Defining the project
Towards the end of 2008 and at the beginning of 2009, we
consulted a great many of our stakeholders. We asked them
to tell us how they view our current sustainability activities
and how they believe key issues will evolve over time and
what our objectives should be. We also asked them if the
seven focus areas we currently address cover all of our
material impacts.
In the same period, we produced a comprehensive
benchmark, comparing our own agenda, performance and
activities with those of our peers in the beverages sector as
well as a select group of leading international food
companies.
From our stakeholder consultation and the benchmark study,
we defined six areas where we have a material impact
relevant for what we called the Vision 2020 project. These
areas were:
Energy and Water: the energy and water
we use in our own installations
Route to Market Responsibility: our carbon footprint
upstream and downstream
Agriculture: mainstreaming sustainability
for our raw materials
Employer Responsibility and Employee Rights:
covering safety, integrity and employee rights
Responsible Consumption: how to get our efforts in the
promotion of responsible consumption to a higher level
Our impact on Developing Markets: covering Corporate
Social Investment, economic impact, local sourcing and
healthcare to employees and their dependents
We view our Supplier Code as a critical enabler for the new
agenda and it will remain an important pillar of our
approach to sustainability.
Project organisation
Overseeing the project was an Executive level Steering
Committee consisting of:
Group Corporate Relations Director (project principal
and business sponsor)
Regional President of Africa and Middle East
Group Supply Chain Director
Group Commerce Director
Group Human Resources Director
The role of this group was to challenge findings and
outcomes, resolve dilemmas, make decisions on issues to
ensure a level of commitment and ownership through both
line and function and appoint a Project Team to oversee and
drive the process.
The Project Team comprised senior functional managers and
a dedicated project manager to safeguard overall progress
and consistency of the outcome. The Project Team supervised
the work of six working groups that contained experts from
the Group departments, Regions and Operating Companies.
Working group phase
Each working group was tasked with developing a scope for
the workstream, a long-term direction and targets. This work
needed to be supported by a concrete and comprehensive
action plan for the period 2010-2012, with key milestones to
be achieved in 2015, 2018 and 2020.
Working group leaders presented interim conclusions at set
intervals to the Project Team, which then prepared the
discussions for the Steering Committee. At the end of
September, the working group phase was concluded.
Internal consultation and sign-off
To better understand the relevance of and impact on our
operations, the Project Team commissioned a broad
consultation on the findings of the working groups. In this
context, all Regional Management teams, the management
teams of eleven of our major Operating Companies and all
functional management teams were consulted.
The entire plan and desired governance were presented to
and approved by our Executive Committee in its meeting in
December 2009. Finally, the approved plans were presented
to and discussed by our Supervisory Board in February 2010.
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Heineken N.V. - Sustainability Report 2009
