Global beverage industry leaders convened October 17-19, 2017 in Guadalajara, Mexico for the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) semi-annual meeting. Hosted by Brown-Forman, this three-day meeting’s agenda tackled pressing environmental sustainability issues such as performance in watershed context, energy and climate change, regenerative agriculture, and transparency and disclosure. Additionally, a regional perspective was shared with a presentation on sustainability from the Tequila Council, an insights review of the recent Latin American Water Forum, and the discussion of regional best practices between members.

Meeting attendees also received a tour of Brown-Forman’s Casa Herradura Facility and enjoyed a Brown-Forman hosted Tequila Experience.

BIER has pursued and championed environmental sustainability practices since its inception in 2006 and views collaboration and open sourcing as primary success factors. Responding to increasing pressure from internal corporate decision-makers, investors, and external stakeholders, BIER offers a unique voice. Current BIER initiatives include defining context-based metrics for water use, developing energy assessment tools to help prioritize and mitigate climate change impacts, and establishing guiding principles around ecosystem dependencies and biodiversity conservation measures across the beverage product value chain.