Asahi Breweries GroupCSR REPORT
Corporate Social Responsibility Report

2006

Approach to CSR Reporting

We sought to make our CSR report both easier to understandand easier to search by taking advantage of the respective
strengths of a Web site and printed materials.
In order to increase public understanding of the Asahi
Breweries Group’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)
activities and facilitate easy access to information, we havebeen using our Web site, in addition to a printed report toprovide more detailed information than could be provided in
the limited space of a printed format.
This year, in 2006, we tried to create a more complete,easier-to-browse report taking advantage of the respective
characteristics of each media.
Our Web site serves as a portal site for communicating
Asahi Breweries Group’s CSR activities regarding social andenvironmental efforts. Here, the social and environmental
aspects of the Group’s business activities are divided into
several categories according to stakeholder interests, such as
consumers, business partners, shareholders and investors,
employees, local communities, and the global environment toprovide information that includes detailed performance data.
In addition to annual reports, the site provides informationand guidance on the latest activities as well as environmental
and cultural lessons and art events.
The printed report (this pamphlet) represents a compilationof issues that have attracted significant public attention as
well as efforts in which new progress seen in fiscal year 2005
and interesting topics selected from the Web site. This 2006
edition features a report on our work into the practical use of
biomass ethanol.

The Web site discloses the latest
and most complete information(In Japanese)

http://www.asahibeer.
co.jp/csr

Latest information uploaded regularly

Scope of this Report

To ensure timely
information disclosure, we
periodically release thelatest activity reports of
the Asahi BreweriesGroup in addition to ourreports issued annually.
Updates are announced
on the “What’s New” section on the top page of the entire
site and that for individual stakeholder pages.

Reporting Scope
In general, the scope of this report is the activities of Asahi
Breweries Ltd., although some reported activities involve theentire Group or other Group companies.

Making it easy to find information andensuring that information is complete

Report Content
Social and environmental aspects of business activities arereported including policies, plans, objectives, efforts, andprogress.
Reporting Period
This report primarily covers fiscal year 2005 (January 1 to
December 31, 2005) as well as the history and activities as ofthe publication date along with future projections and plans.
References Guidelines
This report uses the GRI* Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
2002 and the Ministry of the Environment’s Environmental
Reporting Guidelines (2003 edition) as references.
A table comparing the content of this report and these two
guidelines is on the Web site at:
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/csr/guideline/index.html(in Japanese).
Reporting Initiative. Founded in 1997, the organization* GRI: Global
developed and has been working to disseminate sustainability
reporting guidelines that are applicable worldwide.

Disclaimer
In addition to objective information on the past and present status of Asahi
Breweries, Ltd. and its Group companies, this report also contains plans,
perspectives, and forecasts based on the corporate philosophy and management
strategies as of the date of publication. These forecasts are based on information
available at the time of publication, and therefore the actual status and outcome of
future business activities may differ from these forecasts as a result of changes inthe social, economic, or business environment.

To help readers quickly
find the information theyneed, we prepared a
subject index to improveinformation retrieval.
Simply select the data
you wish to view from
“Policy, regulations,standards,” “Structure, mechanism, system” and“Performance data.” Links are also provided to relatedsites, including investor information and purchasing.

Designed for improved accessibility
The Web site is designed
to be easy for anyone—
including the elderly andthe physically challenged—to easily view and use.
For example,
explanations on skip linknavigation, current
location information, and so on have been incorporated
for those who use talking browsers. Furthermore, with afew exceptions, we tried to make graphs and graphics aseasy to view as possible.

This report focuses on issues of high interest to the public andour efforts that have seen new progress.
Contents

New reports on:
Protection of intellectual
property rights
Response to emergencies
Protection of personal
information

Executive Message
3
Corporate Philosophy, Guidelines for Corporate Activity,
Supporting the Global Compact
4
Outline of the Asahi Breweries Group5Interview with the President
7
Corporate Governance
11
Compliance
14
Risk Management
17
Protection of Confidential Information
18

Points of the Report 2

Special Feature: Asahi Breweries
Takes on a New Challenge

Points of the Report 1

Towards a recycling-oriented society

Report on Asahi Breweries’
new efforts in exploiting its
unique technologies

Biomass Ethanol Project19

For Consumers

23
25
26
26
27
28

Pursuit of Quality
Technical Improvement and Apprenticeship System
Product Labeling and Advertising Expressions
Response to Customer Comments
Activities Promoting Moderate and Responsible Drinking

For Business Partners
Fair and Equal Purchasing
Shared Prosperity with Distributors

For Shareholders and Investors
Points of the Report 3

Introduction of efforts
based on stakeholder
requests

Returning Value to Shareholders
Information Disclosure and Communications
Evaluations by External Review Organizations

For Employees
Equality and Fairness in Employment
Personnel Evaluation and Performance Rating
Creating a Pleasant Work Environment

For Local Communities
Basic Principle and Focus of Activities
Supporting the Arts and Culture
Contributing to Society

For the Global Environment
Basic Environmental Principles
Environmental Impact of Business Activities
Asahi Breweries Group Medium-term
Environmental Management Plan
Prevention of Global Warming
Conserving Water Resources
Waste Reduction
Environmental Management System
Certification
Environmental Audit
Environmental Education Programs
Response to Third-Party Opinions on
Asahi Breweries Group CSR Report 2005
Third-Party Opinion and Editor’s Note

29
31
32
33
35
35
36
37
39
39
40
41
43
43
44
45
47
47
49
51
52
52
53
53
54
54

55
56

Executive Message

Kouichi Ikeda

Hitoshi Ogita

Chairman of the Board and CEO,Asahi Breweries, Ltd.

President and COO,
Asahi Breweries, Ltd.

Becoming an Enterprise Group that is
Sustainable and Accepted by Society
The daily activities of the Asahi Breweries Group are guided by our vision: “For a new Asahi
Breweries Group with abundant growth potential, we will pursue total customer satisfaction,business structure transformations and a corporate culture that rewards innovation; generating
an energetic company with the will to meet any challenge.” We believe that corporate social
responsibility (CSR) lies at the heart of our corporate activities and is essential for our continued
acceptance by society as well as to enhance corporate value.
In pursuing CSR activities we understand that all stakeholders are, in essence, customers
who watch, support and guide the Asahi Breweries Group. Based on this understanding, we
also view CSR as standing for “CS + R” (Customer Satisfaction + Relations), which is
integrated into our daily corporate behavior. This means the Asahi Breweries Group sees CSR
not only as a guideline for management but also as the most practical guideline for the actionsof all employees as they seek to provide satisfaction in every operation. We hope that all themembers of Asahi Breweries Group fulfill their social responsibility and steadily enhance ourcorporate value through their daily practice of “CS + R.”
To further promote these CSR activities, we must communicate our thinking and our actions
in ways that are readily understood by every stakeholder. This is the guiding principle behindthe preparation of the Asahi Breweries Group CSR Report 2006 which summarizes our efforts
during the last year.
We believe one major step for the Asahi Breweries Group’s CSR activities is to involve as
many stakeholders as possible in reading this report and providing opinions and feedback that
we can incorporate into future activities.

3 CSR REPORT 2006

Corporate Philosophy
The Asahi Breweries Group aims to satisfy customers with the highest
levels of quality and integrity, while contributing to the promotion ofhealthy living and the enrichment of society worldwide.

Guidelines for Corporate Activity
Customer satisfaction• Provide high quality and abundantly original products and services with customer
satisfaction as the cornerstone to all corporate activities.
• Propose new value to meet our customers’ expectations by revolutionizing our
thinking and behavior.
Safety and environmental responsibility• Bear full environmental responsibility and ensure the safety of all our corporate
activities, ever aspiring to preserve our beautiful earth and be gentle to its people.
• Promote resource renewal and energy conservation through recycling and waste
reduction.
Fair, open corporate ethics• Win customers’ trust through corporate behavior that is based on respect forsound and fair ethics.
• Value the importance of communication with society and actively facilitate mutualcomprehension via the disclosure of information.
World-class corporate activities• Have a global vision and strive to follow international standards for corporate
behavior.
• Take on global business opportunities on the world-stage.
A corporate culture rich in ideas and vitality• Create a corporate climate where the rich ideas and ambitious spirit of eachmember of society can be leveraged.
• Create a corporate climate that abounds in activities where individuals can think
and act for themselves.
Original and responsive corporate action• Stay ahead of change and always strive to be forward-minded and swift in
corporate action.
• Aim to share impressions with society through inventive concepts and individual
behavior.
Independent and integrated management• Aim for corporate management where each company thrives from its own
independence.
• Aim for group management that leverages our combined strengths.
Continued, high-quality growth• Aim for efficient use of managerial resources and productive management.
• Meet everyone’s expectations, from customers and shareholders to employees,
through sustained and high-quality growth.

Supporting the Global Compact
Asahi Breweries announced its participation in June 2002. The Global Compact (GC) was proposed in January 31, 1999
by Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, at an international economic forum. The GC, as revised inJune 2004 with the addition of principles in the area of corruption, calls for participating companies to embrace andenact within their sphere of influence a total of ten principles in the following fourareas: human rights, labor standards, the environment, and anti-corruption. The
goal of the GC is to actively effect world-wide change through incorporation andacting on these principles in every aspect of corporate operations.
As of April 2004, over 1,300 companies, international labor organizations,and citizens organizations worldwide were taking part in this effort.

CSR REPORT 2006

4

Outline of
the Asahi Breweries Group

Asahi Breweries Group aims to satisfy customers
with the highest levels of quality and integrity
while contributing to the promotion of healthyliving and the enrichment of society worldwide.
Toward New Growth in the Alcoholic
Beverage, Soft Drink, Food andPharmaceuticals Businesses
Under the philosophy of “satisfying customers while
contributing to the promotion of healthy living and theenrichment of society worldwide,” Asahi Breweries, Ltd.
seeks to achieve further prosperity for the entire group.
Group companies build on the strength of the alcoholic
beverage business managed by Asahi Breweries, Ltd. For
example, Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd. engages in the softdrink business, offering canned coffee, Japanese tea, andother soft drinks, while other Group companies, including
Asahi Food & Healthcare Co., Ltd., market beer yeast
supplements and nutritional supplements in the food andpharmaceuticals business. In addition, in our beer andsoft drink businesses, our dynamic collaborations extend
beyond Japanese makers to those in China and other
Asian countries.

Soft Drink Business
Production and sales of canned
coffee, teas and other soft drinks.

Food andPharmaceutical Business
Production and sales of healthrelated products, yeast extract,functional foods, deodorizers,
and freeze-dried items.

Total Alcoholic Beverage Provider
All the ideas and actions at Asahi Breweries are based on
the principle of “Satisfying Customers with Great Tastes.”
As a result, Asahi Breweries has nurtured highly regarded
brands in every category of beer-type beverages (beer,
happoshu, new genre beverages), shochu, low-alcohol
beverages, whisky, and wine and has become a leader intoday’s alcoholic beverage market.
Based on the strength of Asahi Super Dry, our mainstay
beer product, we are promoting efforts for greater
freshness and flavor of beer from a barrel while continuing
to respond to diversifying customer tastes taking
advantage of our broad portfolio of alcoholic beverages.

Overseas Business
Production and sales of beer
and/or soft drinks in North America,
Europe, China, Southeast Asia, andOceania.

Alcoholic Beverage Business
Production and sales of beer, happoshu (lowmalt beer), shochu, zasshu (no-malt beer), lowalcohol beverages, whisky
and spirits, and wine.

Restaurant Business
Management of restaurants,
primarily located in the Tokyo
area and the Kinki region ofwestern Japan.

Raw Materials Business

Service Business

Production and sales of various
kinds of malt including raw
materials for beer, yeast material,
raw material for bread, andbarley tea.

Provision of instruction on
handling draft beer, support forsales promotions, and brewery
tours.

5 CSR REPORT 2006

Logistics BusinessTransportation of products andprovision of other logistics services
for the Asahi
Breweries Group.

Corporate Outline

Major Topics in 2005
Record-setting Net Income
In 2005 Asahi Breweries Group worked ontransforming our business structure, profit
structure and organizational structure based on theSecond Medium-Term Management Plan for 2004
to 2006 toward becoming a new Asahi BreweriesGroup with greater growth potential.
As a result, Asahi Breweries Group’s net sales ofthis term was 1 trillion 430.026 billion yen, down

Name of the Reporting Organization:
Asahi Breweries, Ltd.
Head Office Address:
3-7-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-8323(Address of incorporation)
1-23-1 Azumabashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-8602(Business address)
Date Founded:
September 1, 1949
Representative:
Kouichi Ikeda, Chairman of the Board and CEO
Hitoshi Ogita, President and COO
Paid-in Capital:
182,531 million yen (as of December 31, 2005)
Total Assets:
981,151 million yen (as of December 31, 2005)
Number of Business Units:
1 head office, 9 headquarters (2 headquarters and 7 regional
headquarters), 17 branches, 9 breweries, 6 laboratories,
3 overseas offices (China, U.S.A., U.K.)
Subsidiaries/Affiliates:
53 consolidated subsidiaries (as of December 31, 2005),
1 non-consolidated subsidiary under equity method,
16 affiliated companies under equity method

1.0% from the previous term, while operating profit
was 90.248 billion yen, down 10.9% from theprevious term, and current profit was 91 billion

Consolidated

Net sales

Non-consolidated(Fiscal years ended December 31)(¥ billion)

459 million yen, down 4.4% from the previous

1,500

term. In net income, the Group achieved a record-

1,200 1,121.9

high 39.870 billion yen, up 30.3% from the900

previous term, due to a significant decrease in

600

1,433.4

1,400.3

1,375.3

1,116.4

1,107.0

1,093.8

1,444.2

1,430.0

1,054.2

extraordinary loss.
300
0

2001

Efforts to Expand
the Soft Drink, Food andPharmaceuticals Businesses
Asahi Breweries Group is promoting expansion in

2002

2003

Net income

structure.
First, in the domestic soft drink business, in 2005

(Fiscal years ended December 31)
39.9

40

35.5
28.2

30
20
10

16.4

10.6
7.3

0

2001

Total assets

structural reform while striving to further improve its(¥ billion)
1,500

900

introducing LB Ltd. (two companies) into the Group.

600

Next, in the food and pharmaceuticals business,300

we strengthened the product lineup of Asahi Food

0

2002

1,294.7
1,250.8
1,244.4
1,127.6
1,077.8
1,038.3

2002

2003

Number of employees

Asian market including China, where growth is

16,0002005

14,567

15,0702004

1,218.2
981.2

2005

(As of December 31 of each year)

mainly by acquiring 100% of Sunwell Co., Ltd.
In overseas markets, particularly focusing on the

2004(As of December 31 of each year)

2001& Healthcare Co., Ltd. while working on increasing

2003

1,341.1

1,200 1,148.2

Group strengthened its bases in these domains by

and improving outlets in the healthcare market,

14.8

13.6

its profit structure through a growth strategy andbeverage/home-beverage delivery businesses, the

30.6

23.2

Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd. worked on transforming

operating base. While also expanding its chilled-

2005(¥ billion)

the domains of the soft drink, food andpharmaceuticals businesses to improve its profit

2004

14,654

15,74914,87812,000expected, the Group opened the China Business
Headquarters in Beijing for faster decision-making
while actively cultivating markets in ASEAN
countries, including Thailand and Cambodia.

8,000
4,000

3,779

3,995

3,779

3,700
3,607

0

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

CSR REPORT 2006

6

Interview with the President

Asahi Breweries Group fulfills its
social responsibility through“CS (Customer Satisfaction) + R (Relations)”.

Q

Hitoshi Ogita
President and COO

How do you define CSR activities
at the Asahi Breweries Group?

The foundation for our corporate activities, as stated in the Group’s
corporate philosophy, is “Satisfying customers with the highest
levels of quality and integrity.”
In our CSR activities, we recognize that every stakeholder is acustomer who spurs the performance of Asahi Breweries Group. In
this sense, the term “customer” not only refers to the consumers of
our products, but also includes shareholders and investors,
suppliers, employees, and local communities as well.
Every Group employee is expected to work in their respective
positions to satisfy these customers and to incorporate customer
opinions and feedback into future actions. Through this cycle, eachof us will fulfill our responsibility to our various stakeholders andbuild up strong and trusting relationships. This is the essence of
CSR activities for the Asahi Breweries Group.
In order to firmly instill this concept, we intend to fulfill our CSR
with “CS + R,” that is, Customer Satisfaction through Relations.

Q

What do you think is the most important
aspect of your CSR activities?

Within the company, we emphasize creating a climate in which each
employee thinks and acts independently while ensuring the effective
sharing of information by simultaneously clarifying rules andsimplifying our organizational structure. I believe improving customer
satisfaction, promoting compliance and giving due consideration to
the environment are all essential aspects of day-to-day operations,
not special activities. Attitudes such as the desire to satisfy
customers, treat colleagues with respect, and protect our naturalenvironment are simply how we do business as reflected in the workof each and every employee. I believe that creating this climate is
the starting point for CSR.
Outside the company, we focus on relations, in the sense ofinterchange or dialogue. Listening has been said to be the verybasis for customer satisfaction. To enhance corporate value weabsolutely must listen and effectively respond to what customers
say as well as share positive stories. We routinely emphasize public
relation activities and proactively communicate information in a waythat makes it easy to understand. Now we will add public listening
activities to respectfully heed the voices of customers andincorporate their feedback into our daily activities. Through such

7 CSR REPORT 2006

Enhanced
Customer Satisfaction

Consumers

Business
Partners

Customers

Supporting
the
Asahi
Breweries Group’s
Shareholders/
Corporate Activities

Investors

Employees
Local
Communities

GlobalEnvironment

Proposal and Information
Disclosure to Customers

Becoming an enterprise that fulfills its social responsibilities
based on “Customer Satisfaction (CS) + Relations (R)”Six Priority Initiatives of Our CSR Activities
Compliance with Laws
and Ethical Standards

Environmental
Conservation

Perform corporate activities incompliance with laws andethical standards to gain thetrust of society.

Reduce the Group’s burden
on the environment and carryout conservation activities forforests and water resources
to protect the global
environment.

Appropriate Information
Disclosure

Living in Harmony
with Local Communities

Encouraging Moderate& Responsible Drinking

Rapidly disclose information
in a fair and impartial manner
to raise the transparency ofcorporate management.

Support volunteer and culturalactivities to contribute to thecreation of cultural living incommunities. In addition,encourage exchanges withlocal communities to deepen
mutual understanding.

Carry out initiatives to prevent
underage drinking, drinking
and driving, and alcohol
consumption by pregnant andbreast-feeding women to
actively fulfill the responsibilityof enlightening consumers onproper drinking.

Pursuit of Quality
Develop and provide highquality products and services
to gain the trust and ensure
the satisfaction of thecustomer.

Enhanced
Corporate Value

Customer Feedback
and Opinions

CSR REPORT 20068

Interview with the President
interactive exchange and dialogue we will realize an open corporate
management environment for enhancing both customer satisfaction
and corporate value.

Q

What were your major points of focus
in 2005?

The Asahi Breweries Group has identified the Six Priority Initiatives
for our CSR Activities based on relationships with various
stakeholders: Pursuit of Quality, Compliance with Laws and EthicalStandards, Environmental Conservation, Appropriate Information
Disclosure, Living in Harmony with Local Communities andEncouraging Moderate and Responsible Drinking. We are working
to enhance corporate value through these Six Priority Initiatives.
Our continued focus on these priorities in 2005, with a special
emphasis on three initiatives—Pursuit of Quality, Environmental
Conservation and Encouraging Moderate and Responsible Drinking—brought about concrete results.

Q

Could you first explain your efforts andresults related to Pursuit of Quality as
one of the three priorities thatexperienced significant progress?

Quality is our top priority as a food manufacturer. With growing
customer concern over safety and security, the Asahi BreweriesGroup has implemented a number of initiatives to assure the safety
and quality of its products.
In 2005, we improved the Group’s quality assurance system bysetting up the Group Quality Management Committee whichdevelops and promotes a Groupwide quality assurance policy andstrategy.
In cooperation with related organizations and public agencies, weare also working to enhance our material analysis techniques bydeveloping an analysis technique for examining such safety issues
as residual pesticides, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, andgenetically-modified organisms (GMO) that have attracted significant
concern.

Q

What were your efforts in
Environmental Conservation?

