Innovation

The top leadership at the company was, according to Ms. Marotta, the main driver of the company’s decision to reevaluate their business practices. Starting over a decade ago at the onset of a new stage in the company’s progress, Kim and others were brought in to augment the Corporate Responsibility division. They were tasked with helping the existing leadership and the Board of Directors figure out what direction(s) the company should take in the wake of their newly merged business.

“When Molson Coors purchased MillerCoors, in 2016, we had a really great opportunity to develop a brand new, bolder strategy. We became one of the top, largest brewers in the world, so we wanted to take what we were doing as individual companies and make it even stronger, bigger, and better.” - Ms. Kim Marotta

“Where does Molson Coors have the greatest opportunity and greatest responsibility to act?” - Ms. Kim Marotta

Ms. Marotta and her team set out a game plan that sought a holistic approach towards Molson Coors’ Corporate Responsibility. They went to all of their internal stakeholders (heads of various divisions, employees, vendors, etc.) and asked each of them (a) what had the most impact on Molson Coors’ business and (b) where did they thought the company needed to be. For most task forces, the line of questioning would stop here. That was not the case for Kim and her team; these leaders took steps beyond to raise the bar and challenge the status quo. They then asked all of their internal stakeholders to ask their stakeholders the same questions. Even further, the conversation expanded to external stakeholders representing customers, investors and analysts, government and non-government organizations, supply networks, media, and more. This widened the circle of responses the task force received immensely and provided a more comprehensive perspective. This extensive, thoughtful process aided in directing the team’s inspiration and idea generation.

After obtaining such valuable data, Ms. Marotta and her team worked to synthesize and distill what they believed to be the most important initiatives the company should undertake in order to grow and prosper in the coming years. The team organized their new strategy into three categories: Responsibly Refreshing, Sustainability Brewing, Collectively Crafted. Each pillar of innovation focused on the diverse accepts of being an environmentally-friendly and sustainable firm.

Fundamentally, the new sustainability strategy set by Kim’s team is best reflected in their company “Beer Print”, which explicitly states Molson Coors’ dedication to responsible practices to all. The buck does not stop there. Molson Coors’ commitment to their Beer Print is the basis of their company culture, know as the “Brew House,” as well. Matchless, Molson Coors sincerely holds themselves accountable each and every day.

“We are people who champion our Beer Print, which is the imprint that we have on our community, environment, and planet in the long-term. Our Beer Print is directly reflected in our company Strategy, our Brewhouse. It’s about developing great people. It’s about fueling growth. It’s about working really well with and delighting customers. It’s about integrating into our brand.” - Ms. Kim Marotta

Inspiration

In 2004, when Kim Marotta joined the company, it operated under the name SABMiller and existed under different ownership. Ms. Marotta told us that, at that time, sustainability was just starting to weave its way into the company’s long-term goals, although at a much more moderate level. It was not until later that decade that the company’s focus on sustainability began to truly take off. Specifically, as of 2004, findings regarding climate change were not yet widely accepted. That did not restrict the company’s sense of responsibility, however. Patient with the times but also acting as agents of time, Molson Coors began to focus their own sustainability. Climate change began to gain traction and respect within international business communities later in that decade, reflected in Molson Coors’ focus on their sense of responsibility and sustainable, innovative goals.

As highlighted briefly in explaining the innovation, the company assessed its own short-term and long-term goals by running a survey among its stakeholders to see what they felt were the most significant issues to address. Sure enough, sustainability was at the top of the list, which initiated a desire to enact change in the way that Molson Coors operated their business. Additionally, the board of the company felt strongly about devoting more attention to making their business practices more sustainable. Partially driven by their own desires, and further reinforced by the prominence of the Paris Agreement, Molson Coors established their own goals for the next ten years. The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions reduction beginning in 2020. The agreement was drafted and agreed upon by 196 member nation states in December of 2015.

Following the establishment of the Paris Agreement, in 2016 the company became serious about its future goals and drafted a series of objectives. These goals tracked the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and focused on three important areas aligned with the company’s key priorities. These include “Responsibly Refreshing,” “Sustainability Brewing,” and “Collectively Crafted.”

Through the implementation of their three pillared innovation goals, Molson Coors has already made progress in terms attaining their targets for environmentally and socially responsible practices. This has inspired the company’s employees to buy into the execution of such goals. In fact, the company runs an employee engagement survey every two years to measure the areas that drive engagement within the business. The results speak for themselves. In 2013, 77% of employees believed that Molson Coors was an environmentally and socially responsible company. In 2015, that number rose to 81%, and as of 2017 the number reached 85%. What’s more, 41% of employees said the company’s sustainability practices were the driving force for coming to work at Molson Coors. According to Ms. Marotta, the implementation of these strategies has helped the company to retain, engage, and attract talent. It is no surprise that employees are responding positively to the company’s efforts to improve our environment and our society.

