Bacardi looking ahead to a sustainable future

Bacardi has rolled out an ambitious sustainability campaign globally. 

Good Spirited: Building a Sustainable Future launches across the more than 150 markets where Bacardi sells its brands, including more than 75 offices and 27 manufacturing and bottling facilities, touching each employee.

“Protecting the natural resources we use to create our brands, at every step along the value chain, is central to our corporate responsibility,” says Ed Shirley, president and CEO of Bacardi Limited. “We’ve always set the bar high. Now, we’re taking our solid, sustainable foundation to the next level.”

Some sustainable projects to date include using wind power for Bacardi rum in Puerto Rico, repurposing water used to clean barrels, mulching retired barrels for use on landscaping, switching from fossil fuel to hydro energy for Martini vermouth production in Italy, and transforming leftover botanicals into fertilizer and livestock bedding.

By 2017, the goal is to obtain 40 per cent of the sugarcane-derived products used to make BACARDÍ premium rums from certified, sustainable sources — and 100 per cent by 2022. This pledge from Bacardi is an industry first.

Bacardi commits to use eco-design to craft sustainability into its brand packaging and point-of-sale materials. 

By 2017, Bacardi plans to reduce the weight of its packaging by 10 per cent and achieve 15 percent by 2022.