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Nick Gillett: Balancing sustainability with cost

But whilst we all understand the importance of sustainable practices, the reality is that they’re harder to implement. It requires capital (often a lot of it), and in this cost-of-living crisis, shoppers are often prioritising price over sustainability. So, what’s the answer? How do we make progress in a way that’s fair and manageable for businesses?

Who’s doing it well?

There are a lot of great businesses out there who have built a brand around sustainability. Scotch whisky distillery Nc’nean, which recently joined our portfolio, like other distilleries, is doing wonderful things at all stages of the production process. The distillery is powered only by renewable energy, with a biomass boiler and it uses only organic, Scottish barley, and the bottles are made from 100% recycled glass . In terms of waste, the producer has rigorous processes in place. The result meant in 2023-24 Nc’nean sent 0.06% of their waste to landfill. The leftover draff from the whisky process even goes to feed the Highland cows, on the farm.

• Read more: Domesticated grapevines introduced to Iberia over 2,000 years ago

Many spirits distilleries are pioneering sustainable practices and making it their USP, not just because it sells bottles but because they believe that as producers they must be the ones to begin to be carbon neutral. Scotch whisky producers are in the fortunate position of not having to watch water like many other regions, and this summer in the west of Scotland proved it, with plentiful rain!

Further south is Two Drifters rum From Devon. Two Drifters built sustainability into their product from the start and are now officially a carbon-negative distillery. In practice this looks like an all-electric distillery powered by 100% renewable power – electric vehicles for deliveries and operations, carbon-neutral packaging, lightweight British-made bottles and a closed-loop chilling system . They’re also a terrific example of how modern, ethical businesses can prioritise transparency and it’s won them a loyal and devoted following.

I couldn’t highlight the best of sustainable brands without shouting out Avallen Calvados. This distiller also practices a lot of what I’ve already mentioned, but the beauty of this product is in the good it also does for the environment. The apple orchards are biodiverse habitats for all manner of plants and wildlife, while a portion of profits go to on-the-ground charities to support bees and the liquid itself is made from nothing other than apples, water, and time. The spectacular ‘paper’ bottle and B Corp status are simply the icing on the cake for this ‘climate positive’ liquid.

A checklist for spirits producers

I’m not a specialist in sustainability by any means. And alongside that, I’m a realist. Amid the tsunami of cost pressures facing the industry, putting the onus on businesses to invest capital to decarbonise is, at times, an unreasonable expectation. But if producers know what progress looks like, it might be easier to build into future plans when money allows.

Here’s my take on it:

  •  Energy: Expensive but the ultimate goal – how can you build renewable and low-carbon energy into your operations? It might be through solar panels, wind turbines or biomass boilers fuelled by organic matter.

  •  Local procurement: There is so much hidden carbon in the transportation of raw ingredients – can you procure more from local sources?

  •  Water use: arguably one of the toughest challenges the industry faces. Spirits production is a thirsty business and lowering the water you waste, through systems that clean and reuse, is a great way to make a big difference to your eco-credentials. Even in wetter regions this is a consideration.

  •  Packaging: I’ve waxed lyrical on the topic of packaging. And whilst it isn’t reflected in the costs imposed by EPR, glass is actually an infinitely recyclable material. There are also great new solutions for packaging, such as aluminium and paper bottles, and again many are locally produced to minimise carbon associated with transportation.

  •  Waste and the circular economy: Waste is arguably one of the cheaper things to reduce as it’s all about sussing out where your waste output can be put to good use. Can your organic waste be used as animal feed for local farms? Or used to fuel your biomass boiler? Or some of your chemical output as fertiliser? Or as fertiliser? And for your chemical waste – there’s options out there, you just need to find the right thing for your business.

And one final word on the circular economy. There are now systems out there that minimise packaging waste in distribution. ecoSPIRITS is one such system that has incredible potential. It’s a closed-loop system that pretty much removes single-use glass from the supply chain. It’s been about in the UK since 2020, and this year Mangrove bought the UK company and plant outright, so we now own and operate it. We did it, in part, because it’s the right thing to do, and also because I’m convinced alternative packaging is fast becoming a serious commercial advantage for producers.

The savings ecoSPIRITS brings about covers the liquid coming into venues and the waste that never has to leave them, right along the supply chain, and as the EPR levy bites (and landfill, collection and recycling costs climb) that saving only grows.

My call to action…

So, here’s my challenge to the trade. I understand the very real commercial challenges you face, and you haven’t been helped by any iteration of our recent governments. But a lot of these changes take time to implement, and if the best you can do right now is just plan what you want to do when finances allow, then that’s a great start. The penalties we now face for unsustainable practices are already starting to bite, and being greener is fast becoming a commercial advantage if you can muster the initial investment.

The weather isn’t going to hand us a quiet, predictable decade to get our house in order. In 20 years’ time, we’ll still be distilling great liquids from field to bottle, but what those fields produce might be a lot harder to come by. The sharpest operators, those who are going green now, will better weather the storm, but they’ll also contribute to a healthier planet for all. And that’s got to be a win, win scenario, right?

Nick Gillett is MD of Mangrove UK

• Spirits
• Mangrove
• producer
• Sustainability
• Distiller
• green
• carbon neutral
• circular economy