New Belgium Brewing: Ethical and Environmental Responsibility
History
Belgium is home of the finest ales and have been known to brew for centuries. So when Jeff Lebesch, an electrical engineer from Fort Collins, Colorado took a bicycle trip through Belgium it made him realize there may be a market back home to sell Belgian-style ale. Jeff returned home with hopes to experiment and brew his own beer in his basement from the various ingredients he received on his trip. When his friends approved of the ales he started marketing them to the local town. He later opened New Belgium Brewing Company in 1991. His wife, Kim Jordan was the company’s marketing director. They named their first brew “Fat Tire Amber Ale” after Jeff’s
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Most important, the employees can earn stock, which gives them voice within the company to make pertinent decisions.
Environmental Stand The company has also reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 1800 metric tons a year by switching from coal power to a wind turbine, which was the first wind-powered brewery in the United States. They have also invested in a steam condenser that reuses the hot water that boils the parley and hops to continue making the next brew. Furthermore, they have sun tubes that provide natural daylight time lighting through the full year. They utilize a green design throughout their whole facility and have agreed to participate as of 2002 in U.S Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environment Design for Existing buildings pilot program. To even reduce air pollution, as an incentive, they provide employees a cruiser bike to encourage them to ride to work instead of driving.
The company strives through corporate giving, event sponsorship, and philanthropic involvement. It has donated more than $1.6 million to organizations in the communities where they do business. It maintains a bulletin board in each facility that post all community involvement activities, and proposals. Their sponsorships include Tour De fat, MS 150 Best Damn Bike Tour; Ride the Rockies Tour, which all donated proceeds to non-profit groups.
They have succeeded in being three time winners of Business Ethics magazines Business
Employees would be given successive stock options to promote their care for the company without feeling as though they are being forced to stay with the organization. This set up of granting stock options would also help to encourage performance of employees to lead to both the short and long term success of the firm.
Folly is an English word that has an amalgam of definitions. In the New Belgium Beer’s context of “folly,” I believe it is used in playful sorts. While Merriam Webster’s initial definition of folly is the lack of good sense or judement, a foolish act or idea (Folly, n.d.), folly actually reminds me once of a sermon I heard. Reverend Dana Worsnop, spoke positively of folly in a sermon titled “following your folly.” Reverend Worsnop discusses you have to follow your folly, in terms of knowing we as individuals can not control everything, life can be tough, and so sometimes we have to turn things on their head a bit; furthermore, taking an event or something serious or painful and lightening it up (2013, p.2). Basically Reverend Worsnop advises
Consumer demand for robust ale was not being fulfilled with the current beers on the market. In 1991 Jeff Lebesch and his wife Kim started the company out of their basement. They focused on the rich flavor and unique concept. Their focus on social and environmental responsibility has set them apart from brewing companies on the market. Jeff and his wife wanted to promote a product while being innovative and socially responsible. They designed their core values and mission statement while hiking in a national park (Ferrell, 2010). In addition they wanted to promote the brand and corporate citizenship (Ferrell, 2010). Although the product is alcohol they encourage consumers to be responsible. Also, they have sponsored events, dinners and philanthropic causes to help gain consumer loyalty. In 2013, USA named NBB as 6 out of 15 best brewing companies (Franklin, 2013). Also, the company has increased is competitive advantage with is stance on environmental conscience brewing. They were the first brewery to utilize wind power generator, even with an increase cost of .025 per kilowatt (Asher, Bidner and Greene, 2003). Also, they utilize light tunnels, windows and recycled steam to reduce their carbon footprint (Gorski, 2013). In 2002 NBB participated in the LEED-EB pilot program (Ferrell, 2010). Furthermore, the company donates $1 for every barrel of beer sold to each of the 26 states territories and distributed $700,000 in 2012 (What we are about, 2013). Despite
NBB try to reduce negative impact on environment by using cost-efficient energy-saving alternatives. NBB invests in a wind turbine, making it the first fully wind powered brewery in the United States. NBB has also used a steam condenser that captures and reuses hot water used for boiling barley and hops in the production process to start the next brew. The steam is redirected to heat the floor tiles and de-ice the loading docks in cold weather. NBB also purchased an energy efficient brew kettle that
