Objective

To promote responsible serving and selling of alcoholic beverages in the trade.

To reduce binge-drinking and underage drinking at on-trade premises.

To contribute to the drink-driving fight.

To improve knowledge and skills about responsible drinking of owners and staff in the on-trade.

Description

Through agreements between Espirituosos España and regional or local goverments, all owners and staff in bars, hotels, restaurants and supermarkets are invited to attend a training session on the responsible service of alcohol.  Pupils from hospitality schools are also trained.

Reminders are published in the press a week before the event. The three-hour training module for serving staff includes:

• General information about alcohol, the law, rules governing advertising and promotion.
• Materials to support responsible serving and selling.
• Exercises about how to promote responsible drinking.
• Role-playing exercises.

Premises, where training has taken place, are identified with a sticker with the "Minors, not a drop" legend on the door and mentioned on the communication made by Espirituosos España and the local/regional goverment. Attendees receive an accredited certificate signed jointly by Espirituosos España and the partner goverment. To maintain the status of "Responsible service business", the premises must not be reported as violating any law regarding sales to pupils, public health or disorder Further information can be found on the campaign website.

The programme has specific agreements with regional governments and national hospitality trade associations.   It is the first programme in Spain to teach professionals about the responsible service of alcohol and the only programme in Spain to also reach students/trainees in the on-trade.   

Partners

FABE (Federation of Spanish Barmen Associations)
AGABA (Galician Association of Barmen) Asociación de Barman de Andalucía (Andalucian Barmen Association)
FECALON (Catalonian Federation of Night Leisure Associations) Local, Regional and Autonomous Governments of Andalucia, Aragón, Castilla la Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid  and Valencia.
2016: Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality (partly funded through the Goverment Delegation for the Nationl Drugs Plan) 

Results

Trainees and professionals that have taken part in the programme: 826 in 2015; 774 in 2016; 653 in 2017; 613 in 2018; 871 in 2019; 610 in 2020; 773 in 2021 and 587 in 2022.

Total results (2004 – 2022) show: 

• 12,653 trainees and professionals have been trained by Espirituosos España and a further 1,827 have been trained by partners.
• 59 hospitality schools and more than 580 hospitality businesses have taken part (especially night businesses).
• Professionals and students from 12 out of 18 Spanish regions have taken part.

Measurement & evaluation

Evaluation No1: A positive evaluation took place in 2008.  Evaluation by the participants (pre/post questionnaires) valued the programme very positively as a tool to help the sustainability of their business. It was felt even more beneficial for experienced staff. Both owners and staff showed their willingness to promote responsible drinking and to improve their knowledge about responsible drinking.

Evaluation No2: A second evaluation took place in 2014 to focus on the programme’s ability to create change in the way professionals serve and/or sell alcohol.  It set out also to assess whether the economic difficulties affecting Spain had an impact on the effectiveness of the programme. 

In February 2014 questionnaires were sent to 300 staff and owners in Galicia and Madrid.  Blind controls were set up to avoid confirmation bias. Results from both from the questionnaires and interviews were compared between control and experimental groups.

A random sub-sample (150) of the group were then selected for personal interviews. Their answers were investigated and corroborated through various means (including “mystery shopping”).

Results show that:

• House rules about binge drinking are more likely to be enforced on premises where the programme is applied.  This resulted in lower levels of alcohol abuse by clients.
• Bars reduced the consumption of their barmen.
• The programme had equal effect on both premises workers and owners.
• The programme did not had a negative impact on business income and even showed a tendency to improve it.

Evaluation No3: A third evaluation of the programme started during the 2019-2020 academic year but had to be stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  It was restarted in 2021 and ended in 2022. Results from data analysis are expected during first half of 2023.

Website

http://www.disfrutadeunconsumoresponsable.com/servir/Tu-sirves-tu-decides.aspx

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