While many beverage alcohol brands have increased their commitment to more sustainable production and distribution, on- and off-premise operators are taking aim to lower their carbon footprints in different ways. These efforts range from carrying natural and sustainably made products to no-waste cocktails to special promotions that benefit earth-friendly initiatives.
For instance, hospitality and entertainment company Delaware North this past April partnered with The Bee Cause Project to promote education and awareness for the planet’s pollinators. From April 1 to May 20, the campaign offered guests at more than 100 Delaware North U.S. operating locations two specialty cocktails: the Bee’s Harvest Margarita, a premium Margarita made with Patron Silver tequila, and the Bourbon Bee’s Knees, made with Angel’s Envy Kentucky Bourbon whiskey.
The campaign also provided educational material via an interactive, augmented reality experience that was accessible on mobile devices from a QR code. Customers could answer trivia questions to learn about the importance of pollinators and share pollinator-themed facts and selfies on their social media channels.
Participating Delaware North operations include several Patina Restaurant Group locations at Disney Springs at Walt Disney World in Orlando; State Grill and Bar inside the Empire State Building in New York; select restaurants at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; Yavapai Lodge at Grand Canyon National Park; and Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, among others.
It’s the second year Delaware North has partnered with The Bee Cause Project during Earth Month to raise awareness about the impact of pollinators and the critical role they play in the environment and agriculture. For the 2024 campaign, which was expanded beyond Earth Month and featured a second beverage option, Delaware North donated $20,000 to the nonprofit organization.
Earth-friendly Agave Farming
Given the importance of pollination for Weber blue agave, a critical ingredient in tequila, Bacardi USA – the parent company of both Patron and Angel’s Envy – aims to limit the environmental impact on tequila production and protecting pollinators. It’s the first tequila distiller to be GLOBALG.A.P. (Global Good Agricultural Practice) Certified for meeting agricultural standards.
Indeed, sustainability is essential in the mezcal and tequila industries for several reasons, says Mike Moreno, co-owner of Moreno’s Liquors and Osito’s Tap in Chicago. “First, agave plants take years to mature, and overharvesting threatens their populations and biodiversity. Unsustainable farming degrades soil and can lead to deforestation. Additionally, production requires significant water use and generates waste, which, if not managed properly, harms the environment.
Mezcal production culturally relies on traditional, often indigenous, methods, and unsustainable practices jeopardize these customs. Moreno adds. “Economically, small-scale producers are at risk as large-scale operations dominate. Lastly, with growing global demand, sustainability ensures long-term viability and meets the increasing consumer preference for eco-friendly products.”
Greener Grapes
Sustainable is quite a broad category in wine, says Mark Patykewich, director of food and beverage and wine director for The Katharine at The Kimpton Cardinal Hotel, Winston-Salem, NC. “It can refer to anything from the packaging that the wine is shipped in to extreme practices in the vineyard that harken back to ancient winemaking methods focusing on minimal intervention.”
In its most common sense, sustainable wines are those made with great care for the environment — where vines are co-planted with other indigenous plants to encourage biodiversity and pollination, Patykewich says.
”Winemakers who are aware of their impact to the environment often use natural alternatives to pesticides,” he notes. “It is all about making decisions that make the soil and the land healthier for the future, not just focused on one singular harvest.”
In the winery, winemakers will often opt to do less and not add sugars or acid to wines. “The less human intervention, the better in sustainable winemaking!”
Patykewich believes that when consumers purchase a wine from a producer that’s focused on doing the right thing for the environment, they are voting with their wallets for a positive change to environmental practices. “Even if it is just one bottle, it’s making a difference,” he notes.
What’s more, sustainably produces wines are healthier, Patykewich says.
“They lack many of the chemicals and pesticides used by so many other winemakers,” he explains. “I wouldn’t go as far as to say it prevents a hangover, but it makes them a whole lot easier to stomach.”
Sustainability is vital to wine production’s long-term success, says Nick Pizzonia, vice president of Court Liquors in Long Branch, NJ. “It will help protect our natural resources such as water and energy.”
Growers are wrestling with climate change on a yearly basis, he notes, “and the former isn’t working so well. Some of the choices commodity farming has made have led to these problems.”
Monoculture, for example, “degrades soil health, is dependent on synthetic fertilizers and destroys ecosystems,” Pizzonia says. “Sustainable efforts can help reduce and even eliminate some of the concerns.”
Across all tiers, farmers, suppliers and retailers are making meaningful changes, whether it’s growers converting to organic and biodynamics or suppliers looking into to lighter-weight class and or recyclable packaging, says Pizzonia. “At the retail level, you are seeing buyers make a choice, stocking organic selections over commodity produced products.”
Do consumers really care about and support such sustainability efforts?
They care a great deal, according to Pizzonia. “We see in the everyday demand and our sales show it.” About 70% of Court Liquors’ wine sales come from sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines, vs. 30% from commodity wines, he says.
