OUR SUSTAINABILITY STORY
HEINEKEN has been around for over 150 years, and we intend to be around for another 150 years by making a difference in society.
As the UK’s leading pub, cider and beer business, the way we make and serve our products can have a significant impact on our customers, communities and the environment. And so working sustainably and responsibly is fundamental to how we do business. It’s how we can protect the future of our business and our planet.
Brew a Better World is our sustainability strategy. It helps to focus our efforts so we’re able to make a real difference. From growing the barley and apples that go into our beers and ciders, to working with our customers who serve a quality chilled pint – sustainability is embedded right across our value chain.
Our Focus Areas
Reducing CO2 Emissions
Reducing CO2 Emissions
Reducing CO2 Emissions
Climate change is one of the biggest threats to humanity and it will shape the way we do business now and in the coming decades.
In the past we have committed to reducing carbon emissions across our business and increasing our renewable energy use. We are now raising the bar by aiming for net zero emissions by 2030 for all of our production sites. This is in line with the Paris Climate ambition to meet the 1.5°c goal.
We have also set a further ambitious goal to operate in a carbon neutral value chain by 2040. This means we will need to work closely with our suppliers, customers and business partners to reduce our impact in the areas of agriculture, packaging, distribution and cooling.
Modern and energy efficient breweries and cideries
Through a huge investment programme and a focus driving efficiencies throughout the brewing and cider-making processes we’ve created a modern and energy-efficient cidery in Herefordshire and breweries in Manchester and Tadcaster.
At the end of 2020, we had cut our CO2 emissions in production by 68% per hectolitre of cider and beer since 2008. Our average CO2 emissions currently stand at 2.97kg CO2e for every hectolitre of cider and beer we produce.
Packaging matters
Packaging plays a crucial role in ensuring the quality and safety of our products, but we also need to be mindful of the impact it can have on the environment.
We know we’ve a responsibility to make sure the packaging we use is as sustainable as possible. And we’ve made some real progress which we’re determined to continue.
Our ambition is to remove all consumer facing single-use plastic from all our packaging by the end of 2021. In 2020 we introduced the Green Grip, a 100% plastic-free cardboard topper used to keep our multi-packs of cans together and replacing the need for plastic rings. We’re currently rolling-out the Green Grip across all of our 4-packs of ciders and beers.
The roll-out of the Green Grip along with the removal of printed plastic shrink wrapping will remove 500tonnes of plastic each year from our business.
Protecting Water Resources
Protecting Water Resources
Protecting Water Resources
From barley field to brewery and bar, water is critical to our business. After all, beer is 95% water!
Reducing our water consumption when making our ciders and brewing our beers, as well as helping pubs and bars reduce theirs, has been a key focus area for us and a challenge we’ve faced head on.
Water in production
We monitor water use across our whole supply chain to become more efficient through our ‘Every Drop’ water programme.
At the end of 2020, we had reduced our water use in the brewing and cider making process by 24% since 2008 meaning we now use 3.25 hectolitres of water for every hectolitre of cider and beer produced. This is ahead of the target set at 3.5hl/hl.
Lowering water use in pubs and bars
Our ground breaking draught dispense system, SmartDispense, which launched in 2013, has revolutionised the way draught beer and cider is stored and served in pubs and bars up and down the country.
SmartDispense’s unique cooling technology and line insulation from keg to tap is up to 20% more energy efficient than standard systems. The innovative technology generates energy savings and maintains the optimum cool temperature for cider and beet, keeping it cleaner for longer and allowing for line cleaning to be extended to every six weeks, instead of every seven days – cutting beer, cider and water waste by up to 75%.
Over the last 7 years, we’ve helped SmartDispense pubs and bars to save over 100m pints of water.
Look out for the Green Pint logo to find your nearest pub or bar using SmartDispense technology here.
