Americans love their beverages. And the beverage industry loves its customers. It's this beautiful relationship that has made our industry and its products a part of Americana.

The American Beverage Association is a trade association, which creates a forum for the hundreds of companies that comprise this industry together to work on common issues and ways to best serve the people who buy our products. ABA is led by Susan K. Neely, our president and CEO. Our chair of the board of directors is Larry H. Young, president and CEO of Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

As part of Sip & Savor's effort to familiarize readers with ABA's new and improved Web site, we encourage you to check out the About Us section. You'll find a history of our trade association, our board of directors, the ABA team (including the communications department that writes Sip & Savor, as well the government affairs, legal and regulatory affairs, science policy and finance/administration teams that provide this blog with the facts, ideas and support) and other associations with which we often work or have similar issues.

We're a dynamic industry that employs 220,000 people across America in towns large and small. We literally touch every community and nearly every household every day.

We've also evolved over the years, starting as the American Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages. Today, our name reflects that our industry is so much more than just carbonated beverages. We make and distribute an array of non-alcoholic beverages to meet every taste and every need of our customers.

And our board of directors reflects the diversity of our industry. We are a people industry. And we're fortunate to have some of the best people leading our association.

So check it out and learn more about the non-alcoholic beverage industry.