behind the Brew Issue 3

Behind the
BREW
what’s going on in HEINEKEN UK
the
Green
issue
What we’re doing to achieve our 2030
Brew A Better World commitments.
December 2021
1

Contributors
David Flochel
Managing Director
Alex Townsend
Head of Supply Planning
Chelsey Wroe
Head of Sustainability
Aileen Newall
Head of Reward
Paul Anderson
Procurement Category
Specialist
Steve Cann
Director, Future Food Solutions
Andy McKnight
Principal Project Manager,
Manchester Brewery
Chris Sladen
Head of Property,
Star Pubs & Bars
Emma Newberry
B2B & Quality Manager,
On Trade
Steve Waygood
Head of Quality of Product
Design
Henry Stremes
Trade Marketing Controller
Welcome to the third edition of Behind the Brew, our contributor-led
magazine that takes you behind-the-scenes to see what’s going on
around the business.
In our Green Issue, we place a focus on sustainability, discussing the
actions we’re taking to achieve our ambitious 2030 Brew A Better
World commitments.
In addition, you’ll read about the recent Leadership Event in London
where the Leadership Team met to discuss EverGreen 2025 – our
bold and exciting strategy – and how it will shape the future of our
business.
I hope you enjoy catching up with what's been happening across the
business!
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas.
Cheers!
Editorial
by Ann McDonagh
Kelly Borland
Digital Product Owner
Joanna Dring
Head of Media
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30
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Contents
End of Year Message
David Flochel reflects on 2021 and looks ahead to 2022.
EverGreen 2025 in focus
A strategy for now and the future.
Who likes a challenge? The Project
Availability team do…
Unlocking our supply chain to meet customer needs.
We’re supporting Christmas Plus One
Showcasing the role pubs play in tackling loneliness.
What’s Brewing in Sustainability?
How we’ll deliver on our Brew a Better World pledges.
Together in Electric Dreams
Our commitment to make the entire HEINEKEN car fleet electric
by 2026.
No Barley, No Beer!
Finding a more sustainable way to grow barley.
The Sustainable Pub of the Future
Roadmap to making our pubs sustainable by 2030.
Get a Green Grip
Our journey to removing customer-facing plastic.
COP26 – In Pictures
Showcasing our commitment to Net Zero in Glasgow.
Finding a Better Way to Onboard
SmartDispense Customers
Working together to achieve organisational effectiveness.
‘Have a drink on us’: On Trade Christmas
activations
Helping our brands win battle for market share over Christmas.
What's Hitting the Headlines
HEINEKEN news in the media this month.
Competitor News
Keeping our eye on the competition.
Green Energy in our Breweries
Our journey to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
Have you got a story you’d like us to cover?
If you’ve got anything you’d like us to cover, please get in touch at
employee.communications@heineken.co.uk
3

An end of year message
from David
4

"EverGreen 2025 will help us meet the demands of a rapidly
changing world – as we become more externally focused and
step-up our consumer and customer-centricity."
Faced once again with the unexpected, there’s no denying that it’s been another tough year for all of us.
We asked for your resilience, commitment and hard work and you all rose to the challenge. For this I’d
like to thank each and every one of you.
Although it might not feel like it, particularly as we continue to
navigate volatility caused by the pandemic and face unprecedented
issues in our supply chain, we are in fact, winning in the market.
We’ve been increasing our value share as a business in the on trade
and protecting it in the off trade, meaning we’re doing better than
the competition. We’ve a lot to be proud of in terms of what we’re
achieving and our ability to re-invent ourselves. We’ve been turning
around our Operating Profit into positive territories thanks to your
great efforts on savings and a needed restructure at the beginning
of the year.
We’re also making great strides in addressing the challenges
presented to us. Our plan to fix availability is gaining traction, with
capacity and service levels improving. We’re committed to creating
greater clarity, improving our processes and addressing the pain
points through our Organisational Effectiveness work. While we’re
still on a journey, we’re making great progress on clarity and
alignment and starting to get back on track on availability, step
by step.
As we look towards the final weeks of 2021, our focus must be on
protecting Christmas. This is the last peak of the year, and we can’t
afford to miss it – our overall performance for the year relies on
securing the best possible Christmas that we can by maximising our
sales, despite the latest restrictions with the new COVID variant.
We’ve learned a lot from digital connection, hybrid working, agile
teams, more agile ways of working and we must embrace that
change.
Our revised Purpose & Values really speaks to all of us. The Joy of
True Togetherness is so very relevant at this time of polarisation,
isolation and exhaustion.
Looking ahead
We’re working on future-proofing the business with the launch of
EverGreen 2025, our bold and exciting strategy which will help us
deliver superior and balanced growth as well as the next evolution
of HEINEKEN UK.
EverGreen 2025 will help us meet the demands of a rapidly
changing world – as we become more externally focused and
step-up our consumer and customer-centricity. We'll place bigger
bets on premium beers, ensure 0.0% is everywhere and do more
to go beyond beer.
Freeing up resources and reinvesting in people, in growth with more
innovation and in our supply chain will continue to be a focus, as
will becoming bolder with our technology agenda and continuing
our journey to becoming a ‘Digital First’ business.
And, raising the bar on our environmental, social and responsible
consumption actions, our Brew a Better World 2030 commitments
will enable faster progress towards a net zero, fairer and healthier
world.
Here’s to hopefully a better, more positive and joyful 2022.
We hope you have a well-deserved break with family and friends
over the festive period – you deserve it.
Best wishes
David Flochel
Managing Director
"We hope you have a well-deserved break with family and
friends over the festive period – you deserve it."
5

