𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝘂𝗺 𝗘𝗦𝗚 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁 𝗞𝗶𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀.

We all know there are many factors that influence how one selects a pint: the weather, the price, the alcohol content, and even the time of day.

But should sustainability be a part of the selection criteria?

The often-overlooked reality is that brewing beer consumes a significant amount of energy, demands large quantities of fresh water, and generates a substantial by-product of spent grain, much of which typically goes to waste.

With this in mind, what actually is the most ‘sustainable’ choice of pint?

The judgment process

An important caveat here – I have limited this analysis to publicly listed alcoholic beverage companies, so I do apologise if you do not see your favourite niche beverage provider on this list.

If there are any other companies you think should be highlighted for their sustainability efforts, mention them in the comments below.

I used the Integrum Screener tool to assess these companies, so we can gauge a holistic understanding of which pints truly are outliers in sustainability.

With almost 50 different ESG metrics to evaluate, it has been whittled down to 3 brands:

🥉 Heineken N.V. [HEIA.AS] – B grade (ESG Score of 2.36)

🥈 Molson Coors [NYSE:TAP] – A grade (ESG Score of 2.80)

🥇 Diageo plc [LSE:DGE] - A grade (ESG Score of 3.07)

Why does Diageo stand above the rest?

Diageo is the top performer in the alcoholic beverage sub-sector within the Integrum universe.

Withgoals to source 100% of energy in their direct operations from renewable energy (50.3% as of 2024) and 100% of their packaging to be recyclable by 2030 (98% as of 2024), coupled with one ofthe most efficient water intensity figures of any brand in their sub-sector (262.56m3 of water per $1,000,000 revenue as of 2024), the company stands ahead of many of its industry peers with regards to sustainability.

However, it is across governance where Diageo really starts to pull away from its competitors, achieving an A-grade in our scoring methodology.

A closer inspection reveals that for 7 out of the 9 governance metrics, Diageo is either the joint or top performer compared with Molson and Heineken (in 5 out of 9 governance metrics Diageo comes out on top).

2 of these metrics are:

🏢 Board Composition, for which Diageo scores significantly higher for Gender diversity on the board (70% female; 28.6% Molson; 36.4% Heineken) and has the optimal board size of 12, compared to Molson’s, and;

👑 Management Process, for which Diageo has a score of 4 when assessing whether the company has full certification of the systems for managing ESG issues, compared to very little sustainable management systems for Molson and Heineken.

As well as producing a host of other alcoholic brands (Smirnoff, Captain Morgans, Tanqueray), Guinness remains one of Diageo’s key assets, with “the brand delivering 15% organic net sales growth, double-digit growth for seven consecutive halves” (pg. 11, Diageo Annual Report 2024).

Diageo also managed to maintain or increase share in their top three markets for Guinness (Great Britain, Ireland and US) in 2024.

So next time you treat yourself to a Guinness I hope it tastes that little bit creamier, knowing it’s a stout solution for a sustainable future (sorry I just had to).

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸?

Want to share your thoughts? Email us via contact@integrumesg.com or fill in this form HERE to book in a demonstration on our own approach to ESG analysis.