Five Regional Breweries Leading on Impact Reporting
Introduction to Impact Reporting
Impact reporting is a powerful way a company can better understand and communicate the effects that their business has on people and the planet. Assessing and sharing a carbon footprint or other sustainability information can also underscore a company’s values and engage customers, the community, and other stakeholders. Whether it’s a stand-alone impact report (also known as a sustainability or Corporate Social Responsibility/CSR report), integrated with a financial report, or a webpage, impact reporting shows which companies are not only talking the talk, but walking the walk.
What Makes for a Great Impact, Sustainability, or CSR Report?
If you’re afraid that reporting will lead to a lot more work for you and your team, surprise! More pages and narratives aren’t necessarily better, and you want to avoid overwhelming your audience with information. Great impact reporting focuses on priorities for the company’s industry and stakeholders. For alcohol producers, industry priorities are water management, energy management, responsible drinking and marketing, packaging, and ingredients supply chain/sourcing, according to the SASB standard. Unique priorities of a company’s community and other stakeholders should also guide where to focus efforts.
In ClimateHound’s opinion, the best impact reporting balances quantitative data (like waste diverted from landfills) and qualitative descriptions (such as summaries of packaging choices and other initiatives). It’s important to update reports at least annually to maintain stakeholder trust and usefulness of the information. Impact reporting also stands out when understanding and managing impact is woven into the company’s business model and goals.
Five Regional Breweries Leading on Impact Reporting
1. MadTree Brewing (Ohio)
With their stand-alone report packed full of underlying details, MadTree provides inspiration and guidance to others in the industry. Their data-driven impact report stands out for its level of transparency and commitment. MadTree is also B Corp certified and a member of 1% for the planet.
2. Vivant Brewery & Spirits (Michigan)
Communicating goals and specific progress on these goals in a stand-alone report, Vivant shows they are working to improve their impact and engage their stakeholders along the way. The table of quantified, year-over-year data stands out as leading impact reporting.
3. Anderson Valley Brewing Company (California)
Guided by their friend Barkley, Anderson Valley illustrates their long-standing sustainability credentials but also doesn’t waste time—their report gets straight into priority issues illustrating their approach and details backing it up.
4. Shiner Beer (Texas)
Shiner’s simple sustainability webpage provides high-level annualized data in the form of infographics. Their approach to quantitative data illustrates how companies can get started reporting without getting bogged down in exact measurements.
5. Aslan Brewing (Washington)
Aslan’s comprehensive sustainability webpages highlight specific certifications (USDA Certified Organic, B Corp) and local vendors and partners. A short and sweet report with quantitative data and infographics provides further transparency on industry priorities.
The More Producers Reporting Impact, the Better, and ClimateHound is Here to Help!
Of course, these are only five examples of the great impact reporting being done by small to mid-size breweries. Here at ClimateHound, we love seeing more beverage producers reporting impact, and the data and insights our platform provides can make it easy. Impact reporting doesn't need to take a significant amount of your precious time or a dedicated, in-house sustainability specialist or marketing professional.
Through the process of completing a carbon footprint with ClimateHound, your company can easily collect priority environmental data and automatically become equipped with a short sustainability story, quantitative impact data, and other resources to share with your stakeholders. Gain a better understanding of your impact and share your story today!