in Focus
EverGreen 2025 will shape the future of our business. Ashleigh Lloyd, our roving reporter, heard firsthand
more about our bold and exciting strategy and the impact it will have in the UK at the recent
Leadership Event in London.
EverGreen on the agenda
Following the Global launch of our EverGreen strategy in October,
the Leadership Team came together last month to explore, in
depth, how EverGreen 2025 will shape the future of our HEINEKEN
UK business – delivering superior and balanced growth.
A strategy for now and the future
David Flochel, Managing Director, kicked off the day, reminding
attendees that throughout our 157-year history, HEINEKEN has
continued to evolve and EverGreen 2025 is the next step in this
evolution.
Inspired by nature’s resilience and its ability to adapt and renew
itself, our EverGreen strategy is a multi-year journey which focuses
on both continuity – honouring and building on what has made us
great – and change – adapting to an evolving market and futureproofing
the company as we look ahead to the next 157 years.
We know it’s not the biggest or the strongest that survive, but the
most agile and adaptable, and this is especially true when we look
at the disruption happening in the market today. Our success will
rely on our ability to respond to current times while staying true to
our company values and heritage.
EverGreen 2025 comes together as a new strategy on a single
page, encapsulating our new Purpose, Values and Behaviours and
clearly defining our Dream, where we’ll play and how we’ll win.
Unlock the full potential of our people
In an interactive People-centric session, the team were asked to
explore the impact of culture on our business and our colleagues.
Embracing the skills that enabled success pre-COVID-19, whilst
developing new skills to cope with new realities and challenges, they
discussed how our Behaviours can encourage ‘real conversations’
between colleagues. The team also looked at the steps that need
to be taken now to support and develop our teams to deliver our
EverGreen 2025 ambition. Watch out for a Leadership Pledge in
the new year!
Optimising Availability, leveraging Sequoia
Our 2022 targets then came under the spotlight, with a focus placed
on optimising product and service availability – and leveraging
Sequoia, which is a Europe-wide project aimed at optimising our
supply chain.
Securing availability for Christmas is our immediate focus as a
business before shifting our attention in 2022 behind delivering our
plan, making our supply chain more efficient and fundamentally
altering our longer-term availability strategy as we target 98.5%
OTIF service levels.
Driving Superior Growth
Next on the agenda was Driving Superior Growth and the three key
principles which can help when planning for growth:
• Insight – matching our portfolio with where consumer demand
is today and will be tomorrow.
• Making bold choices – scoping out where to play and defining
what success looks like.
• Backing ourselves – executing our 2022 gameplans in both
the on and off trade and knowing how to win.
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Raising the bar on Sustainability & Connectivity
The day came to a close with a look at the plans we’ve in place to
ensure we’re winning in the area of sustainability and responsibility,
before reviewing the steps we’ll be taking over the next three to
five years to revamp our digital journey and become the bestconnected
brewer, to serve customers and consumers who are
increasingly looking to buy our brands online.
Our EverGreen 2025 ambition
By the end of 2025, our global ambition is to:
• Increase our revenue to mid-single digit growth.
• Increase our operating margin by 17% by 2023 and operating
leverage beyond.
• Increase our capital efficiency.
• Cut our CO 2
emissions by 50% in production.
Our Green Diamond is our ‘yardstick’ for success against our
balanced growth ambition. It will ensure that we strike a balance
between short-term delivery, long-term sustainability and between
top-line growth and overall value creation.
How we’ll get there...
Nothing More, Nothing Less 2022 is year one of our EverGreen
2025 strategy. It lays the foundation for future growth and outlines
the direction of travel for our business over the coming years.
Placing a focus on cultural shifts, we’ll create a sense of belonging
through our new Purpose, Values and Behaviours as we continue to
meet the demands of a fast-changing world.
Becoming more externally focused and stepping-up our consumer
and customer-centricity will be key. We’ll place bigger bets on our
premium beers, ensure there’s Always A Choice with 0.0 and do
more to stretch and go beyond beer, to win the hearts of customers
and drinkers and regain momentum in the cider category. We’ll
maximise our pub estate too, enhancing our use of capital and
creating fantastic drinkers experiences of our brands.
We must place continuous focus on productivity to free up
resources and reinvest in growth, whilst being bolder with our
technology agenda and tackling the digitisation of our business
with more urgency.
On top of this, we’re raising the bar on our environmental and social
ambitions by continuing to champion responsible consumption
and prioritising the implementation of our 2022 Carbon Neutrality
plans, both of which are woven into our Brew a Better World 2030
commitments, which you can read more about in this issue of
Behind the Brew.
We shared more about our EverGreen 2025 strategy and
our Nothing More, Nothing Less plan for 2022 at the All
Colleague Townhall on 6th December. If you missed it,
you can catch up on the event website. Here you’ll find
recordings from the event, along with other pre-recorded
content from the Leadership Event and a number of videos
bringing to life our new Values, our Brands and our Brew a
Better World agenda.
7

Who likes a Challenge?
The Project Availablity
Team Do…
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“Our overall aim is to achieve 98.5% of on time
and in full deliveries to customers.”
Alex Townsend
Head of Supply Planning
Alex Townsend, Head of Supply Planning, is leading Project Availability which has been established to address
the recent challenges we’ve encountered across our supply chain.
We’re unlocking our supply chain to meet customer needs
Let’s face it, we’ve all faced challenges since 2020, but the past 18
months exposed certain issues in our end-to-end supply chain in the
UK. So, we launched Project Availability in October to identify and
unlock the bottlenecks we were facing as a result of the pandemic,
Brexit import delays and the HGV driver shortages.
Setting Goals
Our overall aim is to achieve 98.5% of on time and in full deliveries
to customers. At the moment it’s sitting at around 90% due to some
of the issues mentioned above. We’ve adopted a new approach and
brought in our best people to tackle the issues and help us hit our
target.
Our Strategy
We’ve set up four workstreams – Procurement, Logistics, Brewery
Operations and Planning – to see what we can do in each area to
improve availability and to deliver for the customer. We’ve started with
improvement activity across the four workstreams:
• Procurement is working with suppliers to reduce lead times and
increase flexibility so we ensure a secure supply of materials.
• Logistics is optimising transport routes and talking to hauliers to
ensure we’ve the right stock in the right place at the right time,
basically a stockholding strategy based on geographical location.
• Brewery Operations are focussed on improving production
performance, so we have the right products available, with output
exceeding customer demand. One key area they are working on
is reducing unplanned losses through a Sequoia initiative called
‘Drive to Win’. Driven from the shopfloor, this defines the ‘perfect
day’ in production based on a number of operational indicators.
You’ll hear more about this initiative over the coming months.
UNLOCKING OUR SUPPL
TO MEET CUSTOMER N
• Planning is revising its stock strategy and capacity planning
process to maximise availability for customers across the network.
It’s complicated!
As you can see, everything is interlinked, which is why the project is
looking at the entire supply chain.
Balancing Christmas with long-term solutions
The big challenge right now is balancing the day job to deliver
availability for Christmas, whilst keeping an eye on the longer-term.
Freeing up time and resources to fix problems now so we’re not facing
the same challenges this time next year.
In a perfect world…
Ideally, we want to be in a position where our customers experience
great service in line with their expectations, and we can deliver on
time and in full. We want to unlock the bottlenecks in our end-to-end
supply chain and work closer with suppliers to make us less vulnerable
to factors beyond our control. We want a more robust supply chain
that will allow us to weather all storms.
UNLOCKING OUR SUPPLY CHAIN
TO MEET CUSTOMER NEEDS
9

