Our company relies on natural resources, and our products affect the environment at every stage of their lifecycle. The ingredients behind our brands come from farms, vineyards and forests. The excellence of our products depends on high-quality sources of water. Our production processes use energy and generate waste.
Our connection to the environment underlies our commitment to protecting, preserving, and enhancing the natural world, while growing our business. For decades, we have implemented cost-efficient programs and practices that reduce our impact on the environment. These efforts are spearheaded by the Environmental Performance Department and our Environment Matters Working Group, a cross-functional team dedicated to executing programs, monitoring performance, influencing business partners, and engaging stakeholders on key environmental issues and opportunities. We are presently developing out Roadmap to Sustainability which will outline our environmental sustainability strategy and implementation plan for the coming years.
Our environmental performance policy emphasizes compliance with regulation and stewardship - going beyond compliance to ensure the protection and preservation of the environment. We believe that minimizing our environmental footprint through each phase of the product’s lifecycle is good for our business and will create value (both social and financial), reduce costs, and build our brands in a sustainable manner. We are committed to consuming fewer natural resources, reducing harmful emissions, and increasing the recovery and reuse of resources.
Issues
In our daily business we manage a wide range of environmental issues, including (see “Our Approach” for how we manage them):
Energy & Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)
Our largest use of energy is in the production of wines and spirits. We also use energy to tend our vineyards and agave fields. Most of our energy is sourced either directly or indirectly from fossil fuels, creating emissions of GHGs. However, the wood waste we produce and use is a significant and renewable source of energy.
Water
Water comprises a significant ingredient in our products, and their quality is dependent on the availability of clean water. We also use water for cooling and washing, which creates waste water.
Waste Emissions
Producing wine and spirits creates organic wastes from the raw materials: grapes, corn and agave. Bottling, barrel-making and operating facilities creates other wastes, such as paper and trash. Ethanol is emitted to air when whiskey matures in wooden barrels. While our first priority is to avoid making waste, we seek to reduce, reuse or recycle the waste that we generate.
Packaging
The way our brands are packaged - size, shape, color, and the choice of materials – not only protects the contents but is integral to the projection of the brand, and consumer perception. We continue to look for opportunities to minimize the environmental impact of the packaging while maintaining brand values.
Agriculture
Whiskey and vodka are made with grain crops and tequila from the agave plant. Wine comes from grapes whose flavor is influenced by climate, soil and agricultural methods. Farming practices, such as tilling, nutrient application, irrigation and pest control, affect the environment, especially the quality of water and soil, and the richness of biodiversity.
Our Approach
We manage our environmental issues by grouping them into three focus areas:
- Energy and GHG management
- Water quality and conservation
- Waste minimization and materials selection.
Corporate environmental performance is managed through our Environmental Performance and Governmental Compliance Group (EPGC) which works with each production facility to set and achieve site-specific goals and targets. The EPGC group collects, analyzes and publishes a wide range of environmental performance data, promoting environmental stewardship and providing an overall picture of our performance (see performance).
To ensure compliance, we have implemented a robust audit program that includes external checks as well as annual internal audits of our North American operations, and conduct periodic assessments using both external and internal expertise. We are also integrating our international operations and key members of our supply chain into our compliance and stewardship programs.
We also work with others in our industry, beverage alcohol and beverages generally, to improve our environmental performance. This involves the development of industry standards, sharing best practice examples, and defining industry policy positions. We are, for example, highly active in the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance and Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER).
The Organization Of This Site
The focus areas described reflect our internal management organization. For greater clarity, we discuss agriculture and packaging separately on this site (see navigation).