Ana Crivăț, Director of Corporate Affairs, HEINEKEN Romania

How do you see the role of the Corporate Affairs team in a multinational company and especially in HEINEKEN?

I am glad to be able to talk about this topic, especially since the role of Corporate Affairs departments in companies has been

evolving significantly in recent years. We operate in an increasingly complex and volatile global climate. Social and political change, evolving consumption trends, climate challenges and, above all, the two years of the pandemic have generated new expectations from local as well as global stakeholders. In this context, more than ever, the corporate affairs department – with all its areas of responsibility: internal and external communication and engagement, sustainability, and social responsibility, as well as public affairs – is a strategic and active contributor to achieving business objectives.

At HEINEKEN, the role of corporate affairs is seen as a value creator, at the forefront of transformations, and this means a great responsibility, however, it also brings us important satisfactions.

What are the challenges in the activity of the department, how have they changed in the pandemic?

The pandemic, and especially the year 2020, have turned crisis simulations into everyday reality. And the challenge was to simultaneously address all the concerns related to the safety of people and communities, business continuity, internal engagement.

In this period of change, more than ever, at HEINEKEN we looked at the inside of the business, with increased attention to the team: to the safety and well-being of people, but also to their motivation; to organizational culture, as an engine for overcoming the crisis.

Our role, in the Corporate Affairs department, was to guide the team through this period of transformation of the way of working and the whole context. This is how we came up with our internal engagement program during the pandemic – with health and safety, employee well-being and engagement components. The great success of the program was to define a community in which we feel safe, united by the same values and motivated to succeed. The very good results were also reflected in the organizational climate surveys of that year.

At the same time, we have turned our attention to the communities in which we operate and to their needs. HEINEKEN Romania was among the companies that quickly intervened in support of the medical staff and the health system, with a program of donations in funds and medical equipment of the utmost necessity.

You have a team of over 1,000 people in HEINEKEN Romania. How do you maintain cohesion, what are the priorities in terms of organizational culture?

At the end of last year, HEINEKEN launched a new global business strategy: ‘EverGreen 2025’. Everything we have learned about us as a team, during the most difficult

period so far, lays the foundation for the new stage in which we are stepping as an organization.

‘EverGreen 2025’ is our guide to achieving our business goals in the years to come, helping us to adapt to the increasingly complex climate in which we operate. It’s about the evolution of our organization, and that’s why it’s about people in the first place. This is also conveyed by its visual identity – which includes the shape of the Heineken® bottle, a tree with green leaves and digital, as well as human connections. The metaphor suggests that, just like a tree, an organization can grow, thrive, as long as its roots — people — are strong and interconnected. Specifically, when we know who we are, what we stand for, and when we form a united community.

As part of the new global strategy, HEINEKEN asserts its mission and does so through a strong statement: ‘We brew the joy of true togetherness, to inspire a better world’. At the same time, ‘EverGreen 2025’ brings a reformulation of our values and behaviors in the organization.

All these are at the heart of an extensive internal engagement campaign, meant to bring ‘EverGreen 2025’ to life, through people, through every member of the HEINEKEN Romania team. We started by refreshing our appearance and ‘EverGreen 2025’ already enjoys visibility in all the spaces where we work and interact. In everything we do, we live by the joy of true togetherness, which is our purpose, and never fail to acknowledge a victory – 2022 began with the celebration of the successes we had in the past year. We keep the lesson of empathic and authentic communication, which helps us create strong connections. And last, but not least, our colleagues are the protagonists of this campaign, they actively participate in it, they are not just spectators.

What does sustainability mean for HEINEKEN and how does it translate into concrete initiatives?

We are the most international brewer, present in over 190 markets around the world, and this comes with the responsibility and, at the same time, with the ambition to contribute to a better world, both globally, as well as locally, in the communities where we have operations.

Over the last decade, our sustainability strategy has had a profound influence on our business. It has led us to innovate and work together to protect the environment, support local communities, and have a positive impact on society. HEINEKEN has recently raised the bar on sustainability commitments, through the ‘Brew a Better World 2030’ strategy. This sets the new global ambitions for sustainability and responsibility, which both continue to be at the forefront of our next growth chapter. Our main pillars: environmental sustainability, on a path to net zero impact, social sustainability – where we continue on the path to an inclusive, fair and equitable company and world, and responsible consumption – continuing to promote moderation and combat harmful consumption of alcohol.

Regarding the environmental pillar, we were the first brewer to aim for carbon neutrality in production by 2030, and in the entire value chain, by 2040. Thus, locally, we reduce electric and thermal consumption and become more efficient, we replace fossil fuels with clean energy. All the electricity we use in HEINEKEN Romania has been coming from green sources for many years. Also locally, we have important performances in the area of responsible consumption: a partnership of over 10 years with ALIAT NGO (‘The Alliance for the Fight against Alcoholism and Drug Addiction’), with which we developed Alcohelp, the only program in Romania that includes several types of interventions in the field of harmful alcohol consumption (online platform and mobile application Alcohelp, Alcoline telephone line, AlcoInfo Centers in public hospitals and many other prevention activities), in order to contribute to a better understanding of personal limits of alcohol consumption and to combating harmful use. At the same time, our product portfolio includes a variety of 0.0 options. We also strongly promote moderation through our flagship brand – Heineken® – 10% of the brand’s media budget being dedicated to campaigns that promote responsible consumption.

We have ambitious goals and we are building on a solid foundation in all these areas.

What are the main lessons of the last 2 years, from the perspective of Corporate Affairs?

It was an intense period, however also a period in which the function of Corporate Affairs reached its essence, being one of the areas that proved very well its value for people and company. More than ever, after two challenging years, we know that the role of companies in society is becoming more and more complex and important; we know that attention to the needs of people and the communities, engagement and authentic communication, the one that touches people’s hearts, are not a pandemic trend, but a real need. With a unique spirit, a mentality of winners and united by the same purpose, in the HEINEKEN Romania community, we are well equipped for what the future might bring.

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