Sustainability by design is a strong pillar for Diageo, says Ruchira Jaitly

Despite being in the business of alco-bev, Diageo is disrupting the industry when it comes to integrating the purpose of sustainability into the core ethos of the brand and strategy, said Ruchira Jaitly, Chief Marketing Officer of Diageo at Storyboard18's Power of Purpose event.

Storyboard18 and Network18 Group together have launched the marquee platform designed to spotlight critical conversations on sustainability and purpose-driven leadership.

Power of Purpose: Sustainability Edition is a pivotal platform to foster dialogue on sustainability and highlight how today’s leaders are embedding purpose and environmental stewardship into their companies.

Addressing the audience, Jaitly said, "Sustainability by design and to remember that we are part of an ecosystem are the two strong pillars for us to be sustainable."

She claimed the company's Johnny Walker Blue has the lightest bottle ever launched.

While talking about premiumisation, Jaitly said that a purposeful brand drives better engagement irrespective of categories.

"Walkers & Co is one such example as it celebrates individuals who are boundary pushers, who push for social impact while asserting their identity, who are working for collective progress," she added.

She talked about how the company is spreading the idea of inclusivity, and sustainability with its brand films.

Jaitly also mentioned one of Diageo's brands called 'Godawan', whose name is inspired by the endangered bird species, 'The Great Indian Bustard'. The brand has its factory set up in the water-scarce region of Rajasthan. "The distillery is in Alwar but we have done it in a way that we conserve water. In fact, we won the only award in Asia for this distillery in Rajasthan," she pointed out. About 98 percent of the energy at the Alwar distillery is renewable, Jaitly added.

Having a very inspiring purpose that the company aligns with is another way how one can implement the idea of sustainability into the business, she said.

Held on October 18, in New Delhi, the event was graced by the presence of Union Minister Chirag Paswan, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Co-founder & Executive Vice Chairman, InfoEdge; Rohit Kapoor, CEO - Food Marketplace, Swiggy; Saurabh Kumar, VP- India, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet; Jyoti Vij, Director General, FICCI; Hisham Mundol, Chief Advisor, Environmental Defense Fund India; Chandra Bhushan, CEO, iFOREST; Ramnath Vaidyanthan, AVP & Head Of Sustainability, Godrej Industries; Alok Lall, COO, Microsoft India and South Asia; Angelo George, CEO, Bisleri International; Ridhima Pandey, 16-year-old climate activist; Prof Chetan Solanki, Professor, IIT Bombay and 'Solar Man of India'.