Beverages are a large component of the total food category and yet the various marketing and policy issues faced by the beverage industry have received relatively little attention among food and agricultural economists. There has been a substantial increase in the variety of beverages available, and this diversity of products provides new opportunities for economists to study consumer demand for specific attributes. At the same time, there is growing concern that some beverages may be important contributors to the rise in obesity in the United States and elsewhere. As a result, various policies have been implemented or are being considered to curb consumption of high-calorie beverages and encourage consumption of healthier beverages. In addition, there has been a proliferation of alcoholic beverage products. Competition by alcoholic products creates an opportunity for agricultural and food economists to study a host of marketing issues that include product labeling and differentiation and the role of geographic proximity (i.e., local foods) on consumer demand. Furthermore, unique policy issues are associated with alcoholic beverages, and many of the policy considerations are complicated because regulations differ widely by state.The issues related specifically to beverages were examined in a series of papers presented as part of the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association (NAREA) workshop Beverage Markets and Policy, which was held in Ithaca, New York, in June 2013. Based on a peer-review process, we have selected eleven of those papers for this special issue of Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. The principle goal of the NAREA workshop was to convene recognized and emerging experts to debate and advance research on the contemporary economic problems in beverage markets with an emphasis on development of industry-led initiatives and policies that address economic development, sustainable agriculture, and human health considerations.Each of the articles in this issue falls into one of three broad groups. The first examines consumer response to advertising and public policies in beverage markets and focuses largely on juice and soda products. The second group of articles looks at key marketing considerations in alcoholic beverage markets in selected U.S. regions. Three of the four papers focus on marketing issues in burgeoning wine regions, and the fourth paper examines consumer preferences in the craft beer market. The final group of articles focuses on milk markets and policy. Dairy markets and policy issues have received considerable attention by agricultural and food economists in recent years, but this set of papers provides analyses on new topics in this arena.The first four articles of this special issue examine consumer response to advertising and public policies in beverage markets. Hyeyoung Kim and Lisa House (2014) examine the role of knowledge and perceptions on consumption patterns for several nonalcoholic beverages. Using survey data from a large sample, they show that, for most beverage products studied, consumer perceptions about health have both own-beverage and cross-beverage impacts. Matthew Salois and Amber Reilly (2014) examine the impacts of perceived value and generic advertising efforts in the orange juice market using information from detailed survey data made available by the Florida Department of Citrus. Results here indicate that perceived value does impact consumption and that generic advertising-but not brand advertising-influences the perceived value to consumers. Abigail Okrent and Joanna MacEwan (2014) use Nielsen Homescan data and advertising expenditures to study the effects of advertising and prices on nonalcoholic beverage consumption. They show that the magnitudes of elasticities of demand with respect to advertising are much smaller than their price and expenditure counterparts. Yizao Liu, Rigoberto Lopez, and Chen Zhu (2014) analyze cross-sectional household data from seven urban markets for 2006 through 2008 to assess the possible impacts of a tax on carbonated soft drinks (a price change), elimination of television advertising, elimination of large retail container sizes, and reduction of the sugar content for current products. …