We’re Supporting
Christmas Plus One
We’re throwing our support behind the national campaign – Christmas Plus One – by
showcasing the role pubs play in local communities, bringing people together and
helping to fight loneliness. Chelsey Wroe, Head of Sustainability explains why.
Earlier this month we made the joint decision with our charity partners
to postpone Brewing Good Cheer this Christmas.
The majority of people we were looking to support through our
campaign are deemed to be vulnerable, and with so much uncertainty
surrounding the new COVID variant, Omicron, we feel this is the right
approach.
Time for ‘true togetherness’
However, as Christmas is a time for togetherness – this December
we’re supporting the Christmas Plus One campaign by inviting our
licensees to use their pub as a festive hub – helping to connect people
within their local communities.
The Christmas Plus One campaign is organised by ‘Together’, a
coalition of charities and organisations, with the joint aim to build
kinder, closer and more connected communities. The focus of this
year’s campaign is encouraging people to take their Christmas cheer
one step further and involve someone new, or to reconnect with an
old friend, or family member they haven't seen for some time in their
festive plans.
In addition to this, pub customers, charities, community groups and
volunteers are being asked to do small acts of kindness throughout
December by taking someone along as a ‘Plus One’ to their local pub
for a chat, a drink, some food or to a community event.
This initiative is also being supported by Pub is The Hub – a not for
profit organisation helping pubs to broaden their range of services and
play a bigger role in their community.
Return of Brewing Good Cheer
In the new year we’ll bring back our Brewing Good Cheer initiative, and
will invite people from local charities and good causes, to bring a ‘plus
one’ for a drink or lunch on the house, in one of our pubs.
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Social isolation is not something that just affects people at Christmas
time, and so we look forward to continuing to work with the Together
Coalition, Pub is the Hub and with local good causes in the new year to
bring Brewing Good Cheer to life for a sixth year running.
The pub is a positive place for social wellbeing
Following numerous lockdowns and restrictions, the pubs has shown
itself to be crucial in bringing back normal life for communities. People
are going back to their local, and it’s proving to be integral in tackling
the issue of loneliness and social isolation.
The pub is no longer just about drinking, it’s a social centre and a
positive force for good.
Last year, we carried out research with the Campaign to End Loneliness,
Pub is the Hub and Loughborough University to find out if and how
pubs help to tackle loneliness.
The research confirmed that pubs are identified as places with an
important social function in providing a space for different forms and
levels of social interaction.
• 64% of people asked said their pub was one of the main places for
locals to socialise.
• 86% of people agreed that ‘When a pub closes the local community
suffers’.
They said that conversations in pubs, between regulars or with
members of staff, helps people feel less lonely, even if it is just a
short chat.
11

What’s Brewing in
Sustainability?
Our Brew A Better World strategy will shape our sustainability agenda and the future of our business. The
commitments we’ve made and the actions we’re taking were brought to the forefront during our Sustainability
Town Hall in November.
In a first of its kind event, the Sustainability Town Hall showcased
how HEINEKEN is delivering on its Brew A Better World (BABW)
commitments. Interviews and films explored the key actions planned
to reach net zero emissions in production by 2030 and to be carbon
neutral across the value chain by 2040.
James Crampton, Corporate Affairs Director, and host of the session,
opened the Town Hall by saying how inspiring the COP26 Summit
in Glasgow had been, putting HEINEKEN at the centre of the global
debate.
With Sir David Attenborough calling for urgent action now, James said:
“I want you to feel proud of the commitments HEINEKEN has made
and understand more about some of those actions we’re taking. Our
net zero journey is at the heart of our EverGreen strategy. It’s a decade
since we introduced BABW, so we’ve raised the bar with commitments
as far as 2040 to transform the way we operate.”.
Matt Callan, Supply Chain Director, who co-hosted the event, added:
“The majority of our impact lies outside our immediate sphere of
control, and so working together with suppliers, customers and other
partner businesses is key and arguably the hardest challenge. Everyone
has a role to play.”
Our BABW journey
Over the past decade, our BABW strategy has had a profound
influence on our business. It's driven us to innovate and collaborate
to protect the environment, support local communities and make a
positive contribution to society.
First launched in 2009, the strategy focused on the areas where we as
a business could make the biggest impact.
Fast forward to 2021, our world is in a much different place, facing
even more pressing challenges. Challenges which require immediate
action from each and every one of us.
In response, earlier this year, we launched our 2030 Brew a Better
World programme – a new set of ambitious commitments which will
enable faster progress towards a net zero, fairer and healthier world.
Chelsey Wroe, Head of Sustainability, and speaker at the event, said:
"Our new commitments – woven into our EverGreen strategy – put
sustainability and responsibility front and centre as we write our next
chapter and transform the way we operate.
Over the next few pages, we go Behind the Brew on a number of topics
that were discussed at the Sustainability Townhall – from low carbon
farming to greener breweries and from electrifying our car fleet to
greener pubs."
If you missed the Sustainability Townhall, you can catch up
here, to gain a better understanding of why businesses, like
ours, need to act now when it comes to sustainability.
12

