Some of the world’s largest producers of alcohol have welcomed a new report that has claimed they have stepped up their commitment to contribute to a global reduction in alcohol-related harm by 10%.
A total of 12 companies signed up to the Producers’ Commitments – a ground-breaking agreement for the alcohol industry to collaborate in 2012. They include Anheuser-Busch and SABMiller, Pernod Ricard, Carlsberg, Heineken and Molson Coors.
The agreement sets out how each of the manufacturers will seek to make improvements in reducing underage drinking and enforcing legal ages of consumption, strengthening and expanding marketing codes of practice, providing greater information to consumers and working towards responsible product development, plus working to reduce the problem of drink driving and encouraging retail partners to support its effort to limit harmful drinking.
Ivan Menezes, chief executive of Diageo, one of the dozen companies to sign up to the commitments, said: “I am proud of Diageo’s significant contribution towards the industry’s overall progress in reducing the harmful use of alcohol, particularly our work to prevent underage drinking and ensure the next generation has a positive relationship with alcohol. We are three years into the most ambitious initiative our industry has ever collectively undertaken to address harmful drinking and, while we have made good progress, there is still more work to be done.”
There was particularly positive news with respect to limiting the problem of underage drinking.
The third annual report found that, collectively, the 12 signatories implemented more than 250 initiatives in 2015 aimed at educating underage consumers about the importance of responsible drinking – a 49% increase on the previous year. These programmes directly engaged nearly 30 million unique adult influencers such as parents, teachers, and community leaders on the importance of respecting legal age limits on buying alcohol.
Over 192 million additional individuals were reached through education programmes, mass media and social media campaigns, the Producers’ Commitments Report said.
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