Our strategy
Our ambition is to be one of the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products companies in the world. We pursue the following strategy to deliver this ambition.
The global spirits category has shown resilient, long-term growth. This is being driven by population and income growth, and the increasing penetration of spirits around the world.
Our strategy is to support premiumisation in developed and emerging countries. Our broad portfolio means we can access different consumer occasions with our brands, across price points.
In developed markets, we support premiumisation through our premium core and reserve brands.
These enable consumers to trade up into luxury categories.
In emerging markets, we aim to grow participation in international premium spirits. To support this, we participate in mainstream spirits so consumers can access our brands at affordable price points. This also enables us to shape responsible drinking trends in markets where international premium spirits is an emerging category.
We have a global beer business, led by our premium brand Guinness. Beer is our second largest category after scotch. We have a large beer business in Africa with a portfolio that reaches across price points.
Everywhere we operate, we aim to do so in a responsible and sustainable way.
Read our Annual Report for more on our strategy
Our global reach
Our regional profile provides us with exposure to the greatest consumer growth opportunities in our sector. We operate as a market-based business and have a presence in over 180 countries.
Each of our markets is accountable for its own performance and for driving growth. We employ 30,000 talented people across our global business.
Read more about where we operate
Sustainability and responsibility
Our sustainability and responsibility goals are fundamental to our strategy and cover the following three areas.
- Leadership in alcohol in society: Our goal is to create a positive role for alcohol in society through partnerships and programmes that reduce harmful drinking.
Read more about our Alcohol in Society commitments - Building thriving communities: We must equip people in our business, our supply chain and our communities, particularly women, with the skills and resources they need to build a better future for themselves.
Read more about how we work with communities - Reducing our environmental impact: We will make our products and business operations more environmentally sustainable, targeting water use, carbon emissions and waste, reducing the volume of packaging we use and sourcing paper and board from sustainable forests.
Read more about our how we manage our environmental impact
