An Inogen Alliance Associate, led the formation of BIER, enlisted the founding members and convened meetings to launch the group. They currently facilitate the Roundtable of 15 global beverage companies covering all beverage sectors: distilled spirits, water, non-alcoholic beverages, beer and wine.

The group aims to drive continuous improvement on the environmental aspects of water stewardship, energy and climate change through quantitative and qualitative benchmarking, best practice sharing, and development of key messages and information to be used in support of external communications and industry advocacy. BIER is also developing sector guidance on GHG and water footprint calculations.

BIER has completed several benchmarking studies, and each one has a qualitative and quantitative component.

The qualitative section is based on a survey and interview format, and addresses the elements of BIER's "World Class Water Stewardship in the Beverage Industry" definition. The specific activities include developing the detailed questionnaire for qualitative benchmarking, reviewing quantitative collection methodologies, aggregating and calibrating data received, and preparing presentations and final reports.

The quantitative component includes collecting water use and efficiency data from all beverage companies, representing over 1,300 production locations worldwide. The primary activities are data calibration, analysis and reporting.