Supply chain responsibility
"Taking social and environmental considerations into account in our sourcing decisions reflects an important part of our global citizenship principles."
Buying goods and services is an important activity for any company. Quality, availability, price and timeliness of delivery must all be considered as part of the procurement process. Our Group Purchasing department purchases centrally a number of goods that are strategically important. These include raw materials (malt, hops and adjuncts), packaging, promotional items and investment material. In 2006, Group Purchasing bought raw material and packaging with a total value of over €1.5 billion. The department only contracts with approved suppliers (whose performance matches a number of wide-ranging criteria). Our Group Supply Chain department regularly audits the quality of all approved suppliers.
The information included in this section has been compiled on the basis of data and background information available within Group Purchasing. It excludes activities by our operating companies. Data on the activities and performance of our operating companies with respect to supply chain responsibility can be found in the 2006 Sustainability Data Sheet on our corporate website.
