Our greatest achievement to date has been becoming B Corporation certified - dedicated to being held to the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. March is B Corp Month, and we thought what better time to talk about what it means for us to be a certified B Corp business.

Whilst we acknowledge that our production will always have an impact and our industry has a lot to be accountable for, we hope to lead the way and set an example for sustainable growing, winemaking and distilling in Australia. The way we all do things and the choices we take have an impact on each other and on future generations.

This B Corp Month we are highlighting three initiatives that we have introduced to continue to be a better business under the key areas; reuse, recycle and redistribute.

 

Reuse: Introducing the Mastershred into our Warehouse

Although we were already using recycled paper (ranpack) as a filler in boxes for our online orders, we wanted to be able to do better. The next step was to work out how we could eliminate the need to purchase the recycled paper externally. Enter: the Mastershred.

The Mastershred machine not only eliminates the external sourcing of our filler, but it also presented us with the opportunity to reuse our own boxes, turning them from waste to packaging materials. This machine perforates our boxes to create the perfect padding for our online orders. Pretty. Damn. Cool.

 

Recycle: New Labels Made From Recycled Sugarcane Waste 

Bagasse is a bi-product of sugar cane left after the juice is extracted. However, it is not just waste - it is a 100% compostable and recycled material - and can be repurposed into paper products including labels.

The labels made from Bagasse are a wet strength paper and are specifically designed for wine and spirits applications exposed to ice bucket and refrigeration. We have successfully trialled Bagasse labels on a product launching soon (ooooooohhhh what could it be?) and will be transitioning all of our labels to this stock moving forward. 

 

Redistribute: 1% for the planet for Jungle Jungle

As part of an ongoing effort to Be Better, 1% of all sales of our Jungle Jungle Dolcetto have been donated to 1% For The Planet in an effort to the combat environmental issues that we face globally. In the past 12 months we have donated $1058.70 from the sales of Jungle Jungle.

1% For The Planet started from a simple idea: because companies profit from the resources they take from the earth, they should protect those resources. Through this organisation, we give back to environmental nonprofits to create a healthier planet.

 

B Corp Month and Beyond

As a B Corp, we verify and update our score every three years, measuring our performance and improvement in five categories: governance, workers, customers, community, and the environment. The strict assessment makes sure we meet the highest standards of transparency and legal accountability every time.

We have always been honest and open about where we aren't meeting our commitments to the environment, and where we will be focussing our efforts in the future. Sometimes we don't get it right - like trading one environmental issue (plastic) for another (carbon cost of transport) - but we lay it all out for you so you can learn from our mistakes and we can continue to grow and learn.