NewBelgiumSustainabilityManagementSystem2015

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SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

2015

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………….. ........................................................ 1

1.0 SMS PROCESS……………………………………………….. ...................................................... 3 1.1 Draft Target Areas……………………………………………….. .................................. 3 1.2 Conduct Internal Stakeholder Review……………………………………………….. .... 3 1.3 Conduct External Stakeholder Review ...................................................... 6 1.4 Develop Management System……….. ........................................................ 8

2.0 INSIGHTS - INTERNAL STAKEHOLDER REVIEW… ..................................................... 9

3.0 INSIGHTS – EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER REVIEW....................................................... 9 3.1 What we are doing right……………………………………………….. ....................... 10 3.2 What we could be doing better……………………………………………….. ............ 11

4.0 TARGET AREAS & METRICS……………………………………………………….. ........................ 12 4.1 Certified B Corporation – Impact Assessment…………………………………….. . 12 4.2 Water……………………………………………….. .................................................... 12 4.3 Waste……………………………………………….. ................................................... 13 4.4 Greenhouse Gas Emissions……………………………………………….. ................... 13 4.5 Energy……………………………………………….. ................................................... 14 4.6 Internal Energy Tax – investments in sustainability……………………………….15 4.7 Showing business can be a force for good………………………………………. .. …15 4.8 Philanthropy……………………………………………….. ......................................... 16

5.0 MANAGEMENT SYSTEM……………………………………………………….. ............................ 19

6.0 NEXT STEPS……………………………………………………….. ................................................ 20 6.1 Executive-level accountability……………………………………………….. .............. 20 6.2 Update utility metrics……………………………………………….. ........................... 20 6.3 Ensure effective management between two sites…………….…………………..21

7.0 APPENDICES………………………………………………………................................................. 22 7.1 Sustainability Report……………………………………………….. ............................. 22 7.2 Foundations: Building a culture of sustainability………………………………….. 22 7.3 Sustainable Purchasing Guidelines……………………………………………….. ....... 23 7.4 Sustainability checklist for project management………………………………….. 25 7.5 External stakeholder review abbreviated report………………………………….. 30

NEW BELGIUM BREWING Sustainability Management System 2015 1


At New Belgium Brewing Co. (NBB) we believe in honoring nature at every turn of the business.

Environmental stewardship has been a core value here since our inception and we know that our business

is more profitable because of these efforts. Maintaining the health of the natural world helps to protect

the resources that make our livelihood possible and preserves the great outdoors which we adore. Our

Sustainability Management System (SMS) is a documented process that guides our work in sustainability,

ensuring that we are focusing on the areas of greatest impact that are most relevant to our business.

Broadly speaking, the SMS requires us to establish our current environmental impact, sets specific targets

for improvement, makes plans to achieve those targets, and keeps the plan/do/check/act cycle rolling. It

is the tool that helps us turn our vision into a reality.

We formalized this process in 2007 with the help of two consultants and a cross-functional team of 17

coworkers. At that time, we asked ourselves three questions to guide the process: (1) What are the big

issues facing the planet? (2) How does the brewing industry contribute to those issues? And (3) how can

NBB drive improvement? We decided on four areas of focus: Carbon Footprint, Water Stewardship,

Closing Loops, and Advocacy. Knowing that we manage what we measure, we set goals in these four areas

and identified ways to achieve them.

As we’ve grown in revenue, territory and age, we’ve become more concerned with securing our legacy.

How can we make sure newer co-workers understand what is important to us and continue to uphold

those beliefs? The SMS helps us bridge between the Core Values and Beliefs, which guide our actions

companywide, and our daily striving to become more environmentally sustainable. The Sustainability

Management System is designed to be that bridge and a tool in succession planning.

Transparency and authenticity are central to our culture. Authenticity means our actions match the things

we say about ourselves. Transparency shines a light on our successes and our shortcoming so that our

stakeholders can be the judge of our authenticity. The SMS helps us achieve more of both. At New

Belgium, we will always look to the far horizon for ways of improving our systems, minimizing our impact,

and helping other businesses follow their own path toward more sustainable practices. The path towards

sustainability will always be a process. New Belgium is committed to examining each choice we face to

find the way that best honors both our human stakeholders and the Earth.

Since 2007, our knowledge in these areas has grown immensely. We’ve both stumbled and soared along

the way but at the end of the day have made notable improvements. Seven years after our original SMS

launched, we felt it was time for a fresh look at the system. Our business and the field of sustainability

itself have evolved a great deal over these years, and we wanted the wisdom acquired to be reflected in

our management system.

In 2014, we kicked off a two-phase update of the Sustainability Management System. In Phase I, we

conducted an internal stakeholder review, interviewing 171 of our 560 coworkers on the topic of New

http://www.newbelgium.com/brewery/company/history.aspx

http://www.newbelgium.com/Files/SMS%204th%20edition,%202011%20for%20external%20release.pdf

http://www.newbelgium.com/Files/SMS%204th%20edition,%202011%20for%20external%20release.pdf


Belgium and sustainability. In the following year, we will conduct Phase II which will be an external

stakeholder review during which we will seek insights from customers, suppliers, and specialists who

represent the interests of our natural resources. While in 2007 we identified high level targets for reducing

our impact, our goal with the next evolution of the SMS is to address the daily change required make

these high level targets achievable. It is for this reason we spoke with so many people and held

conversations at a functional level. In this report we will describe our process, the insights we gained, and

the new systems in place to manage progress toward our existing goals.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank the following for the immense amount of work and passion they put in to building the SMS.

… Kim Jordan for creating a visionary workplace culture that supports sustainability. … Hillary Mizia for starting the sustainability program at New Belgium. … Jenn Vervier, Nic Theisen, The Brendle Group, Institute for the Built Environment, and 15 additional coworkers

for driving the creation of our 2007 Sustainability Management System. … Katie Wallace, Dana Villeneuve, Elizabeth Cabot, and 171 additional coworkers for driving the 2014 internal

stakeholder review. … Katie Wallace, Dana Villeneuve, Logan McCoy, Jenn Vervier, Susanne Hackett, and 37 stakeholders for driving

the 2015 external stakeholder review.


1.0 SMS PROCESS 1.1 DRAFT TARGET AREAS In 2007, we gathered a small group of 17 coworkers from entry to executive level, across functions and

tenure. As a diverse group with complimentary perspectives, we asked ourselves some tough questions

to identify where our operations were negatively impacting the world. Three questions drove our process:

What are the big issues facing the planet?

How does the brewing industry contribute to those issues?

How can NBB start to turn that around?

Our discussion around these tough questions revolved around several themes: closing loops, eliminating

waste, reducing transportation impacts, building community where we sell our beer, reducing greenhouse

gas emissions, being a net positive generator of clean, renewable energy, and optimistic

environmentalism. The commonalities of these themes are reflected by our Target Areas.

Target Areas serve to organize the action for achieving the Strategic Priority, that is, the company,

departmental and personal initiatives. Target Areas also suggest quantifiable goals (the targets

themselves) to drive and measure our achievements. With the 2007 SMS we were able to successfully

propose the addition of environmental metrics to our company-level strategic planning system. These

Target Areas are complimentary and many initiatives will overlap a number of target areas. However, the

important thing is to focus on the emphasis of each Target Area.

