Wine industry needs to embrace sustainability

Wine. Photo by Serge Esteve on Unsplash

Covid-19 has severely impacted wine consumption, with huge reductions to on-trade consumption due to lockdowns around the world.

Following the pandemic, many temperate wine regions will be under threat from climate change.

Grape production has seen a trend of harvests moving forward as the climate, and seasons, have changed.

Droughts, creating the conditions for these wildfires, are becoming more intense, longer and more frequent. Tree ring data from various parts of the world have shown that greenhouse gas increases have impacted soil moisture for over 100 years, with notable boosts following pollution controls in the 1970s, growing stronger around 2000.

Further, 2020 has seen California’s wine regions burn, with tens of thousands of acres affected following a series of unprecedented thunderstorms.

Wine industry needs to look to 100% sustainability

All of this underlines the need for more sustainable practices in business. For vineyards, especially the larger brands that export to international markets, it underscores the need to reform towards a more sustainable business model.

In fact, Sonoma became the first 100% sustainable wine region in the US in 2019. Other wine regions should look to Sonoma’s successes for blueprints to make their businesses more sustainable.

According to GlobalData’s most recent consumer survey* how ethical, socially responsible or environmentally friendly a product always influences 19% of global consumers’ product choices, and often influences a further 24% of global consumers’ choices.

Packaging design will play an important part

To this end companies are developing the next-generation of wine packaging for e-commerce. In early 2020, Liviri Vino introduced new packaging specifically targeting the market.

The packaging is reusable, insulated, and has reusable coolant inserts to maintain temperature inside the box to reduce waste and increase efficiency.

In a world with increasingly extreme and unpredictable weather events, this means fewer products lost after dispatch and less money and energy wasted.

The company collaborated with FedEx Packaging Lab to ensure standards and durability were maintained when travelling between distributors and a consumer’s home. Packaging solutions such as these will be increasingly relevant as we move towards the ‘new normal’, which will be more reliant upon e-commerce than ever before.

Going forward, as consumers work from home more often and continue to seek out ways to reduce their environmental impact, wine producers must make e-commerce easier and be seen to take a lead on sustainability issues. In the new normal, their livelihood may just depend on it.

* Covid-19 recovery consumer survey, week 5.

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