The Asahi Breweries Group defined its approach to Environmental
Conservation through The Basic Environmental Principles in 2000
and has since been working to reduce environmental burdens
associated with its business activities. In 2005, the second year of
the Second Medium-term Environmental Management Plan, whichsets targets for 2004 to 2006, the entire Group worked together toaccomplish the goals of the plan.
We particularly focused on reducing CO2 emissions as set by the

9 CSR REPORT 2006

Kyoto Protocol by introducing energy-saving equipment such as
co-generation systems to our production sites and by promoting
fuel conversion, cyclic use of CO2, and so forth.

Q

What were your efforts related to
Encouraging Moderate andResponsible Drinking?

Throughout the long history of humankind, alcoholic beverages
have brought delight and pleasure into daily life. In today’s stressfilled society, they are playing an important role in relieving tension
and supporting opportunities for socializing.
Nevertheless, it is also true that inappropriate drinking is
generating a variety of problems, including drunken driving,underage drinking and alcohol dependence.
To contribute to addressing these challenges, the Asahi BreweriesGroup has been proactive in voluntarily encouraging moderate andresponsible drinking as a key social responsibility for an alcoholic
beverage company while strictly instructing and supervising every
employee to set a good example in their drinking habits.
In 2005 Asahi Breweries established the Fund for the Preventionof Underage Drinking to support organizations and individuals
engaged in research and other activities related to the prevention ofunderage drinking. We also actively engage in the alcoholic
beverage industry’s activities including participation in the Stop
Underage Drinking Project, an effort promoted by beer industry.

Q

Finally, what is your message
to stakeholders?

As I said at the beginning of this interview, the Asahi BreweriesGroup recognizes that every stakeholder is a customer in its CSR
activities and believes that management based on CSR entails
maintaining well-balanced, favorable relationships with every
stakeholder.
For example, a company that cannot satisfy consumers would
never be able to pay out profits to shareholders. Similarly,
employees who do not experience being well-treated by thecompany certainly will not bring happiness to those around them.
Consequently, every stakeholder is our customer whose satisfaction
must be addressed. Therefore, wewill continue to work toward a wellbalanced corporate managementthat satisfies all our stakeholders.
We have compiled this report in
the hope that it would contribute tobuilding a solid relationship with our
stakeholders. We would appreciate
your taking time to read this reportand let us know what you think.

CSR REPORT 200610

Corporate Governance

The Asahi Breweries Group is strengthening its
corporate governance to ensure the consistent andongoing fulfillment of its corporate social responsibility.
The Asahi Breweries Group is committed to strengthening
its corporate governance in order to be highly effective
and adapt quickly in an ever-evolving businessenvironment. The Group seeks to meet the requirementsof consolidated management and earn trust of all
stakeholders through the enhancement of social
responsibility and management transparency.

Fundamental Philosophy

Corporate Governance Structure
Shareholders’ Meeting
Appointment/Dismissal

Appointment/Dismissal

Audit

Collaboration

Compensation Committee• Inside Directors• Outside Directors

Appointment/Dismissal/
Supervising

Audit

Financial Auditor• Inside Directors• Outside Directors• Chairman of the Board and CEO• President and COO• Inside Directors• Outside Directors• Standing Corporate Auditors• Outside Corporate Auditors

Audit

Nomination Committee

Board of Directors

Board of Auditors

Chairman of the Board and CEO

President and COO

Management Strategy Meeting

Management Meeting• President and COO• Inside Directors• Executive Officers

AdviceAudit

Governance/Surveillance

Governance/Surveillance

Audit Department

Collaboration

Executing Departments and Group Companies
Internal
Audit

Advice/SupportSoft drinks business
Food and pharmaceuticals business

Alcoholic beverages businessAsahi BreweriesGroup CSR
Committee

Other business

Basic principles of internal control and various internal regulations including
Asahi Breweries Group Business Ethics Rule

11 CSR REPORT 2006

Contractual Lawyer

Collaboration

Appointment/Dismissal

Board of Directors andBoard of Auditors Composition
The Board of Directors consists of twelve directors,
including three outside directors. Asahi Breweries has
placed outside directors on its board since 1982 andincreased the number from one to three in 2000 to
improve the overall review functions of the Board of
Directors to incorporate several points of view. Thissystem of outside review is intended to enhance fairness
and transparency while further expanding Groupmanagement capabilities.
The Board of Auditors consists of five auditors, of which
three are outside auditors. Corporate management anddirectors are monitored under the auditing system tosafeguard business development and secure profits forstakeholders.

Nomination Committee andCompensation Committee
The appointment of directors and executive officers andtheir compensation are deliberated and determined by the
Nomination Committee and the Compensation Committee,
respectively, which were established in 2000 and report to
the Board of Directors.
The Nomination Committee recommends candidates for
directors, executive officers, and corporate auditors to theBoard of Directors. The Compensation Committee makes
proposals to Board of Directors on the compensation
structure for directors and executive officers. We plan tofurther enhance fairness and transparency by ensuring theeffective functioning of these committees.

Management Strategy Meetingand Management Meeting
Two high-level meetings share overall responsibility fordecision-making. The Management Strategy Meeting,chaired by the chairman and CEO, deliberates theoperations of the entire group, while the Management
Meeting, chaired by the president and COO, oversees themain alcoholic beverage business.
These meetings maintain the accountability of directors
for the entire Group and the responsibility of the COO andexecutive officers for the alcoholic beverages business,thereby streamlining decision-making and clarifying
responsibilities.

Asahi Breweries GroupCSR Committee
Asahi Breweries established a CSR Committee in
December 2003 at the Asahi Breweries Head Office for
effective CSR management. In September 2004,
representatives from 15 departments at the Asahi
Breweries Head Office and 17 Group companies joined
the Asahi Breweries Group CSR Committee, essentiallybroadening its function into a Group-wide CSR
Committee. Under the new structure, the CSR Committee
promotes CSR activities for the entire group under the Six
Priority Initiatives of CSR: Pursuit of Quality, Compliancewith Laws and Ethical Standards, Environmental
Conservation, Appropriate Information Disclosure, Living inHarmony with Local Communities, and Encouraging
Moderate & Responsible Drinking.
In 2005, the committee discussed the CSR activity
targets for the individual Group companies and clearly
identified their practical tasks.
The committee plans to focus on supporting andguiding of individual Group companies so they canaccomplish their targets.

Compensation and Retirement Benefits for Directors and Corporate Auditors(2005)

Total amount received
in compensation

Total amount received
in executive bonuses

Total amount received
in retirement benefits

261 million yen

74 million yen—

Outside directors

26 million yen

7 million yen—

Company-employed directors

235 million yen

67 million yen—

67 million yen

17 million yen

16 million yen

Outside auditors

18 million yen

5 million yen—

Corporate auditors

49 million yen

12 million yen

16 million yen

Directors

Auditors

CSR REPORT 200612

Corporate Governance

Establishment ofInternal Control System
To continue sound development together with its
stakeholders, the Asahi Breweries Group requires

Basic Principles for Establishingan Internal Control System
To realize its corporate philosophy: “Asahi Breweries Group aims to satisfy
customers with the highest levels of quality and integrity, while contributing to thepromotion of healthy living and the enrichment of society worldwide,” theCompany shall:(1) institute basic policies for establishing the following system (“the internal
control system”) to ensure proper operation of the Asahi Breweries Group,
consisting of the company and its subsidiaries (“the Group Companies”),
based on corporate laws and the enforcement regulations.
(2) Representative director shall bear responsibility for establishing the internal
control system and guiding the relevant directors to ensure through theirrespective departments the establishment and operation of the necessary
individual policies and manuals based on these basic principles.
(3) The Company shall work to maintain and improve the effectiveness of theinternal control system by reviewing these basic principles as well as policies,
manuals, and so forth as needed to keep pace with changes in the situation.
1. System to ensure that directors and employees perform their functions
in compliance with the statutes and the charter(1) Based on fair, open corporate ethics as stipulated in the Guidelines for
Corporate Activity, the Asahi Breweries Group Business Ethics Rule shall beestablished and observed by directors, auditors and employees.
(2) The Asahi Breweries Group Corporate Ethics Committee shall be set up to
oversee the overall compliance of the Asahi Breweries Group. One Committee
member shall be an external lawyer. Details for running the Committee shallbe based on the “Rule of the Asahi Breweries Group Corporate Ethics
Committee,” which shall be established separately.
(3) Compliance and risk management of the Asahi Breweries Group shall beoverseen by the responsible executive officers of the Company while related
office duties shall be handled by the Company’s General Affairs and Legal
Management Department.
(4) Persons responsible for promoting worksite compliance shall be assigned to
all the business units of the Company and the Group Companies. Eachassignee shall work to disseminate legal knowledge and raise complianceconsciousness at the worksite in cooperation with the legal management
department of the Company and the local general affairs department.
(5) A Clean Line System shall be established as an in-house reporting
mechanism for the Asahi Breweries Group. Details of system operation shallbe based on the Clean Line System Implementation Guideline that isestablished separately.
(6) The Basic Purchasing Policy and the Procurement Clean Line System shall beestablished for our suppliers to define mutual efforts for fair, transparent
transactions and social responsibility. We shall build an internal control systemwith our suppliers through close communication.
2. System for storing and managing information related to fulfilling thedirector duties(1) Information related to fulfilling director duties shall be properly stored andmanaged according to the Document Management Guideline and otherrelated guidelines and manuals.
(2) Storage and management of information described above shall be conductedin a manner that allows directors and auditors to review information at any
given point in time.
(3) Office duties for the storage and management of information described above
shall be supervised according to the relevant guidelines.
3. Guidelines and other systems for managing risk of loss
(1) A Basic Guideline on Risk Management shall be established and positioned
as the highest framework for risk management of the Asahi Breweries Group.
In addition, a Risk Management Operating Manual shall be developed andcommunicated.
(2) Risk management shall be conducted by the responsible department in therelated field locations. In addition, the Asahi Breweries Group Risk Management

13 CSR REPORT 2006

systematic, concerted efforts to establish a system forcompliance, risk management and corporate governance,that is, an internal control system.
For this purpose, Asahi Breweries’ Board of Directors
passed a resolution on the following basic policies forestablishing an internal control system.

Committee shall be set up for cross-functional management across the entire
Group. Following the guideline and the manual stipulated in the preceding
paragraph, the Committee shall regularly analyze and assess risks and conduct
comprehensive reviews of the risk management system as required. Quality
risk particularly requires full attention, recognizing the social responsibility of afood manufacture to ensure the safety and security of its products.
(3) In the event of a major accident, disaster or misconduct, a Crisis Response
Meeting chaired by the president shall be convened.
4. System to ensure efficient execution of director functions(1) In order to ensure efficient execution of director functions, the Board of
Directors shall rationally delegate duties and appoint appropriate executive
officers.
(2) A standard of authority that includes transfer of authority and mutual
supervision among departments shall be established.
(3) The Management Strategy Meeting and the Management Meeting shall beeffectively utilized.
(4) To maximize operational efficiency, objective and rational business
management indicators shall be used for unified follow-up and evaluation.
5. System to ensure proper operation in the enterprise group, consistingof the relevant business corporation as well as its parent company andsubsidiaries(1) Compliance and risk management systems and other systems necessary forinternal control shall cover the entire Asahi Breweries Group in a crossfunctional manner while the Company, as the headquarter of the Group, shallmanage systems according to the individual situations of the Group
Companies.
(2) The Internal Audit Department shall conduct audits of Group Companies.
(3) Group Companies shall report the status of operations including risk
information to the auditors of the Company.
(4) Authority of final decision on the business activities of the Group Companies isstipulated in the Group Company Authority Standard.
6. Employees that auditors may request to assist in auditor duties(1) Auditor staff may be put into position to assist the Board of Auditors in theirduties.
7. Independence of employees as defined in the preceding paragraphfrom directors(1) The auditor staff defined in the preceding paragraph, upon receiving
necessary orders for auditing service from the auditors, shall not receive
orders or instructions related to the auditors’ order from any director or
employee.
(2) Ordering, transferring, evaluating or disciplining a member of the auditor staff
defined in the preceding paragraph requires approval of the auditors in advance.
8. System for the directors and employees to report to the auditors andsystems for other reports to the auditors(1) Directors and employees shall provide regular reports to the auditors on items
related to internal control as well as other reports as required. Auditors may
request reports from the directors and employees (including those of theGroup Companies) as needed.
(2) Directors shall ensure that the auditors have opportunities to regularly attend
important meetings other than the Board of Directors’ Meeting including theManagement Strategy Meeting and the Management Meeting and shallpresent agenda items to them in advance.
(3) The auditors may view important minutes, decision documents, etc. at any
given point in time.
9. Other systems to ensure effective auditing(1) The directors shall provide opportunities to the auditors to regularly exchange
information and opinions with the internal audit department as well as withexternal auditors.

Compliance

Promoting compliance to earn
the trust of all stakeholders
Fundamental Philosophy

The Asahi Breweries Group is reinforcing its compliancesystem through dissemination of the Asahi BreweriesGroup Business Ethics Rule and implementation andverification of the outcomes of various action plans.
The Rule, encompassing not only legal compliance but
also ethics and action guidelines that a member of the
Asahi Breweries Group should observe, is regarded as theessence of promoting CSR activities.
For the future, we plan to build an internal control system
based on the New Corporate Law and sincerely strive todisseminate the in-house reporting system in response to
enforcement of the Whistleblower Protection Act.

Asahi Breweries Group Business
Ethics Rule
Section One

The Fundamental Philosophy

Section Two
Part One
Part Two

Corporate Ethics Standards
Responsibilities to Consumers
Responsibilities to Clients and Related
Industries
Responsibilities to Suppliers
Responsibilities to Employees
Responsibilities to Society
Responsibilities for the Global
Environment
Responsibilities to Governmental
Institutions
Responsibilities to Shareholders andInvestors

Part ThreePart FourPart Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight

Promotion System
Operation of the Legal Promoter System
The Asahi Breweries Group introduced the Legal Promoter
System in 1999 so that all employees can concretely
understand the importance of compliance and put thisunderstanding into practice in their day-to-day operations.
Through this system, employees who have participated incompliance training organized by the Legal Management
Department of Asahi Breweries and have acquired acertain level of knowledge are assigned as Legal
Promoters at every business unit and Group company. In
this system, training is held every year to share the latest
legal knowledge and case studies.
Starting in 2002, Senior Legal Promoters with moresophisticated expertise have been assigned to major
business units to further reinforce our compliancepromotion system.
Moreover, in May 2006, we assigned a Legal Promoterfor Governmental Regulations at our Head Office who
reviews worksite operations, from a technical perspective,
to ensure compliance with public laws related to our major
operations.

Compliance Promotion System
Asahi Breweries Group Corporate Ethics Committee

Secretariat

Section Three Implementation Guidelines

General Manager
in Charge ofLegal Management

General Manager,
General Affairs andLegal Management
Department

General Affairs andLegal Department

Head Office Managers

Business Units Managers(including Group companies)

Business Unit:Manager, General Affairs
and Secretary Department

Legal Promoter for
Governmental
Regulations

Senior Legal
Promoter (SLP)

Business Unit:Managers

Legal
Promoter (LP)CSR REPORT 2006

14

Compliance

Compliance Promotion System (As of March 2006)
Title

DutiesNumber ofpromoters

Legal Promoter

Assigned to each business unit and Group company;
selected from Marketing and Sales Promotion staff andtrained in general legal knowledge and concerns andassume the role of discovering worksite compliance issues.
They are encouraged to obtain grade 3 of the Japan
Business Law Examination.

130

Senior Legal
Promoter

Assigned to each business unit and Group company.
Candidates are recommended from the level of assistant vicepresident in the General Affairs and Secretary Department.
SLPs are appointed with the approval of the Vice President in
Charge of Legal Management. They learn expert knowledge
in legal affairs, nurture a sense of ownership as worksite
compliance leaders and undertake the role of solving
problems. They are required to obtain grade 2 of the Japan
Business Law Examination.

26

Legal Promoterfor Governmental
Regulations

Recommended by each department of the Asahi Breweries
Head Office and appointed with approval of the Vice
President in Charge of Legal Management. They are
expected to develop sophisticated, expert knowledge andskills to negotiate with government agencies in theadministrative regulation laws that are directly related to theirduties and undertake the role to address legal risks in areas
not covered by the legal department.

31

Breweries Group Business Ethics Rule specifies various
measures, including the requirement that every officer andemployee except auditors sign a compliance pledge.

Operation of Clean Line System

Internal Audit and Compliance Training
Sessions
At the Asahi Breweries Group, a team comprised of
employees with expert knowledge, including members
from the Audit Departments, conducts internal audits ofbusiness units in accordance with the unified audit
standard of the Group to ensure thorough compliance. In
addition, audit results are reported to the Management
Strategy Meeting two times a year and incorporated in
new policy development.
In 2005, internal audits were carried out at 11 business
units (seven regional headquarters, four factories) and
29 units across the Group (26 units of 20 companies,
three overseas companies) with a focus on preventive
instruction on risk and compliance (confirming thatpreventive measures are taken) and reinforcing Head
Office support functions (confirming that the Head Office isproviding sufficient).
In addition, each division of Asahi Breweries holds its
own compliance training tailored to its respective
operations. In 2005, the General Affairs and Legal
Management Departments and others took lead incarrying out “Caravan Training” that circuited throughbusiness units across the country under specific themes
such as labeling and expressions, moderate andresponsible drinking, and personal information.

The Clean Line System was set up as an in-housereporting method for quickly identifying potential risks
associated with corporate activities and preventing theoccurrence of major problems. It was established toaddress problems which, for whatever reason, employees
felt they could not report or could not seek advice throughthe standard channels of communication. The systemprovides a mechanism to protect employees in reportingor consulting with experts with regard to actions at theworkplace that are or may be against prevailing laws andregulations. Consultations can be arranged either throughan internal contact person using the Corporate Ethics
Committee Office or an external contact person using
contractual lawyers. Reports are received face-to-face, viae-mail, sealed letter or fax (the last is only for external
contact). Consultation with external contract lawyers canbe conducted anonymously.
Any issues reported through the system are vigorously
investigated and reviewed by the Corporate Ethics
Committee. Steps are taken to ensure that no employee
ever places themselves at risk by reporting a problem.

Flow of the In-house Reporting
Chairman of the Board, President
Directive

Asahi Breweries Group Corporate Ethics Committee• Directors • Executive Officers • Contractual Lawyer
Directive

15 CSR REPORT 2006

ReportInternal Contact
Corporate Ethics Committee Office• General Manager, Legal Affairs• General Manager, General Affairsand Legal Management Department

Request for
Investigation*Name of reporting

Response

External Contact

party can beconcealed at the
party’s discretion.

• Contractual Lawyer
Response
Consultation(name disclosed/
anonymous)

Consultation(name disclosed)

Survey on Corporate Ethics
Since 2002, we have also conducted annual anonymous
surveys on corporate ethics involving all employees acrossthe entire Group to confirm the level of compliance andidentify compliance issues at worksites while implementing
meticulous improvement measures utilizing the results.
In addition, the Implementation Guideline of the Asahi

ReportSelection

Employee Seeking Consultation

ResponseProtection of Intellectual
Property Rights
Fundamental Philosophy
Asahi Breweries recognizes that the protection of
intellectual property rights is essential for conducting
business. Therefore the Company actively promotes theacquisition of rights to minimize disruption to our businessactivity, investigates violations of our rights by others as
required, and takes appropriate action according torelated laws and regulations.
We are also working to establish organizational control
and rules to respect the intellectual property rights of any
third party through research to avoid violating the rights ofothers, such as prior arts, when developing new products
or research efforts.
In addition, for the sake of the sound development of
the industry and cost-effectiveness, we strive to retain only
the rights we require by transferring rights that are not
likely to be used for our business.

Management System
After appointing a director in charge of intellectual property
strategy, we develop a strategy that is linked to our overallmanagement strategies and acquire intellectual property
rights in the field as identified by this strategy while
analyzing the intellectual property strategies ofcompetitors.
When acquiring intellectual property rights, staff withexpert knowledge, including those from the Planning
Department or the Patent Room of the Research &Development Division visit business units to discoverintellectual property-related material while carrying out
support and consultation activities such as rights
acquisition and research on third party intellectual property
rights. Decision on an international application is madeafter discussions in the Research & Development Division
to determine in which country such right shall be obtained.
As a result, we registered 26 patents and new design
rights in 2005.
Based on the principle of respect for the rights of thecompany and of others, we conduct investigations
whenever we receive questionable intellectual property
information and appropriately respond according to thelaws and regulations of the relevant country.

