"It is important for us to put ourselves in the
position of the stakeholders, to understand
what their expectations are."
meet their demand, we now provide the total
figure as we did before as well as the figure for
breweries that have been in our scope in 2002.
One of our stakeholders has asked us to provide
data on the amount of taxes we pay on a country-
by-country basis. Due to the fact that most of the
taxes we pay locally are excise duties and it is
fairly easy to recalculate these duties back to
volume or value sold, we have deemed this kind
of information as competitively sensitive and
have informed this stakeholder that we will not
meet his requests.
We believe that stakeholder dialogue provides us
with the level of insight into how to improve our
sustainability performance. This report provides
an overview of our recent achievements and
future plans. We also intend to use it as the starting
point for further dialogue with our stakeholders.
So, if you have any comments or suggestions
about its content, or our wider sustainability
programme, please contact us.
Email: responsibility@heineken.com or write to:
Heineken International B.V.
Group Corporate Relations
P.O. Box 28
1000 AA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
In 2008, we will be more active in seeking the
opinions of our stakeholders, particularly those
who have a specific interest in or knowledge of our
seven focus areas. In next year's report we will again
share changes we have made based on this dialogue.
Stakeholder dialogue does not only take place at
a Group level. Many of our operating companies
engage with their own (local) stakeholders.
Increasingly they use their own local social or
sustainability reports to do this. Currently, our
operations in Austria, the Netherlands, Nigeria and
Poland issue their own local reports, with Greece
expected to issue their report in the first half of
2008. Heineken welcomes these publications as
they are an important starting point for a better
understanding between the local company and its
own stakeholders and hence, contributes to better
business decisions.
We have asked our external assurance provider,
KPMG Sustainability B.V., to provide assurance on
all the information presented in this report. Details
of our assignment to KPMG Sustainability and their
report can be found in the Appendices.
Justyna Piszczeck
CSR Manager
Grupa Zywiec, Poland
Grupa Zywiec Social Report
Grupa Zywiec Social Report - building a stakeholder approach
Increasingly, consumers and corporate stakeholders around the world
are demanding more credible, accurate and transparent information
from companies. In response to this global trend, Grupa Zywiec -
Heineken's operating company in Poland - published its first-ever
Social Report in 2007, offering detailed information on the company's
structure, its vision and values, as well as a wide range of social
responsibility projects initiated by the company.
"This type of publication is quite unique for Poland, as many companies
do not actively report this kind of information," says Justyna Piszczeck,
Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Grupa Zywiec. "Last year,
only around twenty of such reports were published in Poland. Grupa
Zywiec bases all its activities on the three fundamental values shared
across the Heineken Group: respect for people and the environment
in which we operate, a passion for the quality of our products and the
enjoyment we bring to life through the activities we support. The
publication of our Social Report demonstrates, on the basis of concrete
examples, that the company's actions are in line with its policies."
The Grupa Zywiec Social Report took about five months to compile.
A crucial step in the production process was defining the objectives
of the publication and determining what type of content would be
included. "It was vitally important for us to put ourselves in the position
of the stakeholders, to understand what their expectations might be,"
Piszczeck continues. "As a result, our report focuses on tangible,
measurable activities which have been implemented in the past, initiatives
which clearly demonstrate our commitment to the environment in
which we operate. Grupa Zywiec is determined not only to be a market
leader in terms of its business objectives; the company wants to set
an example for other enterprises in terms of its relations with the
customers, business partners, employees and shareholders."
Heineken N.V. Sustainability Report 2007