From Bottles to Boxes
Sustainable packaging is a another concern, as glass bottles greatly contribute to the wine industry’s carbon footprint. Bogle Family Wine Collection earlier this year launched Element[AL] Wines, a wine brand packaged in 750-ml. aluminum wine bottles that are lightweight, recyclable and made in the shape of a traditional wine bottle. Compared to shipping glass bottles, Element[AL] aluminum wine bottles, which are 80% lighter than an average glass wine bottle, save roughly 11,500 lbs. of weight per truckload for the same amount of wine, the company says. Element[AL] shipments can also fit 43% more cases of wine per truck while keeping the total load 3% lighter in comparison to glass.
To lessen its carbon emissions, Merriman’s Hawaii, which operates four restaurants throughout the Hawaiian islands, transitioned to lighter-weight bottles for all its wine-by-the-glass programs in 2023. But the company found that these bottles are often just 5% to 10% lighter, “and we wanted to make a larger impact,” says beverage director Jason Vendrell.
“The excess weight of the bottles uses additional fuel on the barges coming over the Pacific, then on the delivery trucks, then again on the recycling trucks,” he adds. “Since everything we bring to the Islands comes via boat, there is even more of a necessity for us to cut back on those emissions.”
That’s why Merriman’s just launched a boxed wine program with several California wineries. The company curated a special wine menu debuting this fall with Matthiasson Winery in Napa Valley, Melville in Santa Rita Hills and Linne Calodo in Paso Robles.
“We wanted to work with wineries that produce high-quality wines, who also value sustainable practices and minimizing their carbon footprint,” says Vendrell. “The program’s success requires that the quality of wine we serve is not compromised at all. By selecting these wineries, we can maintain our exceptional wine offerings while really making an impact.”
Chef Peter Merriman, who founded the company in 1988, has set a goal to make all Merriman’s locations carbon neutral. The initial rollout of the boxed wine program, which will also be available at Merriman’s sister locations at Handcrafted Restaurants, will replace 1,344 bottles with 336 boxes.
It will also decrease the company’s carbon footprint by more than 50%, due to the fuel used to ship and recycle traditional wine bottles. “We are dramatically lowering the carbon footprint on each leg of the trip, without negatively affecting the guest experience,” Vendrell says.
Low-/no-waste Cocktails
Bars are known for their waste, mainly from the by-products of fresh produce used for juice and drink garnishes. But several on-premise operators have implemented more sustainable practices.
For instance, all bartenders at Botanist restaurant in the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver, Canada, undergo sustainability training. They use closed-loop-oriented cocktail and ingredient creation, which aims for as close to zero waste as possible, with methods such as saving waste trimmings for citrus, fruit and vegetable garnishes to create syrups and using alternative acids instead of freshly imported citruses for a lower carbon footprint.
Superbueno in New York focuses on zero-waste drinks and repurposing cocktail by-products in the kitchen. For instance, the team uses plums cooked down into a syrup and strained for the Salted Plum & Tamarind Milk Punch; the fruit is then repurposed in the kitchen for the Salted Plum Donut.
The bar’s Adobada Bam Bam cocktail, created by Superbueno owner Igancio “Nacho” Jimenez, uses all of the pineapple: the juice; grilled skin, which is infused into the mezcal base; the remaining skin, which is used for a vinegar; and leftover pulp, which is mixed with maldon salt and guajillo pepper for the garnish.
A new bar program at Spago Beverly Hills incorporates kitchen scraps to create innovative drinks. Bar director Adam Fournier uses oyster shells, that would have otherwise been discarded, in an oyster shell vermouth infusion for the Walrus and The Carpenter Martini.
The bar also uses the banana skins leftover from making banana-infused oloroso sherry to create a banana oleo for a Piña Colada-style cocktail called Our Flag Means Death.
At Caletta, a new cocktail lounge and piano bar at Hotel Anna & Bel in Philadelphia, “our bar program is deeply committed to sustainability and minimizing waste, and one of the ways we do this is by cross-utilizing ingredients from the kitchen,” says beverage director Benjamin Kirk.
“This approach not only reduces waste but also enhances the creativity and flavor profiles of our cocktails, making them unique expressions of our ethos.”
For example, the Maria Carta is a stirred Appletini that uses nearly the whole apple. “We juice the apples for the fresh, crisp base of the drink, but we don’t stop there,” Kirk says. “The leftover apple pulp is dehydrated into a fine powder, which becomes a beautiful and flavorful garnish, ensuring that no part of the fruit goes to waste. This practice not only embodies zero-waste principles, but also adds an extra layer of texture and taste.”
Beyond specific cocktails, Caletta’s philosophy extends to the way they handle garnish fruit.
“Any fruit that doesn’t meet visual standards but is still perfectly usable is dehydrated and infused into bitters or incorporated into house-made syrups and liquor infusions,” says Kirk. “This not only eliminates food waste but also introduces unique, concentrated flavors to our drinks, making each sip distinct.”
Through these techniques, Caletta not only reduces waste but also elevates the cocktails by creating complex, layered flavors, Kirk adds. “The result is a sustainable bar program that aligns with our values of resourcefulness, creativity and collaboration.”
Melissa Dowling is editor of Cheers magazine, our on-premise sister publication. Contact her at mdowling@epgmediallc.com, and read her recent pieces, Announcing the 2024 Beer Growth Brands Awards.