Leadership is part of our DNA at New Belgium. Likewise, we want to be leaders in environmental

sustainability. While not called out as its own Target Area, leadership should infuse them all. Leadership’s

value is in setting an example for others to emulate—forging the way. In order to fully recognize New

Belgium’s desire to have a positive impact on the environment, we must push the envelope. Leadership

in environmental sustainability includes innovation and early adoption of cutting-edge technology.

Leadership implies doing things that aren’t being done or doing what is being done better. However,

leadership does not mean going it alone. Big efforts to rethink our industry will require collaboration. We

will need to be a leader in forging partnerships.

The targets we proposed are challenging to achieve. But challenges lead to innovation and are necessary

for the intellectual vitality that, along with our community, sustains our work life enthusiasm over the

years.

1.2 CONDUCT INTERNAL STAKEHOLDER REVIEW Once we had direction on company-level target areas and successfully integrated them into our brewery’s

strategic planning system, we saw an opportunity to deepen the SMS and refine it based on the

participation of our coworkers. In 2014, we conducted an internal stakeholder review. Our process is

described below.


INTERVIEW FUNCTIONAL TEAMS, MAKING SUSTAINABILITY RELEVANT TO DAILY WORK.

New Belgium Brewing Co. is 100% employee-owned and we foster a “high-involvement culture” in which

coworkers actively participate in the business of running the business. All coworkers, regardless of rank

or tenure, come together every year to conduct strategic planning together. We also enjoy open book

management, where all financials (aside from individual salaries) are made public to employees as are

minutes from management team meetings. Coworkers here are accustomed to thinking like owners and

incorporating big picture goals into their daily work. This is a crucial foundation that allows us to build a

culture around sustainability and make better progress toward our goals. Since 2007, we have worked to

take these very broad, high-level goals (like reducing total water usage) and make them relevant to the

daily jobs of our coworkers so they can incorporate it into their decision making process. Because of this,

we interviewed functional groups separately so we could discuss sustainability on a project level. We

selected 20 groups of 171 coworkers throughout the brewery to interview based on their influence over

natural resource consumption. Groups that purchased materials, managed utilities, operated equipment,

and designed processes were all included. We also included customer-facing groups to better understand

our customers’ expectations around sustainability. We plan to interview additional groups in the future.

CHOOSE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WISELY. WORDS CREATE WORLDS.

Following the tenants of Appreciative Inquiry, a method developed by David Cooperrider at Case Western,

we always kicked off interviews by creating positive visions for the future and celebrating what we are

doing right in sustainability. This positive focus helped to reduce rants and keep the conversation moving

in a productive, forward fashion. Here is an example of a question set that has been personalized for the

transportation team. In each group, we worked with a similar set of questions and customized them to be

relevant to their daily work objectives.

http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/intro/whatisai.cfm


What do you see in the world of transportation that we are doing right in regards to sustainability? What could be better? What are other companies doing that inspires you? If you were CEO tomorrow, what is the first change you would make to help NBB be more of a force for

good in the world? Are we moving the needle towards a more resource efficient approach to transportation? (Over the Road

and Fleet) What sustainability goals would be appropriate for OTR? (i.e., Smart Way) What sustainability goals would be appropriate for fleet? (i.e., reduced emissions per mile, transitioning to

low-emission, hybrid vehicles, etc) Do you think we’ll reach our top level goals under the current plan? (especially look at GHG emissions,

highly relevant to transportation) If not, what do we need to add/amend in the current plan? How can we help?

MAKE SENSE OF THE IMMENSE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION PROVIDED.

We created matrix that captured the high-level ideas from each functional team. From here we identified

cross-cutting themes that are shared later in this report. We also kept a running list of tasks that we

worked to complete in real-time and at which are still chipping away.

http://www.epa.gov/smartway/

http://www.newbelgium.com/Sustainability/Environmental-Metrics.aspx


1.3 CONDUCT EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER REVIEW Understanding the health of the natural resources, the beer drinkers, and the communities that make our

business possible is a daily part of our jobs on the Sustainability Team at New Belgium Brewing. We

regularly consult with experts and read articles and reports on the topics. However, it can be helpful to

formalize this process from time to time to be sure we are focusing our efforts toward the most relevant

and effective projects.

INTERVIEW STAKEHOLDERS AFFECTED BY NEW BELGIUM BREWING

During the summer of 2015, New Belgium Brewing conducted reviews with their vendors, distributors and

accounts, beer drinkers, grant recipients, peer businesses and consultants, as well as representatives from

the communities of Fort Collins and Asheville, graduate students studying business and the environment,

and non-profit organizations that served as a voice for various natural resources, ecosystems, and

communities. In total, 1,422 digital surveys were collected, and 37 phone or in-person reviews were

performed. The table below outlines survey respondents by stakeholder group and industry expertise /

perspective.

Stakeholder Group Industry Expertise / Perspective

8 Vendors

Aluminum cans Facility equipment

Paperboard / cardboard Glass bottles

Malt Recycling management

Hops

11 Non-profit/government

organizations

Packaging Social/environmental responsibility

Water resource management Climate change

Poudre River French Broad River

Hops Agriculture

Transportation

15 Peers & Consultants

Environmental consulting B Corp

Sustainability consulting Beer industry

Communications strategy Energy consulting

Environmental architecture Architecture

B Corp peer Industry peer

Metrics and reporting Media agency

11 Grant Recipients

Bicycle and pedestrian advocacy Environmental conservation/restoration

Environmental education Watershed restoration/protection

Agriculture Outdoor education

Community farming

3 Community-representing Organizations Asheville

Fort Collins

6 Distributors & Accounts Beer Industry

1366 Beer Drinkers Featured comments: Sarah Nilles, Michael Narracci, Nikki Tobias

33 Graduate Students & Future Sustainability

Leaders Featured comments: Mike Johnson, Jake Reznick, Oscar Benjamin

CHOOSE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WISELY. WORDS CREATE WORLDS.


Following the tenants of Appreciative Inquiry, a method developed by David Cooperrider at Case Western,

we always kicked off interviews by creating positive visions for the future and celebrating what we are

doing right in sustainability. In order to capture feedback that could be compared between stakeholder

groups, several standardized questions were asked to most of the survey respondents. Additionally,

certain questions were tailored to particular stakeholder groups or specific organizations in an attempt to

capture unique insights pertaining to an explicit aspect of the brewery’s business. Some of the topics

covered throughout the review included packaging & waste management, watershed stewardship &

water resource management, agriculture, transportation, sourcing, community engagement, and the

brewery’s grant program. A sampling of questions is below.

Many nuanced insights were gathered that can help inform the development of individual relationships

or specific pathways for action in the future. There were also several recurring themes or sentiments that

surfaced through the review process. These have been analyzed through quantitative analyses of

repeated words or phrases across stakeholder groups for various open-ended questions, and they are

summarized in Section 3.

MAKE SENSE OF THE IMMENSE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION PROVIDED.

