17th September 2020: AB InBev, the world’s leading brewer, is adding smart drinking messages to its beers in Europe, including Stella Artois, Leffe, Corona, Jupiler, Hertog Jan, Beck’s and Budweiser, as part of its Global Smart Drinking Goals.
The actionable smart drinking messages appearing on beer labels across Europe have been developed in conjunction with public health researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and include different warning messages against drinking and driving, underage drinking, moderate drinking and consuming alcohol when pregnant or breastfeeding amongst others.
This information builds on detailed nutritional and ingredient information that AB InBev has rolled out across all of its beers since 2015, as part of a voluntary commitment within the beer sector(1), so that beer fans can make informed choices.
Cybelle Buyck, Vice President of Legal & Corporate Affairs for Europe at AB InBev said: “As the world’s leading brewer we take our responsibilities seriously. We want every experience with beer to be a positive one and we believe that the more consumers know about what’s in their beers and how to drink responsibly, they can make better informed choices. We began this work in 2015 by adding ingredients and nutrition information to our labels. Now we’re adding actionable messages, as part of the WHO and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to reduce harmful drinking by 10% by 2025 – a goal that we are committed to working with our partners to achieve.”
This year’s Global Be(er) Responsible Day – 18th September 2020 – sees the brewer’s 170,000 employees around the world take part in activities to champion smart drinking in their communities, including raising awareness of alcohol health literacy, changing social norms and promoting alcohol-free brands like Stella Artois Alcohol-Free, Beck’s Blue, Budweiser Zero, and Jupiler 0.0.
Cybelle Buyck continued: “This Global Be(er) Responsible Day looks quite different to previous years, where our teams were out in communities championing smart drinking. This year we’ll be doubling down on these efforts virtually – encouraging a culture of responsibility among our customers and consumers and promoting our amazing no-and-low alcohol beers. Our beers offer an unrivalled opportunity to connect with consumers: which is why we’re proud that whenever someone picks up a beer, they will see our smart drinking messages.”
AB InBev’s Global Smart Drinking Goals
GOAL 1: Multi Year Pilots Reduce the harmful use of alcohol by at least 10% in six cities* by the end of 2020. Implement the best practices globally by the end of 2025. (*Leuven in Belgium is one of the cities in this pilot)
GOAL 2: Social Norms Invest $1 billion USD across our markets in dedicated social marketing campaigns and related programs by the end of 2025.
GOAL 3: Product Portfolio Ensure No- or Lower- Alcohol beer products represent at least 20% of AB InBev’s global beer volume by the end of 2025.
GOAL 4: Alcohol Health Literacy Place a Guidance Label on all of our beer products in all of our markets by the end of 2020. Increase alcohol health literacy by the end of 2025.
ENDS
For more information please contact:
Louise Fernley, Communications Director for Europe, AB InBev
Louise.fernley@ab-inbev.com / +44(0)7961406684
About AB InBev
Anheuser-Busch InBev is the world’s leading brewer and is a publicly traded company based in Leuven, Belgium. Our Dream is to bring people together for a better world. We are committed to brewing the best beers using the finest natural ingredients and to be enjoyed in a responsible manner. From our European roots at the Den Hoorn brewery in Leuven, Belgium, we are now a geographically diversified brewery with a balanced exposure to developed and developing markets, we leverage the collective strengths of approximately 175,000 employees, including 12,000 in Europe. We have offices and breweries in 18 EU Member States and our Global Innovation Centre is also based in Leuven, Belgium. Follow us on Twitter at @ABInBev_EU
For more information about Anheuser-Busch InBev, please visit www.ab-inbev.com
