The Brewing Industry as Cultural and Industrial Heritage in Spain: Digital Sustainability and CSR Disclosure

This study examines the extent to which Spanish brewing companies disclose sustainability- and CSR-related information through their corporate websites, interpreting such communication as a sustainability-oriented disclosure practice that may symbolically contribute to the institutional visibility and public recognition of culturally rooted productive activities. In this context, the brewing industry is understood not only as a relevant economic activity, but also as a heritage-based productive sector linked to production traditions, technical knowledge, gastronomic culture, and territorial identity. The empirical analysis applies content analysis to the websites of 106 Spanish brewing companies using 24 indicators grouped into four dimensions: general, social, environmental, and economic. The results reveal a low overall disclosure level (22.46%), suggesting that corporate websites remain underused as tools for transparency, accountability, and strategic sustainability communication. General information is the most visible dimension, while economic disclosure is the weakest; among the substantive dimensions, social information appears more frequently than environmental and economic content. These findings suggest that limited digital disclosure may reduce the institutional visibility and public projection of the brewing sector as a culturally rooted productive activity. The study contributes to the literature by linking non-financial disclosure with the recognition of heritage-based productive activities embedded in territorial identity.