RESPONSIBILITY
Heineken already takes a proactive
approach to promoting healthier
lifestyles, through its Brewing a Better
Future programme. One of the three
key pillars of this global initiative is to
positively impact the role of beer in
society by encouraging responsible
consumption and fostering partnerships
for progress in this area. Heineken
UK has been working with social care
organisations, such as Ad Action and
Turning Point, since 2005 to reduce
alcohol misuse.
WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP
As British Health Secretary Andrew
Lansley put it: "Public health is
everyone's responsibility and there is a
role for all of us, working in partnership,
to tackle these challenges."
The government's decision to partner
with business leaders rather than
enforcing costly - and questionably
effective - legislation has been dubbed
a 'nudge rather than a push' toward
healthier choices. It means in practice
that government is now working hand
in hand with industry on issues such as
obesity and alcohol misuse.
The Responsibility Deal calls on
companies and organisations to sign
up to sector-specific pledges. The
campaign has already gained the
backing of big names such as Tesco,
Burger King, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and
Unilever. In total over 172 companies,
including 90 within the alcohol beverage
sector, have signed up. In the brewing
and cider category, pledges include
tackling underage alcohol sales, raising
awareness of alcohol units, calories
and other information in the off-trade,
and providing labelling information on
alcohol content.
INDEPENDENT STRIDES
Heineken has been making strides for
some years now on the topics covered
in the seven pledges drafted for
brewers and cider makers. As Kieran
Simpson, Corporate Relations Director,
Heineken UK points out, "It was no
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