We created matrix that captured the high-level ideas from each organization interviewed. From here we

identified cross-cutting themes which are referenced later in this report. Below is a small glimpse of the

feedback we received as to communicate the scale of information we are working with.

http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/intro/whatisai.cfm


1.4 DEVELOP MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Once target areas are set and metrics defined with the help of our stakeholders, we must find a way to

track our progress effectively and efficiently. Sustainability touches every single part of our business. One

of the greatest joys of working on the Sustainability Team is the sheer diversity of work. It can, however,

be one of the greatest challenges as well. In 2014, we built a management system that will allow us to

keep up with the many projects, large and small, that we are tracking internally to reach our high-level

goals. Reference Section 5 below to get a glimpse of the system we designed.


2.0 INSIGHTS - INTERNAL STAKEHOLDER REVIEW

Through these interviews with our coworkers, we gained valuable insights. One unexpected and joyful

insight was realizing how energized our coworkers became by talking about sustainability in their jobs.

We had terrific attendance in almost every meeting and coworkers were passionately engaged. It was

heartening to see our collective commitment to sustainability expressed and we are immensely inspired

by the good work independently sought by our coworkers.

It was our goal to provide a safe space for coworkers to speak candidly. Therefore, insights from the

internal stakeholder review are not included in the public version of this report. The insights collected

here, however, were both affirming and inspiring. We continue to weave them into the strategy and

operations of New Belgium’s sustainability work.

3.0 INSIGHTS - EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER REVIEW

We are immensely grateful to the generosity and thoughtful contributions of the external stakeholders

who donated their time to this inquiry. Interviews with our external stakeholders were largely affirming

of our current work and of our understanding of the opportunities before us. They also illuminated

opportunities to deepen our work in key areas. Below you will see the external feedback on NBB’s

sustainability efforts to date as well as recurring themes that arose throughout the majority of the 19

interviews. More detailed insights can be found in Section 7.5.


3.1 WHAT WE ARE DOING RIGHT FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Overall, respondents viewed New Belgium as a leader with regards to sustainability. In particular,

stakeholders were impressed by the company’s clear, effective, and fun communication around

sustainability efforts, as well as the strong workplace culture stemming from employee ownership. The

authenticity of New Belgium’s approach was also repeatedly emphasized by stakeholders ranging from

those very familiar with the business, to those only somewhat familiar with the company, but more

broadly knowledgeable of the industry and sustainability issues in general.

Many stakeholders gave specific examples of pioneering practices by other businesses, or noted broader

industry/business trends. Of these examples, the majority referred to innovative external communication

strategies around sustainability efforts. The other most common themes in order of recurrence included

sourcing efforts, packaging/recycling initiatives, the closing of resource loops, and water resource

management initiatives.

What is New Belgium doing well in regards to sustainability?

Communication and transparency around susta inabi l i ty efforts 17

Sustainabi l i ty leadership 15

Integrating / imbedding susta inabi l i ty into the core / cul ture of the bus iness 13

Waste divers ion and recycl ing goals 10

Metrics / analytics 8

Water use reduction / management 8

Local engagement 7

Active transportation advocacy 6

Healthy work environment / employee engagement 5

Alternative energy investments 5

Employee owned 4

Innovation 4

Supply chain susta inabi l i ty 4

Col laborations 4

B Corp 4

Infographics , charts , imagery 3

Pol i tica l / pol icy advocacy 3

Us ing byproducts 2

Efficiency 2


3.2 WHAT WE COULD BE DOING BETTER

To close the survey, one question was asked to nearly every respondent: “If you were CEO of New Belgium,

what is one thing you would do to help us be more sustainable?” This intentionally open-ended question

elicited a number of insightful, innovative, and cross-cutting suggestions (Table 3). Recommendations to

increase collaboration and stakeholder engagement, however, were by far the most common response.

There was a shared sentiment that since New Belgium has done so well at developing industry-leading

practices for sourcing, employee engagement, and energy and resource management, amongst others, it

would be appropriate for the brewery to focus on raising the standard for the industry as a whole. While

recommendations for exactly how to engage or what issue to focus on varied, there seemed to be a

common recognition that due to the brewery’s position as a seasoned leader, the next place to go in terms

of innovation is facilitating discourse, collaboration, and partnerships between industry stakeholders.

If you were CEO of New Belgium, what is one thing you would do to

help us be more sustainable?

Collaboration / stakeholder engagement 23

Focus on water 10

Innovate 10

Help others improve 9

Enhancing sustainability communications 9

Leverage employee network 9

Focus on supply chain 9

Refillable bottles / fix glass & can recycling 7

Focus on agriculture 7

Set aspirational goals 4

Source locally 4

Focus on energy 4

Political advocacy 3

GHG accounting / management 3

Focus on health and wellness 2

Take a value chain approach 2


4.0 TARGET AREAS & METRICS

As many of us working in organizations know, we manage what we measure. Following are the target

areas we identified and the metrics we are using to track our progress.

4.1 CERTIFED B CORPORATION - IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Goal: Maintain score of 140 or higher

New Belgium is a certified B Corporation. Being a B Corp means

you have passed through a rigorous certification process that

verifies the company is delivering benefit to coworkers,

communities, and the environment. The lengthy assessment

provides scores for our business practices that are otherwise

difficult to quantify. These scores can then be compared to

consistent benchmarks so that we gain a better sense of our

performance in these areas compared to other companies.

4.2 WATER

Goal: Reduce water use per barrel to 3.5:1 by 2015

Water is the main ingredient in beer, and a healthy &

reliable watershed is something that we care about, as

both brewery owners and responsible community

members.

Water conservation continually challenges us: hoppier

beers in our portfolio, a larger variety of beers overall, and

a demand for more bottles than kegs have all resulted in

a decrease in our water efficiency in recent years. We are

working hard to reverse that trend, however, and just

installed over 20 water submeters throughout our facility

so that we can identify and address areas for water

efficiency improvement in our production process.


4.3 WASTE

Goal: Reduce waste sent to landfill to 54g/HL by 2018

In 2014, we diverted 99.8% of our waste from the

landfill. However, there is still more to do. We are

constantly looking at ways to close loops and, more

importantly, to eliminate waste generated in the first

place. After all, there is no waste in nature. In natural

ecosystems, one creature’s waste is another’s food.

We're working hard to divert, reuse or eliminate

waste whenever we can. These practices help to

minimize ecosystem damage from resource

extraction and aid in preserving our ecosystems for

future generations.

We are currently in the midst of a brewery-wide

waste stream audit, with hopes to become a certified

Zero Waste facility. We are diving deeper into the

fate of our recycled products with the help of Waste

Not Recycling.

4.4 GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Goal: Reduce Scope 1 & 2 CO2e per hectoliter of beer sold by 25% by 2015

The Earth’s climate is changing, and almost all scientists agree that humans are the cause. The natural

resources that make our lives and businesses possible (water, soil, plants) are all held in a delicate balance,

one that is in our best interest to maintain. These changes to the climate are due to increased levels of

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These gases used to be tucked underground in the form of fossil fuels.

Through unearthing oil and gas to power our cars, heat our homes, and manufacture all the things we

enjoy each day (including beer), they are now in the atmosphere where they hold heat.

