The Pantry and Anheuser-Busch Partner to Launch Underage-Drinking Prevention Campaign in Florida

Enhanced Employee Training, I.D.-Checking Program to be Implemented in 448 Stores Statewide

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (May 28, 2009) — One of the largest independently operated convenience store chains in the country is warning teens to think twice before attempting to purchase alcohol beverages in its stores. Today at a press conference held at the Kangaroo Express at 3525 SW 34th St., The Pantry, Inc., operating as Kangaroo Express, Anheuser-Busch and its local distributors announced a new campaign to help fight underage drinking and prevent sales to minors in The Pantry’s 448 stores in Florida. The program, titled “We I.D.,” builds upon current efforts by The Pantry to restrict underage alcohol sales through enhanced employee training and various point-of-sale reminders throughout stores. Today’s announcement is part of a larger effort by The Pantry to implement the We I.D. program in each of its 1,650 stores across the Southeast.

“Our customers and the community come first at The Pantry,” said Brad Williams, The Pantry’s Senior Vice President of Field Operations. “By working together with Anheuser-Busch and its local distributors to further train our employees and provide them with I.D.-checking materials, we help protect teens and make the community safer.”

We I.D. is Anheuser-Busch’s comprehensive underage-drinking prevention program used by retailers to remind customers who purchase alcohol beverages that they will be asked to show valid identification. Program elements include: We I.D. posters and signage on coolers, driver’s license guides to help employees verify I.D.s, and clocks that also show the date of legal age required to purchase alcohol beverages. A key component of the program is the enhanced training The Pantry employees receive via instructional videos and on-site reference materials concerning checking and verifying valid I.D.s.

“We’re proud to support The Pantry with its ongoing commitment to abide by the law and help keep our communities safe,” said Carol Clark, Anheuser-Busch’s Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility. “This We I.D. effort complements and reinforces the progress that’s been made in preventing underage drinking among Florida’s youth.”

According to the federal government’s most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 84 percent of adolescents, ages 12 to 17, are doing the right thing by not drinking. In Florida, that number is 83 percent. In addition, the federally funded University of Michigan Monitoring the Future study shows that past-month drinking among high-school seniors is at its lowest level since tracking began in 1975. 

The 30 Anheuser-Busch distributors in Florida are supporting the We I.D. program with The Pantry.

 “We’re pleased to lend our support to Anheuser-Busch, its distributors and The Pantry on this important initiative aimed at preventing youth access to alcohol and helping keep teens and everyone in our communities safe,” said Gainesville Police Lieutenant Keith Kameg. “By working together in our communities, we can truly make a difference.”

About The Pantry

Headquartered in Sanford, North Carolina, The Pantry, Inc. is the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the Southeastern United States and one of the largest independently operated convenience store chains in the country, with revenues for fiscal 2008 of approximately $9.0 billion. As of April 23, 2009, the Company operated 1,650 stores in eleven states under select banners, including Kangaroo Express, its primary operating banner. The Pantry’s stores offer a broad selection of merchandise, as well as gasoline and other ancillary services designed to appeal to the convenience needs of its customers.

About Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch is the industry leader in promoting responsibility. Since 1982, the company and its nationwide network of 600 wholesalers have invested more than $750 million in national advertising campaigns and community-based programs to promote responsible drinking and prevent alcohol abuse. In 2009, the company ranked first among all companies for social responsibility in FORTUNE magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list.