Majestic Wine announced today (14 March) that it has joined the Sustainable Wine Roundtable – a coalition of more than 100 businesses, academic institutions, and non-governmental organisations around the globe focused on pushing the green agenda.
The drinks retailer is set on working towards net-zero emissions by 2050 and has already started rolling out fully electric vans into its fleet as well as a cork recycling scheme in its stores. In the 16 new stores that Majestic has opened since its acquisition by Fortress Investment Group in 2019, only energy efficient LED lighting is used – while the business only purchases renewable energy backed by Renewable Electricity Guarantees of Origin.
But its latest move is all about sharing best practice with the industry’s wider value chain.
The aim of the Sustainable Wine Roundtable is to drive action and knowledge-sharing between producers, distributors, retailers, logistics partners and researchers, in areas such as packaging, bottle weight, labour standards, low-carbon logistics and vineyard chemistry. It ultimately exists to develop a global sustainability reference standard that can be adopted and measured by businesses across the industry.
The roundtable’s commitment is to support ‘a world where high quality wine is produced, traded and consumed in ways that conserve and regenerate the natural environment, respect human rights and foster quality and inclusion’.
Rob Cooke, Majestic chief operating officer, said: “Majestic is determined to grow in an environmentally responsible manner and drive positive change for our customers, colleagues and the planet.
“But sustainability is far bigger than just Majestic – we know there is a lot of work to do, and we need to collaborate with companies right across the value chain.”
He added: “Joining the Sustainable Wine Roundtable will not only help us progress our own sustainability strategy, but provide a platform for us to make an even greater contribution to the future of the global wine trade.”
James Streeter, chair of the Sustainable Wine Roundtable, remarked: “In order to make impactful, sustainable change, an industry has to move in the same direction and move together. This is particularly true of the wine industry, which is both international and highly fragmented with companies of all shapes and sizes across the world.”
[Image credit: Majestic]
