As much of the planet swelters amid soaring temperatures, spirits producers’ efforts to be sustainable have taken on more urgency.
The phrase ‘red letter day’ took on a whole new meaning on 4 July when it became the hottest day ever recorded globally. The average global temperature reached 17.18C, surpassing the August 2016 record of 16.92C and turning TV weather maps a hellish red around the world.
The double whammy of the inexorable rise in temperature caused by greenhouse gas emissions and a growing El Niño – a natural climate phenomenon – has resulted in deadly heatwaves striking countries as far apart as the US, China and Italy. The human-caused climate crisis is to blame for severe temperatures, according to World Weather Attribution [WWA] research, while El Niño is probably adding a little heat to the heatwaves, the scientists say. Either way, global heating from greenhouse gases is the main reason for their severity.
Such heatwaves “would have been virtually impossible in the US/Mexico region and Southern Europe if humans had not warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels”, says the WWA, while the increase in heat-trapping gases made the heatwave in China “50 times more likely”. These extreme weather events have provided a stark warning of what is to come if greenhouse gases are not reduced.
Sharing research to help companies big and small
With its high use of energy, raw materials and water, spirits production remains a net contributor to global warming, but there are encouraging signs that the industry is starting to put its house in order. Companies of all sizes are taking a more joined-up approach to sustainability, working to implement the best eco-practices at every stage of their supply chains. Elsewhere, trade associations are creating frameworks to push up sustainability standards, while leading academic institutions and multinational spirits producers are increasingly eager to share their research findings to help in the wider fight against climate change.
Nicaraguan rum brand Flor de Caña is taking a 360-degree approach to sustainability in one of the more water- and energy-intensive spirits categories. “We’re a single-estate rum, which means we own and control the entire production process, from field to bottle,” explains UK brand manager Lucy McQueen. “While this is a challenge, it’s also a great opportunity to ensure sustainable practices at every step of the process.
“Since 2020, we’ve been certified carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust in the UK. This means Flor de Caña offsets all carbon emissions during the life cycle of its products, from field to market. Some of the actions that led to the certification include capturing and recycling all CO2 emissions during the fermentation process; distilling our rum with 100% renewable energy [using bagasse as biomass]; and planting 50,000 trees annually since 2005.”
However, it’s not just individual companies that are stepping up their efforts to battle climate change – trade organisations are raising their game too. In July, the Scotch Whisky Association [SWA] published a Water Stewardship Framework offering research-based guidance to distilleries on how to improve efficiency and reduce water use across the production process.
Also in July, Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky unit of Pernod Ricard, made its new carbon-reducing technology available to the wider industry. The technology has been used at the division’s Glentauchers distillery in Speyside, where it has helped to cut carbon emissions in half. The technology uses mechanical vapour recompression and thermos vapour recompression to capture and recycle heat given out during the distillation process.
Water at the centre of the crisis
Only 0.5% of the planet’s water is useable and available freshwater, according to the United Nations, and climate change is dangerously affecting supply, so reducing water usage is a top priority. Diageo, which used 17.2bn litres of water in its operations last year, admits it has 43 production sites in water-stressed areas worldwide. The group has pledged to replenish more water than it uses in all of these water-stressed areas by 2026.
In Turkey, Diageo is supporting a project that is helping farmers to use drip irrigation. The system is a more efficient way to irrigate crops, and Diageo estimates that the project has saved around 93,000 cubic metres of water since last year.
Smaller companies, such as UK brewer and spirits producer Adnams Southwold, are also trying to limit their water usage. “East Anglia [where Adnams is based] is the driest region in the UK, so several years ago we put a process in place to try to recover the cooling water from the distillery and use it in the cask and keg washing in the brewery,” says head of production Fergus Fitzgerald. “During Covid, we had to have a change of plan, so we designed a system that means the cooling water on the distillation columns is a closed-loop system.”
Using what others throw away
If food waste were a country, it would be the third-highest emitter of greenhouse gases. Moreover, according to Friends of the Earth International, a third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted.
Several spirits companies are determined to do something about these shocking statistics, using what would otherwise be discarded as their base ingredient. William Grant & Sons’ Discarded Spirits Co in Glasgow makes a rum from banana peels, a vermouth from the dried skins of coffee beans and a vodka from grape skins, seeds and stalks. Similarly, Oregon-based Wheyward Spirit produces a distilled spirit made using sustainably sourced whey from local dairy farms. The naturally sweet-tasting spirit has no additives or additional flavourings and is gluten-, grain- and lactose-free.
“Wheyward Spirit is mission-driven and impact-focused through introducing a circular economy approach of production to the spirits industry,” says founder & CEO Emily Darchuk. “Every bottle produced repurposes gallons of whey, preventing food waste and adding value to local food chains. It generates a lower carbon and water footprint by delivering a sustainable impact by tapping into one of the nation’s most underutilised by-products – less than half of the 100bn pounds [of whey] generated annually is fully used.”
Rethinking packaging
Despite the publicity around the issue of plastic waste – not to mention the plethora of corporate initiatives to tackle the problem – the production and usage of plastics continue to grow. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development, by 2060, plastic waste is on track to nearly treble, with half going to landfill and less than a fifth recycled.
There is an increasing awareness among beverage alcohol companies that efforts to remove extraneous packaging from every supply stage need to be intensified, even in more premium categories such as whisky/whiskey. “We’re examining whether we really need gift cartons, though we’re always told the trade considers this a requirement,” reveals Mark Newton, head of brand at Irish whiskey company Waterford Whiskey. “We are also in the process of reducing the weight of our bottles.”
For the recently launched Renais Gin, an eco-conscious brand made from salvaged grape skins and lees from Burgundy vineyards developed by British actress Emma Watson and her wine industry brother Alex, traditional paper or plastic were not acceptable outer packaging materials. “Using mushroom packaging for our outer casing, for example, and avoiding plastic is a great initiative when considering the end life cycle of the product,” explains Alex Watson. “There’s no point in producing something that’s conscientiously made and then packaging it in something thoughtless!”
Reducing on-premise waste
Rishabh Kewalramani, CEO of BackBar Solutions, a San Diego-based provider of automated beverage dispensers, argues there is a “ton of waste” in the on-premise supply chain in the US. “Switching from plastic bottles and cans to live dispensing can make a massive improvement in the amount of plastic and aluminium used in the beverage industry,” he says. “We know that asking folks to make sustainability decisions can hurt their bottom line, especially in a tight-margin industry like hospitality,” he adds. “At BackBar, we take a different approach. Beverage brands can decrease their carbon footprint and increase their distribution in the on-premise, all the while increasing profit margin.”
Given the current inflationary environment globally, Kewalramani’s point about the costs of implementing sustainable practices is particularly pertinent. Adnam’s Fitzgerald says: “Our biggest challenge in the current inflationary world is that there is less available capital to invest in some of the technologies that we know can make a big difference to our emissions; that’s a concern shared by many others and it’s an area that government could, and should, assist companies with.”
Yet, as one extreme weather event follows another, the choice between investing in sustainable practices and protecting the bottom line is becoming an increasingly clear one to make for many companies. Luca Quagliano, founder & CEO of NIO Cocktails, a range of sustainably packaged RTD craft cocktails, puts it well: “The main question to ask today is not, ‘How much does sustainable cost us?’, but ‘How much does it cost us not to be sustainable?’
