Carlsberg UK is sponsoring a new prize within the Guild of Beer Writers Annual Awards this year, with the aim of recognising the importance of writing and other communication in driving sustainability in the beer and pubs sector.

The Carlsberg UK Award for Best Writing on Sustainability in Beer and Pubs is now open for entries until the closing date of 6 September. Submissions can be press articles in trade or consumer-facing publications, blogs, radio or TV broadcasts, podcasts or any other communication that reports on sustainability.

Entries can be made online on the Guild's website https://www.beerguild.co.uk/awards/.  All submissions will be reviewed by judges and a shortlist announced in November before the winners are announced the Guild's Annual Awards Dinner on 3 December. The new Award comes with a £1,000 prize for the winner and £500 for the runner-up, contributing to a total prize fund of £13,500 - an all-time high for the competition.  

Carlsberg UK Head of Corporate Affairs, Andrew Roache, said: "To secure a sustainable future for our industry, brewers and pubs must strive to have a positive impact on people and the planet. By sharing across the industry and learning from one another, we can progress faster.

"We are delighted to sponsor this new award to honour the writers, podcasters, filmmakers, journalists, and all those documenting the pursuit of better across the industry. It recognises their important role in sharing knowledge and ideas to build a more sustainable future."

Guild Chair Pete Brown said: "Sustainability is one of the most important topics in our industry and likely to become even more so in the years ahead. It is absolutely right that we recognise and reward those writers who are contributing to greater awareness and sharing of best practice in the field, and we're thrilled that Carlsberg UK are making this new award possible.

"We now have nine Awards sponsors and are immensely grateful for their support.  We're very proud of our awards scheme, which encourages entries from a wide range of communicators, is robustly judged and offers a generous prize fund. We look forward to rewarding the best beer and pubs communicators at our Awards Dinner in December."

Award categories, criteria and downloadable entry forms can be found on the Awards page. Entries must have been published between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019 to be eligible.

Judging this year's entries are: Laurence Creamer, Social & Digital Lead on industry campaign Long Live The Local; Tim Hayward, food & drink author, restaurant reviewer and regular on Radio 4's Kitchen Cabinet;: Charlie McVeigh, founder of Draft House; Tony Naylor, food & drink writer contributing to The Guardian and BBC Good Food; Ross O'Hara, head brewer at Greene King; Kate Oppenheim, hospitality sector journalist and communications expert,  currently publisher and editor of BII News; Tony Sophoclides, Strategic Affairs Director at UKHospitality. The current Beer Writer of the Year, writer and broadcaster Emma Inch, chairs the panel.

Caption to attached image: Goodbye plastic rings. Hello Snap Pack. By sticking cans together, the Carlsberg Snap Pack helps to halve plastic use from brewery to store. Part of the brewer's ambitious sustainability plan, Together Towards ZERO.

The categories:

•     Greene King Award for Best Beer Writer - National Media
•     Adnams Award for Best Beer Writer - Regional Media
•     Fuller Smith & Turner Award for Best Beer Writer -  Trade Media
•     Heineken Award for Best Beer Communicator - Online
•     St Austell Family Group Award for Best Young Beer Writer
•     Asahi Award for Best Beer & Travel Writer
•     Carlsberg UK Award for Best Writing on Sustainability in Beer and Pubs
•     Long Live The Local Award for Best Writer about Pubs
•     Guild Award for Best Beer Broadcaster
•     Guild Award for Best Beer Writer - Corporate Communications
•     Guild Award for Best Beer Citizen Communicator
•     SIBA Brewer of the Year Award (by member vote)