13

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Together in
Electric Dreams
Ahead of the Government’s 2030 net-zero commitment to end the sale of new petrol or diesel cars, we’ve
committed to making our entire company car fleet electric by 2026. We caught up with Aileen Newall, Head of
Reward, and Paul Anderson, Procurement Category Specialist, to explore the future of our fleet.
Aileen Newall
Head of Reward
Paul Anderson
Procurement Category Specialist
Planning for the future
In early 2021 our company fleet was almost entirely diesel or petrol
vehicles, some hybrid, but no fully electric vehicles. This was definitely
not supporting our sustainability credentials as a business.
After the introduction of new worldwide emission testing procedures
in April 2020, official CO 2
emissions figures generally increased, which
had a direct impact on the car tax our company car drivers were having
to pay, leaving them financially worse off.
Moving to all electric
With a large number of car lease replacements due, we realised if we
didn’t act now, we’d be managing a non-eco-friendly fossil fuel fleet for
another full lease cycle, which is at least four years.
The solution was to offer only electric vehicles (EVs) or plug-in hybrid
options from 2023 and in 2024 remove the option to order hybrid. It
will be a gradual transition with no immediate pressure on colleagues
to change and, as ever, we’re putting their business and safety needs
first.
The benefits to colleagues and the planet are clear
We’re proud to be supporting the sustainability credentials of the
company and helping colleagues make the shift to electric before the
Government ban comes into effect.
In the first year we estimate we’ll save up to 625 tonnes of CO 2
.
And for colleagues, we’ll be reducing their costs. For example, at the
moment a 20% taxpayer can be paying over £160 per month for a
diesel car and £150 for a petrol car. This cost is double for drivers who
are paying a higher rate of tax. The monthly tax for a fully electric
car is typically under £6 for a 20% taxpayer or £12 for a higher rate
taxpayer.
Our move to a fully electric fleet not only generates great benefits for
colleagues, HEINEKEN and the environment, it also future-proofs our
company car strategy and champions responsible choices.
We’ve done our research and our electric fleet meets the needs
of colleagues
Historically the most popular brands have been Audi and BMW,
however neither have suitable EVs – as an example the BMW i3 is too
small for our drivers and, at the time of the research, the Audi e-tron
was too expensive.
Therefore, we researched a number of other electric cars on the
market. They needed to have a range of at least 200 miles, good
safety features and to be the right size for colleagues to do their work,
while also suiting any lifestyle requirements outside of work.
The ones which met all these criteria were VW, Peugeot, and Skoda.
We’ve also added in some Hyundai models.
Changing our mind-set
We know cars can be an important part of people’s identity. We know
change can be challenging. However, we’re offering interest-free loans
to fund the purchase and installation of home charging units and you
can still take advantage of local authority grants or funding. This is a
great chance to get on board with EVs before the nationwide deadline.
See you in the future!
Our electric fleet
The VW ID.3 is about the same size as
a Golf but feels more spacious inside
as there’s no engine taking up room.
It comfortably seats four adults and
for those who don’t want a big car,
this is perfect for squeezing into tight
parking spots in town, with excellent
navigation and safety features. The
car has a futuristic feel about it.
Next up in size is the Peugeot e-208, a
compact SUV with a large boot, and
all the latest gadgets, including a
state-of-the-art audio system. Great
navigation system, smooth drive and
all the safety features you’d expect.
Finally, the Skoda Enyaq iV is the
biggest car with the largest battery.
It’s a great-looking car, inside and out.
It’s refined and has the same high
specification as any Audi or BMW.
The Skoda brand is now sought after
and the Enyaq is the most popular
choice in our fleet. Style personified,
this Electric Dream car comes in a
glorious range of colours.
15

No Barley, No Beer!
Barley is one of the key ingredients in beer and tto ensure we meet our bold commitment of a carbon neutral
value chain by 2040, we need to find a more sustainable way to grow it. To cut our carbon emissions we’re
running an innovative low carbon farming trial in Yorkshire. Our partners in the trial are malt supplier Muntons,
11 barley farmers and Future Food Solutions. Steve Cann, Director of Future Food Solutions, tells us more.
Drop the C
About 40% of the carbon footprint in HEINEKEN’s beer is at the
agricultural end of production and nitrogen is a major part of that
footprint. So, one of the main aims of sustainable farming is to reduce
the amount of nitrogen that farmers use and to harness CO 2
more
efficiently.
Pop-up rainforests
Cover crops act like pop-up rainforests, drawing CO 2
out of the
atmosphere, ensuring the soil becomes nutrient-rich, whilst also
increasing organic matter in the soil.
All good things happen in Yorkshire!
It’s also a fact that Yorkshire is historically a great place to grow barley.
The weather conditions mean the area is less prone to drought and
with many of the farms we work with close to Muntons Malting Plant
at Flamborough, and the Tadcaster brewery also close by, we’re using
less transport in the whole process – another win for sustainability.
Better crops and better margins
Better soil health means better crops and better margins for our
farmers.
HEINEKEN also benefits from a more sustainable, more resilient
supply of barley that will help the business meet its ambition to hit
carbon neutrality through its entire value chain by 2040.
Perhaps most importantly, the consumer enjoys a tasty, refreshing
beer in the knowledge that it has had a significantly reduced impact
on the environment.
Cover crops are a variety of plant types, like radishes, clovers and
grasses. They’re not for harvesting – but keeping a growing root in the
ground between harvests improves the soil health.
This, in turn, means the farmers have to add less nitrogen to the soil
which reduces the overall carbon footprint. Every 1% increase in soil
organic matter allows each hectare of land to absorb an additional
240 tonnes of water, helping the soil to act like a sponge, avoiding
drought and also preventing flooding in the area.
This saves the farmer money, reducing the amount of nitrogen that
needs to be added to the barley crop and makes the crop more
resilient to drought.
It really is a win for everyone.
A Farmer’s Viewpoint:
Tamara Hall from Molescroft Farm in Beverley, East Yorkshire,
said:
“This collaboration has been a big risk, but one we had to take
as it’s essential to change the way we farm going forward. The
cost of nitrogen and loss of carbon over the years means we
need to be more sustainable and working with HEINEKEN
has helped us by covering the cost of the cover crop seed.
Additionally, the capture of carbon from the atmosphere and
locking it into the soil has made a positive difference already.”
16

