Wine2wine to focus on social sustainability at next event

Wine2wine, an international wine industry forum organised by Veronafiere, is set to focus on social sustainability at its sixth event, due to take place in Verona on 25 and 26 November.

Organisers of the annual forum said in a statement that they had decided to focus on social sustainability as the subject’s popularity “risks rendering it devoid of substance”.

As such, it hoped its focus on the topic would act as a “call to action” for the wine community and encourage “visionary leadership” in the wine industry in order to better define the term.

The statement noted that a more comprehensive definition was needed as nowadays, sustainability in the wine sector was mostly only associated with ecological factors. It argued that the term should represent a wider range of concerns, rather than just centring on the environment, including social responsibility, good business practices, human wellbeing and inclusivity.

Keynote speakers at this year’s event will include sommelier and para-athlete Yannick Benjamin, E&J Gallo’s Kristina Kelley, Tim Banks of Ornellaia, Gaia Gaja of Gaja Winery and wine writers Julia Coney, Elaine Chukan Brown and Robert Joseph.

Kelley will discuss the topic ‘Why Corporate Social Responsibility Matters: Connecting People and Planet’, Coney and Chukan Brown will tackle ‘Responsibility in Wine Communication’, Robert Joseph will cover ‘Different Models of Sustainability and their Value for your Wine Business‘ and Gaja will focus on ‘Mitigating the effects of climate change in vineyards’.

Other topics due to be discussed include “Uniting New Technologies and Wine”; “Revolutionising Marketing & Communication Strategies”; “Humanising Management and Leadership”; “Understanding Export Markets”; “Integrating Market Insights into Viticulture and Oenology”; and “Demystifying Wine Economics, Finance and Law”.

Tickets can be purchased here.