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The World’s First Water Positive Beer

On March 6, 2017, Imperial announced it is the first and only water positive beer in the world.

Imperial understands the critical role water plays in the overall health of any ecosystem, conserving water at every stage of the brewing process, investing in protecting the tropical forest and supplying solutions for communities in need of fresh water. That’s why we have worked so hard to achieve a positive water footprint.

This is accomplished through a four-step process:

  1. icon displaying two rulers creating an angle, and water waves in the angle

    1. Measurement.

    The first step was to measure and understand our water footprint and identify opportunities to make beer with less water.

    • We measure 100% of our processes AND the processes of our suppliers.

    • We measure our water footprint using the ISO 14046 international guidelines and reviewed by the Life Cycle Analysis and Sustainable Design Center in Mexico and are verified each year by the Institute of Technical Standards of Costa Rica.

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    2. Reduction.

    For more than a decade Imperial has been working on reducing water consumption by 56% for the production of Imperial. Through those efforts, we have reduced the water used in the Imperial production process by 44%.

    Two examples of our many reduction initiatives:

    • Reusing water in closed loop systems for cleaning and cooling during pasteurization

    • Capturing condensation from the brewery steam system and converting it back into reusable water.

  3. An icon depicting an arrow arranged in a circle around a water droplet

    3. Compensation.

    Imperial has been working hand in hand with the National Fund for Forest Financing of the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica.

    • Imperial conserves more than 600 hectares of the tropical forest that are critical in trapping rainwater, recharging the natural water basins and protecting the quality of the water by reducing runoff.

    • These watersheds supply water to the greater metropolitan areas of Costa Rica and the Osa Peninsula, an area that holds 50% of our national biodiversity and 2.5% of the global biodiversity.

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    4. Positive Value

    Imperial is supplying solutions for communities in need of fresh drinkable water. We partner with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to improve access to fresh water, conserve fresh water, clean fresh water, and sustain fresh water.