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Budweiser called out for ‘misleading’ energy claims
Beer giant Budweiser has been forced to amend a claim on its website that it uses “100% renewable electricity” in its brewing, following a complaint made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Earlier this year Irish senator Lynn Boylan made a complaint to ASA regarding a claim on Budweiser’s website that the brewer uses “100% renewable electricity” in its processes.
Boylan pointed out that Budweiser’s claim could not be substantiated as the beer company had not provided a breakdown of its energy use, and could therefore be “misleading”.
According to ASA the complaint has now been “informally resolved”, and eagle-eyed readers will spot that the statement on Budweiser’s website has since been amended to reflect a more accurate description of the beer brand’s energy practices.
An asterisk on the original statement now leads to additional information at the bottom of the web page, which reads:
“The actual electricity used to brew Budweiser is not from 100% renewable sources.
“But Budweiser ensures that an equivalent amount of energy is generated under green energy agreements to offset the amount of non-renewable energy used from the National Grid to power our brewing processes.”
How does it work?
Budweiser has an on-site wind turbine connected to its brewery in Wales, and a 20-year agreement to operate two solar panel farms in Nottinghamshire and West Yorkshire. Both are sources of renewable energy.
However, any business connected to the National Grid is powered by electricity from a range of sources, including non-renewable fossil fuels as it is impossible for these non-renewable energies to be filtered out of the Grid’s supply before it enters a business.
To offset this, AB InBev-owned Budweiser buys certificates known as ‘renewable energy guarantees of origin’ (REGO).
According to Ofgem (the UK government regulator for electricity and gas) the REGO scheme “provides transparency to consumers about the proportion of electricity that suppliers source from renewable electricity.”
Under Fuel Mix Disclosure law in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, licensed electricity suppliers are required to disclose to customers the mix of fuels (coal, gas, nuclear, renewable and other) used to generate the electricity supplied.
AB InBev has said it is aiming to source all its purchased electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
Last year, Budweiser was valued at US$6.7 billion, according to Brand Finance, with the beer brand ranking in the top three most valuable beer brands in the world.
The drinks business has previously reported that Belvedere plans to power the Polish town of Żyrardów, where its distillery is based, using energy produced at the premium vodka brand’s new biomass capture facility.
The plan is for energy from the distillery to be fed through a “specially constructed pipeline connecting the municipal power grid of Żyrardów”, Rodney Williams, president and CEO for Belvedere Vodka, told db.
It was hoped the scheme would be finalised by 2025.