Better Future 2030. Kompania Piwowarska published its 2020 sustainability report

Despite the pandemic, Kompania Piwowarska was consistently executing its sustainability agenda in 2020, at the same time supporting the health services, gastronomic industry and local communities by reacting to their needs resulting from the Covid-19 outbreak.

Since 2020, Kompania Piwowarska has been executing the assumptions of its new strategy – Better Future 2030, in which the company’s business and sustainability strategies were combined integrally for the very first time, and ecological and social goals are as important as the business ones. Better Future 2030 encompasses four pillars: Planet, People, Portfolio and Profit. The activities executed within the first two pillars refer directly to sustainable development and contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals described in Agenda 2030. To fit our times, Kompania Piwowarska’s report focuses mainly on activities aimed at the improvement of the environment and society.

Support for hospitals and business partners

When hospitals were at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus, Kompania Piwowarska and its employees supported entities from the health sector in Białystok, Poznań and Tychy by donating 1,312,000 zloty in total.

Soon after, the company organized help for the struggling gastronomy. It supported its business partners by developing an Anti-Crisis Shield guide, clearly explaining the new regulations and conditions to be met to receive support. Kompania Piwowarska collected, at its own expense, the beer that remained unsold due to the closing of the On Trade sector from 9,000 outlets, extended payment deadlines, and continued to provide draught beer installation maintenance services free of charge. These activities reduced the financial burden of outlet owners by nearly 5,600,000 zloty. 

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic tested the business in terms of social responsibility and business agility. Kompania Piwowarska immediately took action, adjusting its operations to the crisis conditions in order to maintain production continuity and ensure maximum employee safety. Despite the new, unexpected challenges, we recorded progress in every strategic area of sustainable development, focusing particularly on those where we can significantly influence our scale, supply chain and partnerships – comments Iwona Jacaszek-Pruś, Corporate Affairs Director at Kompania Piwowarska.

Carbon neutrality in breweries by 2030

In the report, the leader of the beer industry in Poland informs about its plan to achieve carbon neutrality across its three breweries by the end of this decade, by increasing the share of renewable sources in electric and thermal power production and optimizing the consumption. In 2020, nearly 43% of the electricity used in the breweries came from renewable sources.

Every drop counts

Another environmental ambition of Kompania Piwowarska is even further reduction of its water consumption. In 2020, it was 2.78 litre of water per 1 litre of beer, which already is one of the best results in Europe. However, the company still aims to reach a consumption level of 2 litres of water per 1 litre of beer and maximally utilise water from production processes for technical purposes: washing devices, cleaning premises and cooling machines. The number of water recycling points at Kompania Piwowarska increases every year.

Full circulation

In reference to the 12.5 target of the UN Agenda 2030, i.e. “substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse”, Kompania Piwowarska presents the following key performance indicators: 99.81% of waste and by-products generated in the production process is recycled, 46% of products is sold in reusable packaging, and beer cans are made in 50% from recycled aluminium. The company uses returnable glass bottles on a large scale. It has developed and keeps financing a reusable packaging collection system and can show off with its 90% effectiveness, which means that such a high percentage of bottles introduced to the market annually, returns to the brewery to be refilled. Compared to single-use  bottles, returnable beer bottles translate into significantly reduced CO₂ emissions, and one returnable bottle can replace 20 non-returnable ones.

Inclusion and wellbeing

During the coronavirus pandemic, Kompania Piwowarska organized a comprehensive support program for its employees, encompassing physical and mental health in the context of dealing with the new social situation. Some tools aimed at ensuring maximum metal comfort for employees were implemented, including a psychological helpline and workshops with experts in the field of dealing with stress, managing emotions, and building psychological immunity.

The basis of the People pillar in Kompania Piwowarska’s strategy are equality and diversity, as well as building an organizational culture that is open, inclusive and embracing of difference. The company continues to execute educational activities and follow appropriate recruitment practices to counteract harmful stereotypes regarding age or gender. It contributes to targets 5.1 and 5.5 of the fifth Agenda 2030 goal considering gender equality, aiming to achieve an equal number of man and women in managerial positions by 2030, while for 2020 it presents the following key performance indicators: 25.5% of women among employees, 33% of women in management, and differences in salaries between man and women oscillating between +1% and -4%.

In 2020, we faced a great challenge to ensure the safety of our employees. We can proudly say that we rose to the occasion. Moreover, this difficult time was a catalyst for building a diverse and inclusive culture. It is our goal to make sure that our employees are comfortable at work as well as outside of it. That is why in 2020 we were consistently developing our offer of activities promoting good health and wellbeing, focusing on both physical and mental aspects – adds Wojciech Moliński, Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Kompania Piwowarska.

In the first year of the pandemic, while applying extreme safety measures, Kompania Piwowarska executed activities contributing to the 11 th goal of Agenda 2030 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, through the activities of the corporate volunteering initiative Kompania of Volunteers, which engages over 60% of the employees. Last year, 1,570 volunteers from the company organized into 54 teams supported the philanthropic campaign called Szlachetna Paczka, by preparing 953 packages for those in need worth 225,000 zloty in total. In the key performance indicators, Kompania Piwowarska declares that 61.5% of employees completed 2,910 hours of social work.

Within the framework of the Good Health and Wellbeing goal of Agenda 2030, Kompania Piwowarska promotes responsible consumption of alcohol and responsible behaviours. Not only does the company fulfil the responsibilities enforced on alcohol manufacturers by the law, but it also executes more comprehensive activities, putting special emphasis on preventing minors, pregnant women and drivers from drinking. In 2020, it continued the #FASOFF social campaign educating on the irreversible adverse effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The communications reached over 9 m Poles. For the purpose of the campaign promoting road safety, the company developed a free app called Check Your BAC, which allows users to estimate their blood alcohol content. In 2020, the app was downloaded by over 200,000 people.

Additionally, the company continues to expand its non-alcoholic beer offer as a responsible alternative, applies self-regulation in marketing communication, and provides consumers with reliable information on alcohol and its impact on health and social situations. In 2020, Kompania Piwowarska increased the sales of non-alcoholic beers by 37% compared to the previous year.

The idea behind Kompania Piwowarska’s Better Future 2030 strategy is running the business in an ethical, responsible and sustainable manner, while respecting the environment and natural resources, to ensure a better future for the current and next generations.

The full version of the report is available at: https://www.kp.pl/zrownowazony-rozwoj/raport