Contributing to climate change means being accountable. We’re trying to get a better idea of where we

are releasing GHGs at our brewery, and in what quantities, so we can find opportunities to decrease the

emissions. By following globally accepted guidelines (WRI’s GHG Protocol and BIER’s Beverage Sector

Guidance) for our GHG Accounting, we have estimates for the total emissions associated with making and

delivering our beer. The two graphics below illustrate what our emission quantities are per HL of beer,

and where our emissions are coming from.

http://www.waste-not.com/

http://www.waste-not.com/


We also reference our Carbon Footprint study of a 6-pack of Fat Tire, commissioned in response to our

SMS in 2007. This study idetified the largest GHG contributors throughout the lifecycle of our beer. This

was an eye-opening exercise as it helped us to understand that the impact in our value chain was much

larger than our own operations which inspired a greater focus on work outside our own walls. It’s

important to note that this study followed high standards at its time. However, it was prior to the wide

adoption of WRI’s GHG Protocol and the creation of BIER’s Beverage Sector Guidance. This study should

only be referenced while understanding its slight deviations from the protocols. For example, one major

shift in an updated study would show that refrigeration is 2nd to glass.

4.5 ENERGY

Goal: Reduce energy intensity 10% from 2008 to 2018

New Belgium uses both electricity and natural

gas to power our operations. Energy efficiency

has been a passion of ours since our founding

days. In fact, our founders had a homemade

heat exchanger atop the boiler in their

basement, made of copper piping and a tin

trashcan. Today our systems are more

sophisticated, of course, and the investments

we’ve made since our early days to save energy

are paying off still today. As our brewery in Fort

Collins has neared capacity, our energy use is

increasingly efficient. So much so that we’ve

http://www.newbelgium.com/Files/the-carbon-footprint-of-fat-tire-amber-ale-2008-public-dist-rfs.pdf


already surpassed our 2018 goal. We are establishing new goals in 2015 that will continue to drive our

energy reductions in Fort Collins and incorporate our new Asheville facility.

4.6 INTERNAL ENERGY TAX - INVESTMENTS IN SUSTAINABILITY

Goal: Reserve 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour of purchased electricity + the savings from the

natural gas tax rebate to be spent on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and water

reduction projects.

As of January 1, 2013, we started charging ourselves a per-kilowatt-hour tax on our purchased electricity

consumption, at the same rate that we were previously charged by the Fort Collins Utilities Green Energy

Program. This money is allocated according to the strategy and discretion of the Natural Resource

Management Team (NRMT), a cross-functional group comprised of engineers, operators, and

sustainability professionals who directly influence our utility usage. By reserving these funds, we come

closer to paying for externalities, or the “true cost” of energy delivered to our brewery. This money is

invested in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water reduction projects to decrease our

dependency on unsustainable forms of energy. In 2015, we reserved a portion of the tax and invited

coworkers to share their ideas with the potential for having them funded. Read more about the launch of

Internal Energy Tax here on our blog.

4.7 SHOWING BUSINESS CAN BE A FORCE FOR GOOD

Goal: 40 significant business role model activities per year (advocacy, public speaking, earned media)

Even if New Belgium achieves zero-waste, carbon-neutral operations using 100% on-site renewable

energy, we won’t have made a significant physical impact on the global environmental challenges facing

our planet today. In the grand scheme, we are but a drop in the bucket. We have a hip and fun platform

– beer culture – to turn the splash from that drop into a far-reaching ripple. If we can use this platform

for advocating sustainability that migrates out through our supply chain, distribution chain, our industry

peers, and our consumers, then we will be leveraging our influence.

ADVOCACY

New Belgium Brewing advocates for sound public policy on issues that align with our values. Using

our voice in the public arena is one way that we can kindle social, environmental and cultural

change. We engage in issues from clean water to living wages because they are important to our

business, our communities, and ultimately the planet. Our Mission specifically says that we

“manifest our love and talent by crafting our customers’ favorite brands and proving business can

be a force for good.”

PUBLIC SPEAKING & EARNED MEDIA

http://www.newbelgium.com/sustainability/stories/13-01-17/Developing-an-internal-electricity-tax.aspx


Speaking opportunities and earned media help NBB share our sustainability practices and our

business model with other companies in the hope that it will inspire the notion that companies

do well by doing good.

LEVERAGING DIGITAL MEDIA

New Belgium reaches a vast audience. Using our playful voice, we have the opportunity to inspire

a mindset of sustainability amongst our beer drinkers. We live by Guy Dauncey’s quote, “If it’s not

fun, it’s not sustainable.” By sharing our sustainability efforts in brief and playful ways, always

reverent towards “beer mode” – the mind state we enjoy while drinking beer, we can connect

important and exciting topics like these to our beloved beer drinkers.

Example of monthly reporting:

4.8 PHILANTHROPY

Goal: Donate 1% of revenue to environmentally-focused non-profits, verified by 1% For

the Planet.

Partnering with non-profit organizations and community involvement have always been a part of New

Belgium. In 1995 when the philanthropy program was conceived, we began donating $1 for every barrel


of beer sold to non-profit organizations in the communities where we sell our beers. This effort spurred

the establishment of a philanthropy committee that, to this day, remains the backbone of the program.

This inter-departmental group, open to all interested coworkers, researches, reviews and allocates funds

to worthy organizations doing important work across our areas of distribution. Since its inception, New

Belgium Brewing has donated $7 million through our grant programs and in 2014 co-workers donated

over 2500 hours of volunteer time to their community. See an example of our grant dollars at work -

HERE. In addition to grants, we donate a fair amount of product and Fat Tire bicycles throughout the

year. In total, our donations and grants add up to over 1% of our revenue (and an even higher

percentage of profits.) Our 1% For the Planet certification verifies these donations to environmentally-

focused non-profits vetted by the certification.

PHILANTHROPIC AREAS OF FOCUS

Sustainable Agriculture

Beer is an agricultural product, born from nutritious soil, water, and hard-working hands. New

Belgium Brewing purchases barley, hops, and various spices primarily from the United States and

Canada, as well as a very small amount from abroad. Our business depends on these high quality,

affordable, and reliable ingredients to make the delicious beer we all enjoy. Because of this, we value

a vibrant and complete ecosystem to support our livelihoods and great beer for many generations

to come.

Agriculture accounts for the majority of water consumed by human-based activity on the planet, and

it emits significant greenhouse gas emissions. Through our charitable contributions and work with

our suppliers, we hope to do our part in encouraging agriculture to become more sustainable and

even regenerative.

We are in support of Sustainable Agriculture projects that:

Build and maintain healthy and resilient soil Protect and conserve clean and abundant water

http://www.newbelgium.com/Community/Blog/15-01-28/The-Wetlands-Initiative.aspx




Create a healthy working environment for farmers, their families, their communities and the wildlife with which they share their land

Help young farmers overcome barriers to entering this profession Build collaborative relationships between farmers and suppliers Promote urban farming in low income areas or food deserts

Water Conservation & Restoration

The communities in which we brew our beer are intrinsically bound to great American rivers: the

Cache la Poudre in Fort Collins, CO and the French Broad River in Asheville, NC. Access to clean water

is a (threatened) basic human right, and the effects of climate change exacerbate the aridity of the

West. Since water makes up over 90% of our beer, we approach our role as stewards of these rivers

sincerely. We aim to take only what we need and return any excess water as clean as we got it. This

means reducing our water consumption wherever we can and avoiding the use of toxic cleaning

agents or anything else that might compromise the purity of the water as it leaves our facility.

