HEINEKEN UK

Heineken embarks on low carbon barley farming trial

To explore how one of the main ingredients of beer, barley, can be grown in a more sustainable way to help reduce CO2 emissions in the value chain. 

HEINEKEN UK is launching an innovative trial to explore how one of the main ingredients of beer, barley, can be grown in a more sustainable way to help reduce CO2 emissions. 

The trial is a collaborative effort between HEINEKEN UK, malt supplier Muntons, supply chain consultancy Future Food Solutions and Yorkshire-based barley farmers.  

The pilot will focus on a number of sustainable farming techniques including inter-row cropping, growing cover crop mixes including varieties such as phacelia, oil radish and clovers, using less invasive measures to prepare the land and optimising crop nitrogen use. Outcomes will be measured in terms of the amount of carbon sequestered by the soil and the reduction in the amount of nitrogen needed to be added to the crop to produce healthy yields. 

Agriculture is the second biggest contributor of HEINEKEN’s carbon footprint and with the company’s new ambition to hit carbon neutrality through its entire value chain by 2040, tackling this part of the footprint is key. The ambition is to use the learnings from the pilot to scale the project over the coming years.