Water Crisis Threatens Alcoholic Drinks Supply, Top Distiller Diageo Warns
The maker of Baileys Irish Cream says the crunch in water supply due to droughts and erratic rain is emerging as a massive risk for its operations.
Whiskey bottles travel on conveyor belts inside a bottling plant of Diageo Plc., in Bengaluru, India, on Aug. 25, 2022.
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/BloombergDiageo Plc, the world’s biggest spirits company, is worried that climate change is going to make scarce the one ingredient that’s essential for making all of its alcoholic drinks – water.
Water security poses the most significant climate change-related risk for the maker of Tanqueray gin, Guinness beer and Baileys Irish Cream, according to Michael Alexander, global head of water, environment and agriculture sustainability at Diageo, which had 43 sites globally in water-stressed areas last year.