Diageo partners with others to create momentum against Producers’ Commitments

Global efforts by alcohol industry to tackle harmful drinking are building momentum

Diageo welcomes today’s release of the latest Producers’ Commitments Report by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD), which shows signatory companies are building momentum in contributing to a global target of reducing harmful drinking by 10% by 2025. 

As one of 11 leading alcohol producers who are signatories of the Commitments to tackle harmful drinking, Diageo is pleased to see continued progress on our key initiatives to reduce harmful drinking. In the last year, the alcohol industry have expanded and deepened our programmes by forming innovative partnerships with a wide range of organisations across the globe. 

At the four-year mark of the five-year programme there is momentum behind industry efforts to tackle underage drinking, prevent drink driving, and engage retailers in efforts to reduce harmful drinking. Working alongside others in 2016, the 11 companies:

• Reached more than 100 million people with educational messages focused on combatting underage drinking
• Ran 331 anti-drink driving initiatives across 88 countries
• Put in place local responsible retailing initiatives in 72 countries 

Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive, Diageo, said: “I am proud of Diageo’s contribution towards the industry’s overall progress in reducing harmful drinking. We are four years into the most ambitious initiative our industry has ever collectively undertaken to address harmful drinking and it is encouraging to be able to see on a country by country basis how we are making an impact around the world through powerful partnerships.”

Henry Ashworth President of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking said: “The 2016 Producers’ Commitments Progress Report demonstrates the determination of our leading producers to be a force for good within their industries and society. Long term sustainable change and a reduction in harmful drinking can only happen when private, public and not for profit organizations work together locally, nationally and globally. We want to work with others to create new relationships and models of working that drive positive change through our all communities.” 

2016 report highlights:

In Poland, the industry partnered with an NGO to deliver the ‘Positive Learning Laboratory’ – an intervention designed to promote healthy lifestyles among young people and deter underage drinking. At Diageo, we supported this activity by running a campaign to raise awareness and drive people to online resources to reduce underage drinking, which reached 1.5 million people and attracted over half a million visits to the campaign microsite. 

In Australia, Diageo’s Bar Academy training for those working in the hospitality industry incorporates practical Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) elements, which complements the internationally acclaimed “How to Drink Properly” campaign, which is led by DrinkWise Australia, a body supported by Diageo and other alcohol companies. This Diageo training in Australia reached 5,497 bartenders and included an explanation of standard drinks, and information on the effects of alcohol, minimum legal purchase age (LPA) for alcohol beverages and legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits for drivers.

Through IARD, the alcohol industry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health and Welfare (SESPAS) in the Dominican Republic in May 2016 - a first for the country. The MoU established a comprehensive work plan to address underage drinking, strengthen and expand marketing codes of practice, reduce drink driving, and enlist the support of retailers in efforts to reduce harmful drinking. As a result of collective efforts, the agreement was able to – as one stakeholder put it – “break the paradigm of thought that public and private can’t work together.”