28.03.2017 - 14:00
More responsible products and production a key ingredient of a new Nordic drinking culture
Altia encourages towards developing a more responsible Nordic drinking culture. During 2016 Altia has for example opened discussion with various stakeholders and added new types of products into its portfolio.
Altia has published its Responsibility Report 2016. The theme of the report is the development of a new Nordic drinking culture. This target is crystallised in the company's purpose: Let’s Drink Better.
”Let’s Drink Better means not only encouraging consumers towards a better drinking culture but also Altia's actions as a responsible alcohol company. We want to offer consumers the information they need to enjoy our products with a good conscience," says Pekka Tennilä, Altia's CEO.
According to Tennilä, drinking culture is taking steps in the right direction. People are more interested in their health and pay more attention to the quality of products. Especially the younger generation consumes less alcohol and the consumption of strong spirits has decreased in general. Also, the proposal for the new alcohol act in Finland reflects this positive change in people’s attitude.
"Since everything is not in our own hands, we need to be in constant dialogue with consumers and other stakeholders," continues Tennilä.
New organic and low-alcohol products
According to Tennilä, the focus of a better drinking culture should be enjoying reasonable amounts of high quality and responsibly produced products as part of social occasions. For Altia this means for example adding low-alcohol and ecological products into the selection, developing responsible sourcing and actions that aim at reducing the environmental impacts of production.
"The ingredients and packaging materials of Altia's products are chosen from an environmentally friendly perspective. In addition, we continuously reduce the amount of waste in production and prefer local partners. During 2016 we increased the share of organic, low-alcohol and alcohol-free products in our portfolio," says Tennilä.
In order to better ensure responsibility in supply chains Altia also decided to apply for membership in the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI). The BSCI's ethical principles emphasize working conditions, human rights and environmental protection in global supply chains.
Read more about Altia's responsibility in 2016 : https://www.altiagroup.com/sites/default/files/media/document/Altia_Responsibilityreport_2016.pdf
See also Altia's annual review 2016 : https://www.altiagroup.com/sites/default/files/media/document/Altia_Annualreview_2016.pdf