"How do we use the scale of AB InBev, the world's leading beer company, with 6 million customers worldwide, 160,000 employees, and more than 500 brands? I told myself, "Okay, I’ll take the challenge."
Catalina García Gómez
"In 2015, AB InBev set out on an ambitious agenda to reduce the harmful use of alcohol worldwide, and they did so in a very intentional, specific, and impactful way."
Sam Stephens
"The main reason we created the foundation was to bring scientific rigor to the Smart Drinking agenda, ensuring transparency in data collection and access for third parties to maintain objectivity."
Dr. Tom Achoki
"Companies that maintain any strategy, whether business or social impact, for 10 years, through headwinds such as economic downturns, a pandemic, and even wars, are remarkable."
Ladan Manteghi
Key Takeaways
Partnership and Leadership Models: Multi-level leadership is critical, requiring engagement from the C-suite, local market teams, and community partners, with local coalitions leading pilot programs. Embrace critics as partners by involving skeptical stakeholders as advisors to transform potential opposition into collaboration. Maintain long-term commitment, sustaining strategies over 10 years through economic downturns, pandemics, and other challenges to achieve health initiative goals.
Innovation and Testing Approaches: Utilize dual testing laboratories combining internal innovation centers and external pilot programs to develop and test evidence-based solutions. Ensure scientific rigor with transparent data collection, third-party access, and objective measurement to inform the broader public health community. Leverage technology as a catalyst, including digital solutions and AI applications, to scale interventions like screening, brief interventions, and road safety programs.
Shared Value Creation: Integrate initiatives across the entire business, marketing, innovation, branding, and distribution, to drive both business growth and social impact. Empower consumers to make healthier choices through expanded no- and low-alcohol product portfolios and social norms marketing while maintaining brand engagement.
Action Items
For Organizations and Policymakers: Establish multi-stakeholder governance structures including critics and skeptics as advisors to build credibility and comprehensive strategies. Develop transparent data-sharing protocols for third-party validation of health interventions to inform public health policy. Create internal innovation labs paired with external pilot programs to test solutions both within business operations and in real-world community settings.
For Technology and AI Implementation: Prioritize evidence-based scaling of digital health solutions proven effective in pilot programs, focusing on screening, intervention, and predictive health models. Integrate AI tools with healthcare systems to enhance early diagnostics and personalized treatment, especially in underserved communities. Leverage data analytics for transformational public health outcomes in areas like road safety and preventative care.
For Private Sector Engagement: Commit to long-term strategies (10+ years) with dedicated funding to sustain health equity goals through economic and social disruptions. Utilize full business capabilities, including marketing, innovation, and brand assets, to drive behavior change and social norm shifts. Develop shared value models that align business growth with positive health outcomes, ensuring sustainability and stakeholder buy-in.
For Addressing Health Disparities: Establish local leadership structures in underserved communities for culturally appropriate implementation of health technologies and interventions. Create accessible consumer choice architectures that make healthier options readily available and appealing. Build cross-sector partnerships, including academia, foundations, and community organizations, to address systemic health challenges comprehensively.