Reward for Invention
Since 1971, when the Employee Invention Treatment
Guideline was developed with the goal of encouraging
intellectual property creation by employees and tocontribute to corporate growth, Asahi Breweries has been
harmonizing rights of the Company and its employees
who have created intellectual property including
inventions. In the Employee Invention Treatment Guideline,
evaluation is classified into patents, utility models, designs,
variety and expertise, while rewards include application
rewards that are paid at the time of application andperformance rewards paid when the right is registered.
As for evaluation, the Invention Evaluation Committee
examines and makes decisions based on contribution tocorporate performance depending when the invention isused in the company or on the amount paid by a relevant
third party if the invention is transferred or licensed.
If an inventor objects to the decision of the committee,
he or she can use an internal system to reach a mutuallysatisfactory solution. Options include lodging a protest
with the Evaluation Committee.
In 2005 rewards were paid for 24 patent rights andtwo expertise rights. In October, the Employee Invention
Treatment Guideline was revised to add retirees andbereaved families as potential recipients of rewards.

CSR REPORT 2006

16

Risk Management

Working to prevent risks surrounding
the business and building a system that
responds to emergency situations
Response to Emergencies

Promotion System

Asahi Breweries Group established the Asahi BreweriesGroup Risk Management Basic Guideline that defines its
risk management promotion system and the Risk
Management Operation Rules that specify guideline
implementation. The Group also set up the Asahi
Breweries Group Risk Management Committee topromote risk management.
The Risk Management Committee deliberates anddecides policies concerning all risk management activities
and sets action priorities based on the results of risk
assessment while reviewing the content ofcountermeasures for major risks and the progress of plan
implementation.
In addition, staff and supervisors for promoting risk
management pursue activities that fit the respective
operations of each Group company.

Risk Management Promotion System
Asahi Breweries Risk Management Committee• Board of Directors

Asahi Breweries Group promotes risk management toprevent any risk associated with its business as well as tomaintain the safety of employees and community residents
while continuing business operations in the remote chanceof an emergency.
If a risk is detected, the business unit that recognized
the risk shall report to the lead department of the Head
Office and the Secretariat of the Risk Management
Committee (General Affairs and Legal Management
Department and Quality Assurance Department) according
to risk management guidelines. In addition, manuals havebeen established for setting up the Crisis Response
Meeting and the Emergency Task Force and implementing
adequate first-response measures.
The Crisis Response Meeting and the Emergency Task
Force will determine the content and method for disclosing
information on the incident based on the principle ofproviding correct information in a timely manner.

Setting up the Emergency
Response Organization(1) Occurrence of an Emergency• Operating Officers(2) Response Meeting is Set Up (President)
Secretariat

General Affairs/
Legal Management
Department

Quality Assurance
Department• Chair: President• Secretary: Director in charge of risk management• Deputy secretary: General Manager, General Affairs and Legal Management
Department, General Manager, Quality Assurance Department• Members: Selected members(Directors who are appointed as members at the time of the call.)Head Office Departments• Supervisor responsible for promotion• Staff responsible for promotion

Business Unit
(including Group Companies)• Supervisor responsible for promotion• Staff responsible for promotion(3) Appointment of the Chief of the Emergency Task Force(Chair of the Response Meeting)(4) Setting up the Emergency Task Force(Chief of the Emergency Task Force)• Chief of the Task Force (Appointed by the chair in accordance with the level ofthe emergency)• Secretary: General Manager, General Affairs and Legal Management
Department, General Manager, Quality Assurance Department• Deputy Secretary: General Manager, Public Relations Department• Members: · General Manager, Corporate Planning Department· General Manager, Personnel Department· Selected General Manager(General Managers who are appointed as members when the task
force is set up.)

17 CSR REPORT 2006

Protection ofConfidential Information

Taking action from a broader perspective toprotect various types of confidential information,
including personal information
Promotion System

The Asahi Breweries Group established the Information
Management Rule in 2004 to protect all types ofconfidential information, including the personal informationof customers and business partners.
The General Affairs and Legal Management Department
is the lead office for handling confidential information whileof business unit managers act as Information Managers.
Each business unit distributes copies of the Information
Management Handbook to its
employees to raise theirawareness while reviewing
compliance with various
guidelines through voluntary
audits and business unit audits
conducted by the Audit
Department.
In 2006, we plan to revise theInformation Management Rulein response to the revised
Guidelines for Trade SecretInformation Management
Management of the Ministry of
Handbook
Economy, Trade and Industry.

Protection of Personal Information

In March 2005, Asahi Breweries Group established the
Asahi Breweries Group Rules for Handling Personal
Information to provide more detailed specifications forhandling personal information, particularly confidential
information, partially in response to the full enforcement of
the Private Information Protection Law in April 2005.

Web Site Management

Employee Use of PCs
Asahi Breweries has started introducing encryption
software for storing data on external media such as
magneto-optical drives and USB memory, and encrypting
the hard discs of mobile PCs.
In addition, we have developed the Personal Information
Handling Ledger for personal information used at
individual business units to manage the process ofacquisition, storage, utilization and disposal of personal
information.

Entrustment to Outside Contractors
In order to prevent the leakage of personal information byoutside contractors who are entrusted with the
management of information entered during sales
promotion campaigns, Asahi Breweries selects
contractors with sufficient security capabilities andincludes a contract provision that requires compliance with
the Rules for Information Management by Contract thatdefines the handling of private information by contractors.

Training for Information Protection

Asahi Breweries Group is working to raise awareness of
employees who handle confidential information or
personal information and to establish and improve internal
systems through training.
The pace of change in the information environment
surrounding employees is expected to accelerate.
Believing in the importance of repeated, thorough training
for protecting confidential information including personal
information, the Asahi Breweries Group will continue
training efforts through a variety of opportunities such ase-learning and group training.

Training on Protection ofConfidential Information

In regard to personal information acquired through our
Web site, we are striving to adequately protect personal
information through our Privacy Policy and the Private
Information Protection Compliance Program*.
Information Protection Compliance Program* PrivateThis standard for handling private information consists of the Guideline for2005

Participants

Number of trainings

Nationwide sales bases that handle
customer information in individual
campaigns and others

11

Handling Private Information, the Rules for Information Management by
Contract, Operations Manual, and Q&A and other references wasestablished to assist individual business units that handle private information
strengthen their efforts through PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act).
Privacy Policy
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/english/policy/

CSR REPORT 2006

18

Special Feature: Asahi Breweries
Takes on a New Challenge

Towards a recycling-oriented society

Biomass Ethanol
Project
Asahi Breweries and the National Agricultural Research Center
for Kyushu Okinawa Region launched a joint research project in2002 on biomass energy for producing ethanol from sugarcane.
In January 2006, the joint project started a demonstration of arecycling-oriented society that utilizes biomass ethanol to support
sustainable agricultural development and the local economy while
limiting CO2 emissions from fossil fuels such as gasoline.

September 2001

Development theme proposed
A research and development center adjacent to our Ibaraki
Plant at Moriya, Ibaraki Prefecture, conducts research anddevelopment for all businesses of the Asahi BreweriesGroup including alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and foods.
Our Engineering & Technology Development Laboratoryon this site pursues
environmental research.
Recommendations forresearch themes wereinvited to launch theactivities of the laboratory
at its establishment in
Research and Development Center
September 2001.
Satoshi Ohara, who at that time was conducting
research on wastewater treatment, suggested energy
generation from biomass as a theme that fit well with thelaboratory’s environmental mission and had been one of his
graduate research topics.
Biomass energy involves fermenting organic matteraccumulated in biomass such as wood chips, raw
garbage and feed screening, and then harnessing thegenerated energy in the form of gas or alcohol.
Environmental burden related to its combustion isconsidered to be zero since only CO2 absorbed by plants
during their growing process is emitted. Consequently, themethod has attracted highexpectations as arenewable

19 CSR REPORT 2006

energy that could support a recycling-oriented society.
Recognizing the significance of this topic, theEngineering & Technology Development Laboratory
accepted Ohara’s proposal in December 2001.
General Manager, Research &Development Planning Department

In Person

Noboru Kagami

In order to bear fruit, a research and development effort
must offer an innovative concept and a meaningful theme
that focuses the passionate interest of researchers. Our
system allows researchers to propose new topics at any
time to ensure a constant supply of such seeds forresearch and development and thereby enable us toconstantly pursue new opportunities. Researchers mustalso prepare presentations for Theme Promotion
Meetings that explain the uniqueness of their
topics as well as their potential for futurebusiness development for the Asahi BreweriesGroup. While objective evaluation is certainly
important, some topics are accepted
because they inspire dreams of innovative
businesses and encourage young
researchers to take on new challenges.

January 2002

Research activity started
In January 2002, Ohara conducted a survey on biomassenergy. The focus then was on energy from biomass suchas methane, methanol, and ethanol, as well as hydrogen.
Each of these sources exhibits its own characteristics.
Ohara chose biomass ethanol that can be mixed withgasoline to drive vehicles.
Ethanol is an energy source that can draw upon Asahi
Breweries’ outstanding fermentation technology.
Furthermore, development of liquid energy as analternative for petroleum was seen as a worthwhile andpromising theme for Ohara, who had been aspiring tocontribute to the environment through technology sincejoining the company.
In fact, given escalating gasoline prices, increasing CO2
emission associated with gasoline consumption andsignificant concern over global warming, the use ofgasoline containing ethanol has become a significant trend
in major countries around the world*. Ohara decided toPhoto (left): Sugarcane with high biomass developedby the National Agricultural ResearchCenter for Kyushu Okinawa Region
Photo (right): Fueling an official vehicle with E3
gasoline; start of running tests

try biomass ethanol
after comprehensively
evaluating how it isneeded and whatroles it might play insociety as well as its future
potential and feasibility.
Ohara then explored individual biomass materials fortheir suitability to ethanol production from a variety ofperspectives. After examining such diverse factors asmaterial costs, stability of procurement, ease and cost of
conversion to methanol and transportation, he was notable to identify a good material in terms of volume andcost for an ethanol production business. As he continued
his commercialization studies, it became clear to him thatin Japan, where land is limited, he could not expect
currently existing stocks of biomass material to support asufficient level of production and cost performancesuperior to gasoline or imported ethanol. Regardless ofthe quality of the energy, too high a cost would preclude
the development of a viable business and inhibit broad
dissemination.
by the oil shock in the 1970s, countries worldwide are* Triggeredadvancing in their efforts to drive automobiles with gasoline that contains
ethanol. In Brazil, a major sugarcane growing country, gasoline must
contain 20–25% ethanol and vehicles that can drive on 100% ethanol
have become popular. Other countries where ethanol is used as vehicle
fuel include the United States, France, China and Thailand.

Encountering a sugarcane cultivar
with high biomass level
Ohara asked himself, “Where can I get good material?” He
then obtained promising information from talking with hiscollege friends. He heard that the National Agricultural
Research Center for Kyushu Okinawa Region (KONARC)
in Tanegashima was growing a special variety ofsugarcane created by selective breeding.
Wasting no time, he quickly arranged to visit Akira
Sugimoto, then head of the center’s Sugarcane Breeding
Laboratory. Ohara was surprised at the greater-thanexpected potential and utilization ideas of the sugarcane
with a high biomass level.
According to Sugimoto, this new sugarcane cultivar isundesirable for commercial sugar manufacturing since it
has less sugar per cane than ordinary varieties while
containing more molasses and fiber that is used as a heatsource for sugar processing. However, it develops morecanes than conventional varieties allowing a greater sugar
yield per growing area, which in turnfacilitates the production of biomassenergy without reducing sugar
production.
Convinced that this was exactly thematerial he was seeking that could
achieve sufficient cost performance,even in Japan, Ohara immediately
proposed a joint research effort with High biomass
sugarcane cultivar
Sugimoto.

Engineering & Technology
Development Laboratory

In Person

Satoshi Ohara

What impressed me when I listened to Sugimoto was not
only the idea of producing sugar and ethanol* from thesugarcane at reduced cost with high biomass level, butalso the major scope and high aspirations of the vision.
For example, using fiber-rich bagasse generated throughthe biomass ethanol production process as a source ofheat or fuel for electric power generation makes the
production process completely carbon neutral, deriving
both material and energy for production from biomass.
This means biomass energy production can help toaddress food and energy challenges through sugar while
contributing to worldwide concerns for realizing acarbon-neutral production process. Furthermore, theproject can contribute to restoring soil for crop
production in coordination with livestock breeding that
exploits the characteristics of the material crop
while also expanding prime land for foodproduction through economic activities
based restoring soil.
Sugar crystallization can be reduced to one cycle* fromthe conventional three cycles to produce more
ethanol from the remaining sugar. We can obtainless sugar by just performing crystallization onceand can ensure sugar production per growing area
and reduce ethanol production costs through theprofit gained from the sugar.

July 2002

Joint research agreementwith KONARC
Subsequently, in April 2002, Ohara’s research theme
utilizing the high biomass sugarcane cultivar was approvedat the Management Meeting as a formal development
theme for Asahi Breweries. In July, Asahi Breweries and
KONARC concluded a joint research agreement for fullfledged research and development. The sugarcane variant
was to be developed by KONARC while Asahi Breweries
took charge of the development of processing technology
to transform sugar to biomass ethanol.
Ohara started studying sugar manufacturing techniques
on his own by visiting sugar manufacturing plants andsearching for documents while simultaneously advancing
his research into the use of yeasts for ethanol production
and strained lees of sugarcane (bagasse).
In July a new development provided fresh momentum.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, alongwith the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology, the Ministry of Economy, Trade andIndustry, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport,
and the Ministry of Environment, announced the Biomass
Nippon Strategy, a national initiative for the comprehensive
use of biomass. The strategy was adopted at a Cabinet
meeting in December demonstrating the clear direction ofnational efforts related to biomass energy. In addition, in
August 2003, the Law on the Quality Control of Gasoline
and Other Fuels was revised to permit gasoline mixturescontaining up to 3% ethanol. The team’s dream forenabling Japanese cars to run on biomass ethanol they
produced suddenly became a real possibility.

CSR REPORT 200620

Special Feature: Asahi Breweries
Takes on a New Challenge

Biomass Ethanol ProjectIe Island
Nago

Okinawa
Prefecture

CO2 absorption (reduction)

Naha

4 Use for official vehicles

1 Cultivation of high biomass
sugarcane variety

3 E3 gasoline production

Manure Compost(Maintenance of soil fertility)
Use for livestock
breeding

2 Sugar/ethanol production
demonstration plant

Biomass Island Initiative on Ie Island
5 Use of by-products

September 2003

Cooperative system withrelated organizations established
In September 2003, Ohara, who had discovered a
production technology for biomass ethanol capable ofattaining the targeted cost performance, went with
Takiguchi, General Manager of the laboratory, and
KONARC staff on visits to the Cabinet Office, the Ministryof Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry ofEnvironment, the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry
as well as the prefectural
government of Okinawa, where
there are plans for growing
sugarcane. They presented the
Research Initiative on
Production Process of Highefficiency Ethanol that does not
Compromise Food Production
and requested support fromthe related ministries based on
the Biomass Nippon Strategy.
In addition, the research staff ofCrystallizer pilot plant
Asahi Breweries wasstrengthened to support Ohara’s efforts, thereby creating
the Biomass Group. Proceeding through various twists
and turns, they obtained support from the related
ministries and started a pilot plant verification test to
confirm the results of their research.
The verification test is a comprehensive experiment thatinvolves growing high biomass sugarcane in actual fields,

21 CSR REPORT 2006

In the Biomass Island Initiative, sugar and biomass ethanol are
produced from high biomass sugarcane cultivar while theleaves and young stems of sugarcane are used as feed andlivestock bedding and the remaining bagasse is used as
fertilizer for leaf tobacco and so forth utilizing the village
compost center. Sugarcane spreads roots deep into theground and therefore grows even in wastelands or arid places
where ordinary crops cannot grow. In addition, by-products are
returned to the earth as organic fertilizer in the form of livestock
manure transforming barren lands into fertile farm land.

producing sugar from the harvest in the pilot plant,
producing ethanol from molasses generated in theprocess and running tests of automobiles using E3gasoline (3% ethanol blend).
While the team was looking for a candidate site for thepilot plant, the Cabinet Office Okinawa General Bureau
introduced Ie Island of Okinawa Prefecture. Situated 9 km
northwest off the coast of the Motobu Peninsula, Ie Island
extends 8.4 km east to west and 3 km north to south,
with a population of 5,300, mainly engaged in cultivatingsugarcane, leaf tobacco and livestock. The island, which
had closed a sugar manufacturing plant in 2004, offered tocooperate with the verification test.
General Manager
Engineering & Technology
Development Laboratory

In Person

Susumu Takiguchi

Fortunately, many of the related ministries expressedinterest in our initiative, not only because we had beenleading the way in this development, but also because
they highly appreciated the fact that the project included
every process, from cultivation of the sugarcane as raw
material ethanol production, E3 gasoline production,
running vehicle tests and utilization of byproducts. Research by the company and
KONARC involves greater ethanol production
while ensuring the current volume of sugar
production as well as the effective use ofbagasse as an energy source for producing
sugar and ethanol, which was in line with
the Government’s vision for a recyclingoriented society.

April 2004

Biomass Island Initiative proposed
Upon receiving this introduction, the team including Ohara
began to create materials for a presentation to Ie Island.
Named the Biomass Island Initiative, the initiativeenvisioned the realization of a recycling-oriented society
on Ie Island by expanding the framework of the project:producing sugar and ethanol from a high biomass
sugarcane variety.
Ie Island as well as the related ministries that had been
supporting the project were significantly interested in theinitiative and provided support and assistance, including
an experimental cultivation site, a plant site and facility
management service.
In May 2004, KONARC started a cultivation experimenton Ie island and in December 2005 a pilot plant for
producing biomass ethanol was completed. Sugarcane
was planted in about 5,000 m2 of land with an expectedannual harvest of about 30 tons of sugarcane yielding the
production of about 2 tons of sugar and 1 kiloliter ofbiomass ethanol.
Research Manager
National Agricultural Research Center for
Kyushu Okinawa Region (KONARC)

In Person

Akira Sugimoto

Despite high annual precipitation, the climate of the
Nansei Islands including Okinawa is harsh for agriculture
because of frequent droughts. If we can grow high-yieldsugarcane that spreads its roots deep into the ground in
this area, there is a chance for ensuring economic
efficiency by producing sugar and ethanol from stems
while enriching the land with the manure of livestock who
eat the leaves and young stems. I had been continuing
my research for nearly two decades with this vision of arecycling-oriented society in mind when I was lucky
enough to encounter people from Asahi Breweries who
had been working on finding solutions to environmental
issues as a part of its business. This led to
the Biomass Island Initiative, in which we
can work with local people. There is sometalk among us for ensuring the projects
success to that Mr. Ohara and our young
researchers might become the firstwinners of a Nobel Prize related to theenvironment.

January 2006

Experiments with official vehicles begin
Verification tests finally started in January 2006. A brandnew service machine, with ASAHI logo on it, was installed
at a gas station that had been newly constructed for E3
gasoline only, and E3 was used in the official vehicles of
Ie island.
Although projects for using biomass energy have been
carried out nationwide, this was the first verification test inJapan that involved the development and cultivation of theE3 gasoline station

crop used as an energy source for production and theintegrated use of ethanol. Toward realizing a Biomass
Island Initiative that is creating a regional model forsustainable development by producing food (sugar) andethanol—a renewable energy to replace fossil fuels while
increasing the amount of rich farm land, official vehicles
run and smoothly gain speed symbolizing the start of a
new challenge for the team engaged in the project.

Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries Division, Ie Village

In Person

Satoru Urasaki

Sugarcane is one of the pillars of agriculture in Ie Village
and is also essential as part of our crop rotation system
and maintaining soil fertility. However, due to the severe
conditions surrounding sugar manufacturing, including
the gradual decline of sugar consumption, Ie Village wasforced to close its sugar plant in 2004. Against thisbackground, the Ie Island Biomass Initiative concept, afruit of the enthusiasm of many people, was proposedand chosen as the prefecture’s first project under the
Biomass Town Program promoted by the national
government. We are currently advancing research into
the commercialization of liquid sugar and powderedsugar and conducting feasibility tests to develop higher
value-added applications while cooperating in
the cultivation of high biomass sugarcane aswell as running tests on E3 gasoline with ourofficial vehicles. We are continuing to work
jointly with those involved so we can send amessage to the world from Ie Village as aregional model of biomass utilization inharmony with industry as well as aforerunner in promoting research on
renewable energy.

