The judging panel’s citation read: “For an outstanding and sustainable international contribution to water stewardship across an entire business – engaging with employees, communities, governments and NGOs to protect watersheds, raise public awareness and preserve water.”
Headquartered in Athens and operating in 28 countries, Coca-Cola Hellenic is one of the largest bottlers and vendors of The Coca-Cola Company’s products in the world, and the largest based in Europe.
Coca-Cola Hellenic, which is a founding signatory of the CEO Water Mandate of the UN Global Compact, said: “Our ability to grow is directly related to the availability and quality of local water sources. Our integrated approach involves using water more efficiently in our operations, and engaging in public/private partnerships to protect watersheds and raise public awareness of their importance.”
“The ‘Best environmental initiative category’ in the Beverage Innovation Awards has gained in importance over the past five years, and this year’s winner was a dry lubrication system from Thonhauser of Austria, with other finalists including the Ecocool Ice Cold Merchandiser from Frigoglass, and a rainforest protection initiative from PepsiCo’s Tropicana,” said Bill Bruce, FoodBev Media group editorial director. “But the judging panel was impressed by the many and varied water stewardship intiatives entered by Coca-Cola Hellenic and decided that it was necessary to draw special attention to the company’s entire activity in this important area. The last time we awarded a special commendation was to Unesda in 2006, for its commitments to the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.”
The initiatives and programmes, which resulted in this special commendation for Coca-Cola Hellenic, include:
Coca-Cola Hellenic gained success in other categories, too. It won the ‘Best flavoured water’ category with Römerquelle Emotion blackberry and lime from Austria; in ‘Best health initiative’ it won with its ‘Wake Your Body’ active lifestyle programme in Hungary, and its Amita ‘5-a-day’ campaign in Greece was a finalist; and in the category ‘Best ethical initiative’, its earthquake relief was highly commended.
The awards gala dinner – the biggest gathering ever seen in the industry – took place during Drinktec, the world’s largest drinks technology trade show. Representatives and members of awards partners Unesda, the Union of European Beverages Associations, and WAFG, the German alcohol-free drinks association, were joined by members of other industry trade associations plus senior managers from more than 100 businesses from over 30 countries.
The awards gala dinner was introduced by FoodBev Media chairman, Richard Hall, and hosted by FoodBev Media Group editorial director, Bill Bruce, and Beverage Innovation magazine managing editor, Claire Phoenix.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024