Beverage Industry Editorial Guidelines

Prospective authors looking to submit their work to Beverage Industry may find the following style guide helpful. This list includes stylistic preferences, the preferred spelling of certain industry terms, guidelines for cutlines and more.

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a

                Use instead of per except for special circumstances. See per

 

acai

 

adverbs

                Adverb should precede the verb

 

Arabica

 

beverage-maker, beverage-makers

 

Bloody Mary

 

blow molder

 

capitalization

                Brand and company names should be capitalized unless that is how the name is trademarked. Ex. eBay, neuro drinks, etc. They should not be in all caps unless cover story company specifically requests it. Company names that are acronyms also are an exception.

                Flavors/varieties associated with a brand should be capitalized. Arizona released Blueberry Lemonade. General flavors should not be capitalized. The analyst said apple flavors are on the upswing.

                 

chief executive officer

                Use in all references. Do not abbreviate on second reference to CEO.   

 

Coca-Cola

                Acceptable in headlines when referring to The Coca-Cola Co. or brand. See The Coca-Cola Co.

 

cocktails

                All cocktails should be lowercased except for Margarita and Bloody Mary. See Margarita. See Bloody Mary

 

DHA

                Acceptable on all references when omega-3 is used in context.

 

drinktec

                Lowercase in all references except at the beginning of a sentence.

 

EPA

                Acceptable on all references when omega-3 is used in context.

               

HDPE

                Acceptable on second reference for high-density polyethylene

 

headquarters

                Headquarters should be listed for all companies. Exceptions are when subsidiaries are the focus of the sentence and not the parent company. See subsidiary companies.

                For respective sections (Channel Strategies, Packaging, Ingredient Spotlight, R&D, Warehouse/Distribution and Operations), headquarters only need to be listed companies within that segment, not beverage companies. However, a company name should be included when referencing a brand. Dollar General, Goodlettsville, Tenn., has seen an increase in beverage traffic since it began selling beer. Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light is one of the top-selling beers for the retailer.

                For company groupings, list headquarters for up to three companies. Four or more do not need headquarters listed to avoid confusion for the readers.

               

held

                Use for physically restricting someone. He held the runner at first. The man was held on a $50,000 bond.

 

GMO

                Acceptable on first reference for genetically modified organisms

 

LDPE

                Acceptable on second reference for low-density polyethylene

 

Margarita

 

may

                Used to express permission

 

might

                Used to express possibility or a wish

 

North American Coffee Partnership

                Pepsi and Starbucks joined forces in 1994 to create the North American Coffee Partnership (NACP) to market cold ready-to-drink coffee products under the Starbucks name and using the Pepsi distribution network. Reference this in articles when necessary.             

 

Oxford comma

                Should only be used to avoid ambiguity, otherwise, don’t use it.

 

Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership

                Pepsi and Unilever formed the Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership North American in 1991 and subsequently the Pepsi Tea International (PTI) in 2003 across 40 countries. The companies refer to it in press releases as the Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership, removing North American. Brands under this agreement are Brisk, Lipton and Pure Leaf. Reference this in articles when necessary.

 

per

                Should only be used in special circumstances, such measurements that cannot easily be replaced by “a” or “for” each.

 

PET

                Acceptable on first reference for polyethylene terephthalate. Note: This deviates from all other plastic resins.

 

PP

                Acceptable on second reference for polypropylene

 

PS

                Acceptable on second reference for polystyrene

 

PVC

                Acceptable on second reference for polyvinyl chloride

 

shrink tunnel

 

Starbucks

                Acceptable in headlines when referring to Starbucks Coffee Co. Also acceptable on second reference

 

subsidiary companies

                List location for subsidiary versus parent company. St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, a division of AB-InBev, released a new flavored malt beverage. U.S. locations should be given priority over international except in cases where subsidiary is more of an appositive mention. Houston-based Omega Protein Corp. foresees increases non-milk proteins for beverages. Its subsidiary Cyvex Nutrition recently released a potato-based protein.

 

The Coca-Cola Co.

                Use when referring to Atlanta-based beverage company in all references, except headlines.

 

timeframe

                One word; deviates from AP style and dictionary.

 

took place

                Use when referring to past events. See held.

 

touchscreen

                One word; deviates from AP style and dictionary.

 

tradeshow

                One word; deviates from AP style and dictionary.

 

UV

                Acceptable on second reference for ultraviolet. Note: Not acceptable on first reference because of UV Vodka possible confusion.