"Better soil health means better crops and
better margins for our farmers.
HEINEKEN also benefits from a more
sustainable, more resilient supply of barley
that will help the business meet its ambition
to hit carbon neutrality through its entire
value chain by 2040."
17

18

Green Energy in
Our Breweries
Andy McKnight, Principal Project Manager, at Manchester brewery, tells us about our journey to
achieve carbon neutrality in Manchester by 2025, with the other breweries following by 2030.
Andy McKnight
Principal Project Manager
Green energy is the future
Currently, all our sites use a mix of electricity or natural gas creating a
carbon footprint. We’re trying to achieve carbon neutrality across all
our breweries starting with Manchester, eventually running on green
energy and therefore reaching net zero emissions.
Electricity
The National Grid is decarbonising all the time and using more
electricity from renewable sources, such as solar and wind. We’re
looking to support this decarbonising by investing in technology so
that in the future we’ll generate our own green electricity.
Manchester 2022/23
We’ll start installing this new energy efficient system in Manchester
next year, with the heat pumps in operation from 2023. That takes
us part of the way to carbon neutrality, but not to zero. Electricity is
about one-third, heat pumps another third, with the final third still left
to solve.
Natural gas
De-carbonising natural gas is harder to achieve. At our breweries we use
massive gas boilers to make steam to heat up the wort to make beer.
We also use steam in our cleaning processes and for pasteurisation.
We’re replacing these boilers with heat pumps which use less natural
gas to generate heat.
Biogas
To solve the final third, one of the solutions we’re looking at is how we
reuse the biogas generated through our wastewater treatment plant.
At the moment it goes to an effluent plant where there’s an anaerobic
digester, that during the process of treating our wastewater, produces
biogas or methane. We may be able to put this gas back into the
boilers to produce steam.
This process will take us almost the whole way, to above 95%, with a
few final steps required to get us up to 100%.
Cooling
The cooling systems we have on site work in the same way as your
home fridge. To cool their contents they create waste energy that
comes out as heat. At the moment this heat goes straight out into
the atmosphere, so we’re going to recover it and put it through a heat
pump to generate the hot water and steam we need. Clouds of steam
coming out of a brewery will be a thing of the past!
19

The Sustainable Pub
Of The Future
Chris Sladen, head of Property, Star Pubs & Bars, talks about the roadmap for making all pubs
in our estate sustainable by 2030.
Investing in a sustainable future for our pubs
We’ve teamed up with sustainability consultants, Carbon Architecture,
to establish where our carbon footprint is now and to plan a roadmap
for the future.
Last year, we ran a pilot in six Just Add Talent (JAT) managed pubs
to see how energy efficient measures affected their carbon footprint,
water usage and energy efficiency. Unfortunately, due to COVID we
were unable to capture this data, so had to turn to industry estimates
instead. This provided us with the confidence that the measures were
working and so we've now rolled out the measures to a further 30
JAT pubs.
To date, we’ve invested £450,000 in JAT pubs as part of this energy
saving project, which amounts to £15,000 per pub.
Our sustainability checklist
As part of our journey to make all pubs in our estate sustainable
by 2030 we’ve created a checklist of measures to be introduced
where possible:
• Solar Panels: we now have solar water heating at 23 sites.
• Cellar Manager and Fridge Manager: apps that monitor the
temperature and switch on and off as necessary.
• Loft Insulation.
• Movement activated and LED low energy lighting.
• Right-sizing of all cellars: installing plastic curtains to bring large
cellars down to the right size. In the past, cellars and fridges were
sometimes in the same space, by dividing the space, we make big
savings.
• Self-closing taps to save water.
• Movement activated flushing in urinals to save water.
• New windows that are airtight to reduce heat loss and save energy.
Along with Carbon Architecture we’re also looking at how to change
old habits, such as leaving cellar doors open or switching on the hobs
to heat a cold kitchen when staff arrive in the morning.
Emerging technologies to help us
New legislation is being consulted on at the moment which proposes
that by 2027 pubs will not be able to trade unless their EPC (energy
performance certificate) is at Level C. By 2030 we’re expected to be at
Level B or beyond. The JAT pilot has projected that we can achieve the
2027 deadline, but we’ll need to use emerging new technologies to
help us reach the 2030 target.
First electric kitchen
We’ll be rolling out our first electric kitchen over the coming months.
We’ll monitor how much energy it uses and how this will work when
we have electric vehicle charging stations outside. Chefs traditionally
love to cook on gas – so we need to understand what this will mean
for future training of staff – exploring how to change mindsets and old
patterns of behaviour.
As well as the investment we’re making to our pub infrastructure,
we now have SmartDispense in over half of our Star Pubs & Bars
outlets. Emma Newberry, B2B & Quality Manager, tells us about
how our innovative draught dispense solution is helping pubs
pour greener pints.
HEINEKEN overhauled every aspect of the traditional dispense
system to create SmartDispense, an energy-efficient smart
technology which keeps the beer chilled and away from light all
the way from the keg to the tap, meaning it stays fresher for
longer and that the time between line cleans can be extended.
This means a reduction of up to 83% of beer, cider, water and
dispense CO 2
waste, which is better for our planet, without
compromising on the great taste of your favourite pint. To date,
SmartDispense technology has allowed pubs to save over 110m
pints of water (or over 347,000 bathtubs!) and over 396 tonnes
of CO 2
.
Pubs Sustainability Cabinet
Chris and Sophie Goodall, Head of Corporate Affairs for
Star Pubs & Bars, are chairing a Pubs Sustainability Cabinet,
which includes 10 other colleagues. Their first meeting was
in November and Behind the Brew will be following their
findings and initiatives over the coming months – so watch
this space.
20