Of course, we can do everything within our power to reduce the quantity and increase the quality of

the water we use, but that alone won’t preserve and rebuild the country’s many threatened rivers.

We are a small splash in a giant pond, and we want to make our splash ripples.

We are in support of Water Conservation and Restoration projects that:

Support public policy and advocacy Engage restoration activities Encourage conservation Focus on ecological health and biodiversity

Sensible Transportation & Bicycle Advocacy

We like bikes! The bicycle is near and dear to our New Belgium hearts, as you might notice from the

label of our flagship beer, Fat Tire. Not only is the bicycle all kinds of fun to ride but it keeps us

healthy, and, when ridden in place of a car, it is better for the planet. Our involvement in Asheville

is also bringing pedestrian transportation issues to the fore.

We are in support of Sensible Transportation projects that:

Support bike shops and bike loaning programs Provide low income bike donations/earn-a-bike projects Educate young riders through safe routes to school Create infrastructure that provides safe usage of roads for pedestrians and cyclists Support alternative transportation including walking, biking, and commuter services


5.0 MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The 2007 SMS was a great start to managing our

sustainability goals. And, since then, two

opportunities for improvement have come to

light. (1) Functional-level accountability. Creating

sub-goals can give functional teams the ability to

own part of the total reduction goal, making our

efforts broader reaching and more effective. Each

functional team set quantitative and/or

qualitative goals to be able to track their own

improvements. This has already and will continue

to drive further action. (2) Succession-proof. In

2007 we did not have an explicit systemized tool

to ensure the things we implemented were going

to remain intact as turnover and functional

moving around occurred. By creating a schedule of

annual meetings with rolling agendas we are

ensuring continued progress in sustainability

within the functional groups, regardless of who is

in the position year to year.

Conversations, goals, and ongoing projects will be

tracked in a OneNote notebook that will be made available to all coworkers through our internal website,

the Mothernet.


6.0 NEXT STEPS

6.1 EXECUTIVE LEVEL ACCOUNTABILITY We do not have formal executive level accountability for actual reductions. We will use this SMS to explore

a Board-level commitment to reaching the goals set forth in this document, perhaps to the point of tying

the goals to executive performance reviews. Having well-researched goals set and integrated into

strategic planning is an important first step. Now we can build toward holding ourselves accountable for

reaching those goals.

6.2 UPDATE UTILTIY METRICS SET TO EXPIRE IN 2015 Some of our metrics will expire in 2015 and we will be adding a second facility in Asheville, North

Carolina this year as well. Further, opportunities to set “context-based” goals have become more

apparent to us. The time is right this year to update our water, energy, and waste metrics to align with


our commitment to continuously improve our impact in the world.

6.3 ENSURE EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT BETWEEN TWO SITES In 2015, New Belgium will become a multi-city company with breweries in Fort Collins, Colorado and

Asheville, North Carolina. We will further explore ways in which our Sustainability Management System

lives on at and is enhanced by a second site. Sustainability event will be held in Asheville in April 2016.


7.0 APPENDICES

7.1 SUSTAINABILITIY REPORT All sustainability reporting, including carbon footprint studies, now lives on our website. A wealth of

information can be found at www.newbelgium.com/sustainability .

7.2 FOUNDATIONS: BUILDING A CULTURE OF SUSTAINBILITY Our ability to achieve our sustainability goals is based largely on the engagement of our coworkers from

entry level to executive, across all brewery functions and tenures. Without their commitment, their

passion, and their ability to act up on it here, we would see only a fraction of the progress that we have

realized to date.

Much of the momentum we’ve experienced in sustainability can be attributed to the expression of these

values in our company vision and our short- and long-term strategies. This is the foundation of building a

culture of sustainability. Our purpose, our core values and beliefs, our mission statement, and our

company strategy all incorporate language that speaks to our aim to be a force for good in the world.

Every year, we shut down operations and sales and come together as a whole company. Here we

contribute to the strategic direction for the coming year. In the following months, we create

departmental initiatives and personal initiatives, all of which must be linked in our internal software to a

core value and belief. This provides each coworker a clear line of sight between their daily actions and

New Belgium’s ultimate goals, and it influences daily behavior. In this way, we can bring our high-

minded notions into a tangible reality.

NEW BELGIUM PURPOSE

To manifest our love and talent by crafting our customers' favorite brands and proving business can be a

force for good.

NEW BELGIUM CORE VALUES & BELIEFS

Remembering that we are incredibly lucky to create something fine that enhances people's lives while surpassing our consumers' expectations.

Producing world-class beers.

Promoting beer culture and the responsible enjoyment of beer.

Kindling social, environmental and cultural change as a business role model.

Environmental stewardship: Honoring nature at every turn of the business.

Cultivating potential through learning, high involvement culture, and the pursuit of opportunities.

Balancing the myriad needs of the company, our coworkers and their families.

Trusting each other and committing to authentic relationships and communications.

Continuous, innovative quality and efficiency improvements.

Having fun.

http://www.newbelgium.com/sustainability


7.3 SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING GUIDELINES Through action and advocacy, New Belgium strives to be a sustainable business role model, and we prefer

vendors who are doing the same. The world is beginning to expect that providers of goods and services

be accountable for the impact of sourcing, making, and selling their products. So, not only is sustainable

procurement the ethical thing to do, it is strategically advantageous as well. We look to partner with

companies who:

Measure and minimize the environmental footprint of their operations and products by looking at transportation, packaging, waste, energy, toxic substances, water, and CO2 emissions.

Create a high-involvement corporate culture which values and rewards everyone’s contributions.

Have a management system which demonstrates environmental commitment by setting goals and regular reporting.

Are working with others to improve the sustainability of their industry.

The questions below reflect some of the inquiries we make of our vendors in order to understand how

sustainability is built into their business.

Supply Chain

How do you manage your supply chain to ensure environmental and social responsibility?

How do you minimize your packaging? Is your packaging sustainably sourced or does it have positive environmental attributes?

Do you have sustainable and/or social procurement policies?

Have you quantified your CO2 footprint throughout your product lifecycle?

How do you ensure the sustainability of the products we buy from you? What measures do you take to promote or enhance the sustainability of the products we buy from you?

How do you monitor the employment practices of your manufacturers and/or suppliers?

How do you ensure the working and living conditions of migrant or factory laborers?

Does our business with you support NBB’s local economy?

Manufacturing & Administration

What does your company do in its day-to-day operations to reduce negative and increase positive

environmental impacts?

Do your products have positive environmental attributes?

Have you quantified your CO2 footprint for your operations?

Do you have goals to reduce your use of raw material inputs?

Do you use alternative energy?

Do you have energy efficiency goals?

Do you have water use reduction goals?

Do you have toxic material inputs?

Do you use natural or non-toxic facilities management practices (e.g., pest, cleaning, surface treatments)


Transportation

What are you doing to minimize the transportation impacts of your supplies and products?

Where do our supplies originate? How are they shipped to you?

Are our supplies shipped by boat, rail, air or truck?

Do you maximize loads?

Do you use alternative transportation fuels?

Waste

What are you doing to close the loop and minimize waste to landfill?

