At the closing ceremony of the 2018 Sustainability Index, the largest brewery in Latvia, AS Cēsu alus, received the highest sustainable business assessment – the Platinum category – for the second year in a row. The received assessment confirms the high culture of social responsibility and the company’s sustainability performance, as well as openness and transparency in the company’s operation and communication.
Eva Sietiņsone, chairman of the Cēsu alus board: “It is a great satisfaction to receive this high evaluation. I am grateful to the company’s employees, because we work together to constantly improve the performance of Cēsu alus and build a sustainable company. During the year, we implemented several important projects to promote employee involvement and well-being, build customer relations, and also to settle environmental issues.”
Promoting the involvement of employees in making important decisions for the company and achieving goals, in 2017 Cēsu alus implemented a unique training and employee involvement project, in which more than half of the company’s employees got involved and ensured the sale of Cēsu alus products at two big concerts in Riga. The project gave the company’s employees the opportunity to experience the full life cycle of a product – from grain in the brewery to a glass of beer in the hands of customers and to gain a new level of experience in working with customers.
In the environmental field, Cēsu alus aims to gradually reduce the impact of its activities on the environment. In 2017, an energy management system certificate was obtained in accordance with the ISO 50001 standard, goals and activities in reducing the consumption of energy resources were determined. In 2018, it is planned to obtain the ISO 14001 environmental certificate. Last year, Cēsu alus also conducted research on the reuse of CO2 gas produced in the production process and the life cycle of the packaging (glass, plastic, cans) created. Also, several digitization projects are underway in the company, abandoning the circulation of documents in paper form as much as possible, as well as improving the convenience of the service for employees and customers.
Cēsu alus also implements the social project Be Independent! – its purpose is to educate young people on the topic of alcohol addiction prevention, as well as to provide inspiration and support for the motivation of young people to make responsible choices. So far, the project has educated more than 1,500 students by organizing educational and inspiring seminars and practical classes.
The social responsibility report of AS Cēsu alus contains information about the company’s social responsibility strategy and goals, implemented activities in the field of social responsibility. The latest Cēsu alus Social Responsibility Report can be found here: https://cesu.beer/CA_SA_parskats_2018.pdf
JSC Cēsu alus has been participating in the evaluation of the Sustainability Index since its introduction in Latvia in 2010. In the first three years, JSC Cēsu alus received a Silver category assessment, but by purposefully developing the company’s operation and sustainability performance, from 2013, the company’s performance in the Sustainability Index was assessed at the Gold level and in 2017 – at the Platinum level.