The New Belgium Brewing Company began in a basement, but grew rapidly. In the Beginning they went to beer fests and handed out free samples to get their name out. The New Belgium Brewing Company wanted consumers to engage in contests so they could build a fan base. They had it where consumers could pitch their “Beerdream.” This is when The New Belgium Brewing Company came up with the catch phrase, “What’s your folly?” (Ferrell & Hartline, p.362). As the company expanded, they wanted a more formalized look. With that, several people thought that the word “folly” had too much of a negative connotation for such as high quality beer. On the other hand, the others thought that folly is old enough to give it a new definition since most people do
Belgium is known for a culture of high-quality beer and this concept was formulated by an electrical engineer from Fort Collins, Colorado. The electrical engineer, Jeff Lebesch, was traveling through Belgium on his fat-tired mountain bike when he envisioned the same high-quality beer in Colorado. Lebesch acquired the special strain of yeast used in Belgium and took it back to his basement in Colorado and the experimentation process was initiated. His friends were the samplers and when they approved the beer it was marketed. In 1991, Lebesch opened the New Belgium Brewing Company (NBB) with his wife, Kim Jordan, as the marketing director. The first beer and continued bestseller, Fat Tire Amber Ale, was named after the bike ride in
New Belgium Brewing or NBB is a brewing company that stands apart from the competition in many ways. Who would have thought that a brewing company would be thought as an example of how an ethical and socially responsible company should be ran? The other part that is a surprise to most is that it is a fairly small corporation. It is nowhere near the size of a giant like Anheuser-Busch. So why is New Belgium so adamant about being different and a step above the competition? That is the overall focus of this case study. The main three points that will be discussed throughout the paper are, what environmental issues does the New Belgium Brewing Company work to address, does NBB’s focus on social responsibility provide a key competitive advantage, and can the company really be a socially responsible organization even though it sells alcoholic beverages?
Therefore, it really needed a strong product that responded the market’s needs and wants so that the product could speak itself in order to survive the keen competition.
In terms of quality, the company created a premium beer by its selective use of ingredients and less water. Boston Beer has won honors such as being the first American beer sold in Germany due to its use of only barley, yeast, hops, and water as its ingredients. With the increase in health consciousness among beer drinkers and the rise in more distinctive and flavorful brews, the Boston Beer Company has been able
Finally, the large brewers were increasingly successful by creating another point of differentiation. They attracted more consumers as the big brewers had the capacity to package beers in different sizes and therefore also appeal to consumers who drank beer in small amounts or slowly as well as packaged in different numbers to cater to the growing population of drinkers who consumed at home.
Obviously the high salary attracts numerous outstanding talents to join the company. The direct impact is to highly irritate the employees’ motivation. Besides, the employee stock ownership system has fundamentally changed the relationship between employers and employees from the simple employment relationship to collaboration. The change enhances the belonging of employees to the company and ensures the excellent communication, which helps employees understand how they can support the employers.
March 19th, 2016 forever changed the beer landscape for Jupiter, Florida. This was the first of what will be many bottle and/or can releases for one of the newest breweries to grace the South Florida horizon. A woman walking by asked me what the line was for. I proceeded to explain how Civil Society Brewing was having their first bottle release which in this case was in the form a 32oz crowler. 375 crowlers (3 per person) would, in fact, be released to fans who had come from as far away as Miami.
The employees feel that they have greater responsibility and trust put on them, this can generate greater participation, commitment, and a better job performance.
Stock options provide a financial incentive to employees. If the company does well, then the employees benefit financially. Providing this benefit has the effect of the employee having a vested interest in how the company performs; therefore, the employee will work hard, do their best work, and stay
impact of the decision on the cost structures and the resultant margins for each of the