ABBD

OVERVIEW

The Associação Brasileira de Bebidas Destiladas (ABBD, Brazilian Association of Distilled Beverages) is an alcohol industry front group established in July 2021 in São Paulo, Brazil. It evolved from the “Núcleo pela Responsabilidade no Comércio e Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas no Brasil” (Nucleus for Responsibility in the Sale and Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages in Brazil), created in 2020. In practice, ABBD protects and promotes the profit interests of the world’s largest spirits producers operating in Brazil, including Bacardi, Beam Suntory, Brown-Forman, Diageo and Pernod Ricard. It works to dilute, delay and derail alcohol industry regulation, while advancing narratives that promote a pervasive alcohol norm.

On its website, the organisation states that it was created “to contribute so that society’s relationship with alcoholic beverages is transparent and responsible”, a formulation originally published in Portuguese. One of its signature slogans is “alcohol is alcohol”, used through the “Doses Certas” campaign to emphasise the standard drink concept, which is scientifically accurate but instrumentalised to promote industry-friendly messaging that shifts attention to the alcohol industry practices and diverts attention from comprehensive, evidence-based alcohol policies.

MEMBERS

Corporations

  • Diageo Brasil
  • Pernod Ricard Brasil
  • Beam Suntory Brasil
  • Brown-Forman Brasil
  • Bacardi Martini

Associations

  • No associations identified.

LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE

  • José Eduardo Macedo Cidade, President
  • Nelson Antonio Ferlini, Vice-President
  • Carlos Eduardo Roenhniss Lopes, Vice-President
  • Carlos Eduardo Cabral de Lima, Vice-President
  • Felipe Torres Neves da Silva, Vice-President
  • Pollyana Vilar Mayer, Vice-President
  • Viviane Regina Mansi, Council Member. Executive at Diageo Brasil Ltda
  • Mariana Pimentel Fallelros, Council Member. Executive at Pernod Ricard Brasil
  • Alexsandro Barboza Chaves, Council Member. Executive at Beam Suntory Brasil
  • André Duarte, Council Member. Executive at Brown-Forman Brasil
  • Priscila Marques Coelho, Council Member. Executive at Bacardi Martini do Brasil

STRATEGIC MESSAGING AND POLICY INFLUENCE

ABBD promotes narratives that align with alcohol industry interests by presenting itself as a neutral and responsible voice while defending the profit interests of its member companies. Its main strategies include:

  • Deflecting from regulation. ABBD consistently promotes education, awareness and self-regulation instead of evidence-based solutions such as common-sense limits on availability, marketing and pricing. This approach works to dilute, delay and derail alcohol industry regulation that would protect public health.
  • Positioning as a public health partner. ABBD cultivates credibility with authorities, health professionals and academics, portraying itself as a legitimate stakeholder in alcohol policy debates, while ultimately serving corporate profit interests.
  • Responsibility campaigns. Through the Doses Certas platform, ABBD promotes the slogan “alcohol is alcohol” to emphasise the standard drink concept. While scientifically accurate, this framing is instrumentalised to reinforce industry-led messages of individual responsibility and to divert attention from comprehensive policy solutions that effectively prevent and reduce population-level harm.

Through these tactics, ABBD reinforces industry narratives, obstructs evidence-based policies, and undermines the adoption of solutions that would bring significant health and social benefits.

INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMMES

  • Doses Certas (since 2021). ABBD runs the Doses Certas platform to promote the slogan “alcohol is alcohol”, presenting it as an educational initiative on the concept of a standard drink. While scientifically correct, the campaign emphasises individual responsibility and “responsible consumption” instead of addressing structural solutions that prevent and reduce alcohol harm. By framing itself as a source of education and awareness, ABBD seeks legitimacy in public debate and visibility among professionals and institutions, while diverting attention from evidence-based alcohol policies such as common-sense limits on pricing, availability and marketing.
  • Campaign against illicit alcohol (2022–present). ABBD positions itself as a collaborator with authorities in tackling illicit markets, reinforcing industry talking points while shifting attention away from the harms caused by the legal market, including their own members’ products and practices.