By Sashidhar Vempala

These are extraordinary times. Since 2020, COVID-19 has forced us to reflect on what we have built and what we want to – all at once. The pandemic has proved to remain resilient and agile; businesses and society must reimagine themselves and define a shared vision for the future.

At the back of strong and ambitious Global Sustainability & Responsibility (S&R) roadmap 2030, of “Good Times from a good place”, Pernod Ricard India believes in reimagining a circular future with people, the planet, and our communities at its core! We truly believe that sustainability must be embedded into the fabric of our organizational purpose, cutting across all dimensions of the business and society. In the next decade, we will work on five core areas to deliver on our commitments, from grain to glass.

STEWARDING WATERSHED-LEVEL COLLECTIVE ACTION

Water is a primary ingredient of all our products. Pernod Ricard India has been a water-positive company since 2019; replenishing more groundwater than we consume. With a double-pronged strategy to minimize within fence consumption and create water abundance at the deep aquifer level with integrated water development programs, we have reduced our water consumption by 54% since 2015. our sites are watershed level positive. By the end of FY22, we will ensure that our owned units are 3 times water positive, and by 2023, all our sub-leased and third-party bottling units will be positive at a watershed level as well.

BUILDING A CLIMATE-RESILIENT CIRCULAR VALUE CHAIN OF THE FUTURE

We are committed to emerging and lead the line as one of the most resource-efficient companies in the Indian wines & spirits landscape. We aim to bring down our overall carbon footprint by 50% by 2030. All our owned units aim to source their electricity from renewable energy sources. The bottling unit at our manufacturing plant in Nashik is already powered by 100% solar energy and we have many more projects in the pipeline. In addition to this, we will create Carbon sinks through strategic forestry projects and minimizing our raw materials footprint.

A vital part of our circularity drive is ensuring that we have the best in class zero waste to landfill operations. Our owned units in Nashik, Behror, and Derabassi have in the past obtained the highest ‘Platinum’ certification for Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWL) as per the ISO 14015.

SAFEGUARDING HUMAN RIGHTS, NURTURING FAIRNESS, INCLUSION & DIVERSITY

We are creators of conviviality and people are ingrained in our DNA. Within our business and with our partners, suppliers, and associates, we are steadfast about protecting human self-worth and dignity of labour by being a bastion of equal opportunities, equal voices, collective empathy, holistic wellness and world-class health and safety. We are also committed to the United Nation’s Guiding Principles on Human Rights and are committed to act as stewards of human rights protection within our supply chain and our communities. Improving gender diversity is a key priority and while we have significant progress thus far.

TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES, ACCELERATING LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

Social value creation is an integral part of our sustainability vision. We believe we have an inherent responsibility to not just promote the coexistence of the business and society but to act as stewards of societal development and environmental protection. We aim to be the ‘partner of choice’ for communities and drive inclusive socio-economic progress and wellbeing for all by transforming our communities and accelerating local development. Despite the extremely challenging year on all fronts; we have managed to touch close to 1.3 million lives near 24 PRI Plants with 38 programs in 2020.

CHAMPIONING SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS, PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE CONVIAVILTE

For us to be truly sustainable and responsible, our brands that define us, and our legacy must embody our purpose and commitment. Working towards a sustainable portfolio of products, we engrain a Life Cycle Thinking in all our products to manufacture brands of purpose with the lowest environmental footprint. We are also making sure that we bring the most memorable moments for the right consumers the right way; by bringing moderation in our events and preventing alcohol-related harm in our society.

We believe we are strongly positioned to grow bigger, bolder and better. By leveraging the peoples’ capabilities and fostering inclusive innovation, Pernod Ricard India is committed to being a sustainable growth accelerator for India.