Since 2006, members of Soft Drinks Europe, UNESDA, have adopted robust school marketing policies based on the following commitments:
- NOT sell or advertise ANY soft drinks in EU primary schools (through direct distribution)
- ONLY sell low- and no-calorie soft drinks in non-branded vending machines, without logos or commercial communications in EU secondary schools (through direct distribution)
The latest external audit in 2022 reported that UNESDA’s company members were highly compliant with the sector’s school policies in the four selected EU countries for the 2022 monitoring:
- 100% (primary schools) and 92.3% (secondary schools) in Austria
- 100% (primary schools) and 93.4% (secondary schools) in Italy
- 100% (primary schools) and 100% (secondary schools) in Slovenia
- 100% (primary schools) and 96.2% (secondary schools) in Sweden
UNESDA members have also implemented responsible marketing and advertising practices to children. Since 2006, UNESDA members have not advertised ANY of their soft drinks to children under 12 years of age, either on TV or in print media or online. In 2018, they reinforced this commitment by extending the scope of media channels in which they do not advertise or market their soft drinks to the under-12s (cinemas, company-owned websites). They have further strengthened this commitment in 2022 not to market or advertise any of their soft drinks to the under-13s across all media.
The latest external audit conducted in 2022 demonstrated that UNESDA’s company members reached high compliance rates regarding the sector’s marketing and advertising commitment:
- 98.7% on TV
- 92.9% on company-owned websites
- 94.1% on company-owned social media profiles
- 100% on influencer profiles
