Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face significant challenges in meeting sustainability requirements, despite growing awareness of environmental reporting obligations, according to Robert Uzună, VP Corporate Affairs at Ursus Breweries. Speaking at the Sustainability in Business Forum, organised by Sustainability Today and The Diplomat-Bucharest, he highlighted the need to support local suppliers as sustainability requirements increasingly extend across the value chain, including Scope 3 emissions.

“Asahi Group understood from the outset the requirements of the European market. The well-known Japanese standards of quality and pursuit of perfection are also reflected in how the group manages its operations and approaches its compliance obligations, including those related to Scope 3,” Uzună said.

He noted that local procurement plays a significant role in Ursus Breweries’ business ecosystem, creating both opportunities for domestic suppliers and challenges as sustainability requirements become more demanding.

“75% of our budget is allocated to local procurement. Consequently, there is considerable pressure across our ecosystem as well. What concerns me somewhat is that we work with small and medium-sized enterprises, where awareness remains a serious issue,” he explained.

Although understanding of sustainability requirements is improving, many smaller businesses still lack the resources and capabilities needed to comply, he added.

“Even though I believe we are at a much more advanced stage and companies are beginning to understand these requirements, their capacity to comply remains very limited at the SME level,” Uzună said.

To address these challenges, Ursus Breweries has been developing its internal sustainability capabilities. Five years ago, the company decided to establish a dedicated sustainability function within its Corporate Affairs department, with two professionals at senior and junior management levels.

“We are trying to bridge this gap by providing in-house assistance to our colleagues and partners responsible for contracting and managing relationships with Ursus,” Uzună said.

Procurement also plays a key role in integrating sustainability requirements into supplier relationships. Within Asahi Group, dedicated sustainability teams operate both at the global hub in Singapore and across regional business units.

“These teams are already engaging with suppliers from the early stages of negotiations, explaining the requirements they need to meet in order to work with Ursus, our colleagues and partners in other markets,” he said.

This early engagement is intended to help suppliers understand expectations before contracts are concluded, allowing sustainability considerations to become part of the procurement process from the outset.

Despite these initiatives, Uzună acknowledged that complying with increasingly demanding sustainability standards is not necessarily straightforward in Romania or other markets.

“Is this necessarily simple or easy to accept in a country like Romania or in other markets? Perhaps not. I wish we had a perfect solution to help these smaller players as well,” he said.

While larger companies and suppliers with higher turnover are increasingly familiar with their obligations, smaller businesses risk being left behind because of their limited resources and compliance capabilities.

“Unfortunately, the current situation also appears to be creating a barrier for smaller companies,” Uzună concluded.