Winner – Australian Vintage
Despite its recent appearances in the headlines for the wrong reasons – related predominantly to the troublesome state much of the Australian wine industry finds itself in – Australian Vintage was a worthy winner of this award.
For starters, the McGuigan brand owner was certified B Corp in February, “one of only 60 publicly-listed B Corps (and) with only three wine companies in Australia holding this prestigious certification”.
The group’s submission carried three banners, ‘Thriving People’, ‘Nurture Nature’ and ‘Meaningful Growth’. All three featured credible, independent and verifiable performance measures.
On the people side, Australian Vintage brought the gender pay gap down last year from 9% to 4%, while females now make up “40% of our manager/leader workforce”. Turning to nature, the group has completed the transition to 100% renewable electricity across all of its sites this year. Indeed, its Buronga Hill Winery (above) in New South Wales is home to one of the country’s largest privately-owned solar farms, while 98% of all packaging is recyclable (the target of 100% is expected to be reached in 2025).
Under ‘Meaningful Growth’, Australian Vintage detailed how it has surpassed its 50% target of ‘Sustainable Winegrowing Australia;-certified growers this year, hitting an impressive 83%.
“ESG is embedded in our corporate strategy, enabling us to … operate with purpose and report transparently, to deliver growth and impact through a triple bottom-line approach. AV hopes to set an example of how publicly-listed companies of scale can make a positive impact.”
Our judges said: “Australian Vintage aren’t just making ESG-related assertions, they’re quantifying everything they’re saying.”