"To date, we’ve invested £450,000 in JAT
pubs as part of this energy saving project,
which amounts to £15,000 per pub."
quote here
21

22

Get a
Green Grip
Steve Waygood, Head of Quality and Product Design, explains how the cardboard
Green Grip became a reality, replacing plastic hi-cones and meeting our target to
remove customer-facing plastic.
Stephen Waygood
Head of Quality and Product Design
Aim to remain as carbon neutral as possible
Finding a sustainable replacement for plastic hi-cone rings has been
an exciting and fast paced project to work on. Tesco, one of our biggest
customers, had an ambition of having no customer-facing plastic by
early 2020 – which drove our timeline faster.
We went with the innovative, minimalist design of Green Grip rather
than the easier option of conventional packaging, such as cardboard
boxes, to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible. It’s no good
finding an alternative to plastic that actually adds to our carbon
footprint.
Hitting our targets
In the breweries, we’ve phased out four plastic ring machines and have
just one left to go. In Tadcaster, we’ve installed a sleever as an interim
measure, but will remove this and install Green Grip in 2022.
Our overall target is to eliminate 500 tonnes of plastic from the market
through the introduction of the Green Grip. To date, through installing
the three Green Grip machines and the sleever we’ve dispensed with 50
million plastic rings, and we’ve done away with 100 tonnes of plastic.
COVID didn’t stop us
Kudos to everyone involved – from suppliers to engineers – for getting
this done. We collaborated with production teams across the UK, the
Innovation team in the Netherlands, cardboard suppliers in Spain and
machine suppliers in Italy. When COVID hit and international travel
was restricted, this meant a lot of the work had to be done remotely.
This made getting the machines manufactured, signed off, imported,
installed, and commissioned very complicated – but we didn’t let that
stop us!
Plastic’s durability is one of its better attributes, and so replacing it
with cardboard that is not as strong, has resulted in some instances
where the packs have broken in store, in part due to the different
handling requirements compared to the plastic rings. And so we’re
currently looking at how we can enhance the design of the Green Grip
to maximise its strength and minimise any damaged in store
Bringing customers & consumers on the journey
We’re closely monitoring how Green Grip performs in trade – we
appreciate that it’s quite a shift for our customers. The old plastic rings
were very robust, so we need to ensure we’re bringing our customers
with us on our sustainability journey, providing them with engaging
communications which detail the environmental benefits.
From a consumer point of view, I’m pleased to say that our sales reflect
consumers’ willingness to change their habits for a greener alternative.
Steve says: Thanks, Grazie, Gracias, Danke…
The delivery has required a lot of trust between the production teams, global production and international suppliers, and has required the
involvement of teams from across HEINEKEN UK. I thank them all.
23

COP26 in pictures
We joined NGOs, climate diplomats, government officials and like-minded companies at COP26
in Glasgow last month to discuss, learn and commit to tackling climate change.
At a number of events we outlined our commitment to reaching net
zero carbon emissions in our production by 2030 and across our full
value chain by 2040 – ahead of expectations set out in the Paris
agreement. This included co-hosting the Frontrunners Dinner together
with the Netherlands British Chambers of Commerce. Held at one
of our amazing Star Pubs & Bars, The Ardnamurchan, 50 business
leaders, including CEOs and Sustainability leads, gathered to discuss
the challenges and possible solutions businesses can offer to halt the
climate emergency.
We also sponsored the Holyrood Green Giant awards in the presence of
the Business Minister, Ivan McKee MSP. The awards recognised some
of Scotland’s most notable environmental campaigners, businesses
and academics.
As well as attending the Net Zero Now COP26 fringe event, which
brought together brewers and hospitality businesses to learn more
about the journey to net zero and the actions that we can and should
already be taking.
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25

Finding a Better Way to
Onboard SmartDispense
Customers
Powered by
Technology
26

Kelly Borland
Digital B2B Product Owner
Kelly Borland, Digital B2B Product Owner, describes how experts from two teams came
together to include SmartDispense on our onboarding tool for new customers.
An automated solution to help our sales teams
The onboarding tool is an online solution that allows our sales teams
to onboard new customers seamlessly. This automated tool creates a
clear process and captures all the information needed in one place. It
increases transparency for everyone involved.
Turning a vision into reality
Simon Thomas and his team were not only subject matter experts,
they also had a clear vision of what they wanted: to make selling and
onboarding customers to SmartDispense simple and efficient.
Our skill lies in turning this into a reality, it takes hard work and time
to understand the detail of the challenges. It also takes a lot of trust
from both teams to step back and let them focus on the areas in which
they excel. A perfect example of how cross functional collaboration
has worked to automate processes for our teams.
Great feedback
We’ve had over 400 SmartDispense applications submitted via the
tool so far. A recent survey highlighted that 87% of the sales team
believed that the onboarding tool made it easier for them to complete
a SmartDispense application. In addition, 86% of the sales team
also said that the onboarding tool will improve the experience for our
customers.
It’s a win:win
The tool saves time, increases efficiency, and reduces the risk of errors,
as well as significantly improving the customer experience. It improves
the accuracy of data, meaning that the process is more streamlined
thereby enabling the sales team to have more time for conversations
with their customers.
Bringing SmartDispense on board
As a Product Owner, I’m approached on a regular basis with suggestions
to improve the tool. It’s my responsibility to manage and optimise all
of these requests to maximise the tools value. When approached by
the SmartDispense team to add it as an option on the tool, it was an
easy decision to make.
Organisational Effectiveness and teamwork
A big focus within On Trade at the moment is Organisational
Effectiveness. The 2021 Climate Survey Results showed areas
needing more focus, including giving colleagues the skills to do their
job effectively, more effective collaboration across departments and
clearer communication.
The onboarding tool is a good example of how two different teams
worked together to achieve organisational effectiveness, by changing
what was a clunky process and delivering an automated solution. The
SmartDispense team were fantastic to work with and we will continue
to work together to add to this ever-evolving tool in 2022.
Word is spreading
We're always looking for feedback on the onboarding tool to improve
its performance and efficiency. Now news is travelling about the
success of the addition of SmartDispense to the tool, we’re getting
approached. We’d encourage other teams looking for help in setting
up digital projects to come and see us!
“The onboarding tool has freed up a huge amount of time for
the sales teams. They no longer have to duplicate the input
of the same data manually into multiple forms. This has
improved the quality and consistency of the outputs for the
contracting team and also improved the customer experience,
making it easier for them to sell.”
Simon Thomas, SmartDispense Director
“Quicker, as only having to input details in once.”
Simon Ptolomey, SmartDispense Specialist
“Timescales, less paperwork, all info being in the same place,
ease of use.”
James Horrocks, Regional Sales Manager
27

