Suntory Group Philosophy
Being true to our purpose “To inspire the brilliance of life, by creating rich experiences for people, in harmony with nature,” we will practice our values of Growing for Good, “Yatte Minahare,” and Giving Back to Society.
The Suntory Group’s vision on Sustainability
As a multifaceted beverage company, we are dedicated to realizing a sustainable society where enriching people’s lives and conserving the natural environment go hand in hand. We deeply respect the blessings of nature on which our products rely, and engage in a range of activities to ensure sustainable use of natural resources and a healthy natural water cycle. In addition to delivering products and services that enrich peoples’ lives, we strive to ensure that our business growth contributes to a sustainable society across our entire value chain.
The world faces a wide variety of environmental and social issues, such as water shortages and loss of biodiversity from changing climate, pollution and increasing waste, poverty, human rights violations. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)* adopted at the 2015 UN Summit call on businesses to address social issues and to promote a sustainable society. As companies are expected to take proactive actions for achieving these goals, the Suntory Group, which operates globally, will also continue to take on the challenge of realizing a sustainable society by tackling global issues more sincerely than ever before.
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*Sustainable Development Goals are goals adopted at a UN Summit in September 2015 that the whole world should tackle by 2030
Important Sustainability Themes for the Suntory Group
We used the SDGs to identify priority areas for future activities. Working with the third party and supported by external reports by the World Economic Forum, we assessed and identified materiality issues for our stakeholders and our company: Goal 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation, Goal 3 - Good Health and Well-being, Goal 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production, and Goal 13 - Climate Action. Of them, we place the highest priority on the sustainability of water, which is an important raw ingredient for our business. In addition to environmental conservation, the Suntory Group strives to create rich experiences for people through our products and services in harmony with nature through relentless innovation. We believe this is at the core of our sustainability vision.
Suntory Group Sustainability Vision
We established the Suntory Group Sustainability Vision in 2019 to drive sustainability management across our Group.
The Suntory Group’s 7 Sustainability Themes
Theme |
Commitment |
Related SDGs |
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Water |
Based on our Sustainable Water Philosophy, we as a group conduct activities including understanding of the water cycle, water conservation, recycling and wastewater management, watershed conservation, community engagement, and work with external stakeholders to achieve water sustainability. [Initiative] |
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CO2 |
Aiming to realize the net zero-carbon society, we are working to reduce carbon emissions at our facilities as well as in our operations throughout the value chain by adopting the latest energy-saving technologies and use of renewable energy. [Initiative] |
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Raw ingredients |
For agricultural crops and other raw ingredients that rely on the blessings of nature and are essential to our products, we cooperate with suppliers across the supply chain to identify social and environmental challenges and promote sustainability initiatives that enable us to grow together and contribute to enriching communities. [Initiative] |
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Containers and packaging |
For our main packaging materials and containers, we strive to reduce environmental impact throughout the product life cycle—from product design to transportation and post-consumption recycling—and work to achieve a circular economy. [Initiative] |
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Health |
We believe that as a consumer-oriented company, it is important to support the pursuit of a balanced life both mentally and physically. Our consumers have different needs and preferences at different stages of life, and through our diverse business activities, we support wellness at each of these stages. By offering choices in products, services and experiences across our businesses in alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, health foods, and more, as well as by driving innovation to create value, we support consumers to achieve well-being and lead balanced lives. [Initiative] |
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Human Rights |
Group EmployeesIn addition to ensuring workplace safety, we promote health management and provide employees with growth opportunities from a long-term perspective. Along with promoting respect and preventing harassment, we embrace diversity, including race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, nationality, language, and disability. We also embrace inclusion that accepts and values the individual differences and recognizes how differences make our Group stronger, and strive to create employee-friendly environments for all that are full of “Yatte Minahare” spirit. Value chainTo contribute to the well-being of all people that make up the value chain, we carefully review and identify our businesses’ impacts on human rights and cooperate with external stakeholders including suppliers to conduct activities for human rights protection. [Initiative] |
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Enriching life |
In addition to providing products and services that bring mental and physical enrichment, we also promote innovation, create new value, and contribute to creating a more “human” society for all. Based on our founding spirit of "Giving Back to Society," we seek to address social challenges and contribute to the welfare of society, including through activities in the arts, culture, science, sports, and next-generation education. In the regions where we do business, we value dialogue with the local communities, and strive to help address local challenges to benefit people’s lives. [Initiative] |
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Suntory Group’s Mid- to Long-term Targets
The world is facing a wide range of challenges today, and we will engage more than ever to seek solutions to them as well as continue our efforts to realize sustainability. We have set mid- to long-term targets and are implementing world-leading initiatives for water sustainability as well as for the pressing issues of reducing GHG emissions and plastics.
Promoting Structure
The Global Sustainability Committee (GSC) acts as an advisory committee to the Board of Directors for sustainability management. The GSC discusses the Group’s sustainability strategies and confirms progress on priority themes (water, climate change, raw ingredients, containers and packaging, health and human rights) under the direction of the Chief Sustainability Officer. Progress on environmental and social activities as well as business risks and opportunities are reported to the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis. In addition, the Board of Directors is provided with opportunities to receive advice from third-party experts on sustainability management.
Suntory Group's Environmental Management Promoting Structure
Relations with Stakeholders
We pursue our business activities while engaging with a wide variety of stakeholders. We will make clear our responsibilities to our stakeholders and communicate with them in various ways so that we can continue making contributions to realizing sustainable society. We aim to incorporate feedback we receive and societal needs into our company activities and continuously work to build highly trustworthy and collaborative relationships with stakeholders.
Opportunities for Communication with Stakeholders