What is your policy regarding waste management? Do you recycle?

Do you have waste minimization goals?

Do you use paperless invoicing and electronic funds transfer?

Company Culture

Are our cultures compatible?

Do you provide health insurance for your employees? Paid time off?

Do you have an ESOP or other retirement or equity-sharing plan? A profit-sharing plan?

Do people like to work for your company? How do you honor their contributions?

Certifications & Reporting

Are you a member of any environmental organizations (e.g., USGBC, RPA-100%, SPC, etc.)

Do you have independent third-party certification or recognition of your sustainable practices? (e.g., B Corp, FSC, 1%FTP, EPA Smart Ways, local or state programs, World Blu, Fortune Magazine, etc.)

Do you have either an SMS or EMS?

Do you publicly disclose environmental impacts, goals and activities through regular reporting?

Advocacy

What actions are you taking to encourage others to reduce their environmental impacts? How

are you working outside of your regular business operations to “do the right thing”?

Are you partnering with others in your industry or supply chain to establish best practices?

Do you have any community outreach programs?

Do you support your employees in their sustainability efforts (e.g., recycling, carpooling, sponsoring nonprofits, etc.)?

How can your customers help you reduce your negative environmental impacts?


7.4 SUSTAINABILITY CHECKLIST FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT

At New Belgium we have a project management system, Bright Ideas, which tracks all projects requiring

over $5,000 or 40 hours of work to implement. All coworkers are invited to submit ideas on established

templates. The Bright Ideas committee then reviews those submissions and sends them to subsequent

phases if they show merit. The phases of this process are:

1. Define Phase

2. Measure / Analyze Phase

3. Budgetary Phase

4. Execution Phase

5. Closeout Phase

In 2013, we added the following sustainability questionnaire template to the Closeout Phase. In 2014, during the

Internal Stakeholder Review, the obvious idea came to light that we should be asking these questions at the

beginning of the project in addition to the completion. With a simple move, we also added the sustainability

questionnaire template to the Measure / Analyze Phase. Now project managers when analyzing the financial and

material viability of the project, they are also thinking about the impact the project will have on our reduction goals.

Measure Analyze Completion Form Project Title:

[Select Date]

Project Definition/Scope Details will come later, so use this section to highlight briefly how the project came to be.

Design Concept

Provide a high-level overview of the design concept. If you completed testing in MA, what were the

results and how did they affected the design? What other courses of action were considered as this

project was designed?

Note: To delete any tip (such as this) just click it and start typing. If you’re not yet ready to add your

own text, just click a tip and press spacebar to remove it.

Project Objectives

List specific project objectives defined in terms of major deliverables/ outcomes and how each will be

measured.

Project Boundaries


List project boundaries or excluded areas that you believe stakeholders might assume are included in

the scope, but are not. The more specific you are, the less opportunity there is for misunderstanding

at a later stage in the project.

Business Case Describe the effect the project will have on the business.

Business Benefits

What business benefits do you expect the project to deliver? Include information on how these

benefits will be measured.

Natural Resource Efficiency Impacts

Describe the effect the project will have on our natural resource efficiency (consumption per barrel of

beer packaged). If you need help answering these questions, please contact

[email protected]. Thank you!

(i) How will this project affect progress towards our natural resource goals?

• WATER (HL water / HL beer): BASELINE=3.99 /// 2013 =4.31 /// 2015 GOAL=3.50

• ENERGY (MJ / HL): BASELINE=157 /// 2013 =136 /// 2018 GOAL=141

• GHG (kg CO2e / HL): BASELINE=18 /// 2013 =16 /// 2015 GOAL=14

• LANDFILL (g waste / HL): BASELINE=72 /// 2013 =56 /// 2018 GOAL=54

RESOURCE

TOTAL CONSUMPTION: More Less Same n/a EFFICIENCY: Better Worse Same n/a

Please describe how the project will influence our efficiency (per barrel usage) of the resource. Describe any capital constraints OR report on any ROIs where resource reduction was identified in Define.

Electricity

Water

[email protected]


DAW

Natural Gas

Packaging Materials

Transportation (feedstock type + emissions per mile) [CONTACT RESOURCE: Christine Biegert, Fleet Manager]

Packaging Materials Reduction Goals [CONTACT RESOURCES: Dave Larsen, Dana Villeneuve]

General Comments

Please describe any parts of the project that were designed in a notably innovative or sustainable fashion!

Risks

Identify the risks within the project. For each risk, describe what you are going to do to mitigate,

manage, or accept.

http://www.newbelgium.com/files/sustainability/NBBPackagingReductionGoals2014.pdf


Roles and Responsibilities Continue to build your project team.

Project Manager

Project Manager (PM): ensures the project is delivered on time, to budget and to the required quality

standard. She or he is also responsible for managing the work of consultants, allocating and utilizing

resources in an efficient manner and maintaining a cooperative, motivated and successful team. The

PM must be able to understand project detail and manage from the overall project perspective while

incorporating a solid knowledge of project management practices.

Please note, a single project cannot have the same coworker as both Business Sponsor and PM.

Identify the Engineering Project Manager:

☐Bethany Beers

☐ Brian Gosnell

☐ Bruce Clark

☐ Chris Keogan

☐ Chris McCombs

☐ Craig Skinner

☐ David Benavidez

☐ Don Rich

☐ Josh Nabours

☐ Marc Finer

☐ Mark Fischer

Construction Manager

Identify the project's Construction Manager (if applicable)

☐ Todd Miller

☐ Craig Lubbers

Initial Project Plan Provide broad information about how the project will be implemented. This overview will be supported by more detailed project planning documents as the project proceeds.

High-level Project Costs

Provide a high-level breakdown of project costs. Modify and add more details to the basic table

below. Include and identify with an (*) any funds that have already been approved. Also identify the

timeline; whether the expense will occur prior to moving to the Execution Phase.

Project Cost Category Pre-Execution (MA/Budgetary)

Execution

Professional Fees

Drawings/Engineering

Equipment/Hardware

Labor


Other (please identify)

Total

Milestone Schedule

Provide an initial report of major tasks and the estimated time involved for the remainder of the

project. Include the following Milestones: Budgetary, Pre-Construction, Construction, Commissioning,

and Closeout.

Project Milestones Duration (days) Start Finish

Budgetary

Pre-Construction

Construction

Commissioning

Closeout

Workday Duration Calculator

Scheduling Requirements

Is there an externally, or internally, driven completion date (or other limitation) for this project? If so,

please indicate and explain.

http://www.timeanddate.com/date/workdays.html?y1=2014&m1=8&d1=21&y2=2014&m1=8&d1=21


7.5 EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER REVIEW ABBREVIATED REPORT

2015 EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER REVIEW

Introduction Understanding the health of the natural resources, our beer drinkers, and the communities that make our business possible is a daily part of our jobs on the Sustainability Team at New Belgium Brewing. We regularly consult with experts and study articles and reports on the topics. However, it can be helpful to formalize this process from time to time to be sure we are focusing our efforts toward the most relevant and effective projects. We are currently digesting volumes of insightful feedback we received throughout the review process. The following is a summary of the external stakeholder review process and a small sampling of the results that has been prepared by Logan McCoy, a graduate student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the Yale School of Management, who assisted in performing the review.

