Pernod Ricard renews Responsible Party campaign

Pernod Ricard has renewed its Responsible Party partnership with the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) for the eighth consecutive year, as it continues to combat harmful drinking.

Of the 367,000 students involved in the program, 88.8% found it useful

The agreement, signed in Brussels today (29 January), aims to combat excessive alcohol consumption in students across Europe.

Alexandre Ricard, chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard, said: “The partnership we renewed with ESN on the Responsible Party programme is crucial for me. First, because it falls within Pernod Ricard’s unwavering policy in favour of an increasingly responsible and therefore convivial consumption; and second, because students are largely exposed to the risk of irresponsible consumption.”

The campaign has already been rolled out in 32 countries and has aided in the organisation of more than 580 “responsible soirées”, during which member students of the ESN network provided peers with advice on responsible drinking.

Recently, the Responsible Party programme, which has reached 367,000 European students, underwent an independent external evaluation.

The evaluation found that 88.8% of students surveyed said they found the initiative useful, while 61% of students confirmed they had changed their alcohol consumption habits as a result of the scheme.

Ricard said: “The various signs suggesting a reduction in binge drinking at the European level are a result of effective actions like ours, which associates committed industry players with associations and NGOs around relevant and useful prevention projects.”

According to the latest numbers from the European School Survey on Alcohol and other Drugs, in most countries alcohol consumption among students was lower in 2016 than in 2011.

In the UK, the London Ambulance Service (LAS) launched an alcohol campaign called Not An Ambulance last year, urging people to drink responsibly.