Carlsberg Marston’s – 2023
Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) is partnering with 23 UK farmers to grow regenerative barley in 2023.
The core practices which CMBC is promoting as part of the programme include limiting soil disturbance and chemical usage, planting multi-species cover crops, crop rotation, field margins and documentation of practices used at farms in scope.
WWF-UK’s “Land of Plenty” report highlights that at least 29% of global man-made greenhouse gas emissions come from the way we produce, distribute and consume food. Farming practices are also the main driver of losses of biodiversity. CMBC’s target is to introduce regenerative practices with the aim of helping to promote biodiversity, replenish the natural resources used through farming, restore soil health, and support natural carbon capture on the UK farms involved.
CMBC has rolled out the initiative in partnership with farm consultants and agronomists Ceres Rural, who supported in the development of a regenerative agriculture protocol that considers the specific needs of British farmers, while aligning with wider Group practices. The collaboration enables farmers to implement the new practices, while measuring impacts on soil, biodiversity, and carbon emissions.
CMBC will work with British farmers to implement regenerative agriculture techniques. The target is to exclusively use this barley in all Carlsberg Danish Pilsner brews by 2027, and across CMBC’s other UK-brewed brands – including Carlsberg Expørt, Birrificio Angelo Poretti, Hobgoblin and Brooklyn Pilsner – by 2031.
By the end of 2023, the target is for partner farms to have produced an estimated 7,000 tons of barley. CMBC’s aim is to use that barley in Carlsberg Danish Pilsner brews from 2024, which is enough to make up to 96 million pints per year.
Carlsberg is giving £150,000 to WWF-UK to support participating farmers in East Anglia to save water and reduce river pollution, with the aim to replenish up to 100 million litres in 2023.
The activity marks the latest step in CMBC’s journey, under the Group’s global ZERO Farming Footprint ambition, part of its recently launched ESG programme, Together Towards Zero and Beyond. Carlsberg Group is targeting 100% regenerative barley usage by 2040 so the UK is one of the lead markets with its target.