By Josh Jacobs
Co-Founder and CEO, Speakeasy Co.
Sustainability is the talk of the town in the wine and spirits industry. And, honestly, it makes perfect sense.
As McKinsey & Company stated, “Those [products] marketed as sustainable have been growing 5-6x faster than average.” McKinsey also noted that, "Consumers are willing to pay a little -or even a lot- more if they know that those products have been sustainably-sourced and produced."
In pursuit of this trend, industry leaders have beefed up their environmental commitments.
Brown–Forman, one of the largest American-owned companies in the wine and spirits business, recently announced an expanded set of environmental impacts. Their focus will be on four key pillars: Climate action, water stewardship, circular economics, and supply chain. The CEO of Brown-Forman, Lawson E. Whiting, stated that the company will, "Elevate the importance of sustainability to Brown-Forman's overall, long-term success."
Speakeasy Co. is another industry leader that’s keenly aware of the demand for sustainability-sourced products, thanks to partnerships with brands like Dona Loca Tequila and Mezcal, Nosotros Life and Spirits, and Good Vodka. Each of these brands has managed to incorporate sustainable business practices into their daily operations through packaging and/or product development. The end result? Successful sales for these emerging players.
Another partner, Airfill Technologies, has even helped make Speakeasy’s own business practices more sustainable. Airfill Technologies introduced new, cost-efficient and environmentally-responsible products that revolutionize the packaging industry. They’ve discovered inventive methods of packaging products, which decrease shipping weights and increase product protection, leading to a massive carbon footprint reduction.
With countless companies incorporating sustainability, one thing is for sure, the wine and spirits industry will continue to innovate with sustainability and the environment in mind, and at Speakeasy, we will do everything in our power to fuel it.