Molson Coors’ innovation was inspired by eclectic, equally important sources. Molson Coors’ inspiration speaks to their relentless sense of corporate responsibility.

“...the company is not only committed to brewing extraordinary beers, but also running a business focused on respect for its employees, communities and drinkers, which means corporate responsibility and accountability right from the start...” - Molson Coors

Overall impact

In 2017, Molson Coors launched 2025 sustainability goals which were inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, Molson Coors addresses “Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being” and “Goal 12: Responsible Production and Consumption.” As mentioned before, the company focused their goals on three main categories: Responsibly Refreshing, Sustainably Brewing, and Collectively Crafted. Molson Coors introduced these goals because they realize that they leave an imprint on our environment and our society every time one of their beers is picked up. Recognizing their impact and leading by example, Molson Coors champions eliminating as much negative impact and generating as much positive impact, as a result of their practices, as possible. Molson Coors refers to these residual effects as their “Beer Print.” They developed these 2025 goals to not only ensure that a positive imprint is left, but also demonstrate their commitment to responsibility, our environment, and our communities. Leading up to 2025, Molson Coors releases a report every year in order to track their progress and reflect on their achievements.

Through Molson Coors’ “Sustainably Brewing” initiatives, the company has already made a positive impact on the environment. All of Molson Coors’ beers are sustainably brewed from grain to glass. The 2025 goals aim to improve water-use efficiency, protect local water resources, reduce carbon emissions, and achieve zero waste to landfill. In doing so, Molson Coors hopes to optimize their brewing process and reduce their footprint. In 2018, Molson Coors positively impacted the environment in numerous ways.

For example, Molson Coors has reduced their water use and waste generated in the supply chain by improving water efficiencies in their breweries. Breweries in Trenton, Ohio and Fort Worth, Texas have achieved or are close to achieving a 2.8 water-to-beer ratio. As a result, these breweries have reduced water consumption by 22% and have achieved energy reductions of 30% and 19%, respectively. Across all breweries, they have achieved a 3.57 water-to-beer ratio.

Moreover, Molson Coors has worked to protect and enhance watersheds where their breweries are located, improve the quantity and quality of water in water-stressed and water-scarce regions, and improve access to high-quality water for local communities. In order to accomplish this, they created a WaterShed Risk Index Assessment process across, which identifies and manages their risks. As a result, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Tarrant Regional Water District and California Water Action Collaborative, they restored approximately 460 million gallons of water to watersheds in California, Texas, and Colorado. They also protected water quality in Europe by investing in anaerobic digesters and by managing flood risks through the construction of flood walls.

Beyond that, Molson Coors has reduced their carbon footprint by minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, expanded the use of on-site renewable energy, and developed a robust portfolio for off-site purchased renewable electricity. For instance, their brewery in Romania initiated renewable energy projects and is planning to plant 150,000 fir trees over next 3 years. Additionally, their brewery in California reduced energy consumption by more than 25% since 2008 through the implementation of a 10-acre solar photovoltaic array and its own energy-generating engines and turbines. Overall, in 2018, Molson Coors reduced absolute carbon emissions from their direct operations by 15% and achieved an absolute carbon emissions reduction of 6.2% in our value chain. They also achieved or sustained zero waste to landfill at 14 brewing and major manufacturing facilities.

Undeniably, through Molson Coors’ “Responsibly Refreshing” and “Collectively Crafted” initiatives, the company has began to make a positive impact on our society. Molson Coors aims to encourage responsible drinking by supporting alcohol education and safety programs, as well as by working with others in the industry. Furthermore, they give back to the community by volunteering and promoting diversity. In 2017, they created a Free Rides program to provide alternative transport options, such as taxis, trains, and ride apps to ensure safe rides home after drinking at baseball games. Since its launch, over 6.2 million people have used the program in 27 different communities. Molson Coors also partnered with universities, such as the University of Texas at Austin (UT) and the University of Maryland (UMD), to implement strict alcohol policies and conduct alcohol management training in order to reduce underage consumption. UT had an 87% decrease in alcohol-related arrests and UMD had a 72% decrease in intoxication-related ejections.

In the past year, Molson Coors has also made progress toward their 2025 goals. They prevented underage drinking in a total of nine countries, including their three largest countries by brand volume: US, UK and Canada. Additionally, they took a step toward achieving a 10% reduction in harmful alcohol use through the development of a five-year set of joint commitments with the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking and the World Health Organization. Molson Coors also donated over $22.6 million in monetary and in-kind donations to communities.

