoma Schools” fundraiser cups in 2019, giving 50 cents from every cup to each store’s local school district for a total of more than $20,000. The cup campaign ran from July to the end of September. OnCue operates stores in 23 Oklahoma school districts, each of which were recipients of the $20,000 gift.

Enmarket raised $137,758 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Savannah. This was the sixth year Enmarket has collected community donations through this annual fundraiser, and in total, the company has raised nearly $640,000. Enmarket team members presented the check to representatives of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at the Light the Night Walk held on November 9.