0
15
Source sustainable
agricultural raw materials
137
Sourcing sustainably
Looking ahead:
Our
commitment:
Our 2020
result:
Low carbon agriculture
Heineken N.V.
Annual Report 2020
Introduction
Report of the
Executive Board
Report of the
Supervisory Board
Financial
Statements
Sustainability Other
Review Information
Aim for at least
50% of our main
raw materials
to come from
sustainable
Our contribution
to the SDGs:
2.4
Sustainable
food production
systems and
resilient agriculture
Many of our environmental and social impacts
occur during the growing of the raw materials
that are used in our products.
Developing agricultural supply chains to
increase our volumes of sustainable raw
materials is crucial for our growing business.
Sustainable agriculture is also a key lever to
achieve our science-based carbon reduction
target for 2030.
We base our standards for sourcing
sustainably cultivated crops on the globally
recognised Sustainable Agriculture Initiative
Platform (SAI) principles.
We exceeded our 2020 target, delivering 58%
of our raw materials from sustainable sources
(2019: 37%). 62% of our main raw material,
barley, was sustainably sourced (2019: 52%).
The key drivers behind this success were
increased support for suppliers, collaboration
with operating companies and investment in
initiatives to increase agricultural standards.
Scaling our impact
with farmers in Mexico
In Mexico, our
sustainable agriculture
programme launched
in 2018 has expanded
to cover 25% of local
production and involve
hundreds of farmers.
Bigger suppliers
are now supporting
smaller farmers -
sharing the benefits of
sustainable practices
such as conservation
agriculture, drop
irrigation and
precision farming.
Our operating companies have made good
progress in working with local suppliers to
continuously improve farming practices.
- In the UK, the vast majority of apple growers
for our cider take part in our sustainability
programme. More than 90% of our apples
were sustainably produced in 2020.
- In Greece, Athenian Brewery sources 100%
of its barley from domestic production.
It has enabled farmers to significantly
increase yields. 35% of the barley it
purchased in 2020 was certified sustainable.
- In Portugal, water scarcity in the Vale do
Sado region had seen farmers stop using their
land to grow crops. The 'From Rice to Barley'
initiative has converted 100 hectares of land
previously used in rice production to that
which grows 300 tonnes of barley per year.
- In Egypt, sustainably sourced sugar has
increased by 30%. The Buyers Supporting
VIVE programme, which enables us to
engage suppliers across the entire supply
chain, has played a key role in enabling us to
reach this level.
Our low carbon agriculture programme aims
to reduce CO2 emissions from agriculture by
shifting to low carbon farming practices.
The first phase will focus on three main
raw materials: barley, maize and sugar cane.
These are our main contributors in terms
of CO2 emissions from agriculture.
The programme will begin in Australia, Brazil,
France, Mexico, Russia, Slovakia, Spain and
the UK.
In 2020, we worked closely with our top 13
suppliers to start identifying the first 500
farms to participate in the programme.
These farmers will calculate their 2020
carbon footprint using the Cool Farm Tool
and implement low carbon farming practices
in 2021.
We will work with them to adopt sustainable
and low carbon farming practices through
a test-and-learn approach over the next
three years.
Learn more about this topic on our website
The low carbon agriculture programme
marks the start of an exciting journey to
reduce our CO2 emissions from agriculture.
We will increase its scope and scale year-
on-year. We will also explore innovative
ways to embed water optimisation through
the programme.
