The country’s largest beverage company has announced the suspension of all political donations in response to last week’s violent mob attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Citing the “unlawful and violent events in our nation’s capital last week,” The Coca-Cola Company is the largest and most prominent name in the non-alcoholic drink industry to take a position on future contribution plans since the attack on January 6, which saw supporters of President Trump invade the Capitol building in an attempt to disrupt the U.S. Congress from confirming of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. as the 46th President of the United States.
In a statement shared with BevNET and media outlets on Monday, Coca-Cola confirmed it is contributing $110,000 in cash and product donations to the President-elect’s inaugural committee, as well as a $50,000 cash contribution to support the committee’s national day-of-service volunteer effort being planned for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 18. The company has participated in presidential inaugurations since the 1980s.
“While it was important to us to continue with the tradition of contributing to the President’s inauguration, we have now suspended other political giving in light of the unlawful and violent events in our nation’s capital last week,” the statement read, adding that “these events will long be remembered and will factor into our future contribution decisions.”
According to data from the Center for Responsible Politics, Coca-Cola was the fifth-largest contributor to Federal candidates, parties and outside groups amongst food and beverage companies during the 2020 election cycle. The company contributed a total of $965,104 to candidates or parties, with 68.2% of the total going towards Democrats and 31.7% to Republicans. The company spent a further $11,014 on outside groups.
Requests for comment from PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper were not returned. The American Beverage Association (ABA), a trade group representing some of the country’s largest non-alcoholic beverage brands, did not return a request for comment.
A representative for Niagara Bottling Company, which was ranked the 15th largest food and beverage contributor in the 2020 election cycle, declined to comment.
The collective reckoning with last week’s attack on Capitol Hill has already seen the country’s two largest beer manufacturers announce plans to review their approach to political contributions.
Outside of CPG, several major corporations — including Morgan Stanley, Marriott, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Mastercard, Citibank, and Dow, among others — have announced the suspension of all PAC contributions to the 147 members of Congress who objected to the certification of the Electoral College results in certain states won by Biden.