Molson Coors identified the most significant social, economic, and environmental issues in 2017. They are Alcohol Responsibility, Water Stewardship, Sustainable Packaging and Sustainable Agriculture, which became the basis for developing their 2025 goals. Within these last two years, concrete evidence has been collected to demonstrate the successful impact that Molson Coors has made by working towards sustainability objectives. For instance, in early 2018, all employees received Molson Coors Alcohol Responsibility training to make sure that all employees, including commercial employees, understand the importance of modeling responsible behaviors.

Environmentally, the biggest target was to reduce water use and improve water efficiencies. Originally, in 2008, their water-to-beer ratio was 4:1 and now it has decreased to 3.57:1, meaning it takes 3.57 barrels of water to produce one barrel of beer. In some breweries, such as Trenton, Ohio, and Fort Worth, Texas, have achieved 2.8:1 ratio, which is identified as the 2025 goal, numerous years in advance. Further efforts to reduce water use was made by gathering employee feedback. One of the best examples of the impact this method had on business practice is an employee who works in the packaging lines of one brewery in the U.S. stated, “there has been a weak hose for the last 20 years but I never had the authority to turn it off, I am glad I am able to say something now.” Water waste was evaluated at various steps so that interventions could be identified to be the most water efficient. Other environmental impacts are seen with decreased energy usage, electricity purchased, and Co2 emissions, from 2016 to 2017. There was a 0.01% percentage of total landfill waste due to recycling efforts which shows effort to reach the 2025 goal of zero waste to landfill.

Lasty, Molson Coors has identified efforts to be a great place for work, to be a good global citizen, and to strengthen their supply chain. Not only was there a 16% increase from 2015 to 2017 in employee engagement for the Global People Survey, there was also a 17% increase in employees believing the company is an environmentally and socially responsible company. There were also many employee volunteering initiatives where employees invested time to make a difference in their communities.

“As industry leaders, we care about our employees. In the employee engagement survey, we try to determine how many of our employees stand behind the company’s mission to act in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. We have seen that an increasing number of our employees believe Molson Coors acts in a responsible way.” - Ms. Kim Marotta

Business benefit

As extensively detailed, Molson Coors has decided to focus on the three overarching pillars of “Collectively Crafted,” “Sustainably Brewing,” and “Responsibly Refreshing,” all of which have identified goals to benefit society and the environment. We must expand on Molson Coors’ extensive, positive impact with additional evidence.

As millennials are entering the workforce, companies that are socially and environmentally responsible become more attractive workplaces because their values are congruent with identified millennial values. Molson Coors is able to attract and retain talent because of their unprecedented sustainability practices. The employee turnover rate decreased from 16% in 2015 to 10.4% in 2017. From the data gathered in the Global People Survey, a survey used to identify areas that drive employee engagement specifically about sustainability, 96% of Molson Coors employees are aware of the sustainability culture and 95% of the employees value it. In 2017 when administration was identifying ways to reduce water use, they recognized that it would be an 80% investment in changing business culture and listening to employees and only 20% in tactical strategies, the opposite of what they previously thought since 2008. Molson Coors leaders recognizes, in order to accomplish all of their 2025 goals, they need to engage all of their employees and promote sustainability initiatives to maximize awareness.

The next step of engagement was to integrate sustainability with the Molson Coors brand through the use of advertising. In 2017, sales were driven up by national TV spots advertising the large solar arrays at each US brewery, the zero waste to landfills practice, and new recyclable aluminum cans. Changing to a more sustainable culture has not only allowed Molson Coors to be cost-effective in purchasing less electricity and environmentally efficient by decreasing the water-to- beer ration, but also, it has increased sales and profit.

Social and environmental benefit

Socially, Molson Coors improved the work environment for the employees to increase diversity, workplace satisfaction, and to improve health and safety for all employees. There is also an $100 million investment to the surrounding communities. In 2017, there was over $600 thousand equivalent to time volunteered by employees. Another important aspect of Collectively Crafted is strengthening the supply chain by ensuring that suppliers follow the new standard for suppliers that have updated ethical and sustainable values.

Focusing on Sustainable Brewing emphasizes environmentally efficient practices to reduce polluting or wasteful practices. Improving water-use efficiency can protect our quickly depleting water resources. Other environmentally beneficial practices have been identified including reducing carbon emissions, and achieving zero waste to landfill. Since these objectives were declared in 2017, data collected has already shown progress towards fulfilling the identified 2025 goals.

Molson Coors’ focus on Responsibly Refreshing was implemented to protect consumers from harmful alcohol behaviors including underage drinking, drunk drivers, alcohol abuse, and irresponsible advertising or marketing. Interventions, such as partnerships with Uber, the ride-sharing mobile application, or employee trainings, have been implemented to promote healthier alcohol consumption habits in consumers to prevent drunk driving accidents and more.

Interview

Kim Marotta, Global Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility