Heineken UK has announced plans to trial more sustainable approaches for growing barley, one of the main ingredients in beer, as part of the drinks giant’s efforts to reduce its agricultural-related emissions by 33 per cent over the next 10 years.
Announcing the move last week, Heineken said it has partnered with malt supplier Muntons, sustainable agriculture consultancy firm Future Food Solutions, and Yorkshire barley farmers to launch the trial this autumn.
During the first year, 10 farmers will grow around 7,000 acres of winter and spring barley varieties with an expected yield of around 25,000 tonnes of grain, enough to brew 300 million pints of beer, using a number of sustainable farming techniques, such as inter-row cropping, growing cover crop mixes to protect the soil, and optimising nitrogen use.
The outcomes of the trial will be used to influence the roll out of low carbon techniques across Heineken’s barley suppliers as it works to meet a goal of reducing its agricultural emissions by 33 per cent by 2030 against a 2018 baseline and achieve a carbon neutral value chain by 2040.
“Without barley we can’t make beer,” said said Matt Callan, supply chain director at Heineken. “This trial is very much about ensuring we create a sustainable long term supply chain that benefits farmers, the planet and biodiversity. Agriculture is the second biggest contributor of our carbon footprint and with our new ambition to hit carbon neutrality through our entire value chain by 2040, tackling this part of our footprint is key. This is the reason we have partnered with Future Food Solutions and Muntons. They help farmers to integrate a range of innovative ideas into their processes to reduce carbon emissions and improve soil health; exactly the things we need to make our barley more sustainable.”
The success of the trial will be measured in terms of the amount of CO2 captured in the soil and amount of nitrogen needed to produce healthy yields. The trial is part of Heineken’s 2040 low carbon programme, which is working in 10 countries, including Mexico, Russia, Brazil, France, and the UK, to explore low carbon farming techniques for barley, maize, and sugar cane.
The barley grown during the trial will be malted at Munton’s plan in Flamborough, Yorkshire, and then brewed in Heineken’s Tadcaster brewery. Munton’s malt has been certified as 100 per cent sustainable by the Farm Sustainability Assessment standard, after previous work with Future Food Solutions helped to reduce the carbon footprint of its barley supply chain by 32 per cent in the past 12 years, according to Dr Nigel Davies, director of technical and sustainability at Muntons.
Among its programmes, Future Food Solutions aims to work with farmers to improve soil health and water quality. Steven Cann, director of Future Food Solutions, said: “Spring barley, which is what most brewers prefer, is prone to drought but increasing soil organic matter means the land retains far more water, so the farmers get greater resilience built into their crops. This equates to better crops and better margins.”
The announcement follows a big few weeks for the drinks industry, after Treasury Wine Estates and Diageo last week announced climate commitments to switch to 100 per cent renewable power and reduce their Scope One and Two emissions, respectively, while Absolut vodka’s parent company, Pernod Ricard, Alexandre Ricard, announced a partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature that aims to bring together different public and private sector actors to develop commitments to sustainable agriculture.
