Family-owned winemaking business, Taylors Wines was awarded the 2022 Corporate Social Responsibility award at the Australian Drinks Awards hosted in Sydney on Thursday evening. Global Brand Manager, Joanna Blaszczyk accepted the award from Endeavour Group's CEO Steve Donohue on behalf of the family owned wine company.
When he learned of the award, Taylors' Winemaker and Managing Director, Mitchell Taylor, said: “I am absolutely thrilled and proud of the team at Taylors Wines. As a family business we take very seriously our CSR as we hand our business from one generation to the next. The team have worked tirelessly in best practice in our environmental credentials and it is an exciting journey that we have embraced across all facets of our Taylors Wines, from water in the vineyard through to winery energy savings and packaging breakthroughs. We are also proud to support our marine live with helping to save the endangered white seahorse.”
The Corporate Social Responsibility Award recognises an organisation's unique initiatives and strategies demonstrating a commitment to socially responsible principles. In the case of Taylors Wines, it is their industry leading commitment to environmental sustainability that brought the award home to the Clare Valley winery. Taylors Wines came in ahead of brewing giant Asahi Beverages by the narrowest of margins.
When presenting the award to Taylors, Mr Donohue said, “We at Endeavour are very passionate about the topic of sustainability. We are very focused on our imprint: the imprint we leave on others, the customers that we have the privilege of serving and the communities that we are lucky enough to operate in…It is clear that sustainability is deeply woven into the long term strategic plans at Taylors. I’ve known that for as long as I’ve done business with them, so it’s a real pleasure to announce that Taylors has won the Corporate Social Responsibility Award.”
Taylors Wines is a family business that does not just move with the times, it runs ahead of them, and this is particularly true when it comes to addressing the issue of climate change and sustainability. Its submission was titled: A more sustainable industry for future generations.
Judges said that it excelled as it demonstrated a commitment to sustainability in the winery’s strategic business alignment, support and action at the leadership level, and in fact at all levels of the business and demonstrated the impacts, metrics and outcomes of its sustainability agenda. Importantly, it positions the family-owned winery as a role model for industry, showing that wineries don’t need to be big to make an impact.
Taylors Wines says, “We’ve made significant investments in water conservation, energy efficiency, vineyard health and waste reduction. However, we know there is more we and our industry can do and our collective window for change is closing. For a medium-sized company, over the past 12 months Taylors has made very substantial steps to improve our performance and champion sustainability.”
Taylors was the first winery in the world to create a 100% carbon neutral wine range in 2009, in the same year attaining ISO14001 certification for its Environmental Management System. The business has made significant investments in water conservation, energy efficiency, vineyard health and waste reduction and its commitment to sustainability is embedded within all layers of the business. Its approach is multi-faceted covering climate, land and sea-based initiatives.
Taylors was certified by the newly established Sustainable Winegrowers Australia in February this year, announcing the installation of 270 solar panels on the Jaraman Cellars at its Clare Valley winery at the same time.
Mr Taylor penned a note to the Australian government in October last year, ahead of UN Climate Change Conference – COP26 – calling on them to keep temperature rises well below 2°C, the family has lobbied governments and it was the first Australian independent winery to sign to Science Based Targets initiative committing to reduce emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and achieving Net Zero by 2050. It should also be noted that the family-company was also one of this year’s finalists for the Most Improved Gender Equity Awards at the Australian Drinks Awards.
Drinks Association CEO Georgiae Lennon said, “ While there were a number of exceptional submissions for the Corporate Social Responsibility Award this year, there were two standouts that kept the judges on their toes.”
Asahi Beverages/Carlton & United Breweries ran a close second for the award for its environmental commitment to solar programs supporting its ambitious sustainability agenda. Asahi’s submission showed its innovative approach to sustainability-focused brand and consumer partnerships (VB Solar Exchange) and its nation-leading solar installations. Asahi Beverages uses its significant scale and extensive partnerships to drive positive climate action.
The solar energy generated at the Yatala Brewery produces almost 25% of Australia’s beer.
Ms Lennon said, “We would like to acknowledge Asahi Beverages who delivered a submission that excelled in its alignment to business strategy, its link with its consumer base via the excellent VB Solar Exchange which has just been expanded with Endeavour and its large scale implementation of solar power generation.”
The Corporate Social Responsibility Award was sponsored by Endeavour Group. The Drinks Association congratulates Taylors Wines on its win.
Photos by Belinda Rolland.
