Steve Koenemann

Socially Responsible Beer

It is fairly common these days for all sorts of businesses to maintain that they include a “socially responsible mission” as a part of doing business with the rest of the world. Beer brewing businesses, of course, are among those which participate in this and some provide outstanding examples of companies altering their business practices to benefit a variety of important societal causes. Gone are the days when businesses can simply give such things lip service, as both consumers and industry watchdogs are ready and able to measure their level of commitment toward environmental stewardship and their support of their community. Not only have many breweries embraced this socially responsible side of their business, many have discovered that this can also mean both higher sales and drive higher profits to their bottom line.

Top of mind for me on this subject lately has been this weekend’s annual “Mardi Gras” event organized and supported by the Magic Hat Brewing Company of South Burlington, VT. This event, in its 15^th year, is focused on community entertainment and the financial support of a local not-for-profit; the Women’s Rape Crisis Center of Chittenden County (WRCC). The weekend includes bands and other entertainment at quite a number of venues around the Burlington area and is capped off by a Mardi Gras-style parade on Saturday afternoon (today) which includes bands and floats. Even though it is winter still and snowing (again), the parade will go on and everyone will have a great time. For those of you wondering, the people on the floats do throw strings of beads into the crowd during the parade, but the standards of conduct for receiving one of these strings is far lower than that on Bourbon Street in a similar situation… besides being a family-oriented parade, it is just too cold for that type of thing (not that cold would stop some folks, of course). The event, as you can imagine, is heavily publicized by the media and I am certain that its impact on the Magic Hat beer business far outweighs any expenses which they might incur for it. After all, when you are in one of the bar venues and listening to a great band, whose beer are you going to be drinking? This event is, obviously, a great example of a brewing business contributing back to its community. Over the years this event has not only raised tens of thousands of dollars for WRCC, it has cemented in the minds of the Burlington community the notion that Magic Hat cares for more than just profits; it cares about people too. Good for business… good for the community… a win/win that benefits everyone. You’ll hear more from me about Magic Hat in a future article.

Another shining example of a brewer embracing social responsibility as a part of their core business model is the New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, CO. New Belgium has long held these principles and, in fact, has developed their entire corporate culture around them to ensure that they remain ingrained in how they do business on a daily basis. Upon a quick survey of their Web site, you will find a page entitled “Alternatively Powered”. At the very top of this page is their statement of their social mission:

“Alternatively Empowered means making business decisions based on minimizing environmental impact, encouraging the growth of our employee owners, and being a socially responsible contributor to our community. It’s rewarding, challenging, and educational. It’s what makes us New Belgium.”

To me, that statement alone speaks volumes on how New Belgium sees their role in this world; not just as producers of great beer, but as a member of and participant in both the local and global communities in which the rest of us live. It is also important to note that they see this responsibility entirely within the context of their brewing business. From my observation, the most successful implementations of business social responsibility share one important characteristic; this mission does not include things which are outside of their direct control or sphere of influence. New Belgium proudly lists, in some detail, 10 things that they are currently doing to enact this mission (see the site for complete details) and all of these meet this important criteria. You should also note that these initiatives encompass the full range of their business:

1. Efficiencies in the brewing process – they have installed a high efficiency brewing kettle that requires less energy to boil the wort and they have included a means of capturing excess heat from the brewing process and recycling it for further uses.
2. Utilize green design in their building – this includes lighting, HVAC and building materials.
3. On-site treatment of their wastewater – pretreatment of their wastewater allows them to capture both methane and a nutrient rich sludge before discharge.
4. On-site energy production – utilize the methane captured in the wastewater treatment process to generate both heat and electricity (co-gen). They are able to produce up to 15% of their electrical needs from this process.
5. Use of wind-generated electricity – in spite of its additional costs, 57% more expensive than traditional sources, the employee-owners insist on using this renewable energy source.
6. High Involvement Culture (HIC) – described on the site as a “3-legged stool”; includes open-book management, employee ownership and participative decision making.
7. Sustainable eventing – minimize the environmental impact of all New Belgium events.
8. Actionable Advocacy – they are members of 1% For the Planet, which means that, through donations and fund-raisers, 1% of their revenue goes to environmental non-profits. They advocate for alternative transportation and have an active public speaking/education program.
9. Constant Benchmarking – constant measurement to ensure that the business is financially sound and that the non-financial socially responsible goals are being met.
10. Partnering to Support Innovative Technologies – the sludge collected during wastewater treatment is being used by to produce high protein fish food for aqua-farms. This project is a partnership with another company.

Craft brewers are not the only brewing companies to embrace social responsibility. The “big boys” see both the PR and potential financial benefits of being socially responsible too.

• SABMiller and its subsidiaries
• Anheuser-Busch and Responsibility Matters

I see all of this as a growing awareness of the brewing community of the need to care about more than just brewing beer. Today’s consumers are looking for more in a product than just its quality and price; they look beyond the product to the corporate philosophy of the company which produces it and to the people that work there. To many, it is not just a matter of producing the best beer in the world; it is also about the production of that beer in such a way that it does not do harm to the rest of us and production by a company that sees itself as a good corporate citizen in the broader community that we share. Insist on quality and insist on corporate social responsibility… its a win/win for all of us.

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