Sourcing Sustainability
Sourcing Sustainability
Sourcing Sustainability
We're committed to making a positive contribution to the UK economy by driving sustainable growth for our business and partners across the length of our supply chain.
As pressure on natural resources grows, responsible and sustainable sourcing has never been more important.
100% sustainable barley
We're focused on securing a long-term, sustainable supply of raw materials, improving farmer livelihoods and raising standards throughout our supply chain.
Our barley and apples are sourced according to the standards set by the globally recognised Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI). The SAI offers principles and practices that help further collaborative efforts in sustainable agriculture and cultivation practices. It focuses on the quality and safety of raw materials and promoting standards which do not negatively impact on climate change, water, soil health, biodiversity as well as communities.
100% of our barley is sourced in the UK and certified to the food farm assurance standard, Red Tractor. We’re also supporting sustainable farming practices with 150 farmers through the Sustainable Futures Programme.
Growing with Communities
Growing with Communities
Growing with Communities
With pubs, breweries, a cidery and offices all around the UK, we enjoy playing a hands-on role in community life. We want to make a positive impact through investment and supporting local activities.
The Orchard Project collaborates with Bulmers
One initiative that brings to life our commitment to building sustainable communities is Bulmers’ partnership with national charity, The Orchard Project.
Our partnership with The Orchard Project started in 2014, with the aim of creating and restoring community orchards around the UK, giving more people access to green spaces on their doorsteps.
During the seven year partnership 240 community orchards have been created or restored and 4,900 trees have been planted. Once matured, these trees will remove tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere per year.
Over 40,000 people have been involved in creating and restoring the orchards and thanks to them, over 500,000 more people are now able to enjoy a nearby community orchard.
Brewing Good Cheer
Over nine million people in the UK are affected by loneliness. Brewing Good Cheer is our annual campaign to raise awareness of loneliness as well as celebrating the important role pubs play in communities in bringing people together.
In 2020, the sixth year of the campaign, Brewing Good Cheer was a little different. The Covid-19 pandemic meant that pubs were closed for the majority of the year or operating under strict social distancing measures. So instead of hosting the traditional Brewing Good Cheer pub lunches, we shone a light on the role that pubs played during the pandemic in supporting their local community. See for yourself here.
We also invited 100 pubs to nominate a local charity to receive £150 to recognise the efforts of other local heroes who had gone the extra mile for their community during the crisis. And similar to previous years, we invited our colleagues to get involved in spreading some good cheer with some virtual volunteering with local charities.
Tackling Alcohol Harm
Tackling Alcohol Harm
Tackling Alcohol Harm
The majority of people enjoy our ciders and beers responsibly. For a minority however, we recognise that alcohol can be a problem.
Alcohol abuse is a complex societal issue, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. We take our role as one of the leading alcohol producers very seriously and are committed to a programme of actions.
We use the power of our ciders and beers to make moderation cool, and we’re building our low and no alcohol range for those looking to moderate their consumption.
To help people make better choices about their drinking and reduce alcohol-related harm, we financially support independent alcohol education charity Drinkaware and the Alcohol Education Trust. We also work with partners like Community Alcohol Partnerships (CAP) and Best Bar None to reduce underage drinking, provide diversionary activities, and improve safety and standards in the night time economy.
Making moderation cool
When it comes to making moderate drinking ‘cool’, the unrivalled global reach of our flagship Heineken brand is invaluable. Each year, we dedicate at least 10% of our Heineken marketing spend to promoting responsible drinking.
In 2017, we launched our ‘When You Drive, Never Drink’ partnership with Formula 1 along with a TV advert fronted by Sir Jackie Stewart. In 2018, we extended the campaign with a new TV advert ‘No Compromises’ starring F1 hero Nico Rosberg. Nico and his father continued to front the campaign into 2020.
‘When You Drive, Never Drink’ is the latest is a series of responsible drinking campaigns from Heineken, following on from previous successes; Sunrise, Dance More Drink Slow and Moderate Drinkers Wanted.
