Belavić: 93 percent of raw materials for Heineken Croatia come from sustainable production

In the seventh sustainability report presented today, Heineken Croatia showcased the continuity of progress in implementing the “Creating a Better World” strategy dedicated to the social responsibility of the Karlovac brewery. The six areas of focus for the strategy are the protection of drinking water sources, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, sustainable sourcing, promotion of responsible alcohol consumption, promotion of health and safety at work, and collaboration with local communities.

According to Valentina Belavić, Director of the Supply Chain Sector, compared to the former standards where ten hectoliters of water were required to produce one hectoliter of beer, Heineken Croatia reduced water consumption to 4.2 hectoliters for the production of one hectoliter of beer during 2015. This, Belavić stated, represents a reduction of as much as 38 percent compared to 2008, and is the result of continuous investments and optimization of boiler operations, activities in the bottling plant, and wastewater treatment. Compared to 2014, specific direct and indirect CO₂ emissions were reduced by 16 percent in 2015, and among other factors, the 9 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions in distribution was also aided by the fact that Sokol and Amstel beers began to be produced in Karlovac, eliminating transportation costs from other Heineken facilities in the region. A dislocated reduction in energy consumption was also achieved by procuring 820 energy-efficient and environmentally friendly refrigerators for the supermarket and HOREKA market segments.

Speaking about sourcing, Belavić emphasized that 93 percent of Heineken Croatia’s raw materials come from sustainable production, and the Karlovačko brand beer is produced entirely from brewing barley sourced from Croatian fields, based on collaboration with the Agricultural Institute in Osijek and PPK Nova Gradiška as the lead partner. A further step was last year’s launch of dedicated mandarin production in the Neretva Valley as a raw material for the production of the Karlovačko leđero natur radler brand, achieving a 98 percent share of local sources in raw material procurement.

Heineken Croatia, said Ljudmila Bratko Gašpić, Head of Corporate Communications, continues to invest in addressing the issue of responsible alcohol consumption with a particular focus on underage consumption. In this regard, the project “For the Responsible Growth of Youth,” initiated in 2013 in collaboration with the TESA Psychological Center and the portal žena.hr, has continued. In the area of employee health and safety, 1,600 hours of safety training were conducted, and 300 employees participated in online education, while training on safe driving for sales sector employees reduced the number of accidents from four to one.