Chairperson Message
Tuncay Özilhan
CHAIRPERSON
Esteemed Stakeholders,
We have left behind another year in which the business world has undergone a rapid and continuous transformation on a global scale. We are proud to celebrate the 75th anniversary of our operations, as Anadolu Group. Furthermore, Anadolu Efes leaves its 55th year behind as of 2024, and we have been adding value with our operations in a wide geography. Despite many global challenges in economic, social, and environmental areas, we have successfully managed our beer and soft drink operations and continued our growth.
The year 2024 was a period in which inflationary pressures in the global economy gradually eased and growth slowed in many regions. Though signs of recuperation have been observed in emerging markets, geopolitical uncertainties, supply chain dynamics and fluctuations in energy markets constituted the key factors shaping the economic outlook. Increasing living costs have directly affected consumer behavior, requiring us to review our ways of doing business. Besides the effects of climate change have become more apparent worldwide, while the incidence and severity of natural disasters have increased. All these developments have once again revealed the responsibility of the business world to develop sustainability-focused solutions.
As Anadolu Efes, we have rapidly aligned with the changing dynamics; we have further increased our impact with our strong brand strategies and sustainability-focusedapproaches. We have been shaping the future by placing operational excellence, resource efficiency, environmental and social sustainability, and talent management at the heart of our business strategy. Our expertise and agilityin these areas not only foster our financial performance but also make us one of the pioneers of the industry. Acknowledging that challenges can also bring with opportunities, we actively evaluate the opportunities to strengthen our footprints in international markets.
Anadolu Efes continued to grow in 2024 by reaching out to millions of consumers in both business activities. While our beer group keeps developing beer culture with itsinnovative products, it has also signed new collaborations in complementary product categories. Thus, it has introduced 22 new brands that meet consumer expectations in 2024 while enriching its product portfolio with new categories. Our soft drink operations entered the Bangladesh market in the first months of the year. While opening new factories in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, we laid the foundations of new facilities to be commissioned in Azerbaijan and Iraq by 2025.
As Anadolu Efes Beer Group, we are trying to maximize our social impact in diverse fields from tourism to agriculture,culture and arts to entrepreneurship and sports in the communities where we operate. Our company, which implemented 29 projects throughout 2024, launched the regenerative agriculture project entitled “Regeneration From Field to Bottle” program as part of the fight against the climate crisis. Owing to the practices carried out in this regard, we are proud to contribute to a model that will strengthen the resilience of the agricultural ecosystem and to shape the future of agriculture. As the only company in its sector listed in the BIST Sustainability 25 Index in Türkiye, Anadolu Efes has taken another significant step in the field of renewable energy. In this context, the giant solar panel project that has started to be installed in Konya stands out in terms of the company's sustainability commitments.
In the Soft Drink Group, CCI signed four sustainability-related credit facility agreements amounting to $250 million with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). This credit facility is planned to be allocated to the implementation of new projects in Türkiye, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Tajikistan aiming to reduce energy and water consumption, improve circular economy practices and expand talent pools to increase women's employment.
Diversity, inclusion and equality stand out among our top priorities in our sustainable growth journey. While increasing the representation of women employees in executive roles in our Beer Group to 40%, we also increased the representation of women on the board of directors to 27.3%. By 2030, we aim to increase the representation of women on our Board of Directors to 30%. We are proud to have resolutely adopted the principle of equal pay for equal work in both of our companies. With social benefit projects, we further continue to support the empowerment of women in society and we work to ensure women to have sustainable employment and income opportunities. Being deemed worthy for prestigious awards in many areas, especially gender equality, employer brand, sustainability and reporting, encourages us to achieve better. Owing to our successful corporate governance practices, Anadolu Efes was ranked among the “Most Honored Companies” in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region by Extel.
Despite all the challenges faced by the business world, we maintained our sustainable and profitable growth in 2024 thanks to our visionary management approach and solid strategies. Inspired by the strong legacy of Anadolu Group, we continue to move forward by developing innovative approaches and expanding our collective wisdom.
I would like to hereby express my sincere gratitude to our esteemed Board Members, business partners, colleagues, dealers and distributors, consumers and shareholders who stand by our side to support and empower Anadolu Efes.
Best regards,
Tuncay Özilhan
Chairperson of the Board of Directors