CSR REPORT 200622

For Consumers

The Asahi Breweries Group strives to meetcustomer needs as an enterprise group that
contributes to people and society throughthe food and health businesses.

Customer Relations
OfficeThe Customer Relations Office
functions as point of contact
for receiving inquiries,
opinions, and suggestions
from our customers.

Voice ParkA Web site for facilitating communications
between customers and our productdevelopment staff. The site provides
stories on our product development andincludes a bulletin board for customers toshare their comments.

Consumers
GlobalEnvironment

Business
Partners

Customers
Supporting
the Asahi BreweriesGroup’s Corporate
Activities
Shareholders/

Local
Communities

Investors
Employees

Relations with Consumers

Customer Relations Office, Voice Park, Customer Information Topics, various pamphlets, etc.

Various Pamphlets
In addition to “mini-guides”
explaining productcharacteristics and tips forenjoying them, we issue
pamphlets to enhancecustomer satisfaction.

23 CSR REPORT 2006

For Consumers

In order to contribute to the creation of a healthy and affluent society through food products,
Asahi Breweries assumes responsibility for developing, manufacturing, and delivering safe, quality
products to its customers. This entails establishing a rigorous quality assurance system. We havealso promoted appropriate and accurate package labeling and introduced universal design.
In addition, as a total alcohol beverage provider, we actively educate consumers about moderate
and responsible drinking behavior.

For Business Partners

From Relations to Actions

Actively researching cutting-edge analytical methods in
response to the public’s growing awareness of food safety

Exploring Unknown Risks in Collaboration
with National and International ResearchInstitutes
Ensuring food safety and addressing customer concerns
requires not only establishing technologies for accurately
analyzing and evaluating substances alleged to be harmful
to the human body but also discovering as-yet unknown
risks involving substances and prepare for situations thatcannot be predicted.
From this perspective, the Safety Evaluation Technology

For Shareholders and Investors

Development of an Internationally
Recognized Method to Analyze Mycotoxin
The Safety Evaluation Technology Department and the
National Institute of Health Sciences are jointly developinga method to analyze mycotoxin. Mycotoxin is a hazardous
substance produced by molds that occur and reproduce
in materials such as grains. The Department successfully
established a high-sensitivity analytical method andannounced it at the symposium of the PharmaceuticalSociety of Japan in March 2003, at the symposium of The
Food Hygienics Society of Japan in November 2004 andat the symposium of the Japan Society for Analytical
Chemistry in February 2006. Our analytical method has
been highly acclaimed at home and abroad through such
symposia. We continue to promote cutting-edge research
themes critical to the industry and improve the safety of all
the Asahi Breweries Group’s products, taking advantage of
our steadily growing base of knowledge and experience.

For Employees

In recent years, social awareness of food safety issues
such as avian flu, bovine spongiform encephalopathy(BSE) and endocrine-disrupting chemicals has increased.
To ensure its reliability as a maker, the Asahi BreweriesGroup transferred its analytical methods development fromthe Comprehensive Evaluation Center to the Analytical
Technology Laboratory and established the Safety
Evaluation Technology Department in September 2001.
Since then, the Safety Evaluation Technology
Department has introduced LC/MS/MS, a high-precision
analyzer, and compiled analysis data for many kinds ofsubstances. Thus, the Department is able to conduct
research into cutting-edge evaluation technologies utilizing
a wealth of knowledge andsophisticated techniques.
Research and analytical methods
developed by the Safety
Evaluation Technology
Department are effectively usedin quality inspections in the
Product Quality Centers
responsible for quality assurance.

Department focuses on exchanging information withvarious organizations, including related ministries andpublic organizations, international research institutes andorganizations, academic societies, and trade associations
related to food safety. The Department also promotes joint
research activities with these organizations. For instance, agenetically-modified organisms (GMO) analysis method
jointly developed with the National Food Research Institutehas been certified as an official analytical method by the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and theMinistry of Health, Labour and Welfare. We also publicly
announced our proprietary method for analyzing residual
pesticides in the American Society of Brewing Chemists(ASBC), a U.S. brewing industry organization for unifying
analytic methods for beer.

For Local Communities

A Specialized R&D Institute forInnovative Analytical Methods

Technology for analyzing and evaluating food safety comes from a combination of hardware
development such as analyzers and software advances such as data management as well as
analytical methods for analyzing and evaluating various data collected by hardware.
In this sense, our mission, as a response to a question of what must we do to provide safer
food, has no final answer as long as scientific technologies continue to advance. This is a difficult
task requiring repeated trials and errors. However, the job becomes rewarding when I realize it willlead to consumer confidence and satisfaction at the table. I want to continue exploring unknown
worlds with the belief that the future of the food industry is on my shoulders.

For the Global Environment

Message from a Key Person

General Manager,
Safety Evaluation
Technology Department,
Analytical Technology
Laboratory
Asahi Breweries, Ltd.

Naoki Mochizuki

CSR REPORT 200624

For Consumers

Pursuit of Quality
Quality Assurance System
Asahi Breweries has established cross-organizational
teams and auditing groups to reflect customer feedback
on quality assurance activities and to promote quality

assurance at every stage of the supply chain, fromproduct development to the procurement of raw materials,
manufacturing, logistics, distribution and sales.
The plants of the Asahi Breweries Group have acquired
ISO 9001 certification, the international quality assurance
standard and strive to maintain and improve productquality under a uniform quality assurance system.

Quality Assurance System

Flow of information

Production and distribution processes

Customer

Utilizing Informationfrom Customer
Developing
New Products

Utilizing Information from Customer
Quality Management Committee
Public Expression Committee
For Quality Improvement

For Appropriate Labeling and Expressions

Product
Development

Procurement of
Raw Materials

Manufacturing

Logistics

Distribution and
Sales

Develop creative, high-quality
products by responding tochanges in customer preferences
and markets.

Conduct strict quality inspections
for each raw material as well as
regular quality audits of suppliers.

Ensure product quality byconducting various types ofquality inspections and analysis ineach manufacturing process andby establishing a proprietary
quality control system.

Focus on controlling aftershipment product quality, including
freshness management of beertype beverages. Various measures
have been implemented to prevent
degradation of product quality atplants, distribution centers andtransport vehicles.

Enhance quality control incollaboration with wholesalers,
retailers, and restaurants bysupporting them in managing
product freshness in sales spaces
and hosting Keg Fresh Beer
Quality Seminars (p. 32).

Establishment of the Group Quality
Management Committee
In 2003, Asahi Breweries launched the Quality
Management Committee as a cross-organizational teamto address quality issues through discussions with themembers of related internal departments and to enhance
its quality assurance system. In December 2005, we
additionally established the Group Quality Management
Committee, an organization for promoting these activities
at a Group level. We therefore formulated a system forestablishing a quality policy and strategy and review actionplans related to quality for the entire Group.
The Group Quality Management Committee, whichmeets every other month, convenes staff representing
Asahi Breweries Ltd., Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd., andAsahi Food & HealthcareCo., Ltd. to discuss thepromotion of quality
assurance activities ineach company andshare quality assurance
information.
The committee is
Quality Management Committee
currently drafting the

25 CSR REPORT 2006

Group Quality Policy and quality assurance strategies foreach company as well as a plan for integrating thesestrategies of each company into the mid-term
management plan and annual plan of the company. It also
encourages the exchange of quality-related information
within the Group to prevent recurrence of past quality
problems.

Implementation of Quality Audits
Since 1996, Asahi Breweries under the leadership of the
Quality Assurance Department, has implemented quality
audits at the production worksites of Asahi Breweries. In
1999, we began conducting audits for the head offices
and production worksites of the Group companies andrestaurants. The Product Assurance Center has also been
involved in these audits since 2006.
In these quality audits, we review the status of
implementation of the quality system in accordance withauditing standards described in the Internal Audit Rules.
Through these audits, we strive to ensure the consistent
implementation of quality systems across all companies
and plants as well as to improve quality across the Group.

For Consumers

Technical Master System

Recycling Mark

Consistently producing good products requires
establishing, improving, and sharing the techniques thatform the backbone of manufacturing. Therefore, in 2001,
Asahi Breweries introduced the Technical Master System
to certify technicians who have attained a high level ofcore expertise. The system also enhances motivation andupward mobility and nurtures younger talent by clarifying
the competencies required by the organization.

Recycling marks indicate thepackaging material is recyclable
and encourage active support forreuse and recycling.

Technical Expert System
In contrast with the Technical Master system that certifies
longtime technical achievements and outstanding skills,
the Technical Expert system recognizes the developmentof capabilities by young and middle-level engineers andqualifies those who have acquired a certain level oftechnique as Technical Experts as a means for motivatingother employees to also acquire this level of skills.

For Business Partners

Representative Labeling andExpressions on Product Packages

Warning against drinking
while pregnant, breastfeeding,or under 20 years of age
We display warnings against
drinking by pregnant and nursing
women in addition to theexpression “You are not permitted
to drink alcoholic beverages if
you are under 20 years of age.”

For Shareholders and Investors

Technical Improvement andApprenticeship System

BrailleTo assist visually challenged
customers distinguish alcoholic
drinks from soft drinks, we haveensured that the Braille for“Alcohol” is printed on the top of
all canned alcoholic products.

Apprenticeship System

Asahi Breweries established the Public Expression
Committee in 1995 to review appropriate product labelingand advertisement content from various perspectives.
The committee meets weekly. We only launch products
and advertising materials authorized by the committee. All
issues raised in the committee are recorded andcountermeasures taken by the related departments arereported in the meeting minutes so that we can takeadvantage of this information in our daily businessactivities.
With regard to labeling and expressions appearing on
product packaging, we take into account customer
feedback and social expectations in designing ourdisplays to help customers—including those who do notdrink alcoholic beverages—to easily find information suchas warnings to prevent underage drinking as well as
information on recycling and nutritional content.

For Employees

On the evening of August 31, 2005, we received an inquiry
from a customer. Upon review, we found we had
mistakenly indicated 10 kcal instead of 19 kcal as theenergy figure in the nutritional information on the label for
Asahi Point One beer-like non-alcoholic beverage
produced and distributed by Asahi Breweries. The
products had been produced in July and August 2005.
Our investigation identified the cause as human error in that
we had mistakenly changed the energy figure when werevised the format of the nutritional content to separately
report dietary fiber and sugar under carbohydrates forconsistency with our beer and happoshu labeling. There
was no issue related to product quality.
We stopped shipping these products on September 1,
2005 and reported to governmental authority that wewould recall the products. Subsequently, while releasing
the facts of the incident to our business partners and themass media, we posted an announcement on our Web site
and in newspapers expressing our sincere apology anddeclaring the product recall. Asahi Breweries establishedand implemented the following four preventive actions:
1. Use an automatic calculation sheet as data for displayed
nutritional content and do not use any other data forsuch purpose.
2. Establish Public Expression Meetings within the productdevelopment departments and enhance the review
system in the upstream process of productdevelopment.
3. Never fail to attach documents related to productstandards when requesting related departments tocheck the labeling.
4. Conduct prescription reviews by related departments
and strengthen review functions during the productdevelopment process.

CSR REPORT 2006

For Local Communities

Product Labeling and Expressions
and Advertising Content

Summary of an incident in which incorrect
information was displayed on the label ofAsahi Point One and preventive measures

For the Global Environment

In 2005, we introduced the Apprenticeship System inwhich employees can improve technique and skills in theirfield of specialization by becoming an apprentice of aTechnical Master or Technical Expert. The objective of thesystem is to motivate more employees and boost the levelof worker skills at the production worksite.

26

For Consumers

Response to Customer Comments
Basic Philosophy
The Asahi Breweries Group refers to comments from
customers and retailers as “quality calls” and treats themas assets for the improvement of our management.
Through close communication with every customer, we
accurately identify each issue and reflect customer
comments into product development and improvement toenhance customer satisfaction and integrate thesecomments into management and activities plans. The
Customer Relations Office* is responsible for thesecommunications with customers. Under our philosophy of
thanking customers for their comments, we strive to
respond to each comment in a timely, appropriate andpolite manner from the standpoint of the customer.

priority on responding to “problems pointed out”
regardless of the relative seriousness of the issue. We also
request that customers provide detailed information and
we address their concerns in a timely and appropriatemanner.

Comments from Customers Received
at the Customer Relations Office(2005)

Suggestions 0.5%

Requests 5.1%
Contact 8.0%
Comments/Opinions
9.1%
Problems
pointed out 11.4%

Total
34,322
Questions 65.9%

following five companies maintain their own Customer Relations* The
Offices: Asahi Breweries Ltd., Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd., Asahi Food &Healthcare Co., Ltd., and LB (two companies).

Representative Product Improvements
Reflecting Comments from Customers

Dealing with a customer call at theCustomer Relations Office

A System for Incorporating Customer
Feedback into Our BusinessAsahi Breweries deploys a system for entering every
customer’s opinions, requests, and complaints into an
in-house database completely protected by a security
system on a real time basis allowing all employees, frommanagement to sales staff, to share and use this data. In
May 2005, we launched the “Customer Information
Topics” page on the corporate intranet, which provides
employees real-time information and analyses aboutcomments. Since then, we have been also publishing a
CS report to management detailing how departments andGroup companies have responded to customers. To
protect customer privacy, personal information andcompany names are removed.

Comments from Customers
Asahi Breweries strives to take appropriate measures byclassifying customers’ detailed comments under“inquiries” (comments/opinions, requests, suggestions,questions and contacts) and “problems pointed out”
(complaints and claims) and identifying concrete causes,
effects and trends. In particular, we place the highest

27 CSR REPORT 2006

In 2005, based on comments from customers,
we made the following product improvements:
Redesigned, easy-to-opencanCanned beer-type beverages(250 ml, 350 ml and 500 ml
cans)
We changed the shape of the tab
and deepened the concave
portion behind the top of the tabso that customers can more
firmly grasp the tab with theirfingers.

Expression of nutritional
content
Low-alcohol beverages(cocktail, chuhai, etc.)
We display six items—energy,
protein, lipid, sugar, dietary fiber,and sodium—on the can surface.
(We already display these items
for beer and happoshu.)

Improvement in label
expressions for cartons
not containing wrapped
six-packs
Canned beer-type beverages(250 ml, 350 ml and 500 ml
cans)
We added the expression “Cansmay be removed separately” onthree sides (top, long side andshort side).

Fund for the Prevention of Underage
Drinking
Underage drinking is the most serious alcohol-related
problem in society. It is associated with the risk of
impaired growth, sexual dysfunction, physiologicaldisorders such as dysfunctions of the liver and pancreas
due to the lower metabolic breakdown of alcohol of youth
compared to adults, in addition to the greater likelihood ofdeveloping an alcohol dependency at an early age.
To contribute to the solution of this problem, Asahi
Breweries established the Fund for the Prevention ofUnderage Drinking in May 2005. The fund primarily
supports medical and socio-cultural research on theprevention of underage drinking and organizations,individuals and institutions that hold prevention forums andseminars. A total of ten million yen is distributed every
year. The Fund publicly solicits projects that are qualified
for a grant from the fund every year and the Review Board,consisting of experts, strictly reviews project applications
and selects qualified candidates.

For Consumers
For Business Partners
For Shareholders and Investors

Initiatives Taken by the Beer
Industry
The beer industry launched the “Stop!
Underage Drinking” project in 2005 andwill continue to promote the initiative in
2006.

Web

Web Site Reference
www.asahibeer.co.jp/csr/

More detailed information is available on the Web site.

For Consumers
For Employees“Encouraging Moderate & Responsible Drinking” is one of
Asahi Breweries’ Six Priority Initiatives for CSR activities.
Under this policy, Asahi Breweries established thecross-organizational Moderate and Responsible Drinking
Committee in 2004. The Committee established the Asahi
Breweries Group: Basic Philosophy for Promotion ofModerate and Responsible Drinking and Drinking Rules.
We summarized this policy in the form of pamphlets andpocket cards and distributed them to all executives andemployees in the Group andpublicly announced our Basic
Philosophy.
In addition, we implemented avariety of measures, including arevision of in-house standards
and advertisements warning
against drinking while pregnant orbreastfeeding. We will focus on
activities such as continuing
promotional activities andoperating the Fund for the
Guidebook for moderate andresponsible drinking
Prevention of Underage Drinking.

For 2005, the first year of the fund, we publicly invited
candidate projects during March and April 2005. The
Review Board, consisting of four experts and one directorof Asahi Breweries, strictly reviewed the applicants andselected nine organizations whose achievements inresearch and activities are expected to positively
contribute to society.
The qualified organizations attended a fund award
ceremony and commemorative symposium held in May
2005 at the Head Office of Asahi Breweries andexchanged views on the current state and challenges ofunderage drinking.

Comments from Customers• Basic Philosophy on Customer Relations• Response to Complaints from Customers• Activities of the Customer Relations Office• Representative Product improvements• Comments from Customers• Response to Major Accidents

Pursuit of Quality• Quality Management Policy• Quality Assurance System• Procurement of raw materials (quality inspection of raw materials;
quality audit of suppliers)• Manufacturing (The Taikoban Guarantee System, risk factor-freequality concept)• Logistics (efforts in production worksites, distribution centers andtransport vehicles, etc.)• Distribution and sales (freshness management at sales spaces)• Product labeling expressions• Advertising (in-house standards for advertising)• State of acquisition of quality management systems (acquisition of
ISO 9001 and HACCP certifications)• Awareness of Quality reference site
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/quality/index.html

For Local Communities

The Moderate & Responsible Drinking
Committee

Qualified Projects for 2005

Moderate and Responsible Drinking and Health• Basic philosophy for the promotion of moderate and responsible
drinking• Activities to promote moderate and responsible drinking• Fund for the Prevention of Underage Drinking (2005 Report on
qualified individuals and organizations, etc.)• Tools to promote moderate and responsible drinking• Efforts by the beer industry trade association (Accession to theInternational Center for Alcohol Policies)• Past activities to promote moderate and responsible drinking• Reference Web site: “Tips on how to enjoy drinking”
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/enjoy/guidebook/• Reference Web site: “Alcoholic Beverages and Health”
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/enjoy/health/

CSR REPORT 2006

For the Global Environment

Activities Promoting Moderate
and Responsible Drinking

28

For Business Partners

Asahi Breweries Group promotes programs
to ensure fair and equitable businesspractices and to share prosperity
with our business partners.

HOT LINE
Targeting senior and executive
management of alcohol
wholesalers, this pamphlet
describes practical measures for
improving
management
and successful
case studies inotherindustries.

Questionnaire on Corporate
Social Responsibilities
We ask prospective
business partners to
submit this survey as ameans of developing
mutual understanding.

Consumers
GlobalEnvironment

Business
Partners

Customers
Supporting
the Asahi BreweriesGroup’s Corporate
Activities
Local
Shareholders/Communities
Investors

Employees

Relations with Business Partners
HOT LINE for for distributors, Procurement Web site, Questionnaire on Corporate
Social Responsibilities, Questionnaire on the Environment, Alcoholic Drink Sales
Training Program, Full House for restaurants, Keg Fresh Beer Quality Seminar, etc.

Keg Fresh Beer Quality Seminar
This seminar is designed to help wholesalers, andrestaurants develop a base of knowledge and technicalexpertise in serving draft beer through direct, hands-on
practice sessions.

29 CSR REPORT 2006

For Consumers

Cooperation is essential for providing the best products and services. Therefore, we partner with
suppliers that consistently provide safe, high-quality raw materials and resources, as well as with
distributors and retailers that deliver products reflecting market trends and consumer lifestyles.
Based on this recognition, we take various actions to ensure fair and equitable business practices
and share prosperity with business our partners.

