Risk Management
38
Leadership, talent and capabilities
Health and safety
Product safety and integrity
Supply chain continuity
Introduction
Sustainability
Review
Other
Information
Financial
Statements
Report
of the
Supervisory
Board
Report
of the
Executive
Board
What could happen?
Our EverGreen ambition requires us to unlock the full
potential of our people and organisation. If H EINEKEN is
not successful in intentionally attracting, retaining and
developing talent with the required skills and capabilities, it
could have an impact on business continuity and results.
Recent developments
Within the context of EverGreen, we are on a journey to
build strategic capabilities, deepen and diversify our
succession bench and amplify the impact of our senior
leaders.
Explore further: Unlock the full potential of our
people, pages 27-29
What could happen?
HEINEKEN aims to provide a healthy and safe workplace
for all employees, temporary workers and contractors.
Despite the controls in place, HEINEKEN employees,
temporary workers, contractors and visitors may be
impacted by uncontrolled events in the brewery, supply
chain, route-to-market or in our offices, which could lead to
illnesses, serious injuries or fatalities potentially followed by
business disruption, losses, reputational or legal claims.
Recent developments
Despite our continuous efforts to provide safe working
conditions, in 2023 we still experienced incidents with
significant safety impact on our premises, including events
resulting in three fatal accidents involving one employee, a
temporary worker and a contracted employee, underlining
the importance of realising further improvements in the
area of safety, health and well-being.
Explore further: Brew a Better World 2030
Strategy - Social, pages 159-165
What could happen?
Poor quality or contamination of HEINEKEN products, be it
accidental or malicious, could result in health hazards,
reputational damage, financial liabilities, disruption of the
supply chain and product recalls.
Recent developments
The environment in which we operate is constantly
changing. Changes to our product portfolio, growing
insights of hazards associated with potential food
contaminants, growing consumers' concern on food safety
and a more complex legal environment, make it necessary
to constantly take action to adapt and respond to these
changes, to ensure food safety for our consumers.
What are we doing to manage this risk?
HEINEKEN has effectively minimised the impact of
disruptions by leveraging its extensive global presence and
strong supplier relationships across various regions and
product categories. Our agile sourcing approach (including
our geographic spread of sourcing and local sourcing),
combined with the adaptability of our breweries
worldwide, has ensured the uninterrupted flow of supplies
across our global operations.
We've taken proactive measures to safeguard business
continuity by devising comprehensive plans for
HEINEKEN's flagship brands in all critical markets, along
with implementing contingency plans within our
operational entities. Our resilience is further reinforced by
our ownership of strategic malt production facilities, long
term procurement contracts, meticulous water
management strategies, and centralised oversight of
global insurance policies.
HEINEKEN has adopted a watershed-centric strategy
aimed at preserving water resources. Sustainable sourcing
is a top priority within our Brew a Better World 2030
initiative, reflecting our dedication to making a positive
impact on the environment and society.
What could happen?
Supply chain disruptions such as the ocean freight
disruption in the Suez canal can have far-reaching
consequences, including the potential inability to fulfil
orders for crucial clients, financial setbacks, harm to brand
reputation, and a decline in market presence. Substantial
fluctuations in the accessibility or pricing of essential inputs
such as raw materials, commodities, transportation, energy
and water may precipitate either shortages in supply or
elevated operational expenses.
Explore further: Brew a Better World 2030
Strategy - Environmental, pages 147-158
Heineken
N.V.
Annual
Report
2023
What are we doing to manage this risk?
HEINEKEN has established a comprehensive Company
wide Quality Assurance programme covering employee
competencies, production standards, recipe governance,
suppliers' governance and production material risks.
Continuous improvement is achieved through global
compliance monitoring and systematic gap-closing.
It is mandatory for all our production units, as well as any
outsourced production of HEINEKEN brands, to have an
external certified Food Safety Management System, which
should be in accordance with the systems approved by
GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) and an external
certified Quality Management System based on ISO9001
All raw, auxiliary and packaging materials used in
production must be purchased from approved suppliers
and must comply with our Production Material
Specifications. All products have a Basic Recipe in place, in
accordance with our Recipe Governance standards.
Should a risk materialise, global recall and crisis procedures
are in place to mitigate the impact. Specifically, all product
units (including outsourced production of HEINEKEN
brands) are able to block and/or recall products and have
implemented the HEINEKEN Traceability standard.
Compliance to our standards is verified by the production
unit through self-assessments and through Global Supply
Chain compliance audits. Global Supply Chain also carries
out yearly integrity surveys on final products for known
contaminants to assure that the standards in place are
effective.
Moreover, HEINEKEN anticipates new legislation and
emerging risks aided by its partners, suppliers and external
scientific institutions and assures implementation of
measures to avoid such risks.
Recent developments
The global supply chain landscape continues to deal with
substantial disruptions. Throughout the year, we have
observed several instances where our suppliers have been
adversely affected by these events, resulting in price
volatility and contractual challenges. The availability of
certain critical resources has become constrained, driven by
the prevailing global political instability.
Furthermore, the growing concerns of climate change and
increasing water shortages are starting to have effects on
how much crops can grow, the availability of resources and
the prices of grains. Considering these developments, it is
imperative for both markets and governments to
proactively address these challenges, implementing
measures to adapt and respond effectively.
What are we doing to manage this risk?
Talent Management is one of the strategic capabilities in
our EverGreen Strategy - building leadership competence
with a strong focus on proactive talent identification,
development and retention at all levels (early/mid-careers
to Functional Leadership General Management).
In 2023, we continued the journey to embed our potential
model within our Talent Review processes through
effective career and development conversations facilitated
by People Managers. Leadership Development also
remains a top priority with the continuation of our global
leadership development programmes.
The Global Talent Acquisition Strategy and supporting
structure was defined to strengthen the capabilities
required to attract, identify and recruit talent required
globally to deliver on our EverGreen ambitions.
We remain on the journey to shape an inclusive and
equitable environment through continued focus on three
core pillars: fostering courageous leadership, promoting an
inclusive culture and creating equal opportunities. As part
of our commitment to equitable practices throughout the
employee lifecycle, we incorporate Diversity Equity and
Inclusion (DEI) principles in our core processes In 2023,
we have also met our ambition to pay our employees at
least a fair wage, as determined by the Fair Wage
Network, an NGO.
What are we doing to manage this risk?
Our Safety, Health and Well-being strategy reflects our
company value of Care. We focus on shaping a leading
Health Safety culture fully embedded in our ways of
working, counting on everyone's leadership, engagement
and participation.
Throughout the Company, the HEINEKEN Life Saving
Commitments target the activities that carry the greatest
safety risks to employees, temporary workers and
contractors.
As the availability of quality (emergency) healthcare
services varies across the large number of countries and
regions in which we operate, ensuring access to quality
medical care to our national and international employees
and their family members remains a priority.
Furthermore, to ensure healthcare coverage, HEINEKEN
counts on more than 430 health professionals worldwide.
Our employees and dependents have access to broad
medical services including screening and lab tests,
medicines and pharmacy, health benefits, disease
prevention and health promotion projects, emergency
evacuations, health training and education.
Within the health area, mental health has been identified
as an emerging risk. To address this risk, we have to keep
investing in our internal well-being programme addressing
the four dimensions of well-being: professional, emotional,
social and physical.
