What we did

We introduced our Supplier Code in Austria, Greece and Poland. Our operating companies in Western Europe (with the exception of companies acquired in 2008 and those in Switzerland and Ireland) have all started implementation. Dedicated managers have been appointed and will be responsible for performing risk analyses per market, training of local purchasers and translating the Supplier Code into local languages.

We also reviewed the practices from both Scottish & Newcastle and Heineken and found that both share a similar approach. Local implementation focuses mainly on services, maintenance and logistics as we source all packaging materials, raw materials, investment goods and a large part of the merchandise materials for the Heineken brand centrally.

In Central and Eastern Europe, we began implementation of the code in Bulgaria, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Russia.

In Indonesia, we commenced a pilot study although we have not yet conducted a pilot in Africa and the Middle East given that a fair amount of the total purchasing spend is sourced centrally and we therefore believe the risks to be moderate.

We have reworked our approach to auditing. As all our approved packaging and raw materials suppliers are subject to quality audits every four years, we have now built the Supplier Code into our online audit tool. This means we require all preferred suppliers to provide us with evidence (policies and practices) on their compliance with our Code. The tool delivers a standardised supplier rating on Supplier Code compliance.

Portugal