Public Policy Engagement

Our Approach to influencing Public Policy

Our Approach to influencing Public Policy

Public policy discussions take many forms, advocacy being one

Advocacy is a way for organisations – including NGOs and companies – to ensure that their views are heard, or at least considered by policy makers. At Coca Cola HBC, we table our advocacy efforts mainly through trade associations, which represent companies, organisations, causes and industries. We may also engage in limited direct advocacy in circumstances where trade associations are either not active or cannot meet our requirements.

We consider it our duty and our responsibility, to make our views clear to those who have the potential to impact the laws, regulations and policies that can influence our global business. 

Our public policy engagements in the 28 markets in which we operate, are governed by our Code of Business Conduct and the Anti-Bribery and Compliance handbook. 

The scope of our advocacy is wide, but we concentrate on the following areas:

• Product-specific policies, such as taxes, restrictions or regulations: We contribute substantially to the local and (inter)national economy through jobs, investments, taxes and community activities. As such, we actively oppose discriminatory taxes or policies that single out certain products.
• Environmental policy: We continuously strive to maximise energy efficiency and minimise the impact of our manufacturing and distribution infrastructure, and actively participate in policy discussions that have the potential to impact these areas. We support public policies that deal in a balanced way with water quality, carbon emissions, packaging, agriculture and ingredients, as well as other environmental policies and/or actions that are directly, or indirectly relevant to our business.
• Health & Nutrition: We are committed to use our brands and marketing platforms to help encourage active, healthy lifestyles and we are consistent in our approach that singling out specific industries or products is not addressing the complex challenge of obesity. Our focus is on providing healthier options across our portfolio of sparkling and still beverages, and emphasising low or no-sugar choices to our consumers, offering smaller packages and reformulating our beverages to include fewer calories. We support the fight against childhood obesity by not advertising to children younger than 12 and are taking steps to remove sugar-sweetened drinks from secondary schools.