Winner – The Gin Guild
The Gin Guild works across its namesake category, aiming to promote excellence and protect the future of gin, encompassing large and small brand owners, plus suppliers and stakeholders.
Research conducted by the trade association found that 57% of its members identified energy consumption as their top concern, while 54% highlighted water stewardship – but most lacked practical knowledge. It also found that 69% of gin consumers consider sustainability when purchasing, with half checking credentials.
This inspired the creation of The Gin Guild’s Sustainability Toolkit, the result of a year-long collaboration with members and sustainability experts, with input from global operators such as Bacardi and Pernod Ricard, as well as pioneering independents including Sipsmith and Greensand Ridge.
The resulting toolkit aims to provide a “practical, inclusive resource” addressing the industry’s most pressing issues: greenhouse gas emissions, water, waste, packaging, sourcing, biodiversity and governance.
Launched on Earth Day 2025, the toolkit tried to give distilleries of all sizes “a credible roadmap for change”, with each section offering staged actions, from immediate wins to long-term goals, supported by real-world case studies.
In order to drive adoption and industry engagement, The Gin Guild created #TenGreenBottles, a “memorable, inclusive and visually arresting” campaign constructed around a simple metaphor: if one distillery “drops a bottle”, the whole industry is weakened.
With a budget of only GBP5,000 (US$6,700), the campaign included a narrated launch video, eight-week themed social campaign and a host of other initiatives, translating complex challenges into simple, powerful messages, such as: “Saving 10,000 litres of water = 125 bathtubs.”
Our judges said: “This entry impressed for having a wider audience. It has worked across the gin category from large to small producers, and tried to encourage the whole industry to operate to a higher standard and share best practice, offering excellent results on a limited budget.”
Gold Medal – Hallgarten & Novum Wines
Since 2023, wine supplier Hallgarten & Novum has released the ‘Hallgarten Eco Standard‘ annually on World Environment Day (June 5) – a digital-only report that assesses all areas of sustainability for the company’s wine producers, in both vineyard and winery.
Issued in response to increased demand for sustainability resources from consumers, the report assesses producers against four pillars: environment; water and waste management; energy management; and social responsibility.
The standard is updated every year to reflect industry changes and is designed to ensure that Hallgarten leads the sustainability conversation in the wine trade. In June and July this year, a dedicated website landing page and banner on the company’s website homepage received more than 1,000 clicks.