For Business Partners

From Relations to Actions

Asahi Breweries constantly implements companywide
efforts to enhance the freshness of beer. In addition, we
continually improve methods for controlling product quality
and maintaining draft beer equipment in collaboration withretailers and restaurants.
To serve tasty keg draft beer, draft beer equipment must
be used and maintained in thebest possible manner. To thisend, Asahi Breweries
encourages collaboration
among people at related
divisions such as sales,
procurement, quality
assurance, and research anddevelopment, as well as Asahi
Draft Beer Service, Ltd., whichis responsible for providing guidance in the proper use ofdraft beer equipment. Furthermore, we formulated an inhouse quality assurance system for draft beer equipment
and defined roles for each organization and employee.
Since August 2005, we have held Draft Beer Equipment
Development Meetings for reviewing new or improved
equipment on a more frequent schedule—bimonthly
instead of semi-annually—and conducted stricter
verification of product quality based on our improvement
plan and quality assurance rules.

Asahi Breweries and suppliers for draft beer equipment
fully discussed quality control rules and ultimately agreed
to start a QA inspection system which includes regular
visits to supplier’s manufacturing plants and verifying thestate of quality control conducted by suppliers. In addition,
at our request, suppliers have started submitting
application forms in advance whenever they plan tochange their manufacturing process, raw materials, or
suppliers. During QA inspection, we inform suppliers ofrequests and comments reviewed at the Draft Beer
Equipment Development Meeting to support them indeveloping and improving draft beer equipment. As aresult, we have established a well-organized quality control
system within and across the company to enhancecommunications with suppliers. We are confident these
efforts will lead to the greater satisfaction of people who
enjoy drinking keg draft beer and eventually benefit
restaurants as well. In addition, we and our suppliers will
be able to improve product and service quality by heeding
comments from restaurants.
With these beliefs, Asahi Breweries shares a common
objective for ensuring the high quality and freshness ofbeer with distributors, retailers, restaurants and suppliers
and focuses on maintaining close communication withbusiness partners so that each partner will be able to fulfill
its mission in improving quality.

For Employees

Establishing a Quality Control Systemthat Involves Suppliers

For Local Communities

Guaranteeing Our Partners Consistently
Serve Tasty Keg Draft Beer

For Shareholders and Investors

We constantly improve product quality andfreshness through close communications with retailers,
restaurants and suppliers by sharing common objectives.

For the Global Environment

Message from a Key Person
Our mission at the sales division is to increase the number of people who enjoy drinking tasty keg
draft beer as well as to develop equipment and constantly provide it. To achieve this mission, wemust not only maintain close contact with restaurant operators and communicate to them thequality and freshness of beer, we must also constantly communicate with suppliers who
manufacture draft beer equipment.
We want to constantly communicate with people within and across Asahi Breweries and ensurehigh-level coordination so that all members of the Draft Beer Equipment Development Meeting, whoshare a common objective, will be able to improve product quality control in a well-organized andstrategic manner and achieve greater customer satisfaction in collaboration with our stakeholders.

Sales Support Group,
Sales Division
Asahi Breweries, Ltd.

Mutsumi Ide

CSR REPORT 200630

For Business Partners

Fair and Equal Purchasing

Establishing and Publicly Announcing Our
Basic Purchasing Policy
In line with its corporate philosophy to provide the bestproducts and services, Asahi Breweries established its
Basic Purchasing Policy in August 2003, which requires
compliance with all relevant laws and regulations inpurchasing decisions. The policy calls for the applicationof fair and equitable practices in the selection of products
and business partners in Japan and overseas.
The Basic Purchasing Policy encompasses four major
components. Under Fairness and Justice, the policy
pledges to offer opportunities for participation, regardlessof company location, based an evaluation of quality, cost,delivery time constraints, corporate vision, and technicalskills. Under Confidentiality, the policy calls for theprotection of business partner information. The third
component, Procurement, refers to prohibiting conflicts ofinterest, rewards, and purchasing incentives, with a firm
commitment to ethical practices. The fourth component,
Consideration of Responsibilities to the Environment andSociety, promotes the realization of a sustainable society.
Asahi Breweries publicly discloses its basic policy, alongwith detailed business standards and entry sheets, on its
Procurement Web site.

Asahi Breweries Procurement Web Site
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/procurement/ (In Japanese)

Procurement Clean Line
Asahi Breweries provides the Procurement Clean Lineservice, a reporting system that current and futurebusiness partners can confidently use in situations where
employees or the procurement division act in violation of
the Basic Purchasing Policy or fail to comply with legal
requirements or social ethics. In these situations, partners
can contact Asahi Breweries through such channels as
Web sites. Issues are investigated and verified by anobjective, third-party organization associated with the
Corporate Ethics Committee, which operates
independently of the procurement division. No cases were
presented to the Procurement Clean Line in 2005. Asahi
Breweries is committed to strengthening compliance on adaily basis, increasing the transparency of purchasing
activities through the Procurement Clean Line, andbuilding trust with business partners.

Structure of the Procurement Clean Line
Procurement CleanLine Organization

2 Reporting problem via
email or postal mail

Current andProspective
Business Partners

Corporate Ethics Committee

6 Report

Members• Director in charge• Executive in charge• Contractual Lawyer

1 Action in violation of Basic

Purchasing Policy or Asahi
Breweries Group Business
Ethics Rule in the course ofbusiness with Asahi
Breweries

4 Review ofInvestigation

Committee OfficeThis Web site introduces Asahi Breweries’ Basic Purchasing Policy andrelated information. It encourages business partners to consider
environmental issues as their own social responsibility along with efforts torealize a better society.

Asahi Breweries
Headquarters
Procurement
Division

3 Investigation
5 Notice of required improvement when
the procurement division is at fault

Questionnaires on Corporate Social
Responsibilities and the Environment
Asahi Breweries requires companies that wish to initiate a
new business relationship to complete a Questionnaire on
Corporate Social Responsibilities and a Questionnaire on
the Environment. Purchasing items subject to thesequestionnaires are listed on the Procurement Web site.
In 2004, we requested existing partners as well as new
partners to submit questionnaires, and all complied. In
addition, we provided feedback to them based oncompiled responses to improve mutual understanding. In
2006, we began to use information we obtained throughthe questionnaires in our quality audits.

31 CSR REPORT 2006

For Consumers

Asahi BreweriesGroup Company Efforts

Supporting the Activation and Strengtheningof Management Foundations

For Business Partners

Asahi Field Marketing
Co., Ltd.
Supports sales section designand sales promotion based on
storefront marketing, withsupermarkets, discount stores,
and other mass merchandisers.

The Asahi Breweries Group recognizes that customers
enjoy and appreciate its products because of the daily
efforts of wholesalers and retailers. Therefore, in thecontext of sharing prosperity with distributors, the Asahi
Breweries Group implements measures to stimulatemarket growth and fortify the management foundation ofwholesalers.

Keg Fresh Beer Quality Seminar

For Shareholders and Investors

East Japan Asahi Draft
Beer Service, Ltd. / WestJapan Asahi Draft Beer
Service, Ltd.
Promotes quality managementof draft beer at restaurants andrecommends drink menus inline with customer taste
preferences.

For customers to enjoy drinking tasty keg draft beer, Asahi
Breweries strives to implement strict quality control byconducting seminars on the distribution and sales of keg
draft beer for wholesalers, retailers, and restaurants.
At the seminar, special instructors for the Keg Fresh
Beer Quality Seminar offer lectures and best practices on
the appropriate handling of keg draft beer and draft beerequipment to operators of wholesalers, retailers, andrestaurants. In addition, employees of Asahi Draft Beer
Service, Ltd. who have qualified as instructors train
seminar participants to properly handle keg draft beer andequipment.
By the end of 2005, approximately 30% of restaurants
which distribute Asahi Breweries brand keg draft beer hadparticipated in a Keg Fresh Beer Quality Seminar.

Full House Co., Ltd.
Provides advice to restaurants
and conducts support activities
such as seminars andrestaurant market surveys.

For Employees

Asahi Distribution
Research Institute, Ltd.
Provides timely industry
information to special dealers
and conducts support activities
to strengthen management.

Web

For Local Communities

Shared Prosperity with Distributors

Web Site Reference
www.asahibeer.co.jp/csr/ (In Japanese)

More detailed information is available on the Web site.

For Business Partners• Relations with suppliers (purchasing activity data)• Relations with distributors and retailers• Reference site “Procurement Web site” (In Japanese)
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/
procurement/index.html· Basic Purchasing Policy· Entry sheet· Procurement Clean LineFor the Global Environment

Scenes from seminar• Reference site “Keg draft beer, it’s tasty!”
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/enjoy/umadaru/index.html (In Japanese)

CSR REPORT 200632

For Shareholders and Investors

The Asahi Breweries Group pursues solid revenue
to return value to shareholders while practicing fair,
expeditious and timely information disclosure.

Shareholders’ Meeting

IR Web Site

Reports on critical business mattersand adoption of resolutions.

Provides information for shareholders andinvestors. The Asahi Breweries IR Web site
provides details on the shareholders
courtesy program for individual investors.

Consumers
GlobalEnvironment

Business
Partners

Customers
Supporting
the Asahi BreweriesGroup’s Corporate
Activities
Local
Shareholders/Communities
Investors

Employees

Relations with
Shareholders and Investors
Shareholders’ meeting, visiting investors abroad, IR Web site, news e-mail,individual investors meetings, analyst meetings and conference calls,
Asahi Super Report (business report in Japanese) and survey card,
English annual report, one-on-one meeting with institutional investors,
product exhibition and tasting session, etc.

Product Exhibition and Tasting Session
Held to help shareholders understand theGroup’s diverse projects and products.

33 CSR REPORT 2006

For Consumers

A corporation’s fundamental responsibility is to generate solid revenue and return satisfactory value
to shareholders. In order to fulfill this responsibility, a corporation must not only promote businessbut communicate with shareholders and investors, which requires disclosing appropriate
management information and incorporating their feedback into business management. Asahi
Breweries continues to proactively disclose information to shareholders and investors to meet their
specific needs for the purpose of maintaining solid relationships in Japan and overseas to fulfill
their trust and expectations.

For Business Partners

From Relations to Actions

We further enhanced interactive communications with individual
shareholders and investors by attentively listening to them.

Enhancing Interactive Communications

For Shareholders and Investors

Asahi Breweries introduced a series of programs toincrease individual shareholders including the launch of ashareholder courtesy program, a reduction in the sharetrading unit, and issuance of new shares in August and
September 2003.
At the end of March 2004, as a major improvement tothe shareholder’s meeting, we moved the venue from the
Asahi Breweries’ headquarters to a hotel accommodatinga large number of attendants in central Tokyo toencourage as many shareholders as possible to attend.
Following the shareholders’ meeting, we held aproduction exhibition and tasting session to deepen theirunderstanding of our products. Furthermore, we held thefirst information session for individual shareholders at
Tokyo International Forum in October 2004, which waswell received by about 400 attendants.
Asahi Breweries regards programs for increasing
individual shareholders as a key way for developing ourcorporate support base and further encourage Asahi
Breweries. In this context, it is important that individual
shareholders and investors deepen their understanding of
the company through interactive communications withthe company.

2005. More than 500 investors attended the sessions.
Participants shared such favorable comments as, “I wasable to learn about Asahi Breweries as a corporation;
previously there were nosuch opportunities,” and weachieved our objective forthe sessions: helping
investors feel more familiar
with the company.
One reason we decided
to hold these sessions was a request we received fromindividual shareholders. Asahi Breweries regularly collects
shareholders’ requests at our investor relations activities,
through questionnaires in the Asahi Super Report andother means. One request came from individual
shareholders living in local towns who were unable toattend shareholders’ meeting because there were held inTokyo and hoped the company would hold regional
information session for individual shareholders who lived
outside Tokyo.
We are confident that our respect for and sincere
response to requests and comments from shareholders
and investors builds a sense of mutual understanding.
We are committed to enhancing interactive
communications while strategically using Web sites andother investor relations tools, even as we continue to holdface-to-face briefings.

For Employees

A Program Launched to Increase
Individual Shareholders in 2003

For Local Communities

Under this philosophy, we held information sessions forindividual investors at our six manufacturing plants in

Business operation briefings with individual investors at our manufacturing plants began in 2005
and have been favorably received.
One briefing held in April 2006 was attended by more than 300 investors. Since it was held at
the end of April, we were confident that we could expeditiously disclose corporate information andcomment on first quarter financial results.
Understanding of the company and experience in stock investment vary from investor toinvestor. Therefore it is difficult for us to expect every individual investor to completely understandthe company’s operations. Given this situation, we focus on key issues. We will continue to provide
detailed corporate information under the banner of keeping investors up-to-date on Asahi
Breweries as a corporation.

For the Global Environment

Message from a Key Person

Investor Relations Office,Public Relations Department
Asahi Breweries, Ltd.

Tsuyoshi Suzuki

CSR REPORT 200634

For Shareholders and Investors

Returning Value to Shareholders

Information Disclosure andCommunications

Increased Dividends and Repurchase of
Shares Return Value to Shareholders

Shareholders’ Meeting, Product Exhibition
and Tasting Session

With respect to our priority on shareholder value, Asahi
Breweries strives to ensure that investors receive acontinuing, stable return based on financial results. In
2005, Asahi Breweries increased its dividends by ¥2 pershare to a total annual dividend of ¥17, the same level as
2004, and we repurchased about ¥10 billion shares in2005. In addition, we retired 20 million shares ofrepurchased treasury stock.
We continue to review and implement a variety ofactions, including increasing dividends and repurchasing
shares, to return value to shareholders in the context ofthe prevailing business environment.

To encourage as many shareholders as possible to attend,
the company moved the venue for the 2004 Shareholders’Meeting from the Asahi Breweries’ headquarters, the siteof earlier meetings, to a hotel in central Tokyo with better
accessibility and a larger space. As a result, 1,529
shareholders attended in 2005 and 2,284 participated in2006. Shareholders who are not able to attend annual
meetings can exercise their voting rights via the Internet.
We held a product exhibition and tasting session
following the well-attended Shareholders’ Meeting. The
event showcased Asahi Breweries Group’s products andcourtesy gifts and offered free samples of main and new
products for participating shareholders to taste. A panelpresentation on our CSR activities and an introduction to
our breweries tours were also provided. This event has
proven to be a very significant opportunity for participants,
including individual shareholders, to deepen theirknowledge of Group operations and products. We willcontinue to promote better understanding of the Asahi
Breweries Group among shareholders.

Net Income per Share (Consolidated) andAnnual Dividends
Net income
per share

(Yen)

(Yen)

Annualdividends
82.2 17.0 per share
80

16

15.0
13.0

13.0

13.0

60

62.5

12

46.8
40
27.0

8

28.9

20

4
0

0

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Earlier Delivery of Shareholders’
Courtesy Products
To express our appreciation for shareholder support andrequest their continued support and improved
understanding of the company, Asahi Breweries launcheda shareholders’ courtesy program in 2003. Under thisprogram, shareholders can select a courtesy gift, such as
specially brewed beer or gift package containing productsof Group companies. Shareholders can also choose, inlieu of receiving a gift, to have the company make adonation of comparable value to the Asahi Breweries’
Mizu no Wakusei (Water Planet) Environmental Fund as acontribution to forest protection and greening activities. In
2006, in response to shareholders’ request, we advanced
the delivery date of the courtesy gift by one month.

Shareholders’ meeting

Product exhibition and tasting session

Beer packaged exclusively for shareholders

35 CSR REPORT 2006

For Consumers

SRI Indices Listing Asahi Breweries

Dow Jones(U.S.A.)ETHIBEL(Belgium)

FTSE(U.K.)For Business Partners

Following the announcements of interim and fiscal yearend results, meetings are held for institutional investors inJapan. The president, financial officer, and other directors
attend these meetings to report on business results,
positive and negative factors affecting earnings, and future
management strategy and actions.
Teleconferences are held on the same day as theannouncements of results for the first and third quarters.
We receive many questions and suggestions from financial
analysts and institutional investors in these meetings andteleconferences.
For individual investors overseas, the company issues
an annual report in English and the latest results areposted to our English Web site. The president andfinancial officers also explain the medium- and long-term
strategy of the Group at “road show” meetings held every
year in the United States and Europe.

Morningstar*(Japan)* Morningstar
Morningstar Socially Responsible Investment Index is the first
SRI stock price index in Japan, and is composed of 150
leading companies for their contributions to the society,selected from listed companies.

Web

For Shareholders and Investors

Results Announcement Meeting and Road
Show for Institutional Investors

Web Site Reference
www.asahibeer.co.jp/csr (In Japanese)

Evaluations by External Review
Organizations
Status of SRI and Inclusion in
CSR-related Indices
Awareness of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI)
continues to grow. In addition to standard financial indices,
SRI includes criteria that focus on corporate commitment
to society and protecting the environment.
Many institutions inside and outside of Japan evaluate
SRI, and Asahi Breweries is traded as part of several SRI
indices and funds.

More detailed information is available on the Web site.

For Shareholders and Investors

For Employees• Returning Value to Shareholders (development of yearly
dividends, etc.)• Information Disclosure and Communications (basic policy on
information disclosure, etc.)• Evaluations by External Review Organizations (evaluation of IR
activities, etc.)• Investor Relations reference site
http:// www.asahibeer.co.jp/english/ir/· Top Message· Financial Reports &Presentation Materials· Annual Report· Stocks and Bonds· IR Calendar· Corporate Governance· Monthly Sales

For Local Communities

Asahi Breweries publishes a report for its shareholders
entitled, Asahi Super Report. In
2005, to announce financial andother corporate information in a more
timely manner and maintain closer
communications with shareholders,
we began to publish the report on aquarterly basis instead of the current
semiannual cycle.
Asahi Super Report• Asahi Supporter Community, reference site for individual investors
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/ir/supporter/ (In Japanese)

For the Global Environment

Quarterly Publication of Asahi Super Report

CSR REPORT 200636

For Employees

Asahi Breweries values diversity and develops
systems to ensure employees are assigned
and evaluated fairly to create a safe andpleasant work environment.

Career Design Sheet
Asahi Breweries’ personnel system forplacement and transfer puts importance on
dialogue with
employees and uses
a Career Design
Sheet on which
employees can
express their career
vision over the next
10 years.

Training and Education
Programs
Various training andeducation programs
support employees
in developing theirskills and abilities.

Consumers
Business
Partners

GlobalEnvironment

Customers
Supporting
the Asahi BreweriesGroup’s Corporate
Activities
Local
Shareholders/Communities
Investors

Employees

Relations with Employees
Career Design Sheet, Cafeteria Plan, training and education programs,
Life Plan Check Sheet, Occupational Safety and
Health Committee, ASAHI WELL NET, etc.

ASAHI WELL NET
This comprehensive healthmanagement system keeps track ofhealth check-ups for all employees
and allows them to view the resultsof past check-ups and comparethem to their current condition.

37 CSR REPORT 2006

For Consumers

Asahi Breweries takes action to eliminate any form of discrimination based on race, nationality,
creed, gender, or any factor unrelated to job performance, and we respect fundamental humanrights in our recruitment, assignments and evaluations. We remain committed to bettering the work
environment of our employees through a variety of approaches, including an education system that
fosters self-reliance, self-development programs, a health management system, and the creation ofa pleasant workplace for women and the physically challenged, as well as the setting up of adisaster-prevention system for earthquakes and other catastrophes.

For Business Partners

From Relations to Actions

To balance the working and personal lives of employees,
we improved systems to support maternity, childcare andcare for other family members.

Improving Systems by Conducting
Questionnaire Survey
To improve the work environment and help employees
achieve the optimum balance of work and personal lives,
Asahi Breweries conducted a questionnaire survey inDecember 2004, focusing on female employees who
have taken childcare leaves.
Survey results showed that, with regard to system
structure, many respondents requested that childcare
leaves and shorter working hours be available for a longer
period of time. In terms of system operation, they
requested the company to take additional steps to

For Shareholders and Investorsdevelop a friendlier corporate culture for female
employees with small children and provide information tothem during childcare leave.
In response, the Personnel Department, theHeadquarters and the labor union held discussions fromJanuary through March 2005 on improving system
structure and operation and consequently agreed toestablish the Asahi Breweries Next Generation Action
Plan in March 2005. The plan was announced across thecompany and implementation started in April 2005.

Raising Employee Awareness andNurturing the Corporate Culture
These improvements in our work environment are being
highly evaluated both within and outside of thecompany.*1 Asahi Breweries is committed to continuing
to improve these systems and to nurture the corporate
culture supporting them.
For example, we started to operate the Employee onChildcare Leave Support System on a trial basis in
January 2006. This system*2 supports employees insmoothly returning to work by ensuring they have accessto the company’s intranet and can use their mobile
terminals for corporate e-mail.
In addition, we plan to encourage male employees totake leaves to support their wives through childbirth aswell as to care for sick children. In these ways, we are
striving to nurture a corporate culture that supports thecreation of a gender-neutral society.

