Ron Morrison
Winemakers Embracing Sustainable Practices
As in many other industry sectors, a new wave of modern business culture with sustainability is entering the wine making tradition and terroir. The United States, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa have been among the New World wine producers charting the course toward value creation from wine sustainability. The Lodi grape growing practices in California in the early 90’s provided a starting point for what has evolved as a modern sustainability culture in the global wine industry.
The Global Wine Sector Environmental Sustainability Principles of the International Federation of Wine and Spirits introduced in 2006, recognize the dependency of the industry on natural resource aspects of solar energy, climate, water, soils and their integration with ecological processes as an imperative of sustainable practices. A slightly broader perspective was set out in 2008 with the Guidelines for Sustainable Vitiviniculture of the International Organization of Vine and Wine through a global strategy of grape production and processing systems that in addition to environmental aspects, included sustainable production for application of social and economic interests.
The Concept Catches on in BC
Following the direction of these early approaches, Sustainable Winegrowing BC (SWBC), a program of the BC Wine Grape Council (BCWGC), was introduced in 2010. The self-assessment program is organized into separate vineyard, winery and winery hospitality components. It provides a comprehensive framework from which to select and work through different elements of sustainability. There were 12 assessments submitted in 2011, increasing to 35 in 2016. With the number of licensed wineries in the province now approaching 300, there is considerable room to expand industry participation and progress in implementing the program.
Sustainability in the BC wine industry has been a decade in the making and is now evolving to the certification stage. Options for sustainability certification have been studied by SWBC and a first draft certification scheme will be presented in July at the Viticulture & Enology Conference of the BCWGC. At the meeting participants will be invited to share their feedback on the proposed goals, outcomes and indicators of the program. The certification program will build on the work of the SWBC self-assessment framework and decades of experience from sustainability certification in the global wine industry. It will reflect the trend of developing programs that are outcomes and improvement based, verified by performance related data. SWBC will launch the certification program in the spring of 2020. Through further development, more streamlined and improved assessments, certification, tracking and reporting on industry participation, there should be nothing but opportunity for vineyards and wineries to tell their good story on sustainability.
Strategic Direction for the Future
Recognizing the need for a long-term strategic plan for the industry, the BC Wine Institute recently released WineBC2030, a ten-year strategic plan that resulted from a year and a half of industry engagement on the vision and direction of the industry. The plan represents a ‘game changer’ for wine producers in the province. It addresses the state of change in the global wine industry and the importance of the role millennials will play, being influenced differently from previous generations.
‘Advancing Sustainability’ is one of five strategic pillars of the plan, poised as a multi-disciplinary approach to support sustainability principles in all aspects of the industry from the vineyard to hospitality, tourism, education and communications. Among subject matter strategies of the plan, Strategy 7: ‘Commit to an Industry-wide Sustainability Standard’, includes objectives relating to implementing SWBC certification, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and communication of the standard to consumers, media and trade. Sustainability benefits can also be closely tied to several other strategic goals of the plan. Actual commitment, investment and capacity of the industry to respond, support, adapt and innovate accordingly will be the key challenges toward achieving the goals of the plan.
The Business Case for Innovation
There are two basic business strategic elements to advance sustainability for innovation - a cost strategy and a market strategy. The returns on investment in sustainability are the benefits of lower operational costs, higher quality grapes and healthier vineyards, and greater consumer attraction, particularly among the millennial generation. An additional benefit beyond costs savings is the underlying tenet toward continuous improvement in the business. It encourages greater efficiency in the use of resources and the pursuit of innovation through new practices and technologies.
Considering market strategy, the exponential growth of US wine sales in Canada and threat of further foreign competition eroding domestic market share are risks that sustainability can help to mitigate. It can create optimal business conditions to not only maintain, but to grow the domestic retail market, while also developing interests to expand into the enormous markets beyond our borders. Also part of the market strategy, sustainably produced wine can be branded setting it apart from its competitors to attract consumers and sell more wine. Sustainability then offers the opportunity to create further value as a differentiator in the market.
To enable these strategies, the prerequisites include commitment to sustainability as an investment, and producer and consumer education on the value creation by sustainable wines. Industry can then better understand the ‘bigger picture’ of sustainability in its management, addressing the ‘why’ and then the ‘what’ of sustainability and building it into the branding and marketing of its wines.
Sustainability Success - Moving It Forward
WineBC2030 calls for development of industry wide standards of sustainability frameworks, practices, certification and reporting. These will be dependent upon funding support and capacity building for implementation of the standards through assessment and certification. The ultimate goal is to optimize wine production and sales. It will also be important to match expectations with resources and overcome constraints of financial resources and limited capacity to support program development and implementation. Finally, the program will succeed through advanced marketing and branding efforts based on, in addition to wine quality, sustainability achievements by industry.
Most wine producers would aspire to continued growth and prosperity that is possible through modern sustainability programs. This will require new insights, innovation and collaboration to promote synergies and solutions for the wine industry in BC. The quest for innovation through sustainability will hinge on close collaboration and strategic direction between grape growers, wine producers, industry associations, suppliers and distributors, leading to industry wide policies and standards for collective change over the long term. Initiatives and progress by individual growers and wineries will be spawned through success examples of others and the goal to work toward a common status for all in the industry.
A key element of moving sustainability forward will be initiatives targeting the cross-generational dynamics of the market place and corresponding opportunities to build sustainability into branding of the industry for competitive advantage. The vast majority of the ever changing market represents some shade of green. To not integrate and talk about related sustainability initiatives can suggest that a brand is out of touch. Continually innovating, engaging with and relating to the customer base of the industry will be necessary for long term success. This can win the favour of consumers, retailers and distributors of BC wines, and build the industry in a sustainable and profitable manner at the national and global levels for the future.
Ronald Morrison, MES, MCIP, RPP is President of Sustainability North Inc., a consultancy and advisory practice specializing in corporate sustainability, regulatory affairs and environmental planning. www.sustainabilitynorth.ca