Celebrating International Women's Day Across Suntory Group

At Suntory, we believe promoting and embracing diverse values and ideas is integral to the growth of our business, especially in today’s fast-changing world. We aim to foster a culture that respects and builds on our differences, enabling all employees to carry out "Yatte Minahare,” the spirit of bold ambition, in their daily work. We’re committed to prioritizing an inclusive workplace that advances gender equality by accelerating the representation of women in leadership roles and providing opportunities for career growth.

In March, our Suntory Group companies celebrated this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) by renewing our commitment to challenging gender biases and supporting the achievements of women. Additionally, Suntory CEO, Tak Niinami, honored the observance by emphasizing the importance of leveraging Diversity & Inclusion across our business. We also established a global D&I page where we gathered video messages from employees to share their #ChooseToChallenge commitments and utilize D&I learning courses.

As we work to achieve gender equity at a global scale, each Suntory Group company implemented their own unique initiatives to celebrate the day. From hosting panel discussions on allyship to promoting employee #ChooseToChallenge commitments and more, our group companies in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania further demonstrated our commitment to diversity and inclusion:

• Suntory Holdings:
  
  
  
  • Held a panel discussion through an online, employee-led learning platform, which included four female panelists with diverse backgrounds who shared their #ChooseToChallenge stories.
  
  
  • Encouraged all departments and teams in Japan to have discussions about what D&I means to them and share on our internal platform.
  
  
  
  

• Beam Suntory:
  
  
  
  • Beam Suntory’s women employee impact group, Women Inspired to Strive and Empower (WISE), honored Women’s History Month and IWD by highlighting programs accessible to all Beam Suntory employees globally.
  
  
  • Hosted sessions with guest speakers and conducted happy hours to celebrate the women of Beam Suntory.
  
  
  • Held events each week covering topics such as sharing personal #ChooseToChallenge stories and achievements, how to embrace and build our own brands, challenging stereotypes, and male allyship led by Pryce Greenow, President of International Markets.
  
  
  
  

• Suntory Beverage & Food Europe (SBFE):
  
  
  
  • Launched an IWD social media campaign, where employees posted their stories across social media platforms and shared a photo with their hand raised for the #ChooseToChallenge pledge.
  
  
  • The campaign was spearheaded by the SBFE Executive Leadership Team, as well as Carol Robert, COO at Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, with a special cameo from her daughter Lily. Their inspiring words set the tone for the campaign which resulted in 231,000 impressions and 4,000 reactions – the most successful SBFE corporate communications campaign to date.
  
  
  
  

• Suntory Beverage & Food Asia (SBFA):
  
  
  
  • Presented a key message from Shekhar Mundlay, CEO at Suntory Beverage & Food Asia, who reiterated the company’s support for women all over the world and emphasized the importance of embracing the value of D&I in order to truly relate to consumers.
  
  
  • Employees at Suntory PepsiCo Beverage Thailand wrote thank you cards to their female colleagues to show appreciation for their hard work, dedication, and contributions to the company.
  
  
  
  

• Frucor Suntory:
  
  
  
  • Invited employees to join a panel discussion hosted by Brad Erceg, Sales Director at Frucor Suntory, where over 190 participants attended the virtual session.
  
  
  • Brought awareness by sharing articles highlighting the women working in areas of the business that are traditionally dominated by men.
  
  
  • Celebrated the day with some local activities such as afternoon tea discussions and posting #ChooseToChallenge commitment cards on the central walls of the office.