Great tasting zero alcohol beer
We use the power of our brands to promote responsible consumption and make moderation cool. After 153 years of brewing our flagship Heineken, we’ve launched alcohol-free Heineken 0.0.
We know that increasingly, people are looking for options to complement their healthy lifestyles without compromising on taste, and so Heineken 0.0 is great for those looking to moderate their consumption or take some drink free days
The launch of Heineken 0.0 was accompanied by a series of three adverts called ‘Now You Can’, showing the moments in life that are perfect for an alcohol-free beer.
Partnerships to promote responsible consumption
We know we have the greatest impact by working in partnership with others.
We fund the independent alcohol education charity, Drinkaware, who help people to make more informed choices about their drinking. Over 9m people visit their website every year with 1m of those using Drinkaware’s online tool to find out how many units and calories were in their drinks.
We’re also a founding member of the Portman Group and are committed to responsible marketing of our products.
We work with CAP to reduce underage drinking with 150 schemes operating across the UK. Surveys of participating schools show an average 60% reduction in the number of Year 9-11 pupils who are drinking alcohol each week as a result of the CAP.
And we also support Best Bar None in around 120 towns and cities and Pubwatch to promote a safer night time economy in pubs, bars and clubs.
Promoting Health and Wellbeing
Promoting Health and Wellbeing
Promoting Health and Wellbeing
HEINEKEN is all about enjoyment of life.
Giving people an incredible experience is what our brands and pubs are all about. That’s why making sure our colleagues are happy and healthy is important to us.
Currently 78% of our 2,400 colleagues say they are proud to work at HEINEKEN and this is something we want to continue to improve on.
Safety is our No. 1 priority
Whoever you are, whatever job you do, no job is worth doing if it can’t be done safely.
We have significantly reduced the accident frequency in our business, by 78% at the end of 2020 verses 2015. But we still continue to see accidents happening and so we must continue to put safety first in everything we do.
We bring safety to life through our Life Saving Rules - 12 simple rules that will help to prevent accidents around our business.
We've investigated accidents across HEINEKEN and the learnings were clear – most accidents could have been avoided and so we have acted on this and implemented robust counter measurements to prevent reoccurrences.
We've issued all colleagues who regularly visit a pub cellar with a hand held Carbon Dioxide (CO2) monitors. And all of our company cars have had a telematics system installed to encourage safe driving behaviours.
Physical and mental wellbeing
Getting our colleagues active is a a big focus for us and, following the huge success of the event in 2017 and 2018, and 2019, 350 colleagues took part in this year’s HEINEKEN Race to the Castle, a 25, 50 or 100 km walk, run or jog ending at the stunning Bamburgh Castle.
Enjoyment of life is one of our core values at HEINEKEN, so bringing colleagues together to improve their mental, social and physical wellbeing is a great opportunity for us to celebrate this value.
Back in 2017 we launched our original trail event, HEINEKEN Race to the Tower, to help raise awareness of the link between mental and physical. The event owes its success to the hundreds of HEINEKEN colleagues who take part and the inspiring stories they have to tell.
Green Grip
We’ve invested £22 million to eliminate plastic rings and printed plastic shrink wrap from our beer and cider multi-pack cans.
We’re replacing plastic rings with a sustainably sourced cardboard holder, the Green Grip, which is 100% recyclable and compostable, whilst being robust and easy to grip.
This new packaging is designed to remove plastic, minimise the use of materials and reduce waste. The Green Grip was introduced into market in August 2020 and the roll-out across all of our brands will continue throughout 2021. By 2022 we will have removed all single-use consumer plastic packaging.
Once the transition from plastic is complete, this’ll remove 517 tonnes of plastic from our supply chain each year.
Reporting
We publish regular updates to show our progress on our sustainability commitments. You can view and download them here.
Global Sustainability
Find out more about our global sustainability ambitions and how we’re Brewing a Better World in many other countries.