For Employees

Given a declining number of children and an aging
population, corporations are increasingly responsible forestablishing a work environment which supports employees
in caring for small children and other family members.
Prior to the enforcement of the Assistance Strategies
for Raising the Next Generation Law and the amended,
Law Concerning the Welfare of Workers Who Take Careof Children or Other Family Members Including Child Careand Family Care Leave, Asahi Breweries promoted several
programs to support employees with different working
and personal lifestyle needs so they can work comfortably
without worrying about family care. For instance, nearly all
female employees with infants take childcare leaves andmany of them return to active work. Recently, company
employees have been participating in various voluntary
activities aimed at establishing a corporate culture andsystem that provides for an ideal
working environment. For
example, female employees withsmall children are participating in
the Working Mother Association.

For Local Communities

Supporting Diverse Employee Working Styles

Breweries ranked third in the “Work Life Balance” category*1 Asahiin the “The most pleasant workplace for women” ranking
published in the June 2006 issue of Nikkei Woman magazine.
applied “wiwiw”, an Edutainment program (a learning tool
*2 We
incorporating various entertainment features) developed by
Shiseido for women on childcare leave. Shiseido started selling
this program to corporate HR divisions in 2002.

For the Global Environment

Message from a Key Person
Creating a comfortable work environment for everyone requires both establishing a good
employment and working system and operating it as effectively as possible. Therefore, in planning
for a new, practical system for every employee, we collect their opinions and requests and take
into account their positions and actual working conditions. It is also important to have more people
actually use the system. Developing a corporate culture in which these systems are actively usedrequires raising awareness of the systems and promoting public relations and employee education
as well as encouraging male employees and managers to adopt a positive attitude toward theiruse. We want to encourage the involvement of men in childcare and nurture a corporate culture ofcooperation and inclusiveness.

Personnel Department
Asahi Breweries, Ltd.

Yosuke Yamaoka

CSR REPORT 200638

For Employees

Increasing the Employment Rate of
the Physically Challenged

Equality and Fairness
in Employment
Basic Policy
Asahi Breweries recognizes that sustainable growthcannot be attained without excellent human resources anda pleasant work environment in which all employees canwork comfortably and develop their skills. From thisviewpoint, we interview the applicant or employee todetermine the appropriate hiring decision or performance
evaluation. These dialogues encompass a broad
perspective of abilities, expertise and skills, and avoid any
form of discrimination on the basis of race, nationality,
creed, gender, or any factor not related to the employee’s
performance, in accordance with the Asahi BreweriesGroup Business Ethics.

Number of Employees by Employment Type(on a Consolidated Basis)

Asahi Breweries aims to maintain the ratio of physicallychallenged employees to the total number of employees at
2% or more and support them so they can continue towork at the company over the long term.
For instance, in employing mentally challenged people,
we frequently contact schools for the handicapped thatthey have attended as well as related job centers to ensure
their capabilities match their workplaces and assignments.
In addition, we not only improve existing worksites but
create a workplace where they can fulfill their potential.
We also strive to increase the number of employees whoare certified as vocational life consultants for the disabled
and have installed handrails and access ramps so thedisabled are able to work in a wider variety of workplaces.

Employment Rate of the Physically Challenged(on a Non-consolidated Basis)(%)

2.5
15,000 14,567

15,07014,654

15,749

2.12

2.09

2002

2003

1.92

14,878Full-time
employees

2.01

2.08

2004

2005

2.0
1.5

10,000Contract
employees
and others

5,000

4,294

4,811

4,089

3,627

4,386

0

1.0
0.5
0

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Personnel Evaluation and
Performance Rating

Employment and Promotion of
Female Employees
Asahi Breweries decides to employ workers and nominate
them as supervisors based on their capabilities and does
not discriminate on the basis of gender. The company
strives to create a pleasant work environment for women
who desire to continue working while raising children byenhancing systems such as maternity and childcare
leaves.

Number of Female Managers(on a Non-consolidated Basis)
30

30
23
20
16
9

10
3
0

2001

2002

39 CSR REPORT 2006

2003

2004

2001

2005

Interview-Oriented Transfers and
Deployment
Asahi Breweries’ personal evaluation system is designed
to energize individual staff and worksites. At the heart ofthis system is an employee interview which is conductedwithin the framework of the employee’s own initiative.
For example, in deploying and transferring employees,
the Personnel Department regularly reviews the needs ofeach worksite, employee circumstances and personnel
evaluations. In addition, to support employees’ long-term
career development, we introduced a Career Design Sheetin which all employees
state their goals andaspirations, including their
desired line of work andpreferred location andwhat kind of work theywant to be doing in
10 years. Information
contained in these sheets
is used in coordination

Survey period

Content of survey

2,500

February

Survey on each employee’s
views on activities to energize
workplaces and their moralefrom various perspectives.

1,787

January-March

1,904

July-September

Survey on the level ofsatisfaction with interviews;
whether feedback wasgiven to evaluation
rankings; to what extent
those surveyed accepted
the evaluation of theirperformance.

Creating a Pleasant Work
Environment
Labor Health and Safety Efforts
Asahi Breweries convenes an Occupational Safety and
Health Committee at each worksite as a monthly
discussion forum for representatives of labor andmanagement. From 2005, the committees are preparing
to apply the Occupational Safety and Heath Management
System (OSHMS) to all Group companies.
In order to raise awareness of safety across the entire
Group, safety management personnel training seminars
are conducted under the guidance of a visiting lecturer. In
addition, information exchange sessions are regularly held
to share knowledge and expertise regarding safety andhealth in each workplace. One of the seminars held in2005 was a workshop for the entire Group, introducing
risk assessment* techniques.
Assessment* RiskA technique for identifying all types of risk and hazard factors related toequipment, facilities and worker operations, evaluating and prioritizing theserisks and taking action to reduce them.

Web

For Business Partners
For Shareholders and Investors

Questionnaire
survey conductedby the labor union

Number of
respondents

For Employees

Corporate Culture
Diagnosis
Questionnaire
Survey(2005)Web Site Reference
www.asahibeer.co.jp/english/
responsibility/

More detailed information is available on the Web site.

For Employees
Group Basic Policy on Personnel Management
Equality and Fairness in Employment

For Local Communities

A company-wide questionnaire survey was first conducted
in 1999 on employee satisfaction with the personnel
system and their morale. We developed the content of thesurvey and now conduct the Corporate Culture Diagnosis
Questionnaire Survey annually. We report survey results tomanagement and utilize it to improve our corporate culture
and employee training.

Asahi Breweries provides regular health check-ups for all
executives and employees every year. A nurse follows up
on any employee whose check-up reveals the need for
additional testing or who may have a health problem.
The results of these check-ups are compiled in a
database on ASAHI WELL NET, a computer-based healthmanagement system which enables employees to review
their results at any time to
manage their physicalcondition.
The company not only
supports the physical health of
employees but also promotes
mental well-being. We haveestablished systems and take ASAHI WELL NET
necessary actions, such as retaining nurses, visiting healthpractitioners and other internal specialists in order to spot
early warning signs of stress and help to prevent stressrelated problems.
In September 2005, under the leadership of the Group’s
health insurance provider, we launched a system thatenables employees and their families to receive counselingservices by clinical psychologists. The system strictly
protects personal information.

• State of employment (number of employees by employment type, etc.)• Promotion of women employees• Employment of foreign nationals (recruitment, deployment, etc.)• Employment of the physically challenged (creation of a work
environment friendly to the physically challenged)• Reemployment• Recruitment• Relations with labor union (number of labor union members)

Personnel Evaluation and Salaries(average annual employee salaries, etc.)

Training and Education Programs(major training and education programs)

For the Global Environment

Questionnaire Survey on Corporate Culture

Questionnaire Survey Outline

For Consumers

Employee Health Management Including
Mental Health Care Practicewith related departments to determine the appropriate
assignment.

Creating a Pleasant Work Environment• Labor safety• Employee health management• Maternity, childcare and family-care leave systems• Raising awareness of human rights (response to human rights andsexual harassment issues, etc.)• Other welfare programs (paid leave system, Research on Working
Situations in Overseas Worksites, etc.)

Safety management personnel training seminar

CSR REPORT 200640

For Local Communities

Asahi Breweries aims to assist in the creationof a prosperous society by supporting artistic
and cultural activities and social contributions.

A performance at the Asahi Art Festival 2005

Consumers

Newsletter
GlobalEnvironment

We publish Asahi
Breweries MÉCÉNAT, afree newsletter that
introduces our patronageof the arts.

Business
Partners

Customers
Supporting
the Asahi BreweriesGroup’s Corporate
Activities
Local
Shareholders/Communities
Investors

Employees

Relations with
Local Communities
Newsletter, Asahi Arts Festival, Lobby Concerts,
KIDS Project, Environmental Beautification Activities, etc.

KIDS Project
Employees plan and carry out social eventswith children living in welfare facilities.

41 CSR REPORT 2006

For Consumers

The guiding principle behind every activity of Asahi Breweries is to promote healthy living and theenrichment of society worldwide. Therefore, as a responsible corporate citizen, we actively
participate in cultural and community activities that are not directly associated with our foodrelated business operations. We encourage the growth and development of local communities,
work with artistic and cultural activities that provide opportunities for young artists, and support
employees in volunteer activities that they choose.

For Business Partners

From Relations to Actions

In collaboration with local NPOs, we sponsoredthe Asahi Arts Festival 2005 as a cultural contribution.

Inviting Event Proposals from the Public
To increase the number of participants and widen thevariety of events, we started to invite event proposals
from the public in 2005. We received many proposals
from across Japan and included 45 programs(34 programs selected by the Executive Committee and
11 programs sponsored or co-sponsored by Asahi

For Shareholders and Investors
For Employees

Since 2002, Asahi Breweries has sponsored the Asahi
Arts Festival in collaboration with art NPOs and citizens’
groups across Japan. The concept of the festival is:
Future, Citizens, Local Communities.
We support local communities in rediscovering theirunique attractions and contribute to community
revitalization by supporting artistic activities that citizens
proactively plan and participate in, with the vision ofcreating the culture of the future.
The festivals take place in many regions during summer
every year. Various arts NPOs and citizens’ groups
present unique programs in different categories of arts,
including fine arts, music, architecture, dance, theatricalperformance, movies and events such as a community
revitalization efforts.
The festivals are organized by the Asahi Arts Festival
Executive Committees, consisting of arts NPOs andcitizens’ groups in the community. Committee members
meet monthly in Tokyo to discuss and plan festival
events. The committee operates in a way thatencourages the involvement of many people in festival
management, including the use of mailing lists and othermethods. Asahi Breweries is an active member of thecommittee.

Breweries). Approximately 100,000 people attended thefestivals nationwide.
The Awaji Island Arts Festival provides an excellent
example of our approach. The Great Hanshin-Awaji
Earthquake in 1995 and the landfall of the Typhoon No. 23
damaged many houses in Awaji Island and left themabandoned. Festival committee members noticed thevalue of these abandoned houses and arranged forfestival artistic programs
to be staged in them.
Many visitors from within
and outside the island
visited these houses.
Consequently, the event
contributed to improving Artists and local residents of theisland cooperate in refurbishing
the safety of the island
run-down vacant houses. Suchand revitalizing its towns creation of a space for displaying
work is also a part of our art
as well as reminding
project.
residents of theattractiveness of the island.

Pursuing New Challenge
Asahi Breweries strives to encourage local governments,
companies and citizens to become more interested inand aware of artistic activities in the community while atthe same time facilitating the creation of an environmentand society that supports the activities of arts NGOs andcitizens’ groups through continued sponsorship offestivals from a long-term perspective. We began hostinga practical arts management course for students hoping
to work as interns for NPOs and citizens’ groups, taking
advantage of the network of the Executive Committee.
We will continually enhance our involvement to realize ourconcepts in more concrete forms.

For Local Communities

Our Concept is: Future, Citizens,
Local Communities

The Asahi Arts Festival is open to the public as a community-oriented event that everybody can
attend. I try to plan this project from various viewpoints, asking myself, “What can we do to makeour community a livelier place?” Every artistic activity at the festival presents unique approaches
and perspectives on the community. I realize that the arts are among the most effective means forrediscovering the various attractions of a community as well as revitalizing the community. In recent
years, the festival has become known to a larger number of people by virtue of receiving theContemporary Composite Art Award in the 2004 Mécénat Awards.
We will continue to bring new ideas and concepts into the festival from the perspective ofimproving our artistic environment. These efforts include a program for increasing opportunities for
citizens to appreciate the arts and a program for providing training to people aspiring to work inarts management.

For the Global Environment

Message from a Key Person

Social & Environmental
Management Department
Asahi Breweries, Ltd.

Sasana Nemoto

CSR REPORT 200642

For Local Communities

Basic Principle andFocus of Activities
The Asahi Breweries Group works hard to contribute to
the promotion of healthy living and the enrichment ofsociety worldwide. These actions focus on revitalizing anddeveloping local communities, realizing a barrier-freesociety, promoting and disseminating art and culture,conserving the global environment and developing aninternational society.
In 2005, we focused on reinforcing cooperation withNPOs and other local organizations and further
considering community needs in our activities while
expanding the variety of activities.

Philosophy of Community andCultural Activities
The Asahi Breweries Group’s engagement incommunity and cultural activities is intended to help
enrich communities across the world at the local andregional levels. Through these activities, Asahi works
to win the trust of the communities it serves and toshare in the excitement of their growth and prosperity.
The Group therefore aims to contribute tocommunity development through the social
awareness of its employees, along with an open
corporate culture and abundant creativity.

Guidelines for Action
1. Challenging the new and the unknown, andconstantly generating the highest possible
cultural value.
2. Stressing the importance of communication
within the community and helping to deepen
mutual understanding.
3. Engaging in society by participating incommunity activities.
4. Fostering future cultural development by
participating in creative Mécénat activities.
5. Meeting the challenge of creating a newcorporate culture by encouraging employees tovolunteer in community and cultural activities.

Important Goals
1. Contributing to the revitalization and improvementof local communities.
2. Contributing to the realization of a community that
ensures access for all people.
3. Contributing to the creation of new culture andliving art.
4. Contributing to the protection of our global
environment.
5. Contributing to the development of a global society.

43 CSR REPORT 2006

Supporting the Arts and Culture
Supporting the Development of Artistic andCultural Activities
Since the establishment of the Corporate Culture
Department (currently the Social & Environmental
Management Department) in 1990, our artistic and culturalactivities have become more organized and well-planned.
Our basic concept is: Future, Citizens, Local Communities.
Creating the culture of tomorrow depends on providing abridge between citizens and the arts, and recovering local
resourcefulness through unique activities that are deeply
rooted in the local community.
Activities include Lobby Concerts, Food Culture Seminars,
the Asahi Art Collaboration Exhibition, the Asahi Arts Festival
and management of Asahi Arts Square, which opened as a
new center for increasing exposure to cultural expressions.
In 2005, we launched the Asahi Eco-arts Series,
combining our Water and Green Program, a major
environmental protection effort, with artistic activities. In
this series, we promote creative activities for future society,effectively using a variety of local resources including
people, materials, and nature in collaboration with artists
and local residents. We sponsored the first series in the
Shimanto River area encompassing Kochi and Ehime
prefectures.

Asahi Eco-art Series at
the Shimanto River Area
We sponsored the Asahi Eco-Arts Series (SeptemberDecember, 2005) in the area near the 196 kilometerlong Shimanto River in collaboration with artist,
Hiroshi Fuji and musician
Tomomi Adachi.
To prepare for series
events, we conducted aquestionnaire related to the
Shimanto River involving
residents living all along theriver. We also collected art materials, taking
advantage of events such as the Exchange Bazaar, inwhich participants exchange unused toys and picture
books for “exchange points,” a special currency they
can use to purchase favorite new toys. Downstream,
we held the Music Workshop, which was open to the
public and allowed participants to enjoy playing
simple music and improvisations. In the first part of
the final concert, we presented the collected art
materials as a combination of video and live
performance. The second part of the concert featured
a performance of the Shimanto Kagura Symphony,bringing together the participants of the Music Work
Shop and Tsunoyama Kagura, a traditional musicgroup from the headwaters of the river.

For Consumers

Asahi Breweries makes donations in a wide range of fields,such as culture and the arts, the environment, community
activities, health and medical science, social welfare,formal and social education, academic research andstudies, international exchange and cooperation, andsports. We select recipients and determine the appropriate
level of support through a review process that reflects
ethical and legal considerations.
Recently, we have made donations to the victims of theearthquakes in Niigata Chuetsu and western Fukuoka inJapan, the Sumatra earthquake in Indonesia, andHurricane Katrina in the U.S.

Supported by employee volunteerism, Asahi Breweriesorganizes and promotes various social contribution
programs. Such programs include the KIDS Project, inwhich we visit welfare facilities nationwide and hold various
enjoyable events; the One Beer Club, a program for
employees to donate part of their salary (a minimum of
200 yen) for social contribution activities; and community
cleanups surrounding our worksites.
We also promote “soft” social contribution activities
such as providing information on volunteer activities using
our intranet; using the volunteer leave system; and the
Eco-mileage program, in which volunteer activities are
given points and each company site donates an amountequivalent to these points to local organizations.

In November 2005, Asahi Breweries was commended by the
Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare for its distinguished social
contribution activities, including the KIDS Project. The KIDS Projectis a program conducted by volunteers of Group companies inwhich they meet with children living in welfare facilities andencourage them through drawing classes and mountaineering.
In recent years, sales andmanufacturing sites of thecompany in each region have beenplaying a central role in managing
these programs and have beensuccessful in reinforcing ties withthe community and improving thecontent of activities.

Web

For Employees

Ongoing Contributions to Society

Commendation of the Ministerof Health, Labour and Welfare

Web Site Reference
www.asahibeer.co.jp/csr/ (In Japanese)

More detailed information is available on the Web site.

For Local Communities
For Local Communities

Contributing to Society

For Business Partners

Donations to Various Areas

Asahi Breweries has been actively supporting the activities
of Arts NPOs Link, a non-profit organization (NPO) whichbegan in October 2004 and was formally established as
an NPO in January 2006.
The objectives of Arts NPOs Link are to connect Arts
NPOs nationwide, address common issues, and develop
supportive environments for NPO activities. The Arts
NPOs Link holds the National Arts NPO Forum every year
and actively introduces a variety of activities and roles ofarts NPOs at home and abroad. As a result, the NPO
provides opportunities for arts NPOs to initiate
communications with people in other sectors. By
supporting the activities of this NPO, Asahi Breweries
contributes to the development of arts NPOs andimproves the nurturing environment for citizens’ volunteer
artistic activities in Japan.

For Shareholders and Investors

Assistance for NPOs and NGOs

Philosophy of Social and Cultural Activities• Asahi Nice Life Leave System (Volunteer Leave System)• Provision of information on various volunteer activities on the
VolunteerNet site of our intranet• Provision of information on various volunteer activities
through company newsletters, internal PR videos, andmessage boards• Corporate provision of volunteer activity insurance forvolunteer programs sponsored by the company• Donation system
Asahi Eco-mileage program: 10 organizations received
corporate donations in 2005
Asahi One Beer Club program: 10 organizations received
corporate donations in 2005
This is a new donation program launched in April 2002. Under thebanner “Let’s contribute the monetary equivalent to one cup of beer tosociety!” employees voluntarily deposit money (a minimum of 200 yen)from their monthly salaries and donate it to organizations conducting
social contribution activities.

Supporting the Arts and Culture• Asahi Arts Square• Asahi Beer Arts Foundation• Asahi Arts Festival• Asahi Breweries Foundation• Asahi Eco-art Series• Reference site: Asahi Beer
• Lobby Concert
Oyamazaki Villa Museum• Art Collaboration Exhibition
http://www.asahibeer• Culture Seminars
oyamazaki.com/• Other Artistic and Cultural Programs• Mécénat Calendar for This Month• Asahi Breweries MÉCÉNAT(newsletter)

For the Global Environment

Major Systems and Programs

Social Contribution Activities• One Beer Club Program• KIDS Project• Eco-mileage Program• Environmental Beautification Activities• Artbility• Volunteer Activities• Data on Social Contribution Activities (Donations we have made,Employee Volunteerism Support Program)

Links to Activity-Related Web Sites

CSR REPORT 200644

For the Global Environment

Asahi Breweries carries out various
environmental conservation programs to pass
the blessings of nature on to future generations.

