Sustainability

Focus on the more emotive 'why' than the technical 'how' to engage consumers with sustainability. pic:getty/ahfotobox

How to effectively communicate winemaker credentials: organic, sustainable, and biodynamic

By Emilie Steckenborn, founder of the Bottled in China podcast & head of education at Treasury Wine Estates (Asia & MEIA)

Organic. Sustainable. Biodynamic. For wine consumers, these terms are often misinterpreted or conflated. In fact, they are all very distinct: both in terms of the processes involved and the objectives producers are seeking to achieve, writes Emilie Steckenborn...

Pic:getty/jovanepn

Cutting carbon footprints: Tax treats not meat?

By Rachel Arthur

Japanese households with higher carbon footprints are also larger consumers of alcohol and confectionery. Researchers therefore suggest that reducing consumption of these items - such as with a carbon tax - could be a way of reducing carbon footprints....

A growing population, competition for resources and environmental pressures are changing the Indian consumer. Pic: Getty/Arindam Ghosh

Familiar Western megatrends drive India's beverage industry

By Beth Newhart

India’s economy is shifting to a strong middle class, giving rise to more premium, ethical and personalized products. Beverage brands are adapting to these trends similar to what’s popular in Western markets.

Hi-Cone RingCycles multi-packaging. Photo: Hi-Cone

Hi-Cone launches RingCycles which has +50% PCR resin

By Jenny Eagle

Hi-Cone has launched RingCycles multi-packaging which has +50% post-consumer recycled resin (PCR), as part of its goal to eliminate 100% virgin plastic-based ring carriers from its portfolio by 2020.

RayZyn lets grapes hang on the vine past the time they would typically be harvested for winemaking, and dries them to create a new 'superfood snack.' Pic: Getty Images/bmdesign

RayZyn draws on otherwise wasted wine grapes for a superfood snack

By Kristine Sherred

The growing snack company – a phoenix rising from the devastating California wildfires in 2017 – dries wine grapes (and sometimes coats them in chocolate) to create a fruit snack with more antioxidants than their traditional counterpart.

Working towards a completely bio-based, polymer free bottle for beer. Pic:Carlsberg.

Carlsberg, Coca-Cola and Absolut create paper bottle research community

Carlsberg showcases paper bottle prototype

By Rachel Arthur

Carlsberg has unveiled two research prototypes for its Green Fibre Bottle: bottles made from sustainably sourced bio-based wood fibres.

Dr José Herrera, Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change, Malta, joined Muscat at the ECMA Congress. Photo: ECMA.

ECMA Congress 2019

Malta PM: ‘We were more prepared for the Millennium Bug than Brexit’

By Jenny Eagle

‘Your guess is as good as mine on Brexit’, said Joseph Muscat, the Prime Minster of Malta, at the opening of the ECMA Congress 2019 last week (September 19-20), ‘But what is obvious, is during the next few days there needs to be a meaningful engagement’.

PepsiCo wants to boost rPET in plastic bottles - or avoid them entirely. Pic:getty/antoninokhr

PepsiCo: 'We're radically reinventing how we think about packaging'

By Rachel Arthur

Beverage and snack giant PepsiCo says it can avoid the use of 67 billion plastic bottles through 2025, thanks to the expansion of its SodaStream business. Meanwhile, its wider ‘Beyond the Bottle’ strategy is looking at other ways it can move away from...

Pic:getty/catlane

Guest podcast

The triple bottom line with Jackson Family Wines: Rabobank Podcast

By Rabobank Liquid Assets Podcast

Jackson Family Wines has achieved a 33% drop in greenhouse gas emissions and a 60% reduction in the water required to produce a bottle of wine over the last decade. In February the company, together with Familia Torres, launched International Wineries...

Coffee child labour podcast: How widespread is the issue?

Sustainable Food & Drink Podcast

Coffee child labour: Under-researched and ‘undetected’

By Oliver Nieburg

Thousands of child labourers work in coffee, but the true levels remain under-researched. Lumina Intelligence speaks to the Sustainable Coffee Challenge about the worst forms of child labour.

“A critical part of our journey is taking bigger, bolder action to be more socially responsible in all the ways we operate.”

Dunkin’ ramps up sustainability commitment

By Beth Newhart

Dunkin’ Brands, parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts (DD) and Baskin Robbins, released a sustainability report this week, updating its progress on old goals and outlining new ones.

Breweries should follow the three pillars of sustainability: social, environmental and economic. Pic: Brewers Association

Sustainability spotlight

Going green: How can craft brewers improve sustainability?

By Beth Newhart

Craft brewers may talk the sustainability talk – but find it a lot harder to walk the sustainability walk. Tracking performance can help reveal effective ways to improve, say experts.

Pic:getty/pixelci

Aussie brewers growing interest in sustainability is evolving through its actions

Carlton & United Breweries' amber ales start going green

By Richard Whitehead

You could say Carlton & United Breweries has been bitten by the green bug. But it might be more accurate to suggest a seven-foot inland taipan has chomped on a very fleshy part of the Australian brewery major, so keen has it been to burnish its eco-credentials.