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As part of its sustainability strategy, Grupo Modelo has allocated more than $30 million over the past five years to support projects focused on responsible water management, sustainable agriculture, circular packaging, and climate action.
“At Grupo Modelo, we believe that progress in sustainability is achieved through concrete actions and collaboration across the entire value chain. Our global goals for 2025 were established to make an impact in areas critical to our business and to the communities where we operate, such as water, agriculture, climate action, and packaging,” said Daniel Cocenzo, President of Grupo Modelo.
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Sustainability Strategy
In Mexico, water is a central pillar of the sustainability strategy. Since 2017, Grupo Modelo has reduced its water consumption per hectoliter of production by more than 42% across its operations.
As part of this commitment, through initiatives such as Aguas Firmes—a public-private partnership in collaboration with GIZ (German Technical Cooperation) and Coca-Cola Mexico—the company plans to invest a total of $24.4 million between 2021 and 2027; and that over the past five years, it has potentially infiltrated 13.4 million cubic meters of water—the equivalent of 5,360 Olympic-sized swimming pools—through the implementation of nature-based solutions and sustainable agricultural practices across more than 14,500 hectares.
Sustainable practices
In addition, the Ameyalli initiative, which focuses on regenerative agriculture in Guanajuato, has increased crop productivity by more than 20%, saved 1.2 million cubic meters of water, and provided technical assistance across a cumulative total of more than 1,000 hectares.
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Another program is Charco Bendito, a socio-environmental project focused on the comprehensive restoration of a section of the Santiago River basin in Guadalajara, where more than 105,000 trees have been planted across 250 hectares, creating the potential for the infiltration of more than 900,000 cubic meters of water.
Collaborative work
These advances have been made possible through collaboration with various stakeholders. Working together with governments, organizations, technical partners, communities, and farmers is essential to advancing projects that strengthen water security and promote the responsible management of natural resources.
Grupo Modelo delivered 23 million cubic meters of water under concession to CONAGUA, as part of the Agreement on the Human Right to Water.
In this spirit of collaboration and as a follow-up to local initiatives, Alicia Bárcena, Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources; David Monreal, Governor of Zacatecas; and Ingrid De Ryck, Chief Sustainability Officer at AB InBev, recently visited the Grupo Modelo brewery in Zacatecas to review the progress of the Aguas Firmes project.
Actions for a Sustainable Future
In addition, Grupo Modelo continues to make progress on other pillars of its sustainability strategy. Since 2017, more than 1 billion bottles have been recovered for reuse, and by 2025 , more than 18 ,000 tons of food-grade glass were recovered to be reincorporated as recycled content, and more than 88% of its products were packaged in returnable containers or containers made primarily from recycled content by 2025.
In the agricultural sector, the company supports more than 47,000 hectares of barley cultivation, benefiting over 1,000 Mexican farming families, and purchases more than 170,000 tons of locally grown corn, thereby strengthening its agricultural supply chain in the country. It has also achieved its goal of ensuring that 100% of farmers are trained, connected, and equipped with financial tools.
Through climate action, they have reduced absolute emissions across Scopes 1 and 2 by more than 45%, and they brew their beer using more than 83% renewable energy.
It is worth noting that Grupo Modelo shared all these achievements through a tour and a discussion with Julia Álvarez Icaza Ramírez, Mexico City’s Secretary of the Environment, Isabel Struder, a climate action expert, and Gunnar Schneider, Head of Economics and International Cooperation at the German Embassy in Mexico, where authorities and partners were in attendance, as part of its annual “Cheers to Nature” event held at the Lago Alberto brewery.
Through these initiatives, Grupo Modelo continues to strengthen a sustainability strategy focused on the efficient use of resources throughout its entire value chain.
From water management and promoting more resilient agriculture to reducing emissions and moving toward increasingly circular packaging, the company drives solutions that contribute to the country’s environmental and social development, while strengthening the resilience of its operations and the communities where it operates.
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