An Insider’s look into Corporate Responsibility

It’s early morning in a village in Ghana, and a small group has gathered, some kneeling in the red dirt, others seated atop the plastic buckets that are the unofficial trademark of the continent. The topic of the day is water. You probably don’t worry much about water, unless you’re in the last mile of a marathon and you don’t have any. In Africa, the story is different. In this part of the world, two out of five people lack access to hygienic water. In this part of the world, there is an emergency. But this particular morning, there is hope. A man and a woman stand in the center of the group and offer a solution: water filtration equipment, technical assistance and even instruction in sustainable agricultural techniques. Across the continent, this scene is replayed: in Nigeria, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and more — a wide-reaching plan to drastically improve access to clean water. The ambitious goal is to provide safe drinking water to one million more people each year. It’s called Water of Life.

A big idea, for sure.

And it wasn’t the United Nations, the U.S. government, or a large international aid organization behind the effort. Nope, it was the folks from Diageo, worldwide purveyors of Johnnie Walker, Don Julio, and Bailey’s Irish Cream. (You were probably wondering for a while there how this was going to come back around to booze, weren’t you?)

The name of the game is corporate responsibility. In its simplest terms, corporate responsibility is the idea that corporations owe something to the communities in which they operate. It may translate into donating money, making a business more environmentally friendly, or taking time for educational outreach. In the United States, making nice is big business for businesses — corporate–giving in 2009 totaled over fourteen billion dollars.

Alcohol manufacturers, distributors, and retailers have long worked in concert to do their part. The most obvious implication for the alcohol industry is in educating consumers about their product. In the United States, Anheuser-Busch has created Beeresponsible, which provides educational materials on drinking responsibly and underage drinking prevention. Most other companies have similar programs, although I have yet to find another with a name that measures up to Beeresponsible.

“Sure,” you say. “Of course people want to take care of their customers. All businesses do that. Nothing special.” And you are right, but perhaps somewhat cynical. Most businesses do take care of their customers. But not all businesses take the time to make sure that everyone tangentially associated with the end product is taken care of, especially if it ends up costing them more in production costs and cuts into profit margins and presents logistical challenges.

When you think of wine or vodka, you probably don’t imagine a sweatshop. More than likely, you imagine the ridiculously serene hills of Sonoma County or the surreal beauty of an Italian countryside. But for manufacturers and producers in developing countries, life is not always one big box of aged brie. Enter Fair Trade. Fair Trade certification ensures that the people providing a commodity are paid a fair price and guarantees tolerable working conditions. The move to go towards Fair Trade started with coffee and chocolate, but as the demand for ethical goods have grown, so have the number of goods being certified.

In the U.S., that certification is done right here in Oakland, by Fair Trade USA. Here’s what Kazuko Golden, spirits category manager, had to say about the process:

“The Fair Trade Certified label on wine empowers consumers the opportunity to vote with their dollars for quality wines that are improving lives and protecting the environment. For every bottle of Fair Trade Certified wine purchased, vineyard workers in the global south are one step closer to equitable working standards and social development funds to invest in the quality of life for themselves and their communities.”

What that means is that money from the purchase of these spirits funds things like health care and education. FAIR vodka, available throughout San Francisco and quickly spreading across the country, provides a way for you to enjoy quinoa (an Andean grain similar to rice) more than you’ve probably ever enjoyed quinoa in your life—both by virtue of the fact that it’s in a drink and not part of a spring leaf salad, and that you can make a legitimate claim that your White Russian is making the world a better place.

You’ve stopped pouring used motor oil down the drain and you finally put out the tire fire in your back yard. Thank you. But what are the drink–makers doing?

And we can all agree the world needs some betterment, especially if we happen to spend a little time on a city bus at four in the morning. We tend to think of the philanthropic world and the business world as having completely separate aims. One does good. One makes money. But these two aims aren’t mutually exclusive.

See, for example: the planet. Until NASA gets their act together, this is pretty much the only home we’ve got. And according to some people (i.e. scientists who study these things and people who understand science) it’s getting a bit toasty. In fact, the challenge of climate change has become so obvious that most business leaders realize that their long term planning has to deal with the reality of the problem we’re facing.

So the planet … we all agree it needs to be treated with respect. You’ve stopped pouring used motor oil down the drain and you finally put out the tire fire in your back yard. Thank you. But what are the drink–makers doing?

Pretty much everything you can think of. Coors turns spent grains from making beer into ethanol, while Maker’s Mark and New Belgium convert their spent grain into energy. Reyka Vodka is distilled in a facility operated by geothermal heat. 4 Copas Organic Tequila uses local hand-blown glass and supports conservation with every purchase. Green is the new tint du jour for the industry.

And then there’s VeeV and the illustrious treetini. Veev is the world’s first carbon-neutral spirits company, and they’re serious about taking care of the planet. Partnering with Live It Green, VeeV has pioneered an inventive program to enjoy (eco)responsibly. They are working with local bars and making creative cocktails with VeeV, which is a spirit made with the Brazilian açai berry, (the one your hippie neighbor keeps chastising you for mispronouncing) and a seasonally varying selection of ingredients chosen to ensure local production and sustainability. For every Treetini you buy, Veev and Live It Green plant a tree. That ought to shut your hippie neighbor up. And for the record, you can tell him it’s pronounced ah-sai-ee.

Whether it’s self-interest or something more, the power of corporate responsibility is huge. Cynics might declare that these are nothing more than multi-level marketing ploys, but the impact is undeniable.

Just ask the folks who’ve tasted the Water of Life.

Water of Life was started in 2007. In just three years, over 3.2 million people have been provided with access to clean drinking water. That’s a lot of people whose lives have been changed for the better by a huge reduction in water borne illness. So next time you tilt back a tumbler of Johnnie Walker, be proud and stand tall. You’re saving the world.