Wine Producer
Concha y Toro has had a dedicated sustainability strategy in place since 2012 and formulated stretching targets for our six sustainability pillars of consumers, suppliers, our people, customers, community and our planet, in line with the United Nations Strategic Development Goals (SDGs) from an early stage. One of the first wineries in the world to measure its water footprint in 2007, we also have measured our carbon footprint over a similar length of time. Our vision of a regenerative future relies on meeting global and mid-term targets but also local and more immediate ones, and ensuring we have accurate reporting methods in place to reflect this. We were the first winery in the world to commit to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement's Business Ambition for 1.5 Degrees. Our targets in the next few years reflect this commitment.
In 2021 Vina Concha y Toro was awarded B Corporation accreditation, one of a handful of wineries around the world to be so recognised, and the largest winery in the world to become a B Corps. This reflects the commitment to balance profit with people, planet and purpose; one of the key elements in qualifying as a B Corp is to change the articles of association of the business to agree to meet the needs of all our stakeholders worldwide, and not just of the company's shareholders. It also reflects a great level of transparency in our operations and a desire for continuous improvement – B Corp status is reviewed every three years and it is a stated aim to improve the overall score with each successive assessment.
We are now in the third cycle of sustainability goals and measurements. The first ran from 2012-2015, the second, which cemented our alignment with Sustainable Development Goals ran from 2016-2020, this third cycle runs until 2025 and makes plain our challenges and ambitions for creating a positive impact in the immediate short term and beyond. Some of the measures in this cycle are:
1. By 2025, we aim for a "zero waste of water" in our facilities. This will be reflected in a 10% reduction in water consumption for each bottle of wine produced
2. In order to meet net zero targets, the company needs to become independent of fossil fuels. Our goal for 2025 is a 50% reduction of fossil fuel consumption in our facilities versus base year, and continuing towards total independence from fossil fuels by 2030.
3. We are focusing on circular innovation, upcycling waste to deliver higher value alternatives compared to original recycling. We are targeting providing alternatives for all 10 categories of company waste by 2025.
4. In line with the global net zero commitment, we have committed to reducing our total CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030, with an interim target of 35% reduction by 2025 (versus the base year 2017). We have already seen a 34% reduction in total CO2 emissions between 2017 and 2021.
5. Regenerative agriculture: by 2021 40% of our agricultural area had regenerative practices in place; our goal for 2025 is that 100% of our vineyards should have these practices in place.
6. B Corp recertification. Every B Corporation is required to submit to recertification every 3 years. This enables Concha y Toro to measure its progress in a cycle of continuous improvement in all of the areas which are measured by certification.