Process Overview During the summer of 2015, New Belgium Brewing conducted reviews with their vendors, distributors and

accounts, beer drinkers, grant recipients, peer businesses and consultants, as well as representatives from

the communities of Fort Collins and Asheville, graduate students studying business and the environment,

and non-profit organizations that served as a voice for various natural resources, ecosystems, and

communities. In total, 1,422 digital surveys were collected, and 37 phone or in-person reviews were

performed. Table 1 outlines survey respondents by stakeholder group and industry expertise /

perspective.

In order to capture feedback that could be compared between stakeholder groups, several standardized

questions were asked to most of the survey respondents. Additionally, certain questions were tailored to

particular stakeholder groups or specific organizations in an attempt to capture unique insights pertaining

to an explicit aspect of the brewery’s business. Some of the topics covered throughout the review included

packaging & waste management, watershed stewardship & water resource management, agriculture,

transportation, sourcing, community engagement, and the brewery’s grant program.

Many nuanced insights were gathered that can help inform the development of individual relationships

or specific pathways for action in the future. There were also several recurring themes or sentiments that

surfaced through the review process. These have been analyzed through quantitative analyses of

repeated words or phrases across stakeholder groups for various open-ended questions, as well as

summarized below.


Stakeholder Group Industry Expertise / Perspective

8 Vendors

Aluminum cans Facility equipment

Paperboard / cardboard Glass bottles

Malt Recycling management

Hops

11 Non-profit/government

organizations

Packaging Social/environmental responsibility

Water resource management Climate change

Poudre River French Broad River

Hops Agriculture

Transportation

15 Peers & Consultants

Environmental consulting B Corp

Sustainability consulting Beer industry

Communications strategy Energy consulting

Environmental architecture Architecture

B Corp peer Industry peer

Metrics and reporting Media agency

11 Grant Recipients

Bicycle and pedestrian advocacy Environmental conservation/restoration

Environmental education Watershed restoration/protection

Agriculture Outdoor education

Community farming

3 Community-representing Organizations Asheville

Fort Collins

6 Distributors & Accounts Beer Industry

1366 Beer Drinkers Featured comments: Sarah Nilles, Michael Narracci, Nikki Tobias

33 Graduate Students & Future Sustainability

Leaders Featured comments: Mike Johnson, Jake Reznick, Oscar Benjamin

Table 1: Stakeholder groups (with associated industry expertise or perspective) included in external review

Results Summary Overall, respondents viewed New Belgium as a leader with regards to sustainability. In particular,

stakeholders were impressed by the company’s clear, effective, and fun communication around

sustainability efforts, as well as the strong workplace culture stemming from employee ownership. The

authenticity of New Belgium’s approach was also repeatedly emphasized by stakeholders ranging from

those very familiar with the business, to those only somewhat familiar with the company, but more

broadly knowledgeable of the industry and sustainability issues in general.

Many stakeholders gave specific examples of pioneering practices by other businesses, or noted broader

industry/business trends. Of these examples, the majority referred to innovative external communication

strategies around sustainability efforts. The other most common themes in order of recurrence included

sourcing efforts, packaging/recycling initiatives, the closing of resource loops, and water resource

management initiatives.


Table 2: What is New Belgium doing well in regards to sustainability? Popular words or themes between respondents are listed in order of recurrence

Packaging & Waste Management A number of respondents were asked questions pertaining specifically to packaging sustainability and

waste management. Overall, New Belgium was viewed as leader in these areas, and several opportunities

were highlighted to make further improvements. Some of these included using packaging to champion

the FSC certification scheme, convening stakeholders to foster more sustainable sourcing of wood fibers

in the Southeastern U.S., aligning industry peers and partners to increase recycling rates, and looking into

the piloting of a refillable glass bottle system in the U.S.

What is New Belgium doing well in regards to sustainability?

Communication and transparency around susta inabi l i ty efforts 17

Sustainabi l i ty leadership 15

Integrating / imbedding susta inabi l i ty into the core / cul ture of the bus iness 13

Waste divers ion and recycl ing goals 10

Metrics / analytics 8

Water use reduction / management 8

Local engagement 7

Active transportation advocacy 6

Healthy work environment / employee engagement 5

Alternative energy investments 5

Employee owned 4

Innovation 4

Supply chain susta inabi l i ty 4

Col laborations 4

B Corp 4

Infographics , charts , imagery 3

Pol i tica l / pol icy advocacy 3

Us ing byproducts 2

Efficiency 2


Figure 1: How would you grade New Belgium's efforts in fostering packaging sustainability?

Watershed Stewardship & Water Resource Management Community representatives and non-profit partners focused on watershed issues were asked about New

Belgium’s watershed stewardship and water resource management. In both the communities of Fort

Collins and Asheville, the company’s impact on local watersheds was viewed as positive. Stakeholders also

outlined opportunities to enhance responsible water management and watershed resiliency, including

the purchasing of surge tanks in the Fort Collins brewery and a focus on stream bank enhancement in

Asheville, among others.

Agriculture Many stakeholders were asked to comment on ways in which New Belgium can help drive forward more

sustainable farming practices. In addition to this specific question, the issue of agriculture came up

repeatedly in numerous reviews. Respondents throughout nearly every stakeholder group cited the

opportunity for New Belgium to engage at a deeper level within its supply chain. This included

recommendations by multiple vendors to convene farmers and industry peers in working groups to

develop the definition of sustainability as it pertains to agriculture. The ability to facilitate those

discussions may be enhanced by leveraging the resources and network of B Lab and B Corp certification

as well as the standards set forth by Salmon Safe certification – two opportunities that surfaced during

the review process.

Vendor Insights Vendors were asked “To what degree has New Belgium’s sourcing standards impacted your overall

sustainability practices?” (Figure 2) Though two of five respondents reported no impact, they noted this

was not due to a lack of stringency on New Belgium’s part. Rather, they stated they were already held to

an equally high standard by a number of their other customers.

0

1

2

3

4

Collaborative andinfluential industry

leader

Slightly aboveaverage

Average Industry laggard

Nu

mb

er o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

How would you grade New Belgium's efforts in fostering packaging sustainability?


Figure 2: To what degree has New Belgium's sourcing standards impacted your overall sustainability practices?

Distributor & Account Insights Distributors and accounts were asked if they were familiar with B Corp certification, and if so, how

important it was that their suppliers were certified. It was interesting to note that out of seven

respondents, only one knew what B Corp certification was, and although he thought it was a “neat

concept”, he reported it was not significant that his suppliers were certified.

Community & City Insights Stakeholders representing the communities of Fort Collins and Asheville had emphatically positive

feedback regarding New Belgium’s work as a community partner and leader. The question was posed,

“On a scale of 1 to 5 (1=sustainability laggard to 5=highly effective and collaborative sustainability leader

and a positive influence in the community), with respect to other businesses, to what degree is New

Belgium a sustainability leader within the community?” New Belgium received an average score of 4.45.

Both city officials and members of a community organization in the city of Asheville also urged New

Belgium to continue to hire locally and foster workforce development programs that would serve to

benefit the entire community.

