Beverage brands form renewable energy alliance

October 30, 2024

Ten global beverage companies have joined forces to form a new industry-wide consortium to help accelerate renewable energy adoption across the supply chain.

The companies in the partnership include spirits producers Bacardi, Constellation Brands, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, and Whyte & Mackay.

Together, they have formed the Refresh Alliance, which aims to help suppliers remove barriers to adopting renewable energy, provide education, and transition supply chains to net zero.

The programme is managed by energy solution provider, Enel X.

Through its Advisory Services division, Enel X connects participants with renewable energy providers and supports renewable energy transactions, aiming to accelerate renewable energy adoption.

The programme also features a dedicated educational platform to help participants prepare for renewable energy adoption. It is believed that these features, along with aggregating demand for renewable energy, will help the alliance to provide cost-effective and targeted solutions across the industry in a way that can’t be achieved through individual action.

Suppliers continue to face a number of barriers to decarbonisation, such as lack of capabilities, access to information and availability of economically viable projects.

Ralf Peters, chief procurement officer of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and chairman of Coca-Cola Cross Enterprise Procurement Group, said: “We have long recognised the need for industry collaboration to deliver the most impact and to accelerate the transition across our supply chains. I know from my experience across the Coca-Cola system that supporting our supply partners is a key part of our sustainability action – and that encouraging them to transition to renewables is one of the most impactful things we can do to help decarbonise their businesses, and to do the same in ours.”

Scope 3 emissions, which are not directly produced by a company but from its supply chain, often account for approximately 90% of a beverage company’s carbon footprint, and are described as “one of the biggest challenges that the industry faces in delivering on our net zero ambitions” by Hervé Le Faou, chief procurement officer of Heineken.

“We must work together to identify areas of our supply chains where we can pool our resources to accelerate this transition for our suppliers. We look forward to working with other beverage companies to achieve this and accelerate the decarbonisation of our industry.”

Jane Liang, chief procurement officer of Diageo, added: “The climate crisis is the most pressing issue of our time and the transition to net zero is becoming increasingly important. However, there is only so much we can do as individual businesses. The Refresh Alliance will drive collective action within the industry to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy. We are calling on all companies and suppliers within the industry to join us and support the industry in its transition to net zero.”

The new initiative invites additional companies from across the beverage industry to pool and scale their resources to remove barriers to renewable energy adoption in the supply chain, provide education on best market practices, and support the industry’s transition to net zero.

Refresh has already engaged with more than 300 suppliers to discuss their involvement in the programme as it aims to support their adoption of renewable energy solutions.

The alliance intends to initially launch in the ‘mature’ renewable energy markets of Europe and North America, where it said it will be able to use existing networks to accelerate impact in support of the industry’s decarbonisation efforts. As it continues to grow, the consortium will look to expand to other markets and welcome businesses from across the beverage industry to join it in supporting suppliers in their decarbonisation journeys.