ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV
22 directly sources 3mn tonnes of barley each year , are skill connected and financially empowered by 2025 . Frost notes that this means different things in different territories across the supply chain , highlighting the fact that the skills of its farmers in the US are largely well-established , efficient , and less likely to benefit from AB InBev ’ s direct input . The biggest impact to be made is with its smallholder farmers in less affluent countries and regions . “ When it comes to farmers growing cassava in Mozambique , for example , these are smallholders , family operations , so they benefit much more from having training and direct access to agronomical advice on how to grow crops more effectively .”
As one of the largest users of malting barley worldwide , AB InBev has established its own Barley Research Centre in Fort Collins , Colorado , to ensure that barley remains a competitive crop for their farmers to grow . “ We are constantly working on breeding new varieties of barley that are more disease-resistant , capable of surviving droughts and flooding , and able to produce more in
“Consumers are very much aligned to the message of sustainability ”
— Matthew Frost , Global VP Raw Materials Procurement and Sustainability
MAY 2019