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The top green drinks companies of the last five years
As we take entries for The Drinks Business Green Awards 2024, db surveys recent groundbreaking recipients of Green Company of the Year.
Green Company of the Year is always one of the most hotly contested categories at The Drinks Business Green Awards. As a means of recognising the wide-reaching impact of a company, it is one of the clearest indicators that a business has committed to its goals.
The award recognises a company which has ‘improved its own direct impact on the surrounding environment and promoted this effectively to a wider audience, whether trade or consumer facing’. It is always a highlight of the exclusive awards ceremony.
This year, O-I Glass sponsors the prestigious award. According to Melianthe Leeman, the company’s global marketing director for wines and spirits: “At O-I Glass, we are passionate to create a more sustainable drinks industry, as shown by our eco-designed Estampe wine bottle and lightweight Contemporary Collection for spirits. As we actively advance glass packaging sustainability and decarbonise our own production, including recent investment plans for the UK and France, we are delighted to celebrate the Green Company of the Year at the Drinks Business Green Awards.”
Entries are open for a further month in this, and all categories, at The Drinks Business Green Awards 2024. In the meantime, db looks back at the companies that took the prestigious award at the last five ceremonies.
2019 – Pernod Ricard Winemakers
Spring has probably sprung… somewhere!
Cheers to the new season #LiveUncorked #CampoViejo pic.twitter.com/53YenfvdSp— Campo Viejo (@CampoViejoWines) February 21, 2020
Pernod Ricard Winemakers scooped the top gong by demonstrating that it was implementing its green initiatives across all areas of the company, down to individual employees.
With wine brands spanning Australia, New Zealand, Spain and the US, including Jacob’s Creek and Campo Viejo, the wine giant demonstrated its green credentials in all four nations.
Among its achievements, it moved to 100% renewable electricity in Australia – the first wine company of its size in the country to do so. In New Zealand, it helped to restore over 10 hectares of native wetlands in Marlborough, while at Kenwood Vineyards in Sonoma, the winey donated over $100,000 towards reforestation efforts after 2017’s devastating wildfires. Across the pond in Europe, Campo Viejo was the first winery in Spain to obtain the Wineries for Climate Protection certificate.
These were in addition to wide-reaching initiatives, such as a company-wide ban on plastic straws. The judges felt the entry offered “the best of both worlds” – local thinking with a global reach.
The judges also gave a commendation to Concha y Toro.
2020 – Jackson Family Wines
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Our judges praised this company’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 as well as its goal to become climate positive by 2050. They felt the firm proved how seriously it takes green issues through the co-founding of the International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) initiative.
Described by one judge as “true leaders in their field”, this company stood out for its level of commitment to reducing emissions, with wide scale use of renewable energy. In particular, Jackson Family Wines has installed solar panels on its properties to the extent that it is now using more on-site solar energy than any other winery in the US.
The judges also praised its land management. 60% of its estate vineyard properties are left unplanted in their natural state, and it is working towards a total conversion to regenerative viticulture by 2030.
According to one judge: “They practice what they preach and support others to help them do the same.”
The judges also gave a commendation to Flor de Caña.
2021 – Familia Torres
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The judges were impressed with the sheer time and resources that Familia Torres has dedicated to green issues, describing Torres as “the godfather of sustainability” and seeing the company as having “a real leadership role” to play in the green movement.
They applauded the company’s generosity in sharing its findings with other wineries around the world, not least through co-founding the IWCA. Furthermore, the judges admired Torres’ “very genuine commitment” to the cause, having ploughed the furrow consistently and made sustainability a fundamental part of its business.
Despite having spent €16 million on improving environmental practices over the previous 10 years or so, Torres continued to drive forward, as proven by the implementation of a unique balloon-capture system in 2021. The balloons capture 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide created by fermentation each year, storing it for reuse as a protective inert gas.
The judges also gave commendations to Petainer, Cooper King and Lanchester Wines.
2022 – Bonterra Organic Estates
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The judges were unanimous in their decision to award Bonterra, formerly known as Fetzer Vineyards, the ultimate accolade of Green Company of the Year. Put simply, they called it “an unbelievably green company”.
The judges were especially impressed by the winery’s B-Corp recertification score of 130, far above the score of 80 needed for certification. One judge had particular praise for the company’s timeframe: “Bonterra is producing climate-neutral wine now. Not in 2030, not in 2050, but right now.”
The panel felt that Bonterra was putting itself “at the top of the ‘green’ tree”, and that the Californian producer was continuing to set the standard for the wider industry. “As the largest winery in the world to achieve Regenerative Organic Certification, it is clearly doing much, much more than other companies,” said one judge, who highlighted the scale of the company’s green operations.
The judges also gave a commendation to Ridgeview Wine Estates.
2023 – Brooks Wine and The Wine Society
In an exceptionally competitive year, the judges made the decision to split the category in two, with an award for a producer and for a non-producer.
Brooks Wine in Willamette Valley, Oregon, took the award for producers, with judges finding the producer had every eco corner covered. Its green initiatives span every part of the winemaking process.
It maximises biodiversity through planting hedgerows, trees and flowering cover crops, while it funds reforestation initiatives in other countries. All the vineyards are dry-farmed with no tilling, according to biodynamic principles. Brooks Wines has dramatically improved its recycling rate for it waste products and has reduced its carbon footprint by introducing lightweight glass bottles. In recognition of these achievements, the company has been B Corp certified since 2019.
For the non-producer award, the judges chose to recognise one of the UK’s most respected retailers for its clear and wide-reaching work. The Wine Society, since launching a sustainability strategy in 2022, has already made impressive progress towards its goals.
Guess who’s back? Our bag-in-box wines! Perfect for summer festivals, sports days, or just keeping cool in your fridge. Which wine would love to see in this packaging? pic.twitter.com/U3mQOn8fnW
— The Wine Society (@TheWineSociety) July 4, 2024
These have seen the company audit its own impact and take measures to reduce its environmental footprint. It has installed solar panels on its warehouses and moved several of its own label lines into lighter bottles, even trialling bag-in-box for some of them.
Moreover, it has used its significant network to be a positive influence in the world of wine. It organised a series of Climate Adaptation Webinars, which allowed more than 100 producers to share sustainability practices between themselves and experts. It has also launched a sustainability hub, using its writers and buyers to educate consumers on the sustainability challenges facing the wine trade.
The judges also gave commendations to Familia Torres (producer) and Direct Wines (non-producer).
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What they won and why: The DB Green Awards 2024