Supplier Programs

Anheuser-Busch has a strong network of suppliers. Our company is committed to helping our supply chain reduce costs and improve EHS performance, while meeting the needs of our business and consumers. Anheuser-Busch encourages EHS awareness and responsibility among suppliers. The supplier program, for example, includes an EHS standard that helps suppliers minimize their environmental impact and improve workplace safety.

Light-Weighting Beverage Containers

For more than three decades, Anheuser-Busch has partnered with our suppliers to innovate environmentally beneficial improvements to aluminum cans. As the world’s largest purchaser of aluminum cans, we have helped to spread these light-weighting innovations to the beverage industry as a whole through our purchasing decisions:

• Reducing the lid diameter for 8, 10, 12 and 16-ounce cans saved 17.5 million pounds of aluminum in 2006.
• Light-weighting of the 24-ounce can saved an additional 1.9 million pounds of aluminum over the course of the same year.

Conserving Water in the Supply Chain

Overall, our suppliers have strong environmental programs with a commitment to conservation. Anheuser-Busch partners with suppliers to understand their water management strategies and potential supply-chain water-related risks. Through the Water Council, this supply-chain initiative began in 2003 with the company’s packaging suppliers. Anheuser-Busch surveyed these suppliers on water use and met with the highest volume users and those located in areas that could potentially face limited water availability. In recent years, these efforts have focused on barley growers, malt suppliers and rice growers. In 2007, the team will focus on hops regions in the United States.

As part of the company's climate change strategy, the Water Council is also working to understand the potential impacts of climate change on water supply. The Council is beginning to assemble data and to benchmark with leading companies to manage sustainable water supply in China. This is a significant effort, which will continue into 2007. Our company and suppliers will continue the dialogue on water issues and share best practices, where appropriate.

Partnering to Reduce Packaging Impacts

With the help of our suppliers, in 2005, Anheuser-Busch moved from folding cartons to shrink film for our 12-pack/24-ounce can package, resulting in a total reduction of 36.7 million pounds (16,647 metric tons) of solid waste. In 2006, additional secondary packaging light-weighting projects resulted in a savings of more than 172,000 pounds (78 metric tons) of liner materials.

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