America’s beverage companies have a long history of working with national and community partners to make a positive impact on our communities and the people who live there. While speaking at a Partnership for a Healthier America conference in Washington, D.C., President Bill Clinton discussed how the successful partnership between leading beverage companies and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an organization he founded, is making a difference across the country.

In partnership with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper and Pepsi-Co made a voluntary commitment to remove full calorie sodas from schools and replace them with waters, portion-controlled sports drinks, low- and no-calorie beverages and 100 percent juices. Since establishing the National School Beverage Guidelines in 2005, the companies have cut beverage calories shipped to schools by 90 percent.

President Clinton praised the accomplishment, saying, “I mean, that’s a big time number, right? Why? Because it turns out if you really have people working in good faith and they share the same goal - we would like our children to live as long and well as possible…”

The partnership and work continues with the boldest effort yet. “We are now working with the beverage industry to reduce total consumption of beverage calories nationally by people of all ages, everywhere by 20 percent by 2025,” President Clinton said.

This work is underway in earnest as beverage companies are working aggressively to cut sugar from beverages, offering more options with less sugar and calories than ever before.

Here at Sip & Savor, we believe that by working together we can get farther faster. And according to President Clinton, collaboration is the key to success - “The reason this is working is because of the cooperation of complex groups of people who are different, it’s an inclusive cooperative network.”