How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience? 

At Grupo Modelo, we always aim to grow with our customers and communities. We contribute to the organization’s resilience by fostering agility in our teams and ensuring that we are prepared to face potential legal challenges effectively. 

During crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Grupo Modelo transformed its operations to meet the challenges head-on, forging agile partnerships with various stakeholders. For instance, we utilised our capabilities to extract alcohol from the brewing process to produce sanitising gel at a large scale and donated it to different health institutions.  

More recently, in response to Hurricane Otis in Acapulco, Grupo Modelo produced over 250,000 liters of water to help the local community that ran out of drinking water. We also launched a program to reactivate the traditional channel (small retailers) by restoring storefronts, replacing damaged fridges, and offering credits to the store owners to be able to reopen their businesses.  

By leading the dialogue with our partners, obtaining permits, drafting agreements, building government alliances, and ensuring compliance, the legal team was vital in enabling Grupo Modelo to quickly adapt and respond during crises. 

What are the main cases or transactions you have been involved in recently?  

As the leader in the Mexican beer industry, we are constantly pursuing innovation and partnerships to build resilience and create shared prosperity across our value chain. The legal team at Grupo Modelo plays a critical role in enabling innovation in the beer industry. At the global AB-InBev level, approximately $6bn revenue contributions come from our innovations.  

By ensuring regulatory compliance and protecting intellectual property, we enable the development and distribution of innovative products that lead and grow the beer category. For instance, we launched our no-alcohol brand Corona Cero and Victoria Chingones, a unique beer with 1.8% ABV to continue developing our low alcoholic and non-alcoholic portfolio following our smart drinking goals. The legal team’s guidance and support have also facilitated the success of significant campaigns for Victoria Cempasúchil, which won a Cannes Gold Lion award in 2022 for its portrayal of Mexican traditions. 

Our legal team supports initiatives to transform traditional channels, helping small retailers thrive with new technologies such as BEES, our global B2B platform, that has digitised our sales process, boosting profitability and customer relationships. In 2023, BEES served 3.7 million monthly active users in 26 markets, with 70% of our 4Q23 global net revenue being digital. In Mexico, the legal team helped expand BEES’ value-added services like Vendo. In 2023, Vendo enabled over 650,000 transactions for digital utility payments and mobile data purchases. 

How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?  

At Grupo Modelo, our commitment to sustainability is integral to our operations. To foster a culture that supports our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy, the legal and corporate affairs team ensures Grupo Modelo builds the partnerships it needs to address challenges in the long term.  

One of our global sustainability goals is to that 100% of our communities with high water stress have measurably improved water availability and quality by 2025. To meet this challenge, we partner with key organisations, such as the German Development Cooperation (GIZ). In alliance with the GIZ, we launched our landmark watershed program, Aguas Firmes. In the last three years, we have increased infiltration of 6 million cubic meters of water to the aquifers of Apan in Hidalgo and Calera in Zacatecas, locations where we have breweries. 

One of Ab InBev’s key ambitions at the global level is to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. To make this possible, we involve all of Grupo Modelo’s value chain in reducing their carbon footprint. In 2023, we launched the Eclipse initiative, a platform that shares best practices and tools to help our suppliers reduce their carbon emissions. Our role from the legal and corporate affairs team is instrumental in engaging with suppliers in our value chain, government agencies and partners to meet our ambition and sustainability targets.   

To foster the local sourcing of our raw materials, the legal team enabled a joint investment with our partners, Millfoods. In 2023, we announced an investment of $300m to build a facility to process locally grown corn in Guanajuato, Mexico. The project is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs and benefit 20,000 Mexican farmers.  

We also facilitate agreements with government authorities to face significant challenges. In 2023, in an unprecedent effort to help water scarcity during dry season in Mexico City, we donated 800 million gallons of water from our Mexico City brewery to the community, benefitting hundreds of thousands of people.