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Agriculture continued
availability of barley - the growing demand
for biofuels. Tax relief and government subsidies
have made the cultivation of agricultural products
for biofuels an interesting proposition for arable
farmers. In addition, quality demands for grains
grown for fuels are less stringent than when
grown for human consumption, offering farmers
the advantage of achieving a good price for
lower grade produce.
Obviously, we share concerns about global
warming, C02 emissions and fossil fuel depletion,
but we are worried about these developments.
The surface areas of agriculture currently in use
in moderate climates continue to be reduced
by urbanisation and growing infrastructure.
Significant increases in demand for certain
crops will increase pressure on their price.
In the longer term, we anticipate an increase in
partial crop failures due to climate change along
with continuing price increases due to demand
for biofuels, the growth in world population and
continuing economic development.
Through our own maltings and suppliers we
stimulate the increase of yields in developing
countries. We know that geographically there
are significant differences in yield: one hectare
of land in France typically delivers approximately
6.5 tonnes of barley, whereas one hectare in
Russia only yields approximately 1.8 tonnes.
This means that there are significant
opportunities for improvement in this area.
Investing in the production of better yields
outside Western Europe will better balance
the risk of partial crop failures.
To reach our objectives, a professional and well-
developed malting sector is of key importance:
the maltster is the link between the agricultural
sector and our company. In Russia and Romania,
where well-developed malting sectors were
originally unavailable, we have entered into
discussion with our local business partners.
As a result, state-of-the-art malting plants have
been established to support local farmers by
providing training and assistance in the selection
of the right crop varieties. We have also agreed
to temporarily increase financial support for
local maltsters involved in these projects in
order to co-finance their activities.
Food safety in the supply chain
Throughout its existence, Fleineken has
endeavoured to provide consumers with safe,
premium quality beer. The safety and quality
of our beers starts with the selection of our
brewing ingredients. All of these are subject
to periodic testing.
We maintain uniform maximum tolerance
values for the contamination of raw materials by
pesticides, heavy metals, mycotoxins, benzene
Heineken N.V.
Sustainability Report 2006
