Logistics and Supply Chain Green Initiative of the Year
Winner: Lightweight Containers
Lightweight Containers, the Netherlands-based company behind KegKegs, won Logistics and Supply Chain Green Initiative of the Year
Lightweight Containers, the Netherlands-based company behind KegKegs, is a passionate advocate of the circular economy. In particular, its hard work to ensure its high-tech plastic kegs close the loop by maximizing resources won over the judges.
When the first kegs were first launched as a greener alternative to traditional glass bottles and metal beer kegs in 2006, they saved 60% of CO2 transport emissions, but its second generation kegs have slashed its carbon footprint even further. Meanwhile the company has introduced 100% renewable energy in its production plant, a way to recycle its own kegs that it is developing into a recycling service further with external partners, and it is trialing kegs with double the amount of recycled material – around 60% – which it claims helps stimulates plastic recycling.
Commendation: Encirc & Australian Vintage
Encirc and Australian Vintage picked up a commendation
The judges also recognised Encirc for its partnership with Australian Vintage which has seen it develop supply chain efficiencies, lower its road mileage, and slash its energy usage across the plant.
Shortlist:
- Encirc & Australian Vintage
- Free Flow Wines
- Lightweight Containers
Green Launch of the Year
Winner: Dig This! by Stellar Organic Winery and Greenpop
In a close fought contest, one product won through thanks to its really impressive results. First unveiled to the trade in 2015, this organic wine brand has already funded the upgrading of several pre-primary schools in South Africa and the planting of almost 3,000 trees.
The Dig This! organic wine brand was conceived by Stellar Winery as a way to sustainably fund two social development initiatives in Southern Africa. Introduced to the Swedish and South African markets last year, the brand has recently been launched in the UK and Finland. The range consists of two wines – a Chenin-Sauvignon Blanc and a Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon. The RRP is £7.99 and a percentage of every bottle sold goes directly back to Greenpop and The Stellar Foundation.
Commendation: Vinedos Emiliana for Organic Sparkling
The judges also decided to award a commendation to Chile’s first certified organic sparkling wine. With a production of just over 1,000 cases, it is made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Casablanca Valley.
Shortlist:
- Dig This! by Stellar Organic Winery and Greenpop
- Vinedos Emiliana Organic Sparkling
Organic Initiative of the Year
Winner: Vintage Roots for ‘Organic Rouge’ and ‘Organic Blanc’
A pioneer of organic wines, Vintage Roots was founded in 1986 with co-founders Neil Palmer and Lance Pigott still at the helm today.
Over the past 30 years, the team has earned a reputation as one of the most dynamic and committed retailers of organic and biodynamic wines, providing a service to the on- and off-trade as well as direct to consumer. Its list currently numbers some four hundred organic wines, dozens of beers, numerous organic ciders, spirits and liqueurs. The retailers added 50 new organic wines, beers and spirits to its already vast range this year, however its own-label “Organic” brand is at the heart of its offer. The own-label brand was first launched in 1998 with the aim of offering a clear and identifiable organic wine offer to consumers, at a time when knowledge of organic winemaking and interest in its cause was far less than today. Recognising how far the organic movement has come in the past 20 years, this year Vintage Roots chose to re-brand and re-launch its own-label ‘Organic’ brand, releasing an ‘Organic Rouge’ and ‘Organic Blanc’ from the Languedoc-Roussillon. Refreshed and re-packaged by design agency BD Creative, the range brings the organic ethos bang up to date, effectively communicating its message for today’s consumers. The team is already planning to add a second pair of Italian own-label wines in early 2017 – ‘Organic Root’s Bianco and ‘Organic Roots’ Rosso.
Judges were impressed not only by Vintage Root’s diverse and quality-driven range, but its commitment to promoting the organic movement and communication of the organic credentials of its own-label wines through a novel design. Vintage Roots is proof that the organic movement is not only alive and well but thriving, with the business reporting a 7% increase in turnover in the past year to June 2016.
Commendation: Origin Wine for ‘Craft’ Organic Wines
South Africa’s Origin Wine was highly commended for its range of organic wines, which will launch in Aldi stores across the UK this month. Taking cues from craft beer, its new Craft & Origin organic range comes in 50cl brown bottles and makes a play for the millennial market. The company’s “highly original” approach to organic wine branding was praised by judges, who felt Origin deserved a commendation for its efforts to appeal to new wine drinkers.
Shortlist:
- Araex
- Distillery Farthofer
- Origin Wine
- Vintage Roots