SHAH ALAM, 23 August 2022 – Its commitment to supporting the community in need throughout the pandemic has earned Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad the ‘Company of the Year’ Award under the category of ‘Community Impact’ at the seventh edition of the Sustainability & CSR Malaysia Awards 2022. Out of more than 100 submissions and 50 short-listed companies, the brewer’s COVID-19 relief programme, named ‘Safer Schools’ was recognised as an exemplary project in providing meaningful intervention and solution for the communities involved.

Running for two years consecutively since 2020, the ‘Safer Schools’ campaign was aimed at providing a safer learning environment for school-going children and teachers, and  advocate the strict health and safety procedures via an edutainment song with lyrics in Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and Tamil.

A total of RM3.1 million sponsorship in-kind in the form of hundreds of handheld and infrared thermometers as well as full disinfection services has benefitted 1,751 schools across the nation, easing financial strain faced by schools and alleviated public fears over the outbreak of COVID-19 at schools.

The campaign is part of the brewer’s larger Safer Together initiatives that had also benefitted customers and consumers, including aid for business recovery for F&B outlets most affected by the lockdown measures.

This recognition was timely as the Carlsberg Group has just launched its next five-year ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) ambition - ‘Together Towards Zero and Beyond’ (TTZAB). Evolving from sustainability to ESG, TTZAB addresses material ESG matters with milestones in 2030 and 2040, outlining a roadmap to achieve net zero carbon emissions across the entire value chain by 2040, from the barley in the fields to the beer in hand.

Receiving the accolade at the Awards ceremony from the Secretary-General of Ministry of Rural Development YBhg. Datuk Ramlan Harun on 18 August 2022, Carlsberg Malaysia’s Director of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Pearl Lai remarked, “We are humbled by this recognition as it is a testament of our unwavering efforts to live by our Company’s purpose of Brewing for a Better Today and Tomorrow, in our constant pursuit towards achieving environmental, social and commercial sustainability. Our efforts and results around Safer Schools campaign delivered our intents to  support the UN Sustainability Development Goals #3 (Good Health and Well-Being) and #4 (Quality Education). With the launch of TTZAB, we are committed to expanding our ESG priorities to matters that are most material to our business and towards societies in which we operate in.”

Recognised for its commitment to responsible business practices and inclusive disclosure on ESG matters, Carlsberg Malaysia remains as a counter of note within FTSE Russell’s FTSE4GOOD Bursa Malaysia (F4GBM) Index and achieved a Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) ESG ratings of “AA”.  Carlsberg Malaysia is currently one amongst only four fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in the F4GBM constituents and is the only brewer.

In its continuing pursuit of excellence, Carlsberg Malaysia was also accorded the ISO 45001:2018 certification for occupational health and safety (OH&S) management systems within its brewery and supply chain, recognising its enhanced procedures for safe and healthy workplaces by preventing work-related injury and ill health, eliminating hazards and risks, and proactively improving its OH&S performance. To date, the brewer has set a new internal record of more than 1,320 days without lost-time accidents within the brewery and sales depots.

The Sustainability & CSR Malaysia Awards 2022 is an annual event proudly organised by “CSR Malaysia’ under the auspices of Pertubuhan Amal Tanggungjawab Kemapanan dan Korporat Malaysia (a national body for Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility) to honour outstanding corporations in Malaysia that have excelled in the role of change agents in the socio-economic and environmental transformation of Malaysia.