Peer & Consultant Insights Depending on the particular group’s area of expertise, peers and consultants were asked questions on a

range of topics. Respondents within this stakeholder group were overall very impressed with New

Belgium’s legacy of innovation, workplace culture, and industry-leading sustainability efforts. Many urged

New Belgium to take on a more external-facing leadership role through collaborations and partnerships

with other organizations throughout the industry to raise standards on issues such as agriculture, recycling

and water resource management.

Grant Recipient Insights Grant recipient organizations were specifically asked about the ease of the grant application process

(Figure 3) and the effectiveness of New Belgium as a supporting organization (Figure 5). Every respondent

had positive feedback regarding each of these aspects, but there were also many specific

0

1

2

Negative Impact No Impact Slight positive impact Significant positiveimpact

# o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

To what degree has New Belgium's sourcing standards impacted your overall sustainability practices?


recommendations on how to make enhancements. It is also worth noting that 64% of respondents did

not feel that New Belgium’s grant program was known throughout the grant recipient organization’s

external community (Figure 4).

Figure 3: How would you rate the ease of New Belgium's grant application process?

Figure 4: How well would you say New Belgium's grant program is known within your community?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Extremelycumbersome andtime consuming.

Slightly morecomplicated than

most.

Pretty standard. Relatively simple. What a breeze!

# R

esp

on

den

ts

How would you rate the ease of New Belgium's grant application process?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

I'm probably the onlyone.

Fundraising folks andthe organization's

leadership are aware.

Our entire staff knowsabout NBB's grant

program.

NBB's grant program isknown across our entire

organization andthroughout our external

community.

# o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

How well would you say New Belgium's grant program is known within your community?


Figure 5: How helpful has New Belgium been in collaborating with and/or creating a positive impact for your organization?

Graduate Student / Future Sustainability Leader Insights Graduate students were asked, “To what degree do you feel New Belgium is a business leader with respect

to sustainability?” (Figure 6) A number of other useful insights were gathered from this stakeholder group.

A few particularly interesting quotes are included below.

“We are here for the beer, but that comes with a social responsibility. Continue to innovate and keep re-

assessing processes that may lead to improvements. Challenge other breweries to step it up as well. Make

this public, but do it in a way that is positive. At the same time, partner with smaller, single-site local

breweries to help them achieve the economies of scale required to have the "luxury" to do things in a

sustainable way that might cost more in the startup phase.”

“I would redesign New Belgium labels and cans with visuals of the supply chain. Maybe with facts about

the industry (and of course NB's progress) listed on different cans like Snapple Caps? I believe that the

more people understand what goes into their products, if they can visualize those inputs, the more likely

they are to start asking questions. Driving both sustainability and business for NB.”

“Collaborate with industry peers and the supply chain. Differentiating New Belgium products on

sustainability performance is very difficult because consumers are taste and price sensitive. Neither taste

nor price are easily improved by sustainability. If New Belgium can encourage the industry to move

together it will distribute the cost of sustainability initiatives. This is particularly true for a relatively small

business like New Belgium. Bottle suppliers are more likely to innovate their materials if the whole industry

is demanding it, rather than one company.”

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

New Belgium has beenvery difficult to work

with in the past.

Our efforts tocollaborate have had

relatively little traction.

New Belgium has beena pretty supportive

partner.

We're ecstatic aboutthe level of support andcollaboration that has

come from NewBelgium!

# o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

How helpful has New Belgium been in collaborating with and/or creating a positive impact for your

organization?


Figure 6: To what degree do you feel New Belgium is a business leader with respect to sustainability?

Beer Drinker Insights Beer drinkers also responded to a range of issues and submitted insightful feedback on their opinion of

New Belgium’s efforts in sustainability, their favorite aspects of the brewery, and examples of

sustainability leadership exhibited by other companies. Examples of the feedback received are included

in the quotes below.

“I like that you are thinking planet first while brewing a top notch beer and supporting your employees

and the communities you are in.”

“Besides the solar output? Nearly everything I can think of. I cannot believe the amount of effort and

programs New Belgium has in place to make sustainability a priority as it should be.”

“Your tours indicate that you have established a proactive and conscientious workplace culture that

considers more than the almighty dollar in the production of a fine product. Your facilities reflect efforts

to use less environmentally demanding/degrading methods and your local events reflect a desire to

engage with your community and local environment. Kudos!”

Universal closing question To close the survey, one question was asked to nearly every respondent: “If you were CEO of New Belgium,

what is one thing you would do to help us be more sustainable?” This intentionally open-ended question

elicited a number of insightful, innovative, and cross-cutting suggestions (Table 3). Recommendations to

increase collaboration and stakeholder engagement, however, were by far the most common response.

There was a shared sentiment that since New Belgium has done so well at developing industry-leading

practices for sourcing, employee engagement, and energy and resource management, amongst others, it

would be appropriate for the brewery to focus on raising the standard for the industry as a whole. While

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

To what degree do you feel New Belgium is a business leader with respect to sustainability?

Sustainability laggard

Average business

Slightly above average business

Sustainability leader

Highly collaborative, innovative, andeffective sustainability leader


recommendations for exactly how to engage or what issue to focus on varied, there seemed to be a

common recognition that due to the brewery’s position as a seasoned leader, the next place to go in terms

of innovation is facilitating discourse, collaboration, and partnerships between industry stakeholders.

Table 3: If you were CEO of New Belgium, what is one thing you would do to help us be more sustainable? Popular words or themes between respondents are listed in order of recurrence.

Summary In summary, New Belgium Brewing Company is viewed as an industry leader with regards to sustainability

throughout its stakeholder community. In particular, the company is recognized for its progressive and

highly accessible form of communication around sustainability goals and performance, its goal-setting

around resource use efficiency, its supply chain and waste management, its employee ownership, and its

community support and engagement. This is very affirming, as it is always good to know what New

Belgium has been working on is relevant to its stakeholders. As New Belgium had hoped, throughout this

process, numerous opportunities for growth and improvement were identified, ranging from small

potential changes in interactions with vendors or grant recipients, to larger, more ambitious undertakings

that would require institutional buy-in and the strategic allocation of resources. Based on similarities in

feedback that spanned stakeholder groups, the next level of sustainability leadership could be achieved

by driving initiatives with an external focus in which the brewery convenes stakeholders around an

audacious goal that could not be achieved by one company alone. The areas with the most potential for

collaborative innovation appear to be in the agricultural supply chain, watershed resiliency and/or water

resource management, and glass bottle recycling and/or reuse. Regardless of the specific initiative chosen,

it was widely perceived that New Belgium is not only capable of, and trusted to, help improve the

performance of peers, partners, and competitors, but primed in its own stage of growth and market

position to leverage the opportunity for mutually beneficial outcomes.

If you were CEO of New Belgium, what is one thing you would do to

help us be more sustainable?

Collaboration / stakeholder engagement 23

Focus on water 10

Innovate 10

Help others improve 9

Enhancing sustainability communications 9

Leverage employee network 9

Focus on supply chain 9

Refillable bottles / fix glass & can recycling 7

Focus on agriculture 7

Set aspirational goals 4

Source locally 4

Focus on energy 4

Political advocacy 3

GHG accounting / management 3

Focus on health and wellness 2

Take a value chain approach 2

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NewBelgiumSustainabilityManagementSystem2015

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