User:Natalie Maxwell

SABMiller

SABMiller is the world’s second largest brewer, with brewing interests or distribution agreements in over 60 countries across five continents. It employs over 53,000 people worldwide. The company started in South Africa however over the past ten years they have rapidly expanded. Through acquisitions, SABMiller has put down roots in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and transformed itself into a global business. It manufactures and markets over 150 beer brands that include Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Miller Genuine Draft, Castle Lager and Pilsner Urquell, as well as major regional brands such as Miller Lite and Carling Black Label. SABMiller also owns Appletiser, the international sparkling fruit juice brand and is one of the world’s largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products. The company recognizes that growth and success of the business is a main priority and with roots in South Africa they face social issues such as poverty and HIV. In 2005 SABMiller, as a global company, acknowledged that it needed to take a more global and coherent approach to its global issues across all its operations and to encourage growth and success it had to act in response to public needs. The most important priority for a brewer is to encourage responsible drinking but others cover environmental issues such as water, energy and carbon management, packaging and waste, and social priorities such as HIV/AIDS and human rights

African Alcohol Policy

Increasing alcohol consumption and public health problems related to alcohol in Africa has resulted in the development of national alcohol policies by which SABMiller has played a significant role in designing in Africa. Industry-oriented draft policies were came across in many Sub-Sahara African countries; Lesotho, Malawi, Uganda, and Botswana. The policy documents from the four countries were almost identical and were likely based on a single document. The National Alcohol Policy document states that it recognizes the social and economic impacts caused from the misuse of alcohol. The government acknowledges that the use of alcohol in moderation plays a positive role in socialization and recognizes that the alcohol industry is a major contributor to the economy therefore the government allow the alcohol industry the right to conduct legitimate and legal business in a responsible way and encourages the active participation of the alcohol industry to play a key role in the policy formation and implementation process. The alcohol industry has a vested interest in ensuring that alcohol misuse is reduced and will ensure that there is responsible promotion and selling of alcohol however it is argued that the draft documents show the alcohol industry's preferred version of a national alcohol policy which includes letting the industry regulate its own marketing activities.

SABMiller and alcohol responsibility

According to SABMiller they are making discouraging irresponsibly drinking top of their sustainable development priorities because the misuse of alcohol does not benefit the consumer or the corporation. SABMIller has a played a key role in making sure that information about alcohol is accurate and balanced. Their efforts to implement policy is locally designed but looks different in various countries as markets are different however they are built on their core principles on alcohol;

• Their beer is an enjoyment of life and a social pleasure however the misuse of alcohol is associated with certain diseases and health conditions. Although it is the consumer’s responsibility to watch their intake of alcohol SAB suggest their advertising will discourage the misuse of irresponsibly drinking by pregnant women, underage people and will encourage people to drink in moderation.

• They will be truthful in their advertising about the risks of alcohol consumption and will engage with stakeholders to promote alcohol responsibility.

• They also recognise that drinking and driving is a serious danger and will encourage the intervention of programmes that will educate people about the serious impacts of driving under the influence. They will support these programmes through marketing and portray drinking and driving as unacceptable behaviour.

• They will also encourage socially responsible drinking through advertising and marketing by making them aware of the quantity of alcohol they are using and by stating acceptable limits to discourage binge drinking.

• They suggest that they will raise awareness about alcohol consumption to parents and retailers to discourage underage drinking. Their marketing will not target anyone underage or in countries where there is no legal drinking age.

• There advertising will not suggest that drinking during pregnancy is acceptable behaviour and engage with other stakeholders to support the delivery of advice to pregnant women.

• In addition to complying with local laws and regulations their company adheres to the policy on commercial communication which establishes consistent standards for the marketing of their brands.

Controversies

A major question is can corporations successfully reduce negative externalities while continuing to maximize profits. Corporations such as SABMiller use up much needed resources such as clean water for making beer as well as other raw materials and energy used to make profit. SABMiller are trying to act responsible by doing something good for the environment however the project appears to be about SAB securing its own interests. As Nicola Jowell, SAB’s corporate social investment manager said “without sustainable and safe water supplies, we simply can not brew beer” (Panda.org). SABMiller uses up much needed water in developing countries. It takes five litres of water to make one litre of beer. Although SABMiller claims its responsibilities are about doing well for the environment and for the people in the community they continue to make profit while the people in the country struggle to have access to water as bore wells in some communities are limited and while costs for water are high.

Partnerships

SABMiller has created many partnerships with other organisations including;

• International Center for Alcohol Policies – An alcohol policy think tank which works with many partners to recognise drinking patterns and creates interventions to prevent drink related harm

• The Drinkaware Trust – To change public behaviour and national drinking culture to help reduce the misuse of alchol

• CEO Water Mandate

• World Economic Forum (WEF) – Commited to improving the state of the world by engaging parnters to shape global and regional agendas.

• European Alcohol and Health Forum

• Business Action for Africa - committed to assisting poverty alleviation through market-based solutions

• The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) – Covers areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corrpution.

• International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) – works with businesses, the government and civil society to enhance sustainable development.

• Global Business Coalition on HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) – provide support to companies that can defeat these pandemics.

• Chatham House's Africa programme – Focuses on issues such as HIV/AIDS, enterprise development and agriculture.

In particular corporations tend to latch to Non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) as they have built trust with the public by projecting a sense of unprofitable commitment to the best interests of the community. Creating partnerships with these companies and using socially responsible strategies makes the corporation look less dangerous to communities and to the environment. In order for corporations to increase profit and continue to grow it is necessary that they convince governments and the public that they are making sufficient attempts to reduce the negative impacts of its actions thereby it is suggested that corporate social responsibility is a method used to reassure the public that it is acting in a positively responsive way to its actions.