Heineken was the first
brewer in the world
to place a responsible
consumption message on
all of its bottles and linking
it to a dedicated website
World of Heineken 37 - Winter 2007/2008
Operation Teen-Proof, which is designed to assist
retailers in identifying ID cards that have been
tampered with."
Staying in the USA, for the past five years, Heineken
has offered Westchester (New York) residents of legal
drinking age free taxi rides home on New Year's Eve.
COLLABORATIVE EFFORT
Governments and health authorities around the
world are mounting pressure on alcoholic beverage
companies to promote responsible consumption. To
achieve the right balance between its commercial
targets and its social responsibilities, Heineken
is actively seeking dialogue and partnership in
promoting the message of responsible consumption.
In 2008, Heineken will be increasing its efforts, with
major national and regional brands developing
responsible messaging on packaging and in
commercial communication. Where possible,
Heineken companies in international markets will
be more active in forming partnerships on local
alcohol related issues, complementing the work
already done in many countries via industry groups.
Heineken has already been working cooperatively
with industry partners in the Netherlands for more
than 20 years. The Foundation for Responsible
Alcohol Consumption in the Netherlands (or STIVA
in Dutch) was founded in 1982 and is based in
The Hague. A joint initiative of Dutch producers
and importers of beer, wine and spirits, STIVA
is designed to make an active contribution to
reducing alcohol abuse and to promote responsible
consumption.
"A major part of our work at STIVA revolves around
self-regulation within the industry in terms of
advertising," says Director Ingrid van Engelshoven.
"We have our own advertising code, which we
update regularly, and we therefore do our best
to steer advertising regulations in a responsible
way. For example, a major issue for us in the
Netherlands at the moment is the proposed ban by
the government on any alcohol advertising on TV
and radio between 6 am and 9 pm, in an attempt to
reduce underage drinking. While we wholeheartedly
agree that the issue of underage drinking and
alcohol abuse among young people is an important
one, we don't believe this government proposal
to be an effective solution, so we plan to fight it at
Parliamentary level," van Engelshoven says.
Sietze Montijn, Head of Corporate Affairs at Heinken
in Amsterdam, agrees that this type of blanket
initiative is limited in its effectiveness to reduce
alcohol-related problems. "Alcohol abuse has many
causes, so there is no single or simple solution. Our
view has always been that those causes must be
addressed by specifically targeted measures."
"We recently got together with representatives
of the hospitality industry to formulate a national
alcohol and youth plan and a special fund,"
continues van Engelshoven. "We pointed out, for
instance, that an increase of just one per cent on
excise duty for alcohol will give us approximately
€10 million per year. That could be fed into a
public-private partnership fund, and used to combat
alcohol abuse by children under 16 years of age."
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