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The Drinks Business Green Awards 2023 winners announced

05 December 2023 By James Evison

The companies which have been deemed the best in the drinks business for sustainability have been awarded at a glittering prize ceremony today (5 December) in London.

Our annual awards celebrate brands and individuals that do so much more than simply pay lip service to sustainability and put the green agenda at the heart of their businesses, extending it to every possible corner and crevice.

This year’s winners are now exception, and show how sustainability can be a core asset to their businesses. Below are all of our winners and judges’ notes as to why they were so exceptional.

The winners

Best Logistics and Supply Chain Green Initiative for 2023

Judges’ notes: This year, one company stood out for the ongoing electrification of their vehicles, procuring 23 zero-emission trucks in the past year alone.

Winner: Kuehne+Nagel for VinLog’s Electrification Initiative

Green Launch of the Year

Judges’ notes: Employing robotic ducks, this winner put a smile on the judges faces, but also an end to polluting rice-growing methods in Japan.

Commendation: Amcor for STELVIN® Greener capsules

Commendation: Bonterra Organic Estates for the Estate Collection

Winner: Kojima Sohonten for Toko Junmai Daiginjo – Aigamorobo Farmed

Organic Initiative of the Year

Judges’ notes: A biodynamic Argentine winery that has thought about “every conceivable angle” of environmentally-sensitive wine production won this award.

Commendation: Shannon Family of Wines

Winner: Alpamanta Estate

The Green Packaging Award

Judges’ notes: The honour went to a pioneering English wine and spirits producer for adopting a re-fillable bottle made from recycled aluminium.

Commendation: Bruichladdich Distillery Company for The Classic Laddie

Winner: Mallard Point

Renewable Energy Implementation Award

Judges’ notes: A green-minded Japanese producer that has proved pioneering in its ability to turn sake by-products into energy to fuel its operations.

Commendation: The Lanchester Group

Winner: Kojima Sohonten

The Water Management Award

Judges notes’: One wine producer stood out for its new waste-water processing system that has allowed it to ditch the carbon-intensive tankering of dirty liquids, taking almost 3000 HGVs off the road.

Winner: Broadland Drinks

VinLog Green Retailer of the Year

Judges’ notes: One retailer stood out for its impressive mission to be a sustainable leader, with ambitious, externally-approved carbon reduction targets, and a publicised 10-year roadmap to become as green as possible. Importantly, such developments involve its large and diverse supply base, who are expected to conform to this retailer’s tough green goals.

Commendation: Direct Wines

Winner: The Wine Society

VinLog Green Importer/Distributor of 2023

Judges’ notes: A business that has embraced renewable power sources for its energy-intensive business, using wind, solar and geothermal to run almost all its operations. It’s been a multi-million pound investment, but it’s made this family business one of the most sustainable in the sector.

Commendation: Alliance Wines

Winner: Lanchester Wines

Amorim Sustainability Award

Judges’ notes: An Italian winery that – despite its small size – wowed the judges for its many sustainable initiatives. Indeed, it was praised for single-handedly holding together the agricultural community in Umbria.

Commendation: Spier Wines

Commendation: Domaine Lafage

Winner: Lungarotti

Amorim Biodiversity Award

Judges’ notes: A Provencal winery that has done everything possible to augment species richness in its vineyards and beyond, including rewilding large swathes of its estate.

Commendation: Viña Maquis

Winner: Chateau Léoube

Amorim Special Award

Judges’ notes: A respected retailer for launching a range of wines that have done away with plastic capsules while employing an FSC certified, carbon sequestering cork stopper.

Winner: Waitrose’s Loved & Found range of wines

Ethical Company of the Year

Judges’ notes: One wine producer stood out for providing employment, education, leadership and training in a very rural area, garnering much praise from the judges for investing in people.

Winner: Domaine Bousquet

Green Company of the Year

An impressively ethical retailer that is driving change among wine producers with ambitious and widely-publicised aims.

Winner: The Wine Society

Green Company of the Year for wine producers

Judges’ notes: A dry-farmed, no-till, biodynamic wine producer in Oregon’s Willamette Valley that has every eco-corner covered, from its hedge and tree planting projects to bottle light-weighting programmes and B-corp certified status.

Commendation: Familia Torres

Winner: Brooks Wine

2023’s Green Personality of the Year

Judges’ notes: “A hard grafter” who has “a helicopter view of sustainability”. Having managed to forge key eco-friendly partnerships between different wine companies in the past 12 months, the judges were full of praise for this passionate and green-minded manager who has achieved so much in such a short space of time.

Winner: Head of sustainability at Grupo Avinea, Andrés Valero

Green Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023

This year’s recipient is impressive for his many achievements. Among these is the production of sustainably-made and organically-certified sparkling wine in Spain. Not only is his winery the source of environmentally-friendly products,but it’s also the home of a high-quality traditional-method brand with great respect in its home nation and abroad. Indeed, this person’s company – Can Feixes – is a member of Corpinnat, which is a grouping for top-end, eco-minded Cava producers. But his most outstanding achievement concerns overseeing a world first. As president of the 25,000 hectare DO Penedes, our recipient has ensured that this important Spanish wine region is set to become the first DO in the world to go completely organic. Having begun the move seven years ago, Penedes will be 100% organic in 2025, yielding 19 million bottles of certified produce to this farming philosophy’s rigorous standards. In short, our personality has pushed through what no-other DO president has yet to achieve: 100% conversion to organic practices.

Winner: DO Penedes president, Joan Huguet

Editor-in-chief- of db Patrick Schmitt MW said: “Well done to our winners and thank you to our supporters.”