Asahi Breweries
Environmental Culture Seminar
We conduct Asahi Beer Environmental
Culture Seminars, which include guest
lecturers who discuss environmental
issues with participants.

Brewery Eco Tour
Consumers

We conduct environmental
conservation activities atmanufacturing sites for elementary
school students and their families.

GlobalEnvironment

Business
Partners

Customers
Supporting
the Asahi BreweriesGroup’s Corporate
Activities
Local
Shareholders/Communities
Investors

Employees

Promoting Consideration of
the Global Environment
Environmental Culture Seminars, Brewery Eco Tour,
water resource conservation program, environmental education,
Asahi Eco Space, etc.

Asahi Eco SpaceAsahi Eco Space—Minerva’s
Forest is on permanent display inthe headquarters of Asahi
Breweries to illustrate thecompany’s commitment toaddressing environmental issues.

45 CSR REPORT 2006

For Consumers

To protect the precious blessings of nature and pass them on to future generations, Asahi
Breweries is addressing the responsible use of resources and energy and working to reduce theenvironmental burden associated with the production of beer, happoshu and other products.
We promote comprehensive environmental protection activities across the entire supply chain, fromlogistics to sales and consumption, and implement water conservation programs in collaboration
with local NPOs and citizens’ groups at each manufacturing plant.

For Business Partners

From Relations to Actions

As a company that uses water as a main raw material for
products, one of Asahi Breweries’ key missions is toconserve forests as a water resource and naturalenvironments with abundant water. While forests accountfor most of Japan’s total land area, some forests havebeen devastated by poor management.
Given this challenging situation, Asahi Breweries
started a water resource conservation program at the
Shikoku Brewery in June 2004
as one of our efforts to growforestland rich in water. In the
program, we plant, prune andimprove cutting in collaboration
with citizens’ groups, NPOs andNGOs in the local community where the brewery is
located. Through these programs, we are not only
involved in resource conservation activities after receiving
water but we also carry out activities before receiving
water to grow forests as a water resource and raise
employee awareness.
We plan to conduct water resource conservation
programs in all of our breweries in 2006. We will also
encourage Group companies such as Asahi Soft Drinks
Co., Ltd. and The Nikka Whisky Distilling Co., Ltd. to jointhese programs. Furthermore, we will encourage theinvolvement of employees’ families and the general public
in addition to brewery employees and people in thecommunity.

In 2005, the Asahi Beer Nagoya Brewery initiated a
program for planting and cutting hardwood, such as
quercus serrata and sawtooth oak, and constructing
forest roads for these trees in the forestland (a water
resource) in Kani-gun, Gifu Prefecture. It is widely known
that we can improve the ecosystem by growing mixed
forests of softwood and hardwood trees.
In implementing these programs, we collaborate withNPOs in the community,
including the Donguri-nokai, an organization that
promotes the growing of
hardwood trees throughactivities such as planting
acorn trees, and theShinrin Takumi Juku (forest Before our program
master school), which
offers carpentry lessons toraise awareness of thevalue of forests. In April
2006, we carried out thesecond round of these
programs with 20
attendants from NPOs andAfter our program
20 brewery employees.

For Employees

Promoting Activities toGrow Mixed Forests

For Local Communities

Growing Forests in Collaboration with
Local Communities

For Shareholders and Investors

We promote water resource conservation programs
to grow forests with abundant water.

One of the main operations assigned to the Social & Environmental Management Department is toprovide backup support for environmental conservation activities conducted at each brewery. For
instance, we try to ensure water resource conservation activities tasks are not being just anotherjob by proposing enjoyable content and presentation methods such as nature observation
workshops, games associated with nature and inviting forestry instructors to deliver easy-tounderstand lectures on the benefits of forests.
Naturally, each brewery and citizens’ group in the community plays a central role in carrying out
these activities. Thus, in addition to making suggestions, we strive to maintain communications
with people in the community before, during, and after events so that activities uniquely contributeto the community.
Activities to conserve forests go beyond simple forestation and maintenance of the environment.
Follow-up is essential so that forests grow into woodlands embracing the richness of nature. To
continue our programs over the long term, we want to develop a network of community residents
and cultivate our relationship with them to encourage Asahi Breweries and the community todemonstrate their creativity.

For the Global Environment

Message from a Key Person

The Social & Environmental
Management Department
Asahi Breweries, Ltd.

Satoshi Akiba

CSR REPORT 200646

For the Global Environment

Basic Environmental Principles

Asahi Breweries’ Guidelines for Corporate Activity,
established in January 1998, clearly state our responsibility
for safety and the environment. Based on these guidelines,
we established our Basic Environmental Principles inJanuary 2000. These principles define the Group’s
environmental concepts and policies and set forth action
guidelines related to environmental conservation for all
employees.

Environmental Impact ofBusiness Activities
Asahi Breweries collects and analyzes data on the use ofresources and energy as well as the environmental burden
generated at each stage, from raw materials andresources, manufacturing and logistics, to customer
consumption and disposal of goods. This enables us to

INPUT
EnergyBasic Environmental Principles
City gas:

Basic Philosophy
Beer is made from the bounties of nature, such as
water, barley, and hops. At the Asahi BreweriesGroup, we believe it is our responsibility to enable
our children to inherit a healthier planet. To achieve
our goals of protecting this beautiful planet and thepeople who live on it, we believe our actions must
demonstrate our gratitude for the natural bounty
the Earth provides us all.
Guidelines for Action(1) Strive to promote waste reduction and recycling
to reduce the use of natural resources and toconserve energy.
(2) Endeavor to reduce the output and usage ofsubstances that burden the environment, suchas CO2 and CFCs.
(3) Promote systems and practices that conserve
water, the most precious resource for the Asahi
Breweries Group.
(4) Be aware of environmental concerns in productdevelopment, in the development oftechnologies, and in procurement.
(5) Contribute to society by actively supporting
environmental protection activities andencouraging employees to participate as well.
(6) In addition to carefully observing allenvironmental laws and regulations, eachaffiliated company will develop its own
environmental standards.
(7) Outside Japan, be aware of local environmental
concerns and actively work to promote
environmental protection in each country where
the Group operates.
(8) Strive to communicate openly with society byproviding appropriate information on ourenvironmental systems and practices.

3,172,000 GJ(68,906,000 Nm3)

A-grade heavy oil: *1 590,000 GJ(15,168 kl)

Electric power: 2,031,000 GJ(198,022,000 kWh)

Total:

5,793,000 GJ

Total:

582,000 tons

GJ (giga joule) = J (joule) × 109

Service Water
Raw Materials
Malt:
Adjuncts:

217,000 tons
152,000 tons

(rice, corn, processed materials, etc.)

Hops:

3,000 tons

Total:

372,000 tons

15,912,000 m3

Purchase of Liquefied Carbon Dioxide
Purchase:
6,700 tons
Collection by Asahi Breweries: 59,200 tons
Total:

65,900 tons

Production

Beer-type beverages
Production volume: 2,491,000 kl
350 ml can conversion:
7.1 billion cans in total

Air

Discharged Water

Disposal Materials
and By-products

CO2: 275,000 tons
99 tons
NOx:
15 tons
SOx:
Soot and dust: 2 tons

13,412,000 m3

296,000 tons

OUTPUT

47 CSR REPORT 2006

Resources
Bottles:
471,000 tons
Aluminum cans: 68,000 tons
Steel cans:
1,000 tons
Cartons:
39,000 tons
Bottle tops:
2,000 tons
Labels:1,000 tons

For Consumers
Recycling Company

Beer bottles collected from restaurants
and shops are reused.

Collection of Containers and Packages

Integrated Environmental
Burden Index, AGE
For Business Partners

The company introduced Asahi Breweries’ Integrated
Environmental Burden Index, AGE (Asahi’s Guideline for
Ecology) in 2000 to objectively quantify and determine
the environmental burden of corporate activities.
AGE quantifies the environmental burden of a productthroughout its lifecycle as accurately as possible, fromthe supply of raw materials, to the production andtransportation of the product, up to the consumption,
disposal and recycling of the empty container bycustomers.
AGE in 2005 increased by 0.17 to 3.60 due to slightincreases in “impact on the entire earth” including
global warming and “impact on the water system.”Comparing this figure with 2003 and earlier, we havemaintained a stable, low level of environmental burden.
The main reason for an increase in the figures related
to global warming is more frequent transporting ofproducts among regions due to a surge in new
product sales.*For Shareholders and Investors

accurately determine the total environmental burden
generated by business activities and take necessary
actions to reduce it.
We already recycle 100% of the waste materials andby-products generated in the manufacturing of beer. We
will continue our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions
generated by energy consumption, effectively use water
resources, and collect reusable resources.

products are usually manufactured at our plants* Whilenationwide, new products are manufactured at a limited

Bottles:101.8% (2005)

number of plants, resulting in more frequent transportation
among regions over longer distances.

Fuel for Vehicles(Reference)
Aluminum cans:
Steel cans:
Cartons:

86.1% (2004)
87.1% (2004)
109.2% (2004)

For further information on AGE, please refer to thefollowing Web site.
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/csr/eco/eco_08.html(In Japanese)

967,000 GJ(light oil: 25,302 kl)

The recycle rate of aluminum cans,steel cans, and cartons (cardboard) isbased on nationwide figures.

For Employees

Changes in the AGE Index
5.00
4.35
3.93

4.00

3.71
3.43
2.76

Consumption

Total distance oftransportation:
89,448,000 km

2.76
2.57
2.00

1.00

0

Air

Air

CO2: 66,000 tons
NOx:
202 tons
SOx:
81 tons

CO2: 13,000 tons

2.70
2.58

1.05

Impact on theentire earth
Impact on thewater system

0.73

0.66

0.42

0.49

0.54

0.53

0.47

0.43

0.41

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

For Local Communities

Sales

Impact on theatmosphere

For the Global Environment

3.00

Logistics

3.60

Corporate-owned
Asahi Forest*2

Absorption of CO2: 12,000 tons

A-grade heavy oil*1 Thesulfur content of A-grade heavy oil is less than or equal to 2%
and burning this oil generates less sulfur oxide than other grades ofheavy oil.

Recycling

Disposals and By-products

Corporate-owned Asahi Forest*2 TheAsahi Forest, located in Shobara City, Hiroshima Prefecture andneighboring areas, absorbs 12,000 tons of CO2 every year.

Recycling 100%

* Scope: All breweries of Asahi Breweries, Ltd.

CSR REPORT 200648

For the Global Environment

Asahi Breweries Group Medium-term
Environmental Management Plan
The Asahi Breweries Group achieved the goals of its First
Medium-term Environmental Management Plan, launchedin 2001, one year ahead of the 2004 target date.
Therefore, we have established and are alreadyproceeding to implement actions for a Second Mediumterm Environmental Management Plan with goals for theperiod 2004 to 2006.
The final year of the Second Medium-term
Environmental Management Plan is 2006. Therefore, wewill establish a third plan.
Major Points of Second Medium-term Environmental
Management Plan
• We set specific goals through the Asahi Breweries Group.
• In response to the enforcement of the Kyoto Protocol, wechanged CO2 emissions goals from basic units to the total
amount of emissions.

Group Medium-term Environmental Management Plan and Status (2004–2006)
Scope
Key Issue

NonMajor 6
All 11
consolidated companies*1 companies*2

I. Reduction ingreenhouse gas
emissions*3, *4

Targets in Medium-termManagement Plan
(2006)

2005 (Results)

2004 (Results)• Total CO2 emissions: 419,486• Total CO2 emissions: 375,329
tons/year (+9% compared to 1990)
tons/year (+22% compared to 1990)
Reference:
Reference:
2008 Goals• CO2 emissions per sales volume:• Total CO2 emissions (all 11 companies):
293 kg/one million yen
344,979 tons/year (±0% compared to1990)• Total CO2 emissions: 381,605 tons/year(+11% compared to 1990)
Reference:• -37,881 tons compared to 2004 (-9%)• CO2 emissions per sales volume:
274 kg/one million yen (-6.5%)* We set a 2008 goal only for CO2 emissions

II. Promotion of energy-saving
1) Reduction infuel and
electricity
unit
consumption

2) Reduction inunit water
consumption• Total amount of energy consumption toachieve the above goal for total CO2
emissions• Total amount of energy consumption:
8,537,000 GJ/year
Reference:• Total amount of energy
consumption/sales: 5.83 GJ/one
million yen• Total amount of energy consumption:
7,908,000 GJ/year (-6% compared to2004)
Reference:• Energy consumption/sales: 5.68 GJ/one
million yen (-2.6% compared to 2004)• Total consumption: 23,230,000
m3/year (+15% compared to 1990)
Reference:1990 results: 20,248,000 m3/year• Total consumption: 21,550,000
m3/year (+6% compared to 1990)
Reference:• Total consumption per sales volume:
15.27 m3/one million yen• Total consumption: 20,988,000 m3/year(+4% compared to 1990)
Reference:• Total consumption per sales volume:15.33 m3/one million yen (+0.4%
compared to 2004)• Achieve 100% recycling rate of wastes
and by-products in all Group
manufacturing sites

Manufacturing sites:• 23 sites out of 28 sites achieved thegoal (82%)

Manufacturing sites:• 25 sites out of 28 sites achieved the goal.
(89%)• The sites which newly achieved the goal:
Asahi-Kyowa Liquor Manufacturing Co.,
Ltd. (presently The Nikka Whisky DistillingCo., Ltd ) Moji Plant, Asahi Food &Healthcare, Ltd. Osaka Plant• Increase the number of sales offices
which achieved 100% recycling rate
⇒ Achieved more than half of targeted
units

Sales offices:• Review of a plan to achieve 100%
recycling rate

Sales offices:• 5 sales offices achieved the goal

• All Group’s manufacturing sites
introduced an environmental
management system such as
ISO 14001 and ES21

Manufacturing sites:• 20 out of 30 sites achieved the goal
(67%)

Manufacturing sites:• 21 out of 30 sites achieved the goal(70%)
• Site which newly achieved the goal:
Asahi Beer Malt, Ltd. Yasu Plant*28 sites excluding two LB Ltd., new Group
companies

III. Promotion ofwaste recycling

IV. Promotion of
introduction ofan environmental
management
system• Introduced Asahi Way in all sales• Introduce Asahi Way, Asahi Breweries’
officesunique, simple environmental
management system, in all sales offices• Maintain and promote Asahi Way

Major Group manufacturing companies:*1 Asahi
Breweries, Ltd., Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd., The Nikka Whisky Distilling Co., Ltd., Asahi Food & Healthcare Ltd.,
Asahi Beer Malt, Ltd., Asahi-Kyowa Liquor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
(Asahi-Kyowa Liquor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. merged with The Nikka Whisky Distilling Co., Ltd. in January 2006)

Group manufacturing companies (11 companies):*2 InAlladdition
to the above companies, Sainte Neige Wine Co., Ltd., Nippon Freeze Drying Co., Ltd., Satsumatsukasa Shuzo Co., Ltd.
and LB Ltd. (two) (All functions of Asahi Beer Winery, Ltd. were transferred to Sainte Neige Wine Co., Ltd. in September 2005)
Formula for converting fuel into CO2 emissions*3 AddCO2 emissions (ton) = purchase volume of various fuels (GJ) x CO2 emission factor (ton CO2/GJ)(For CO2 emission factor, we use values stated in “Guideline for Method to Calculate Greenhouse Gas Emissions Generated at Businesses”
published on July 2003 by the Ministry of the Environment, Global Environment Bureau)

Formula for converting electricity into CO2 emissions*4 CO
2 emissions (tons) = electricity purchased (kwh) x CO2 emission factor (kg CO2/kwh)(For the CO2 emission factor, we use the latest value issued by the Federation of Electric Power Companies: 0.421 kg CO2/kwh for 2004)

49 CSR REPORT 2006

For Consumers

Data of Other Environmental Burdens (Consolidated Basis)
Company
Major 6companies

Result (2004)

All 11companies

Result (2005)

Waste and by-products• Volume generated: 340,647 tons
• Volume recycled: 340,587 tons
• Recycling ratio: 99.98%• Volume generated: 327,668 tons (down 12,979 tons
compared to 2004)• Volume recycled: 327,668 tons
• Recycling ratio: 99.99%

Emissions into theatmosphere• NOx emissions: 157 tons
• SOx emissions: 57 tons

• NOx emissions: 128 tons (-18% compared to 2004)• SOx emissions: 25 tons (-56% compared to 2004)

Emissions into thewater system• Volume of wastewater discharged: 17,849,000 m3• Volume of wastewater discharged: 17,053,000 m3(-4% compared to 2004)

For Business Partners

Nonconsolidated

Group Performance Data (Consolidated Basis)(kg/one million yen)

325

500

(1,000 m3)

25,000(m3/one million yen)

22,597

419
381

400

300

344

Emissions/one
million yen
275
in sales

293
200
274
100

Total CO2
emissions250

20,000

1990

2004

Water consumption 18.0

15,00015.8

15.8

Water consumption/ 16.0
one million yen in sales

10,000

14.0

5,000

12.0

225

0

20.0
21,990

10.0

0

2005

2004

2005

Energy Consumption and Energy Consumption
per Sales Volume (All 11 companies)

Amount of Wastes and Amount ofWastes per Sales Volume (Major six companies)(1,000 GJ)(1,000 tons)(GJ/one million yen)

7.00

10,0008,357
8,000

For Employees(1,000 tons)

Water Consumption and Water Consumption
per Sales Volume (All 11 companies)(tons/one million yen)

400

1.0
340

7,908

For Local Communities

CO2 Emissions and CO2 Emissions
per Sales Volume (All 11 companies)

327

300

6,000

5.83
5.68

2,000

6.00

200

Total energy consumption/
one million yen in sales

100

5.00

0

2004

2005

Amount of wastes

0.24

0.24

2004

2005

0

0.5

Amount of wastes/
one million yen in sales
0

For the Global Environment

Total energy
consumption

4,000

For Shareholders and Investors

Key Issue

CSR REPORT 200650

For the Global Environment

Recycling of CO2

Prevention of Global Warming

In all nine breweries of Asahi Breweries,
we collect CO2 generated in thebrewing process and store it in tanks.
We recycle this CO2 in the brewing,bottling, canning, barreling and otherprocesses.

Energy Conservation and Reduction of
CO2 Emissions
The goal of Asahi Breweries is to reduce total CO2
emissions by 10% compared to 1990 levels by 2008.
Our CO2 emissions are generated by electricity usage
and boiler firing or during the brewing, bottling, canning,and barreling processes. To achieve our 10% reduction
goal, we place the highest priority on reducing CO2
emission, and are therefore introducing co-generation
systems, energy conserving facilities, fuel conservation,
and CO2 recycling systems.
As a result, total energy consumption and the energy
consumption unit in 2005 declined compared to theprevious year. Total CO2 emissions and the CO2 emission
unit in 2005 also dropped compared to the previous year.

Improving Logistics Efficiency

CO2 Emissions(1,000 tons)

600(kg/kl)Basic unit

161
131

400
366

261

126
337

200

121

118

317

309

200
113
280

150
100

Total
50
CO2
emissions 0

0

1990

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Energy Consumption(1,000 GJ)

10,000

Basic unit
2.73
3.20

7,500
5,000

2.55

2.46

(GJ/kl)

5,193

1990

2001

2

6,829

6,441

6,260

2002

2003

2004

We focus on reducing the total travel distance fordeliveries and higher fuel efficiency in Group logisticcompanies as major steps for improving efficiency inlogistics operations.
As concrete measures for reducing travel distance, we
strive to improve transport efficiency by integrating logistic
sites, promoting direct delivery from the brewery tocustomers, and reducing the frequency of moving
products from one logistics site to another. In addition, at
Group logistics companies, we take steps to reduce CO2
emissions during transport, such as measures to improvefuel efficiency through the most appropriate use ofaccelerators and an idling stop function for drivers.
The total travel distance increased from 85,774,000 km
in 2004 to 89,448,000 km in 2005 due to an increase intransport volume for products between area blocks as aresult of the launch of new mainstay products. As a result,
total CO2 emissions in 2005 rose 6% compared with theprevious year to about 66,000 tons.
In 2006, we will actively work to comply with theAmended Energy Conservation Law* and continue efforts
for reducing CO2 emissions through various measures,
including the review of transport methods in collaboration
with Group logistics companies.

