Beverage Company Diageo Expands Sustainability Team: 5 Things to Know

Beverage company Diageo -- known for Guinness beer and Johnnie Walker Scotch whiskey -- has hired multiple sustainability-focused executives over the past year.

Here are five things to know about Diageo's sustainability strategy, and the associated teams of talent.

1. New Sustainability Talent: The key moves include hiring:

• World Economic Forum veteran Kristin Hughes as global head of sustainability;
• The Coca Cola Company veteran Deb Caldow as global marketing director, Breakthrough Innovation (including sustainability); and
• L'Oréal veteran Dave Lütkenhaus as global sustainability Breakthrough Innovation director.

Details about the three hires, which occurred incrementally in 2023, surfaced in The Drinks Report.

2. Business Scope and Scale: Diageo, founded in 1997, is based in London, United Kingdom. The company, backed by 30,000 employees, specializes in premium drinks, spirits and beer. Some of the company's brands extend back to the 17th century.

Diageo's revenue was $11.0 billion for the six months ended December 31, 2023, down about 1.4%. Organic operating profit was $3.3 billion, down 11.1%.

3. Kristin Hughes' Role: Hughes is responsible for designing the strategy to deliver its overarching grain-to-glass sustainability agenda. She reports to Ewan Andrew, president, global supply chain and procurement and chief sustainability officer.

Andrew, in a prepared statement about hiring Hughes, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Kristin into this critical role at Diageo. The depth and wealth of expertise and experience makes her ideal to progress our sustainability strategy. I look forward to working closely with Kristin as we accelerate towards building a resilient, sustainable business, and doing our best for people and planet.”

4. Breakthrough Innovation Team: Meanwhile, Caldow and Lütkenhaus are part of Diageo's Breakthrough Innovation team. The team, a subsidiary within the company's existing Innovation function, is designed to "shape innovation at Diageo beyond the development of new products," the company said in January 2024.

5. Sustainability Strategy: The three hires align with Diageo's Society 2030: Spirit of Progress plan -- which is designed to help "create a more inclusive and sustainable world." The plan involves 25 targets across ESG (environmental, social and governance) issues.

Diageo wants to achieve net zero carbon across operations by 2030, including the use of 100% renewable energy by that time. The company also will seek to halve the carbon in its Scope 3 supply chain by 2030.

Diageo and Sustainability: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

The bottom line: Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO customer needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.