Social
Asahi established a specialised internal team called the ‘Responsible Drinking Department’ to promote sensible drinking and curb inappropriate alcohol consumption in Japan. The company’s sustainability team previously managed responsible drinking activities alongside its range of ESG projects and has created this new unit to improve focus on the area. The department will expand the group’s public and corporate educational activities while the brewer continues to promote no- and low-alcohol consumption.
Heineken launched a global campaign to address the social stigma that can discourage younger LDA consumers from choosing no-and low-alcohol options. The ‘0.0 Reasons Needed’ activation is based on mindful drinking research by the University of Oxford, which found that many young Gen Z adults feel a need to justify their choices, and would find it easier to choose no-alcohol drinks if their friends also did so. The push centres around a series of ads satirising some of the common assumptions around people ordering no-alcohol drinks, helping to support consumers to make their own choices by combating these stereotypes and social pressures.
Heineken relaunched its ‘Route 0.0’ streetcar activation in Toronto, Canada, as part of a campaign to promote alcohol-free enjoyment. For three weekends in January, the branded streetcar is touring the city’s nightspots with live DJ sets and complimentary no-alcohol drinks.
In the UK, Pernod Ricard’s Jameson Irish whiskey brand partnered with alcohol harm charity Drinkaware to promote responsible drinking in soccer culture, featuring Jay Bothroyd. The former England international player is encouraging football fans to take the free ‘Drinking Check‘ online alcohol quiz, to help them understand their drinking habits and get information to make changes if necessary.
Pernod Ricard introduced its ‘e-Label’ for bottle labels in Cambodia, following successful launches in Singapore and Vietnam. The digital labels empower consumers to make informed choices by scanning the QR code on bottles to access detailed product information and recommendations for moderate drinking.
And in Zimbabwe, the group commenced an awareness campaign in partnership with Mast-Jägermeister to warn consumers of the hidden dangers of counterfeit alcohol. ‘#BuyOriginal’ highlights the absence of safety standards in counterfeit or illicit alcohol, which often contain toxic chemicals and harmful substances like methanol. In addition to the activation, the Jameson and Jägermeister brands have also introduced visual markers to help consumers identify their genuine products in the marketplace.
Environment
Brown-Forman, Diageo and Suntory Global Spirits have joined in a five-year, US$2.8m initiative in the US to help Kentucky’s corn farmers to implement regenerative farming practices. The Kentucky Distillers’ Association-led partnership will support farmers by hiring additional conservation specialists to help them analyse data and implement environmental and economic improvements.
Staying in the US and Brown-Forman achieved its initial sustainable agriculture goal of engaging with 100% of its direct farmers on regenerative agricultural practices. The brand owner is ahead of schedule in meeting the target, part of its commitment to a resilient and agile agricultural supply chain through long-term sustainability investments that may not come to fruition until late in the 21st Century.
Kirin launched a service in Japan that predicts carbon stocks on farmland in its supply chains, as part of efforts to address Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) emissions. The ‘Kirin Supply Chain Environmental Program’ commenced in April last year to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by promoting regenerative agriculture. FLAG emissions account for almost 25% of total GHG emissions, and Kirin’s supply chain work is part of the company’s commitment to meet global emissions targets set by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Lotte Chilsung is working with maritime organisations in South Korea to restore a sea forest in the Chungcheongnam-do province as part of wider efforts to create a cleaner ocean. The ‘Cultivate the Sea Forest’ project recently transplanted 10,000 carbon-absorbent sea-squirt plants in the waters of Taean-gun, under Lotte Chilsung’s recently-created ESG partnership with the Korea Coast Guard and the Environmental Foundation.
The Scottish Parliament passed a motion recognising a marine life restoration project launched by Moët Hennessy’s Glenmorangie brand in the UK 11 years ago. Glenmorangie partnered with the Marine Conservation Society and Heriot-Watt University on the Dornoch Environmental Enhancement Project (DEEP), which has been restoring a once-extinct oyster reef in the Dornoch Firth for the last decade by restoring more than 100,000 oysters.
Governance
Bacardi and Molson Coors Beverage Co donated US$100,000 each to wildfire relief efforts in southern California, which caused massive destruction across Los Angeles in the US earlier this month. Bacardi’s donation will support Red Cross relief efforts on the ground, and the company is also mobilising pallets of water to assist first responders on the front lines. Molson Coors’ donation, meanwhile, is being distributed between several initiatives and projects, providing financial support to first responders and service-industry workers. The group has also donated almost 15,000 units of Zoa Energy to first responders in LA.
In Canada, Anheuser-Busch Inbev’s Labatt Breweries subsidiary is celebrating 27 years of contributing funding to the We Care network, which helps children with disabilities to realise their potential through trips to summer camps. Labatt has contributed around CAD3m (US$2.1m) to We Care to date and is continuing its ongoing commitment.
AB InBev’s OB Beer unit has donated KRW15m (US$10,260) to the Bitgoeul Scholarship Foundation in Gwangju, South Korea, to fund college scholarships to foster local talent. OB Beer has been donating annual scholarships in Gwangju since 2003 and has contributed KRW655m (US$450,000) over the last 22 years. The foundation has provided scholarships to nearly 6,000 local middle-school, high-school and college students during this period.
Finally, Brown-Forman and Molson Coors were both accredited for their workplace policies. In Australia, Brown-Forman was certified by Great Place to Work for the third consecutive year, while Molson Coors received Top Employer status for its operations in Europe, as well as several awards at a national level that included its 12th year of certification in the UK.
