In an interview with ET Insights, Deepika Warrier, Chief Marketing Officer, Diageo India, discusses Diageo’s sustainability initiatives during the Global Business Sumit 2023
Tell us about Diageo’s new ten-year sustainability action plan. What is Diageo’s path toward Grain-to-Glass sustainability? What are the key drivers for the initiative?
At Diageo India, our mission is to become the best-performing, most trusted, and most respected consumer products company in India. A key pillar of our growth strategy is defining and executing an ambitious role for Diageo in Society aligned to ‘Society 2030: Spirit of Progress’ our 10-year ESG action plan. The strategic priorities under Society 2030 plan are to promote positive drinking, champion inclusion and diversity, and pioneer grain-to-glass sustainability, all underpinned by doing business the right way.
Our pioneering grain-to-glass sustainability initiatives focus on preserving water for life, accelerating to a low-carbon world, and becoming sustainable by design. Last year, we released our first ESG Reporting Index outlining the progress made in line with our Society 2030: Spirit of Progress plan. The Reporting Index is developed by the ‘Comprehensive’ level of the globally acclaimed GRI Standards (2021).
Diageo India has made tremendous progress across Water Stewardship initiatives. We have created a capacity for replenishment of over 4.6 lacs cubic meters of water annually and 84,000 litres/day of potable water. In addition, we have improved water use efficiency in our distilleries by 25% and packaging by 22%.
We are leading an industry-first water stewardship initiative in partnership with SOURCE Global. Using patented SOURCE® Hydropanel technology, Diageo India will for the first time in the world, use water made purely from sunlight and air in an alcoholic beverage. Godawan will be the first brand to use SOURCE® water
We have recently achieved a significant milestone with 100% coal-free status in our direct operations in India. We have slashed our Greenhouse Gas emissions by 87% since 2020, doubled our in-house solar energy generation capacity to 2.6 MW, and achieved over 98% renewable energy use status in our operations.
Chief Marketing Officer,
Diageo India
Last year, we collected and recycled 21,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste which is 100% of the plastic waste we generate, and 99% of the packaging material used in our consumer pack is widely recyclable. We have also initiated the phased removal of mono-cartons starting with our premium Scotch brands VAT 69, Black & White, and Black Dog. This initiative will proactively engage consumers to participate and contribute towards a progressive move to a sustainable future and will result in saving 10,000 tonnes of paper and reducing 7,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. Our efforts are being recognized by reputed organizations like Sustainalytics awarding USL as a ‘Top-Rated ESG Performer for 2022’ in the ‘ESG Industry Top Rated Category’. We have also earned the prestigious Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) certification for our Alwar distillery in Rajasthan. It is the first spirit distillery in Asia to receive the certification.
