ZERO Irresponsible Drinking

We believe in the importance of partnerships in raising awareness, promoting moderation in consumption, tackling misuse and reducing alcohol-related harm in society.

Stakeholder Groups Most Concerned:

Consumers; NGOs, Industry Groups and Local Communities; Government Agencies and Regulator

Why It Is Important

Preventing harmful alcohol use is not just our societal responsibility – we are dedicated to keep our community safe and healthy. Through strong partnerships, we work on impactful initiatives to reduce alcohol-related harm in society.

Our dedication to responsible enjoyment and community well-being is at the heart of our #CELEBRATERESPONSIBLY campaign, which has been our flagship ZERO Irresponsible Drinking programme in Malaysia since 2016 in support of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD).

In Singapore, we are part of the Singapore Alliance for Responsible Drinking (SARD), which is a joint initiative of the Euro Cham Wine and Spirits Committee. Through education, engagement, and strategic collaborations, we actively encourage responsible choices and raise awareness to address the impact of harmful alcohol use.

Beer and cider are already relatively low in alcohol content compared with wine and spirits, and we are expanding our range of no- and low-alcohol brews to make them an alternative beverage, providing consumers in Malaysia and Singapore with a positive and liberating choice. We now offer four variants of Alcohol-Free Brews (AFBs) in Malaysia and Singapore – Carlsberg 0.0 Pilsner, Carlsberg 0.0 Wheat, Somersby Apple 0.0 and Somersby Mandarin Orange 0.0 (Limited Edition).

Our Approach

We actively oversee initiatives aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of alcohol consumption, guided by our Responsible Drinking Policy.

It provides guidelines for alcohol use in the workplace, outlining specific responsibilities for both the Group and its employees. These guidelines encompass clear directives and disciplinary measures, which may extend to dismissal on the grounds of gross misconduct, all within the confines and in strict adherence to applicable labour laws.

Progress/Achievements

In 2023, we undertook several initiatives as part of our commitment to responsible drinking and community engagement.

One of our major endeavours was the empowerment of 62 Malaysian employee ambassadors. These ambassadors were instrumental in communicating the importance of the approved 0.05% national Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) level. They played a key role in discouraging drink driving and enhancing the visibility of our #CELEBRATERESPONSIBLY campaign through on-ground initiatives and extensive social media outreach.

Another significant achievement was our success in encouraging 3,882 brewery visitors to voluntarily participate in BAC testing. This was a part of our efforts to raise awareness about responsible alcohol consumption.

Additionally, we organised seven #CELEBRATERESPONSIBLY ambassador activations, which were a hit among consumers. These activations took place across various events including Pinkfish @ Sunway Lagoon, Raikan Kebanggaan Sarawak, Raikan Kebanggaan Sabah, Out of the World @ Sepang, Rainforest World Music Festival @ Kuching, Global Beer Responsibility Day (GBRD) x BuddyDriver Bar Hopping @ KL/Klang Valley, and the 9Wave Music Festival, engaging a total of 3,608 consumers.

Partnership was a key aspect of our approach. We partnered with 40 trade outlets to promote the BuddyDriver services along with a dedicated promo code. Here, 33 employee ambassadors played a pivotal role in advocating the 'Don’t Drink and Drive' message, particularly on Global Beer Responsibility Day. This was complemented by our efforts to standardise advisories across all communication channels, emphasizing responsible consumption and discouraging drinking and driving. A major step in this direction was specifying legal drinking ages (18+ in Singapore, 21+ in Malaysia) on our alcoholic beverages.

As a proud member of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD), we are committed to including age-restriction symbols or text on all our alcoholic products by the end of 2024. This initiative also includes an additional symbol related to drink-driving.

In 2023, we successfully included clear age restriction information and warnings against drink-driving on the labels of all our alcoholic products.

In line with our 2030 target, we aim to maintain 100% responsible drinking messaging through packaging and brand activation as new products are launched. We have taken steps to empower consumers by providing information on our packs about alcohol content, legal drinking age and no drinking while driving.

Our campaign also involved sampling over 2,600 Somersby Apple 0.0 cans to consumers and implementing a user-friendly Instagram (IG) Augmented Reality (AR) filter. This innovative filter, accessible via a QR code, allowed consumers to pledge their support to #CELEBRATERESPONSIBLY by sharing photos on their IG stories.

Furthermore, we consistently advocated AFBs as appealing options for Singaporean consumers. This included both the Carlsberg Alcohol-Free Pilsner and Wheat variants. Our approach involved out-of-home sampling activation, connecting with over 14,000 consumers and distributing more than 14,000 samples across six high traffic locations island-wide in Singapore. Office sampling initiatives were also carried out in major companies in Singapore, engaging with over 9,000 individuals.

Our AFB portfolio in Singapore expanded with the introduction of Somersby Apple 0.0, a refreshing non-alcoholic cider variant under the Somersby brand. Lastly, we conveyed taste, occasions, and responsible drinking as our AFB campaign’s key message in Singapore through various social media channels. These channels included Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Viu and Programmatic Displays. Our campaign effectively reached a diverse audience, garnering 4.8 million completed views and 13.1 million total impressions.