Celebrating life, every day, everywhere

Diageo India 

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Diageo India is among the country’s leading beverage alcohol companies and a subsidiary of global leader Diageo plc. The company manufactures, sells and distributes an outstanding portfolio of premium global and Indian brands such as Johnnie Walker, Black Dog, Black & White, VAT 69, Antiquity, Signature, The Singleton, Royal Challenge, McDowell’s No1, Smirnoff, Ketel One, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan and Godawan – an artisanal single malt whisky from India. Headquartered in Bengaluru, our wide footprint includes 37 manufacturing facilities across states and union territories in India, a strong distribution network and a state-of-the-art Technical Centre in Bengaluru, supported by a team of around 3,000 employees. Incorporated in India as United Spirits Limited (USL), the company is listed on both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in India. The company’s 100% subsidiary Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited is the proud owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the Bengaluru-based cricket franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited also owns and runs the Women’s Premier League team for Bangalore, aligned to our inclusion and diversity agenda.

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Innovation & sustainability is at the heart of our company’s growth strategy. Given the changing demographics of the Indian consumer, we assess changing preferences, trends and motivations to build an innovation pipeline that is ahead of the curve. The alco-bev industry has seen evolving consumer trends including increased premiumisation with consumers ‘Drinking better, not more’, open to experientials and experimentation. India has the largest young economy in the world, adding 100 million ‘new drinkers’ in the next five years with a median age of 28 years. This new, changing, and vibrant India presents a huge opportunity for Diageo. 

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In 2022 we launched Godawan, an example of exceptional Indian craftsmanship which has won several international awards for its bespoke liquid and packaging quality. Crafted in Rajasthan, its provenance is inspired by, and dedicated wholeheartedly to the Rajasthani ethos of beauty in scarcity and sustainability. Consumers can trace every single bottle back to its origins, right from the six row barley sourced from a specific cluster of farms in Rajasthan right up to the liquid, bottle, cork, labels & the mono-carton that go into the making of this artisanal single malt. In addition, Godawan is an embodiment of our commitment to the conservation of the Great Indian Bustard, and to the communities of artisans and craftspeople. It truly reflects our expertise in creating liquids of immense value in India for connoisseurs around the world. We also launched Royal Challenge American Pride, a smooth Indian whisky blended with Bourbon and matured in charred American Casks and renovated our offerings such as Black Dog, Royal Challenge, Signature and Antiquity for discerning consumers. 

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Our state-of-the-art R&D centre is the only one in the industry to be recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). A first-of-a-kind centre in the country with intellectual and technology capital that bring the magic of science and art alive. We have invested INR 45 crore to set up an Innovation Hub, The Good Craft Co. in Ponda, Goa. This is in line with our strategy to accelerate transformational innovation and strengthen our Craft and Premium portfolio, while supporting the growing craft ecosystem.

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Our mission is to be a top CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) company in India delivering sustained double-digit topline growth with mid to high teen margins and long-term value to all our stakeholders. The three pillars of our strategy are:

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1|Reshaping our portfolio with a focus on accelerating premiumisation-led growth, while delivering our guidance of mid to high teens margins.

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2|Creating an organisation of the future – We are building a future-ready organisation by investing in our talent, introducing market-leading policies and driving digital capabilities, focusing on learning and development of our workforce, and building an inclusive and diverse culture. We have made significant improvement in our gender representation. 50% of our India Leadership team are women and we want women to represent 35% of our overall organisation in the next three years. We have also been recognised as a Silver Employer by Pride Circle India Workplace Equality Index and for our market-leading, progressive policies such as pregnancy loss, menopause guidelines, gender-neutral insurance benefits and equal parental leave of

six months.

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3|The third and an important pillar of our strategy is defining and executing an ambitious role for Diageo in Society. We have made tremendous progress on our Society 2030: Spirit of Progress, ESG action plan. The company’s efforts have been recognised by Sustainalytics, a global leader in ESG research and data, awarding USL as a ‘Top-Rated ESG Performer for 2022’ in ‘ESG Industry Top Rated Category’. 

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• Promoting responsible consumption through focused interventions to curb underage drinking, drink driving and binge drinking. 

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• Championing inclusion & diversity within the communities through our Learning for Life skilling programme in which over 50% of the beneficiaries are women. We have trained over 8,000 people through the Diageo Bar Academy, a comprehensive learning platform for bar owners and bartenders. We continue to drive the agenda with our suppliers and agencies to advance positive, sustainable economic impact in the diverse communities from where

we source. 

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• Pioneering grain-to-glass sustainability which includes:

   o Preserving water for life where we are committed to replenish more water than we use for our operations in water-stressed areas by 2026. We are well on track to improve water use efficiency in our operations by 40% by 2030. As of 2023, our packaging water efficiency has improved by 28% and distillation by 48% against F’20. We were recognised by the Alliance of Water Stewardship (AWS) and our distillery in Alwar, Rajasthan is the first spirit distillery in Asia to get the AWS certification.

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   o Accelerating to a low-carbon world: We continue to drive down greenhouse gas emissions, and have seen a 87% reduction over the F’20 emissions. And we are sustaining zero fossil fuel use across our distilleries and are on track to achieve Net Zero Carbon Status ahead of our 2030 commitment. 

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We continue to drive sustainability through our brands and a recent example is the Mangrove Replenishment Project, an initiative that aims to replenish the mangrove plantations in Odisha and restore the delicate natural balance, reduce the carbon footprint, empower local communities, and create a lasting impact. The initiative is in line with our belief in “Living Good while Doing Good” for the planet.  

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   o Becoming sustainable by design: Over 99% of the packaging material used is widely recyclable and we are well positioned to achieve our target of 100% by 2030. In addition, over 57% of the packaging material purchased is made of recycled content. We have also launched a regenerative agriculture programme in Punjab and Haryana in partnership with The Nature Conservancy India.