Beer industry leads farmers to sustainability

The beer industry, whose production depends entirely on agricultural products, is playing an important role in promoting sustainability among small farmers.

Farms are the origin for all main ingredients to beer production, such as hops, barley, wheat, cassava, corn and many others that make this beverage so appreciated amongst Brazilians.

“To guarantee raw materials quality, we think about well-being and provide a stable income source for farmers, generating a positive impact through the whole ecosystem”, says the superintendent of the National Union of the Beer Industry (Sindicerv), Luiz Nicolaewsky.

Encouraging family farming has been the entity focus, which represents up to 80% of Brazilian beer production, to provide sustainable transformation in the countryside and improve regional economy.

For instance, Ambev‘s goal is to ensure that 100% of the company’s partner farmers are trained, connected and have the financial structure to develop increasingly sustainable planting.

To this end, more than 3,000 partners already use sustainable practices in their crops, such as direct planting and crop rotation, which contribute to soil health and biodiversity.

Sustainability

Among the initiatives adopted by Ambev are the so-called Regenerative Agriculture. It is the kind of management, which reduces external dependence for inputs and carbon emissions.

Low carbon agriculture is also the focus of Heineken’s actions. The brewery encourages suppliers to implement good environmental and social practices through certification under the SAI Platform’s Agricultural Sustainability Assessment (FSA) program.

This program is an assessment of criteria involving the environment and human rights and certifies the sustainability of agricultural production. Today at Heineken, approximately 50% of suppliers are already certified and the goal is to reach 100% by 2030.