Earlier this month, Global Drinks Intel announced the winners of its inaugural ESG Awards. Here’s a look at why the winners won.
Rewilding/Nature Improvement – Beam Suntory with Maker’s Mark
Last year saw Beam Suntory’s Maker’s Mark brand bag a brace of ESG certifications – the first was securing B Corp status, followed by ‘Tier 2’ recognition from US regenerative soil verifier Regenified. Among the efforts at the American whiskey’s Star Hill Farm home in Kentucky that warranted this third award, from Global Drinks Intel, were:
- Implementing no-tillage, cover crops and rotational grazing
- Planting native grasses and flowers to increase biodiversity and improve water permeation
- Encouraging the brand’s grain suppliers to adopt “regenerative principles”
- Commencing a genome mapping exercise with the University of Kentucky on a 400-year-old American white oak tree on the farm, and
- Growing most of the vegetables, fruits and mushrooms that are featured at the onsite restaurant and bar on Star Hill Farm
The site also achieved the ‘zero-waste-to-landfill’ marker at the end of 2022, while Maker’s Mark also invites the surrounding communities to recycle their waste at the farm.
Special Commendation – Gonzalez Byass
The ‘Angel de Viñas’ project from Gonzalez Byass caught the judges’ eyes, with the partnership with the Viticulture Research Group at the Polytechnic University of Madrid looking to bring vines that “were/are on the verge of extinction” back into production.
The initiative focused on three Spanish vineyards last year – some of the vines date back to 1935 – as well as three others this year. Gonzalez Byass aims to “support each of the vineyards for at least three years to ensure the project has continuity”.
“This support may take the form of economic help and/or providing support with the work that is essential to maintaining the vineyard.”
Special commendation – Heaven Hill Distillery
Did you know there’s no required training or certification process to become a logger in the US? Instead, there are voluntary training programmes run by state associations that cover areas such as timber stand improvement, proper tree-felling, protection of soil and water quality and general safety guidelines.
Given its reliance on American white oak for its maturation barrels, American whiskey giant Heaven Hill has been sponsoring loggers to complete these courses since 2020. “We recognise that if we can educate loggers on sustainable logging practices, then we will see a healthier forest and healthier American white oak for all to continue to enjoy.”
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