Social
In Brazil, AB InBev’s Beats RTD brand is repeating its successful ‘Rehearsals with Anitta’ responsible drinking campaign for Carnival 2026. Pop star Anitta has been touring ten cities during January and February, and Beats will reach around 230,000 music fans with various moderate drinking activations at the concerts, including free water stations.
In São Paulo, meanwhile. AB InBev’s Ambev division is providing 15,000 street vendors with responsible service training as part of its sponsorship of the city’s Carnival celebrations. Ambev operates a free nationwide business support platform for independent vendors in the country.
Asahi has expanded its ‘Smart Drinking (Sumadori)’ project to Japan‘s Nagano Prefecture. The company kicked off the Sumadori venture in 2022, based on a lifestyle culture that can be employed by both alcohol drinkers and non-drinkers. Asahi has been working with local governments to utilise Sumadori in urban development in order to revitalise local economies and promote public health.
The new project, which includes a partnership with Matsumoto city authorities on responsible drinking seminars and student outreach, will also involve urban planning workshops with Matsumoto university, and collaborations with local restaurants to develop new alcohol-free cocktails.
In Vietnam, Carlsberg has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Grab superapp to promote responsible drinking and road safety nationwide. The project will see the brewer’s responsible drinking messaging incorporated into the ride-sharing, food delivery, and media app’s digital ecosystem. Carlsberg will also promote the campaign at participating outlets nationwide.
The joint initiative will embed responsible drinking messaging directly into consumption occasions, communicating the importance of responsibility at key moments throughout the consumer journey and promoting safe journeys home for everyone.
In the UK, Diageo is marking 21 years of its global educational initiative ‘SMASHED’ with a tour of secondary schools around the north-west of England. The interactive theatre programme has now reached around 7.5m young people globally with its message against underage drinking, and was recognised with the Global Drinks Intel ESG Award 2025 for Best Responsible Drinking & Alcohol Harm Reduction Initiative.
Environment
In the US, Brown-Forman’s Jack Daniel Distillery and Brown-Forman Distillery were both recently awarded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) prestigious Energy Star certification. This is the third consecutive year that the Jack Daniel Distillery has been recognised by the EPA for meeting its strict energy efficiency requirements, and a milestone inaugural certification for the Brown-Forman Distillery.
Carlsberg published its Annual Report for 2025, detailing its ESG achievements for the last year with a focus on environmental targets. The group, which is targeting a net-zero value chain by 2040, recorded a 12% year-on-year drop in production-site emissions in 2025, with a 63% decline since 2015.
The brewer’s other achievements included meeting its 2030 target of using 50% recycled content in its bottles & cans ahead of schedule, and partnering with NGOs to double the replenishment of water consumed at its production sites in priority high-risk areas.
Heineken achieved its biggest sustainable milestone to-date in Spain, with all of its beers now being produced with sustainable energy. All four of the group’s breweries in the country have been operating with 100% renewable electrical and thermal energy since December, making its Spanish subsidiary the first in the group to achieve the 2030 target set out in Heineken’s sustainability plan.
Over in Mexico, Heineken’s Tecate brewery in the Rio Colorado watershed has just become fully water balanced, in the group’s latest step towards fully balancing all of its production facilities in water-stressed areas by 2030. Heineken’s ‘Towards Healthy Watersheds 2030’ water strategy focuses on water efficiency, long-term restoration of priority watersheds and collaboration with communities, with an aim of replenishing 1.5 litres of water for every 1 litre of beer produced.
Kirin joined the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) “technical coalition” of global beverage industry leaders. The company’s membership will further support its environmental strategy commitments of reducing environmental impact across its value chain and maintaining sustainable supply chains, by providing a collaborative forum for exchanging best practices and engaging with peers on shared environmental priorities.
In the US, Suntory Global Spirits announced a 20-year partnership to support its reforestation efforts in the Appalachian region. Working with forest carbon project developer Bosland Growth, Suntory aims to restore 400 acres of mined lands in Pennsylvania and West Virginia with native planted trees such as white oak, while compensating landowners and empowering them to maintain their properties as working forests.
Governance
In the UK & Ireland, Suntory‘s Suntory Beverage & Food unit in the region launched the ‘Together for Good’ community fund, supporting projects to benefit local people and natural spaces. The brand owner plans to create a measurable positive impact in local communities through the new initiative, which will provide up to GBP10,000 (US$13,540) to match the funding that local projects raise through a designated Crowdfunder platform.
“This initiative is a key part of our commitment to ‘Giving Back to Society’, supporting communities where we live and work,” the company said. “By backing community-led solutions, our fund helps deliver change that truly matters and underlines our long-term commitment to drive sustainable impact where it’s needed most.”
In Canada, AB InBev’s Labatt Breweries was recognised as one of ‘Canada’s Top Employers for Young People’ for the 13th consecutive year. The annual competition is run by Globe & Mail publisher Mediacorp. In 2026, Labatt earned credit for its entry-level training programmes for young employees and its graduate management trainee programme.
