CEO’s update James Calder talks sustainability

Here’s to a sustainable future for independent brewing

Welcome to the sustainability issue of SIBA's Independent Brewer Magazine.

With Cop26 only a recent memory it has never been clearer that all individuals, businesses, and organisations like SIBA will be expected to prioritise sustainability and embed it in how we think and do things every day. Emerging into a post pandemic world it is and will be the new way of doing things. From a SIBA perspective I agree with this because it’s the right thing to do for our planet and because it makes good business sense. Let me explain why. As significant users of raw materials, water and energy I can promise you we are already on the Government’s radar. In time, we will be forced to change at significant cost and by statute. Better to work with (and ahead of) Government to reduce, measure and demonstrate our impact on the natural world than be at their mercy, like we have seen with DRS. Businesses can always do things better than if Government makes them do it. At present, the UK’s multinational breweries have the scale and scope to influence Government policy and do significant amounts of R&D in the sustainability space. Visiting a mega brewery recently as part of Cop26, I was staggered at the level of investment they can muster and what they are doing. We, to put it simply, can’t play the same game. But we can be more innovative, agile, and ingenious as to how we tackle these issues.

Independent beer already has a lot going for it. Locally brewed beer, with malt sourced nearby and made with British hops and distributed in re-usable steel containers is by far, the most sustainable way for someone to enjoy a pint of beer. We just need to be better at our own PR. Consumed in a local pub, bar or taproom it is also helping the local community; an often-overlooked component of sustainability. There are many of you that are already leading the way, with ‘big green brewing machines’, reed bed technology, added value products for spent grain and ways to reducing your water usage considerably. These things do not have to cost the earth (forgive the pun) and in time save businesses money and make them more attractive to consumers. Recovering from Covid and becoming more sustainable should not be viewed as mutually exclusive aims. We have to do both.

It’s the role for an organisation like SIBA to pool and propagate that knowledge. Sustainability is important for us all and for your business because your consumers care and are increasingly savvy of the environmental credentials of companies they buy from. Consumers are becoming increasingly discerning and will not only choose a brand that has eco-creds on the label, they will actively avoid those that omit it from their labels and are conspicuous in their absence.

Investment in sustainability also has added benefits. As we have seen with the recent CO² crisis, a brewery that can capture the CO² that comes from its fermenters can be more resilient and not so reliant on patchy deliveries. This technology at this scale is at its infancy – but as demand increases the economies of scale will, too. At SIBA, we can’t do this for you and we can’t do it alone. As ever, the role of SIBA as a trade association is to lead the way and give you the tools to improve your business, working with partners. Over the coming weeks and months we are planning to launch a carbon ‘audit’ which will allow any brewery to accurately measure and understand how much carbon they are producing. From this, we will then be providing the tools and practical advice to help you reduce that. This should cover everything practically needed, drawing upon the learnings of others and include the principle areas of energy use, water use and waste, transport and logistics. I hope that my fellow contributors in this issue of Independent Brewer Magazine will inspire and push you to think about sustainability in your business and if not, begin your sustainability journey in earnest.

James Calder

Chief Executive

SIBA