Findings from the Retail Alcohol Data (RAD) collaborative
The flavoring, packaging, pricing, and marketing of ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages are especially appealing to young people and can lead to risky drinking behaviors. These RTD beverages are often inexpensive, high in alcohol by volume (ABV), and sold in large single containers. In addition, these products are available at locations youth frequent, such as convenience [More]
Congratulations to our RAD collaborative
Congratulations to the 39 coalitions and agencies across 16 states that have been selected to participate in the Retail Alcohol Data (RAD) collaborative! The following coalitions and agencies will collect local data in early 2025 on the availability, pricing, and marketing of alcoholic beverages that are especially dangerous and/or appeal to young people. Alaska [More]
The Evolving Alcohol Market: Tools for Coalition Advocacy
This month, Dr. Matt Rossheim of the University of North Texas Health Science Center and Executive Director Maria Julian presented on CADCA's latest Research Into Action webinar. This webinar examined recent changes in the alcohol market that pose risks, especially to youth, and introduced a free, user-friendly retail surveillance tool to help coalitions advocate for policy change. [More]
Apply to join the Retail Alcohol Data (RAD) Collaborative
Counter Tools, in partnership with researchers from the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC), is excited to announce our upcoming Retail Alcohol Data (RAD) Collaborative. The RAD Collaborative is for community coalitions, local or state alcohol policy alliances, local or state health departments, and other groups who want to better understand the availability, [More]
Webinar: Environmental Scans for Alcohol Policy Change with the Alcohol Policy Resource Center
We are excited to announce a collaborative webinar with the Alcohol Policy Resource Center. The Environmental Scans for Alcohol Policy Change webinar will be on Wednesday, November 8th, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern. Assessing your community is critical in identifying potential issues contributing to underage or excessive alcohol use. Completing a comprehensive assessment [More]
The Impact of the Retail Environment and Alcohol Outlet Density
The alcohol industry is quite transparent in their goals to recruit new drinkers, including women, Hispanic consumers and “beer rejectors”. One strategy that has seen growing success over the course of the last 20 years is offering new products that are sweeter and easier to drink than traditional beer or distilled spirits. These flavored malt beverages, [More]
Alcohol industry profits from marketing to underage buyers
It’s easy to find data on all sorts of consumer trends in alcoholic beverages, from insights on how the pandemic impacted sales to what products are gaining popularity, often with breakdowns by age, gender, and other demographic information. One data point you won’t see represented in these consumer reports is how much of these sales [More]
Store Assessments: A powerful tool for understanding the retail environment
Marketing and promotions for alcohol and tobacco products saturate retail stores in most communities—the same places where you buy milk, snacks, and medicine. Research has shown that exposure to advertising and promotions for these products have a number of negative health impacts, such as prompting youth initiation, encouraging impulse purchases, and leading to brand preference. [More]
The benefits of mapping alcohol outlets
Mapping is a public health tool that has been used for centuries to find patterns, tell stories, and support policies. In 1854, mapping the location of cholera deaths allowed John Snow to identify a pattern and ultimately determine the source of the outbreak. While our technology has greatly improved, the same basic idea of using [More]
Webinar – Innovative Local Solutions in Public Health
We recently hosted a webinar with CADCA GHEA about local-level policy solutions in Maryland and California. These efforts advanced policies relating to alcohol and healthy food. We often see innovative policy solutions tested first at the local-level. In this webinar, you’ll learn about alcoholic beverage regulations in Montgomery County, the sole “control” jurisdiction in the [More]
LGBTQ+ health disparities and targeting by Big Tobacco and Alcohol
For years, the tobacco industry has come under fire for targeting their marketing to specific groups, such as youth and people of color. We don’t often talk enough about members of the LGBTQ+ community being targeted by the tobacco and alcohol industries. These industry strategies contribute to health disparities experienced by LGBTQ+ individuals and highlight [More]
Healthy POS Webinar Series: Alcohol at the POS – Places, Promotions, and Problems
We hosted a webinar in our "Healthy POS Webinar Series" on Thursday, June 17 at 11am EST. Our guest speaker was Dr. Pamela Trangenstein, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Behavior, UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health; and a leading alcohol researcher. The advertising and selling of alcohol products at alcohol outlets (e.g., [More]
Is alcohol essential? Lessons from Covid-19 on how policy impacts access
Many states deemed liquor stores "essential" businesses during the pandemic lockdowns and were allowed to remain open. Other changes such as to-go alcoholic beverages and curbside pick-up helped contribute to a significant spike in off-premise alcohol sales. While these changes may be seen as wins for the economy, it’s important to remember the significant public [More]
Addressing Health Disparities Through Alcohol Outlet Density
There are many ways the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our daily lives. One of many interesting public health observations is the impact of the pandemic on alcohol consumption. Thanks in part to many bars and restaurants being closed at some point during the last year, off-premise alcohol sales saw a significant spike in spring 2020 [More]
Success Story: Addressing and Improving the Landscape of Food and Alcohol Products in Wisconsin
We have a new success story about our partner in Wisconsin that serves as a good example of the importance of collecting data about the retail environment, having cross-sector collaboration in efforts, and increasing access to healthy products for the betterment of population health. Counter Tools has partnered with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services [More]