3

2.40
2.33

7,608

CO2 storage tank

5,793
Total
1
energyconsumption
0

2,500
0

Amended Energy Conservation Law (Law Concerning the Rational* Use
of Energy)
In light of the enforcement of the Kyoto Protocol for preventing global
warming, the Law intends to promote necessary measures to reduceenergy consumption in the transport industry, where fuel consumption has
been substantially increasing. The Amendment was promulgated in August
2005 and went into effect in April 2006.

2005

Transportation Distance and CO2 Emissions

Introducing Energy Conservation Facilities
In 2005, we implemented various energy-saving
measures, including the introduction of co-generation
systems in the Hakata Brewery and a low-concentration
anaerobic wastewater processing system in the Ibaraki
Brewery and the expansion of a CO2 collection facility.
In 2006, we will implement energy
conservation measures such as awider use of heat generated in thebrewing and cooling process ofbeer manufacturing.
In addition, we will convert fuelconsumed in all breweries from
Co-generation systems
heavy oil to natural gas by 2008.
Seven of the company’s nine breweries have completed
this conversion.

51 CSR REPORT 2006

(Scope: transportation of beer-type beverages)(1,000 km)(1,000 tons)

80

150,000
120,000

79
110,68974
103,56272
98,9206285,77490,00066
CO2emissions 60
89,44840

60,000Total distance20

30,000
0

0

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

For Consumers

Conserving Water Resources

Reusing Resources

Asahi Breweries is committed to reducing water
consumption for cleaning and sterilizing tanks and pipes inplants. The Second Medium-term Environmental
Management Plan calls for reducing unit consumption ofwater by 32% from 1990 levels by fiscal 2006.
In 2005, water consumption declined by 4% comparedto the previous year. However, unit consumption of waterremained at the same level as the previous year due to anincrease in the inventory of semi-products.
We have been working at each brewery to shorten
cleaning time and promote the secondary use of water for
the final rinsing process. These efforts have contributed toannual reductions in water consumption.

Approximately 300,000 tons of wastes and by-products
are generated each year by the manufacturing plants of
Asahi Breweries, and since 1998, 100% of these wastes
and by-products have been recycled instead of being
taken to landfills.
The entire Asahi Breweries Group plans to achieve 100%
recycling of all waste at all production sites by 2006.

Basic Unit of Wastes and By-products(1,000 tons)

600
400

Water Consumption(m3/kl)

10

Basic
unit

7.2

6.5

20,613 19,168

6.3

15,912

17,018 16,544

5

Water
consumption
0

0

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Quality Control of Discharged Water
Asahi Breweries discharges wastewater generated during
the production of beer-type beverages into sewer systems
and rivers after purification using such equipment asanaerobic wastewater processing
systems within the brewery.
Several breweries are able topurify wastewater to a quality
approaching that of tap water byusing ozone and activatedcharcoal treatment in addition to
Anaerobic wastewater
processing system
conventional methods.

6.4

Wastes 50
andby-products
0

0

2001

2002

2003

2005

Reuse and Recycling of Containers
Nearly 100% of beer bottles are returned to breweries forrecycling after the contents have been consumed. The
recycle ratio of aluminum cans is extremely high given the
public promotion of recycling. Consequently, thesecontainers are uniquely contributing to the formation of arecycling society.
In designing new containers, we promote the use ofmaterials with a low environmental burden and support
advanced recycling systems.

Aluminum cans

Separatedcollection

Masscollection

Curbsidecollection

Remelted aluminum
ingot manufacturer(m3/kl)

5.5

5.3

5.4

Beer bottles

6
Basic
unit

17,8202004

Customer

6.2

25,00020,000296

Reusing and Recycling of Beer Bottles andAluminum Cans

Wastewater Discharged(1,000 m3)

308

6.4

10,0001990

323

For Employees

14,781

363

Basic unit
100

16,491
14,40515,00013,931

4
13,421

10,000For the Global Environment

20,000

370

150

119

118

For Local Communities

9.1
7.4

124

200

(1,000 m3)

30,000(kg/kl)136

133

Wholesalers, retailers,bars and restaurants

Wholesalers, retailers,bars and restaurants

Retail collection(Beer bottles returned to theretailer are then sent back tothe breweries)

2
Wastewater
discharged

5,000

0

0

2001

For Shareholders and Investors

Reducing Water Consumption

For Business Partners

Waste Reduction

2002

2003

2004

2005

Asahi Breweries’ breweries

Aluminum can manufacturers

Aluminum rolling mills

CSR REPORT 200652

For the Global Environment

Actions Taken by Each Brewery

Environmental Management
SystemThe Asahi Breweries Group has organized an
Environmental Committee. The committee established theMedium-term Group Environmental Management Plan andmonitors the plan’s progress and status.
Policies and plans formulated by the Environmental
Committee are approved by the Management Strategy
Meeting and the Management Meeting and then sharedwith the headquarters, breweries, and each affiliatedcompany by the Social & Environmental Management
Department, the operational agent of the Environmental
Committee, and the Group Environmental Committee.
All Group members are striving to achieve the targets
set by the Second Group Environmental Management
Plan for 2004 through 2006.

Each brewery has an ISO Environmental Management
Committee which promotes environmental activities basedon the Medium-term Environmental Management Plan of
the Asahi Breweries Group, the annual plan, and the ISO
14001 Environmental Management Program.
We not only promote the individual activities of each
brewery but enhance activities at the group level such as
sharing best practices across the Group.

Follow-up and Evaluation of
Accomplishments and Status
Each quarter, the ISO Project Office of the head office andat each brewery identifies and analyzes theaccomplishments and status of these environmental
activities. Results are reported to the Head OfficeEnvironmental Committee and to each brewery’s ISO
Environmental Management Committee as the basis fordeveloping the coming year’s plan.

Environmental Management System
Asahi BreweriesGroup’s production companies

Head Office
Management Strategy Meeting(Responsible official: Chairman)

Management Meeting(Responsible official: President)

Breweries

Environmental Committee

ISO Environmental Management Committee(Chairman: Board Directors in charge of environmental issues)(Chairman: Brewery Manager)

Social & Environmental Management Department

ISO Project Office(project office)

ISO Environmental
Management Committee

Group Environmental Committee

Internal Audit TeamInternal Audit TeamISO Project Office
Head Office,eachdepartment

Head Office,eachdepartment

Head Office,eachdepartment

Head Office,eachdepartment

Brewery, eachdepartment

Certification
The Asahi Breweries Group plans to have every
production site nationwide acquire either ISO 14001 or
Eco Action 21 certification* by the end of 2006.
In addition, all sales units of Asahi Breweries introduced
Asahi Way in May 2004. Asahi Way manages theenvironmental protection activities of each site, including
measurable targets and progress, and promotes activities

53 CSR REPORT 2006

Brewery, eachdepartment

Brewery, eachdepartment

Production
company

Production
company

to reduce the environmental burden in accordance witheach activity.
Asahi Way will be introduced into the sales units ofaffiliated companies.
Action 21 certification (EA21):* Eco
A certification and registry system to provide companies, schools andpublic institutions with a method for establishing, managing, evaluating, andreporting the effectiveness of activities to protect the environment. The
Ministry of the Environment supports the dissemination of the system.

For Consumers

Environmental Audit

Web

Web Site Reference
www.asahibeer.co.jp/csr/ (In Japanese)

Environmental Education Programs

For Business Partners

More detailed information is available on the Web site.

For the Global Environment
Environmental Management• Basic Environmental Principles• Implementation System• Certification (acquisition of ISO 14001 and EA21 certifications)• Environmental education• Compliance with laws related to the environment• Eco Point Calculation Standard (guideline for assessing
environmental consideration level) for sales promotion materials• Environmental accounting• Asahi Breweries’ integrated environmental burden index, AGE(relations between environmental investment and AGE; Calculation
formula of AGE)

For Shareholders and Investors

The Asahi Breweries Group conducts external certification
audits based on ISO 14001 standards. Periodic internal
environmental audits are also conducted by internal audit
teams in each business unit.
Apart from these audits, internal environmental audit
teams of the head office conduct the Head OfficeEnvironmental Audit every other year to confirm that theenvironmental activities of each business unit and factory
are proceeding satisfactorily.

Environmental Education Programs• Environmental events at manufacturing sites• Water resources conservation activities• Minerva’s Forest

Environmental Culture Seminars
In autumn 2002, Asahi Breweries started to hold Asahi
Beer Environmental Culture Seminars with guest lecturers
as one of our environmental communication activities. We
have held 24 seminars under the concept of water andforests, which is closely related toour business. A total of 4,000
people participated in theseminars.
We adopted a new message in2006, “Strengthen theConnections of People, theFuture, and the Environment.” This message represents
our aspiration to respect the various connections we arelosing such as the relationships between parents andchildren, relationships with neighbors, and relationships
with nature. The seminars provide many people with
opportunities to realize their relationships with theenvironment.

Medium-term Environmental Management Plan
Environmental Targets and Results for Group
Companies

For Employees• Asahi Breweries, Ltd.
• Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd.
• The Nikka Whisky Distilling Co., Ltd.
• Asahi Food & Healthcare Ltd.
• Asahi Beer Malt, Ltd.
• Consolidated data on environmental burdens for six main Group
manufacturing companies• Four new companies• Logistics companies• Data on environmental burden for logistics companies

Material Balance (Environmental Impact ofBusiness Activities)
Prevention of Global Warming• Reducing CO2 emissions• Introducing energy conservation facilities• Recycling of CO2• Improving logistics efficiency• Other measures to prevent global warming

Conserving Water Resources• Reducing water consumption• Reducing wastewater discharged• Other activities for conserving water resources

For Local Communities

Each manufacturing site of the Asahi Breweries Group
communicates with its local community through various
environmental education programs.
At the Kanagawa Brewery, we
invite elementary school students inthe community to help release fireflylarvae and then enjoy viewing theadult fireflies from the beer
restaurant in the Brewery. In
addition, at nine beer breweries, we
provide local residents with
Releasing firefly larvae atopportunities to learn about
the Kanagawa Brewery
environmental issues by hosting
Visiting Tours for Parents and their Children as anenvironmental education program during the summer
holiday season. In 2005, about 16,000 people (parents
and their children) attended the program.

Waste Reduction• Reducing amount of wastes (breakdown of amount of wastes andby-products, etc.)• Reducing raw material consumption• Recycling of resources (achieving 100% recycling)• Reuse and recycling of containers• Other activities• Achieving 100% recycling at the Head Office

Other Measures for Reducing Environmental
Burdens(SOx, NOx, soot and dust emissions; measures to prevent soil
contamination, control of hazardous chemical substances)

For the Global Environment

Environmental Events at Manufacturing Sites

Green Procurement(Green procurement guideline; purchase ratio of green products)

Corporate-Owned Asahi Forest• Shobara Forestry• FSC Certification

Eco Exploration Game
Asahi Beer Environmental Culture Seminars
Eco Life Proposals

CSR REPORT 2006

54

Response to Third-Party Opinions on
Asahi Breweries Group CSR Report 2005
Third-Party Opinion on Asahi
Breweries Group CSR Report 2005

CSR
management

Reduction of
CO2 emissions

Efforts onwater issues

Status ofwomen

Promotion ofcommunication

55 CSR REPORT 2006

Asahi Breweries’ Response

What stakeholders want to see most is action andresults. I expect Asahi Breweries to more clearly
convey the process by explaining objectives,
actions, self-evaluation, and improvements in thenext actions, for each priority task.

Asahi Breweries will more clearly explain
the process while further improving its
methods for communicating withstakeholders.

I would expect Asahi Breweries to calculate thebalance and cost-benefit performance of CSR
activities and to report the relationship between
business operations and CSR activities. I would
like to see the company integrate CSR activities
with business more tightly.

We will consider this as a future issue.

I believe the goal of reducing total CO2 emissions
by 10% from 1990 levels by 2008 will lead theway for government and other companies.
Redefining the goal of reducing CO2 emissions
from basic units to total volume is a major step. I
hope Asahi Breweries will more clearly express thesignificant nature of the company’s commitment
as a model for other companies to follow. I also
recommend sharing the real story in greater
depth, such as the difficulties and challenges
associated with current efforts, with an overview of
the road map and progress toward achieving a
10% reduction, as well as issues and specificplans for achieving the goal.

Targets in the Group’s Medium-term
Environmental Plan are set for expanding
the focus beyond Asahi Breweries Ltd. tothe entire Group. We will further improvecoordination with Group companies toimplement reduction measures while
striving to appropriately disclose
information.

It goes without saying that water is important for a
brewing and beverage company. I applaud theefforts to steadily reduce the use of water andconserve water resources. I suggest considering
the adoption of the 5–6 m3/kl benchmark
announced by the UN Environmental Programme.

In 2005, our basic unit of water usage
was 6.4 m3/kl, which does not yet attainthe UNEP benchmark of less than 6 m3/kl.
We will work to accomplish the target in
our Medium-term Plan (6.2 m3/kl in 2006)
and further improve while ensuring quality.

Problems are not bound by time and place.
Please consider future generations and other living
things, and extend activities beyond the Group,
the supply chain, and overseas stakeholders to
the world. Clearly demonstrate company attitudes
toward water issues as global concerns, including
virtual water (the indirect consumption of water byagriculture and manufacturing processes).

We recognize that water is an
irreplaceable resource for the products of
the Asahi Breweries Group and vigorous
efforts to address water issues are
essential. We will continue to focus on thisconcern.

The CSR report did not provide any information on
the employment of women or the promotion of
women into management positions. The report
only discusses considerations for maternity leave,
childcare, and nursing care. I want to knowwhether employees actually use the system aswell as how the company identifies issues andsets directions and policies.

We added more detailed descriptions on
our efforts related to maternity leave,
childcare and other family care in the2006 report. We disclose data on thestatus of women on our Web site.
Asahi Breweries promotes its employees
regardless of gender. As of the end of
2005, 6.2% of our female employees arein managerial positions.

You should strengthen the reporting of positive
feedback, including successful CS (customer
satisfaction) and R (relations) cycles, andnetworking with citizens and NGOs in order toproduce changes with favorable effects. The
multiplier effect among different areas is also
important. When employees become more
involved in contributing to communities andenvironmental activities, their consciousness andmorale as well as corporate culture improve.

We continue to focus on fulfilling ourcorporate social responsibility and toenhance corporate value through vigorous
discussions with stakeholders to ensure
their satisfaction.

Third-Party Opinion
be how to work together with old
liquor shops in community shopping
areas for mutual harmony andbenefit, what you can do to fulfill
your responsibility, if any, for those
who are involved in fatal traffic
accidents associated with drunk
driving, representing more than 700
incidents annually.

Eiichiro Adachi
Senior Researcher,
The Japan Research Institute, Limited

As someone who provides corporate
information for socially responsible
investing, I offer my opinion on the CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility)
activities of the Asahi Breweries Groupand its approach to disclosing
information as I understand them fromthis report.
• Increasing shipment volume andgaining more market share haveweighed heavily in the competitive
strategies of the alcoholic beveragebusiness, especially for beer-type
beverages. A strong focus on sales
promotions and advertisement
activities, while launching a series of
new brands has been a sure formulafor success. I am concerned, however,that an expanding gap between thisstrategy and reality, in light of adeclining domestic population, may
expose risks related to CSR. I would
like to hear your view on the relationshipbetween your competitive strategy ormarketing strategy and CSR.
• Your definition of CSR: CS (Customer
Satisfaction) + R (Relations) is clear. I
understand that this shows yourcommitment to listening to various
stakeholders just as you listen to
customers, but I believe you still needto concretely clarify what you mean by“stakeholders” and what expectations
they may have. You may need to
specifically report the content of
opinions you received and your efforts
in response to them. Examples would• I also expect you to encourage yourstakeholders to exercise moremature judgment and behavior by
explaining your views on evenrelatively naive questions, such as“Which places less burden on theenvironment, bottled or canned
beer?”• Your annual report for the 82nd term
identifies food safety, environmental
risks and so on as business risks.
You can follow this example in yourCSR report by specifying risks andproviding a focused description of
the actual status and remaining
issues for reducing risks for the sakeof multilevel information disclosure.
• You are expanding your beverage,
food and pharmaceutical businesslines. Even if your approach of CSR= CS (Customer Satisfaction) + R(Relations) is common to all of thesebusinesses, concrete efforts may besomewhat diverse depending on thespecific business field. For example,
I believe CSR associated withpharmaceuticals and food for infants
is different than CSR related to thealcoholic beverages business andthat the former offers more new
business opportunities from a CSR
perspective than other businesses
do. I request that you reportexamples from your subsidiaries andaffiliated companies on unique CSR
aspects related to individual lines ofbusiness.
• In the last year’s CSR report, youstated you had introduced a new
business deal system (open pricing)in which you do not suggest a retailprice for beer and happoshu andinstead leave it up to retailers. It isdisappointing that there is no mentionof what benefits this has offered toevery stakeholder based on a trackrecord of more than one year. I hope
you value the approach of verifying
outcomes and improvements while
reinforcing your commitment toactively disclose results.
• I read the feature article on thebiomass ethanol project with greatinterest. Please follow up with regular
reports on the progress of theEngineering & Technology
Development Laboratory, whose
mission is to pursue research focusing
on the environment. In addition, I
request that you expand the scope ofthe report and provide information on
the technological components of yoursubsidiaries and affiliated companies
that can contribute to innovations that
address social issues as well as
business innovations.

This opinion does not express any
judgment on whether or not the creation ofthis report is based on correct
measurements and calculations inaccordance with generally accepted
standards for preparing environmental
reports or that it covers all important items.

ProfileMr. Adachi provides financial
institutions with corporate information
for socially responsible investing. He
specializes in industrial research andthe valuation of firms from theperspective of environmental
management and CSR. He is amember of the Working Group of theSocially Responsible Management
Promotion Committee, Japan
Association of Corporate Executives(’02–’04), and serves as an expert for
the Working Group on Social
Responsibility, ISO/TMB (current). He
has co-authored books, including CSRManagement and SRI, and Introduction
to SRI: Socially Responsible Investing.

Editor’s Note
In addition to printed reports (Asahi Breweries Group CSR Report),
the Asahi Breweries Group has been using its Web site to disclose
information on its CSR activities including greater detail and moreexhaustive information that cannot be incorporated into the printed
report due to space limitations.
While adhering to this approach in the 2006 edition, we
extensively reviewed the site design to allow for a more systematic
review of information on the Web site. As for the printed report, we
reviewed our editorial policy to focus on issues related to the Asahi
Breweries Group’s CSR and information of interest to the public aswell as efforts that achieved progress in 2005.
Under this policy, the Asahi Breweries Group CSR Report 2006
reports from various perspectives on new efforts and results basedon “R (Relations) = Exchange, Dialogue.” Furthermore, in the“Special Feature: Asahi Breweries Takes on a New Challenge,
Biomass Ethanol Project,” we described a project thatexperienced significant progress based on the researcher’s
enthusiasm to contribute to the environment through technology
with the support and cooperation of many people.
We hope these descriptions will help you more clearly
understand the Asahi Breweries Group’s approach and activities
and look forward to receiving your honest opinions.
Asahi Breweries Ltd.
CSR Committee

CSR REPORT 2006

56

Asahi Breweries Group CSR REPORT 2006

CSRCSR
Committee
Committee
1-23-1
1-23-1
Azumabashi,
Azumabashi,
Sumida-ku,
Sumida-ku,
Tokyo
Tokyo
130-8602,
130-8602,
Japan
Japan
Tel.: +81-3-5608-5195
Tel.: +81-3-5608-5195
Fax: Fax:+81-3-5608-5201+81-3-5608-5201
E-mail:E-mail:csrpost@asahibeer.co.jp
csrpost@asahibeer.co.jp
URL:URL:
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/english
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/english
Published:
Published:
September
September20062006

Consumption
Consumption
of ofalcoholalcohol
by bypersons
persons
under
under
20 20
years
years
of of
age
age
is prohibitedis prohibitedby byJapaneseJapaneselaw.
law.
PleasePleasedrink
drink
responsibly.
responsibly.
PleasePleaserecyclerecyclecans.
cans.