Have a
Drink on Us
Christmas is always a key trading period for us and it’s important our brands are
prominent during this time to win the battle for market share. Henry Stremes, Trade
Marketing Controller for On Trade, highlights our Christmas activations for 2021.
Henry Stremes
Trade Marketing Controller
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“We’re encouraging consumers to visit their local great British pub over
the festive period to enjoy an evening with friends, whilst rewarding
the driver for getting them home safe at the end of the night. ”
Supporting our customers during this busy time
There’s no denying that it’s been a challenging year for pubs with
lockdown at the beginning of 2021 and various supply issues
throughout the year. So, to help them get the most out of the festive
period we’re supporting them with initiatives to help drive more people
to the pub, whilst complementing their in-outlet experience and
spreading some Christmas Cheer!
Also, in Young’s outlets we’ll be offering Birra Moretti blankets to
consumers when taking advantage of outdoor areas. There will also
be competitions to win free Birra Moretti gilets. In addition, a range of
goodies will also be on offer to help keep pub staff happy and warm
when serving outdoor drinkers over the colder months.
Designated Driver? Have a drink on us!
Our key campaign for the season revolves around the hero in any
group, the ‘Designated Driver’. Drivers can get a free Heineken 0.0 or
Coke Zero throughout December across the on trade and in Star Pubs
& Bars outlets.
Keeping it social
Working with Lisini Group, we’ll be running a digital campaign that
targets new consumers, offering them a free pint when they visit a
participating pub. To maximise this campaign, we’ve provided each
pub with a suite of social assets that they can use to promote the offer
across their social media platforms.
Get Home Safe
We’re also supporting St Austell Brewery’s ‘Get Home Safe’ campaign,
in collaboration with Devon and Cornwall police. Vouchers for a free
Lo & No or soft drink will be given to drinkers of Heineken 0.0 and Old
Mout Berries & Cherries alcohol-free cider, alongside Coca-Cola.
We’re encouraging consumers to visit their local great British pub over
the festive period to enjoy an evening with friends, whilst rewarding
the driver for getting them home safe at the end of the night.
Baby, it’s cosy outside
Helping customers make the most of their outside space is important.
At Mitchells & Butlers, we’re helping achieve this with the addition of
Old Mout winter huts over the colder months. It’s hoped this set up
will help them drive additional revenue during a critical trading time.
In Young’s, Marston’s, Greene King, Trust Inns and SSP outlets, we’re
extending the cider season and creating a buzz in the category
through our Orchard Thieves Mulled Cider campaign.
Digital advent calendar
With a focus on getting more people through the door and spending
longer in pubs, Birra Moretti - in collaboration with the Stonegate Group
and some other suppliers – have created a digital advent calendar.
Celebrating the countdown to Christmas, the advent calendar will
offer a host of branded prizes for consumers throughout December.
It’s a team effort
I’d like to thank my team for delivering these great ideas. We’re helping
our customers drive people back to the pub, encouraging them to stay
longer and spend more, and to make the most of any outside space.
It’s all about creating a special festive ambience and experience which
will get people off their sofas and into the local for a happy and safe
Christmas.
29

From left to right:
Hitting the
Headlines
Joanna
Dring
Head of Media
In her regular feature, Joanna Dring, Head of Media, explains the challenges
and messaging behind the headlines.
Getting the press interested
The first rule of generating media coverage is ‘is the story interesting
to the audience?’ And for ‘interesting’, read unique, a first, human
interest, timely… Because if a story doesn’t have the wow factor, it’s
unlikely a journalist will want to run with the news.
That’s why for any press release or PR campaign we run, we need to
find that X Factor point to the story.
And this month has seen all those things come together perfectly with
the launch of our category leadership campaign in Lo & No alcohol.
Finding our X Factor moment
From the start, our objective was to be seen as leaders in this rapidly
expanding category. There are numerous articles and broadcast
packages about the rise of Lo & No, and to date, a company hasn’t
‘owned’ the messaging. So yes, we were often mentioned, but so are
Brewdog, Lucky Saint, ABI and Carlsberg.
We wanted to do something about this! We’ve the most popular alcohol
free beer in our portfolio so it’s right that we lead that conversation.
But where to start?! There are so many aspects of Lo & No to talk
about - the technicalities and expertise needed in brewing it, the taste,
the psychology of drinking it in pubs and the stigma which sadly still
exists, the health benefits… the list is endless!
So we needed to find that ‘X Factor’ moment to really get the press
interested.
Step forward Heineken 0.0 on draught. Following a successful trial in
the summer it will be available in pubs across the country from next
year. This will be the first time that an alcohol free beer will sit alongside
other beers on the bar and utilise a pub’s existing cellar set up.
30

