Hurricane Florence, this Bud’s for you. Anheuser-Busch is sending six truckloads of canned drinking water, more than 300,000 cans, to North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) is shipping the water from its brewery in Cartersville, Ga., which periodically pauses beer production to can emergency water. AB InBev also has a brewery in Williamsburg, Va., so it’s watching Florence’s path closely.
The brewer says it has worked with the American Red Cross to provide more than 79 million cans of water to communities affected by natural disasters nationwide since 1988. It recently doubled its water canning capabilities by adding its Fort Collins, Colo., plant. “Putting our production and logistics strengths to work by providing safe, clean drinking water is the best way we can help when disasters strike,” CEO Michel Doukeris said in a statement.
Florence was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane overnight, but is expected to make landfall late Thursday and potentially cause $27 billion in damages.
Anheuser-Busch InBev has been struggling to keep Americans drinking its beers. In an attempt to pivot, it added a chief non-alcoholic beverages officer this summer. Non-alcoholic drinks account for 10% of its sales currently, and it aims to get to 20% by 2025.