Nile Breweries Limited (NBL), a subsidiary of AB InBev, last weekend commemorated International Beer Day by calling upon its customers to always drink responsibly.
According to Onapito Ekomoloit, the UBL’s Legal and Corporate Affairs Director, they partnered with Corporate League Members in order to promote responsible consumption of alcohol in commemoration of Global Beer Responsible Day and International Beer Day.
“As Uganda’s market leader, we want every experience with beer to be a positive one and a big part of that is helping people make smart choices while enjoying our products,” he said.
He added, “We do this through a set of programmes and initiatives; for instance, today, we are doing a bar activation at Levels to sensitize and demonstrate to our consumers the art of drinking smart.”
Onapito revealed that NBL believes that the harmful use of alcohol is bad not only for its consumers, colleagues, families and communities but also for its business and therefore aims to lead the industry in contributing to the reduction of the harmful use of alcohol.
The activation will be a climax of a whole week of responsible drinking awareness campaigns in traditional media and social media which supplement the beer maker’s other behavioural change campaigns aimed at reducing the harmful consumption of alcohol in our communities.
According to Clare Asiimwe, the Sustainability Manager, NBL’s responsible consumption programmes are referred to as Smart Drinking because they reach further to change mindsets and establish responsible drinking as a culture that one adopts beyond a one-off.
The company has campaigns such as No Excuse for Sexual Harassment, Interuniversity Smart Drinking Challenge, and various road safety and blood donation campaigns among others.
“Our ambition is for consumers to become more educated, have more choices, and shift their social norms and behaviours so that their every experience with beer is positive,” she said.
“This is only possible through collaborative efforts with all our stakeholders, particularly retailers, bars like Levels Lounge, government and non-government actors,” she added.
Smart drinking tips one can adopt are habits like eating a meal or snack before drinking or while drinking, having a glass of water between drinks, not drinking and securing safe means of transport before drinking, and not taking unsafe alcohol, among others. Revellers at Levels Lounge will be treated to meals and water among other gifts.
NBL established its Global Smart Drinking Goals in December 2015 to contribute to the World Health Organization’s target of reducing the harmful use of alcohol by at least 10 per cent in every country by 2025 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of strengthening the prevention of harmful use of alcohol globally.
Among the tips for smart drinking include; Self-policing (nobody should remind you on how much you should consume. Eating food before and during drinking. While drinking beer, alternate it with a non-beverage substances such as water.
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