Bacardi’s sustainability program: Relevant to its business and baked into its culture

Bacardi uses a lot of water to produce a bottle of spirits, leading it to embrace water scarcity and the water-based implications of global climate change as a core social cause. Now, the Bacardi “Good Spirited: Building a Sustainable Future” program has won first place in the “Corporate Social responsibility” category of the 2016 PR Daily Awards.

The program was introduced in 2014, and the organization has continually enhanced and expanded its efforts since then. Given that millennials identify sustainability as their top issue, it’s a smart business move for attracting both customers and employees. 

In its third year, the focus of “Good Spirited” has shifted to the various ways beyond operational changes an organization can make a positive impact. The “No Straws” pledge—a grassroots campaign to eliminate plastic drinking straws from the Company’s offices and visitor centers across the globe—was a key part of that shift. The integration of “Good Spirited” into operations and supply chain, along with employees embracing it as a value, contribute to our being “Good Spirited” fanboys. 

The results are numerous, impressive and comprehensive, including more than 2,600 media articles, a fifth consecutive appearance in Forbes’ “World’s Most Reputable Companies” list, a host of customer partnerships and 1,600 hours of employee time contributed by more than 2,500 employees to 100 corporate responsibility activities. 

We applaud the efforts led by Jessica Merz and Amy Federman.