Celebrities Assemble
So, we had our story. However, it’s all very well us telling journalists how
great our products/campaigns/innovations are, what’s more powerful
is when it’s told through experts and celebrities who their readers or
viewers are interested in.
We brought together a crack team of celebrities, all of whom have a
point of view on Lo & No alcohol. From Denise Van Outen who loves
going to the pub but doesn’t always want the alcohol because of her
busy filming schedule, to Mark Wright who is fanatical about his fitness
so wants to balance a night out with the lads with an early morning
gym session, to the musician Lucy Spraggan who doesn’t drink at all
and gets frustrated at the lack of choice for non-drinkers in pubs.
We also had experts including Marverine Cole, a beer sommelier, Laura
Willoughby MBE, the founder of the mindful drinking movement Club
Soda, and Will Higham, a consumer futurologist who likened the
launch of alcohol free on draught in pubs to be as big as the advent
of gastro pubs in the nineties. And last but in no means least was our
global master brewer himself - Willem Van Waesberghe.
A unique, interesting, exciting, game-changing news hook
Leading with the news that the UK’s most popular alcohol free beer
will be available on draught, coupled with experts and celebrities who
can give their view on this and appeal to media, has given us a story
with a unique, interesting, exciting, game-changing news hook.
Exclusive with the Sunday Times
It was a courageous and bold move for us here in the UK to make the
announcement, and it was worthy of a significant exclusive, which we
landed with the Sunday Times in print and online.
Spreading the story far and wide
Once the exclusive was published on 21st November we turned our
attention to spreading the story as far and wide as possible. We’ve
already secured [eight] pieces of national coverage and I’m quite sure
that by the time you read this, there will be much more – delving into
the different aspect of Lo & No alcohol.
And this is just the beginning. We’ll continue to push our Lo & No
category leadership message for the foreseeable future. Whether
that’s around talking points such as how to moderate over the
Christmas party season or how Dry January is evolving.
31

COMPETITOR NEWS
We want to stay ahead of our competitors and the best way to do this is to know what they’re up to! So,
what’s the latest with them?
The UK’s brewing sector launched a roadmap to net zero carbon
ahead of COP26, which took place in Glasgow in November. This
latest pledge, created specifically for brewers, will be distinct in
recognising the unique challenges of brewing as a key part of UK
food and drink manufacturing. See page [x] to see how we were
involved at COP26.
BrewDog has launched its first international joint venture in
Japan, with Punk IPA, Hazy Jane and Elvis Juice beers being rolled
out across the country via a partnership with Asahi Breweries. The
Ellon-based business will retain a controlling interest in BrewDog
Japan, but it will operate as a standalone entity, with its own sales,
marketing and back-office teams.
Tennent’s Brewery has launched a multi-channel advertising
campaign to underline the importance of sustainable brewing
practices. The campaign hopes to show why quality, local
brewing is a sustainable option for drinkers and will highlight the
sustainable processes undertaken by the brewer; including using
100% renewable electricity at Wellpark and other sites across
Scotland, only brewing with local barley and reducing the distance
from brewery to bar.
Guinness has launched a new, single nitrogen dispense solution,
Guinness MicroDraught. Previously rolled out across pubs,
restaurants and bars earlier this year, drinkers will have the chance
for the first time to buy the dispense solution for use at home. Two
years in the making, Diageo claims that the latest launch is the
biggest innovation since the invention of the Guinness widget 30
years ago.
32

With a view to creating the first green hydrogen supply to a brewery,
Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I and Protium have teamed up to
explore the deployment of zero emission green hydrogen at Magor
brewery in South Wales. Bolstering Budweiser Brewing Group’s
ambitious sustainability objectives, the project would build the first
large-scale hydrogen generation system at a brewery. The hydrogen
will fuel the brewery’s production, as well as HGVs and forklift trucks
that deliver their beer.
Planning permission for Innis & Gunn’s brewery at Heriot-Watt
University’s Research Park has officially been granted by The City of
Edinburgh Council, the first major brewery to be built in Edinburgh
for over 150 years. The new facility, spanning a two hectare site,
will be built to provide increased brewing capacity and support the
brewer‘s growth. Guided tours will be on offer for visitors at the new
site, where Innis & Gunn’s The Original, Lager Beer and Session IPA,
as well as other cask-matured beers will be brewed.
Asda has partnered with a specialist craft beer and cider retailer,
Craft on Draft, to be the first supermarket to offer a refillable
beer service to customers at its trial store in Milton Keynes. The
supermarket will offer a changing menu of 12 beers on draught,
which are freshly pumped by staff into 1L or 2L glass bottles that
can be brought back to the store to be refilled or returned to get
the deposit back.
Diageo has extended its partnership with Molson Coors Beverage
Company, which will allow Diageo’s beer portfolio to be distributed
in most Central and Eastern European markets as of January. For
Diageo, the partnership will help its key brands such as Guinness,
Kilkenny and Hop House 13 grow further through the strong on
trade and off trade distribution channels Molson Coors has via its
companies in the local beer markets.
Gordon’s Gin, owned by Diageo, has revealed a new bottle design,
made from up to 85% recycled glass, which is being rolled out
globally. Made at Cameronbridge distillery in Fife, which is 100%
powered by renewable electricity, the newly designed range is
an important step in Diageo’s aim to make its packaging widely
recyclable by 2030.
Pub news
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the retail, hospitality
and leisure sectors would be able to claim a 50% discount on
their bills up to £110,000 for a year. The tax cut worth £1.7bn
would benefit pubs, music venues, cinemas, restaurants.
Taken in conjunction with the existing small business relief,
more than 90% of hospitality, retail and leisure businesses
would see a discount of “at least 50%”.
Vaccine passports will not be extended to further Scottish
hospitality venues, announced the First Minister in a
statement to MSPs in Holyrood in November. Customers
will be allowed to present negative lateral flow tests rather
than proof of two jabs to enter venues already covered by
the scheme, including nightclubs and concerts from 6th
December. Nicole Sturgeon said an extension of the scheme
to other hospitality businesses would “not be proportionate”
given its impact on business.
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