Bacardi has a long standing commitment to social responsibility and a long heritage of incorporating responsible consumption messages into its advertising. They have taken on several activities and events emphasizing the responsible consumption of alcohol. They continue to take a strong stance on underage drinking today through their 2009 “We Don’t Serve Teens” campaign. Bacardi has secured more than $1.3 million in television, radio, print, online and outdoor media placements from its partners in order to support the campaign. The purpose and aim of the campaign is to curb illegal and underage drinking.

Bacardi, a leading spirits and wine producer, takes its commitment to safe drinking practices seriously. This powerful campaign is a joint public-private partnership between the federal and state governments, the spirits industry, various consumer organizations, The Century Council and The Distilled Spirits Council. Bacardi is a member of both The Century Council and The Distilled Spirits Council. The former works to fight drunk driving and underage drinking whereas the latter works to maintain responsible practices for alcohol advertising and marketing.

The “We Don’t Serve Teens” campaign, established by the Federal Trade Commission to fight underage drinking, espouses that serving alcohol to teens is unsafe, irresponsible and illegal. The campaign has learned that most teens who drink obtain alcohol from older friends, family members, at parties, or at home without parental consent. The campaign provides useful information for talking to teens about underage drinking. They also indicate that parents and other adults have a strong influence on a teens’ decision to say “no” to alcohol.

Bacardi, working with its media partners, has acquired national exposure for the program using ad placements with six print and 22 online media partners. Bacardi has also released several public service announcements that appear on television in 49 different markets as well as billboard advertisements in 17 different markets. All media partners have signed-on to feature the campaign through December of 2009.

Rick Wilson, the senior vice president, external affairs for Bacardi U.S.A. has stated that, “Bacardi U.S.A. is dedicated to keeping our products away from those who are not of legal drinking age and we want teens and parents to know underage drinking is unacceptable, harmful and illegal. Most alcohol consumed by minors is found at the home and we’re confident educating parents on this and speaking to teens about making the right choices will help address underage drinking”.
For more information, visit www.dontserveteens.gov.

One of the world’s leading spirits providers, Bacardi, started in late November its global roll-out of a new gift pack for Bombay Sapphire gin.

The Bacardi Sapphire gift pack includes a 1liter bottle of the product and a recipe booklet.

Bombay Sapphire Reign is already available at Amsterdam Schiphol airport with Schiphol Airport Retail and was created exclusively for duty-free and travel-retail, according to Bacardi.

The new gift box also won the Best Cartonboard Packaging Award on Nov. 5, 2009 at the UK Packaging Awards.

“Our premium Bombay Sapphire Reign pack is synonymous with the exceptional cocktails produced Bombay Sapphire gin,” said Bacardi Global Travel Retail Division marketing director Trent Russell.

Last week, Bacardi U.S.A. spirits company made a gift of $51,000 to Tangelo Park Elementary School in Orange County, Fla.

Bacardi also donated art supplies to all the students

The funds came from Bacardi’s campaign Bacardi Cares and were accepted by the school’s principal Tashanda Brown-Cannon.

Brown-Cannon said the school will use the gift to upgrade technology in classrooms and replace cafeteria and classroom furniture.

The checks, one for $30,000 and another for about $21,000 were presented separately.

The school’s community partner in education, Harris Rosen, president of Rosen Hotels and Resort, was influential in contacting the Bacardi Corporation to help Tangelo Park Elementary in support of its motto “Excellence is the Only Option.”

Tangelo Park Elementary is located at 5115 Anzio St., Orlando, FL 32819 in Orange County.

Global spirits major Bacardi Martini India Limited recently launched in Delhi Eristoff premium vodka, a leading international premium vodka brand globally. Eristoff is a pure form vodka with no after taste, just creamy and smooth, according to creators.

Commenting on the development, Mahesh Madhvan, president and chief executive officer of Bacardi Martini India Limited said, “Eristoff is the market leader in many European Markets and with its launch in Delhi we are expanding our footprint within the Indian market.”

Bacardi Limited’s brand portfolio consists of more than 250 brands and labels, including Bacardi rums, Martini and Rossi vermouths, Dewars blended scotch whiskies, Grey Goose vodka, Bombay Sapphire gin, Eristoff Premium Vodka, Cazadores Blue Agave tequila, among other brands.

Believe it or not, the next time you quaff a mug of beer or take a sip of a rum and Coke, you can call yourself an environmentalist! Just be sure it’s Abita beer or Bacardi rum you’re drinking.

According to an article published by Biomass Magazine, The Abita Brewing Company and the Bacardi Company are on the forefront of using renewable energy in the manufacture of their famous beverages. Abita Brewing, located in Albita Spring, Louisiana, is famous for their premium beers, such as Turbodog, Abbey Ale, and Purple Haze. What’s not as well known is how they convert their brewery waste into renewable energy.

A portion of this waste is transformed into animal feed and sold to a local dairy farmer. But the unused waste does NOT just go down the drain. Instead, the rest of Abita’s waste goes to a 570,000-gallon anaerobic digester, which can convert 75,000 gallons of waste per day into biogas. The methane-rich gas is then sent to the brewery’s boiler, so the brewery does not have to rely totally on regular electricity to heat up its boiler. In operation since April 2008, the anaerobic digester processes 45,000 gallons of brewery waste per day, creating a red hot 490 million cubic feet of biogas each month!

Bacardi environmental policy also makes use of anaerobic digester technology, allowing Bacardi to be its own power plant. The maker of Grey Goose vodka, Dewer’s Scotch whisky, Bombay Sapphire Gin, and the famous Bacardi rum has patented an anaerobic digester system specially suited for distilleries.

The anaerobic digesters at Bacardi’s Cataño facility process a whopping 1.2 million gallons of still bottoms, unfermented molasses and water every day. The result is an average of 7 million cubic meters of biogas each year, which in turn is sent to heat up the boilers. Bacardi gets an impressive 30% of its energy from this biogas. In the process, Bacardi doesn’t need the 5 million liters of oil it would need to heat the boilers.

Bacardi also employs this cutting edge technology at its Martini and Rossi plant in Pessione, Italy. That particular facility gets 50% of its energy needs from anaerobic digestion, fueled by wastewater creating during blending, filtration, clarification, and bottling operations. Bacardi can be proud to say that more than 92% of their waste is recycled into renewable energy.

Bacardi has licensed their ingenious technology to other distilleries, such as Cervecería India Inc. in Puerto Rico and Brugal & Co., C. por A. in Santo Domingo. More and more breweries and distilleries are now seeing the economic sense of upgrading to anaerobic digesters to take advantage of biomass.

When it comes to shrinking their carbon footprints, Bacardi and Abita are hard to beat. So let’s make a toast to Mother Earth and the recycling campaign…with a pint of Abita and a shot of Bacardi Rum!

Article Source: Biomass Magazine

Additional Information on Abita and Bacardi:

Abita Brewery solves its corrosion problems.

Classic City Brew takes a fascinating tour of Abita Brewery plant.

Learn the amazing history of the Bacardi Family on the Funding Universe site.

The Bacardi Family Foundation is an educational, religious, and charitable trust located in Arlington, Virginia.

Bacardi Environmental initiative: Bacardi Foundation, Stockholm Water Foundation Establish MIT Professorship.

Bacardi seeks to raise the retail environment in the Bahamas with the opening of the new Bacardi store.