Moët Hennessey Puts All Its Global Clout Into Coping With Climate Change And Sustainability.

It has been extremely gratifying to see how the food-and-beverage industry, as much as any, is treating climate change and sustainability as a critical effort at what has been called a  tipping point in world history. In food and beverage, not least the wine industry, climate factors have always been crucial to their survival. As one of the biggest players in the global market, Moët Hennessey, the issues are paramount. I interviewed Sandrine Sommer, Chief Sustainability Officer of Moët Hennessy, to find out how they are taking care of business with an outlook on the near and far future.  

Why has MH put so much effort into sustainability?  

As the global leader in luxury Wines & Spirits with many iconic Maisons, we recognize our unique responsibility to our stakeholders and the planet as a whole. Since the era of our original founders, our mission has always been to ensure that people and nature coexist harmoniously – getting the best from the earth and giving back to it. Today, Moët Hennessy is accelerating sustainable development initiatives, articulating our commitments, and setting objectives involving all our employees, distributors, partners, customers, and consumers worldwide. Our sustainability program is a fantastic opportunity to innovate, so we can meet present and futures challenges together, thereby having a lasting positive impact on our industry.  

What is the PADV and how is MH involved? 

As part of our steadfast commitment to regenerating our soils, we enlisted the support of the PADV, a French NGO consisting of multiple experts in this field, to help us test and learn regenerative viticulture and agroforestry practices on different sites, which we have already begun in Champagne and Provence. This partnership allows us to benefit from the PADV’s expert network as we progress in technical areas and ensure we implement the right KPIs to measure our progress. We also teamed up with Reforest’Action, a company that works with partners and individuals to regenerate forests all around the world. One of our Champagne Maisons, Ruinart has dedicated 40 hectares of its historic vineyard to an agroforestry pilot project that will help promote biodiversity by providing habitats for fauna. Hennessy, our Cognac Maison, is particularly sensitive to reforestation as Cognac barrels are made of wood. Over and above its own sourcing, the Maison, in partnership with Reforest’Action, is participating in the regeneration of forests locally, nationally and internationally including in Europe, North America and Africa.  

 What is the Living Soils Living Together program? 

“Living soils Living Together” is our sustainability program that articulates our 4 major commitments: Regenerating our Soils, Reducing our Climate Impact, Being Committed to society, and Empowering our Talents. To help regenerate our soils, we continue to reduce treatments, carefully manage water supply and promote biodiversity everywhere. In terms of mitigating our climate impact, we continue our efforts to drastically reduce our carbon emissions, including eco-designing our packaging and marketing assets, opting for low-carbon transportation, decreasing energy consumption, and increasing the transparency and traceability of our activities. To engage society, we build awareness around the importance of Responsible Drinking, guarantee business integrity, and support the growth of local communities. Finally, we empower our teams by involving them in sustainability initiatives, and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in a spirit of solidarity and in the interest of the common good. 

  Has MH been sharing their scientific knowledge with other vintners/ distillers? 

We actively encourage partners and stakeholders in the regions where we operate to improve their sustainable development practices. In Champagne and Cognac, for example, we are supporting our winegrowers in achieving environmental certifications by providing training and other incentives. At Hennessy, we already only use only use biogas at our distilleries and are sharing this best practice with our distillers. At Belvedere, we intend to help our strategic raw spirit suppliers move from 100% to 0% coal dependency with a renewable energy plan. We are aware that we cannot act alone, which is why last year we presented our commitments during Vinexpo Paris to encourage the industry as a whole to get more involved. We will continue to share and capitalize on best practices. To this end, we will have an event in June 2022. More to come soon on this   

Although MH has not mvineyards in Bordeaux and Burgundy, is there a consensus that global warming will ultimate harm vineyards in Bordeaux and Burgundy (which could use more heat)? 

Global warming will change all our lives, and while we can already see its impact in our vineyards, we are working tirelessly to find ways to mitigate the situation: we built a new R&D center in Champagne dedicated to advances in sustainable development. We are also planting hedges and cover cropping in the vineyards, which promote biodiversity, but also adapt to climate change, as they provide humidity and shade in the summer and protect the vines against frost in the winter. 

 How do the Paris Agreement fit into all of this? 

If you are referring to the Paris Agreement, we are conscious of our key role and do our part to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celcius. Our consolidated carbon footprint target for 2030, for all our Maisons together, is to stay below the 1.5 trajectory, meaning to decrease up to 50 % our carbon emissions vs 2019. We know that it is ambitious, but we also are aware that we have no choice. Moët Hennessy’s President & CEO Philippe Schaus and the Executive Committee are fully supportive of our sustainability program and are making it a priority in all pivotal meetings at MH and within LVMH.  

How has your new luxury vodka Belvedere managed to reduce CO2 so dramatically? 

Belvedere’s natural and simple approach, is echoed in its new communication platform, Made with Nature. Beyond a campaign, Made with Nature speaks not only about Belvedere’s products and lifestyle, but also about its commitment to the Moët Hennessy sustainability program, Living Soils Living Together. In terms of CO2 reduction, already from 2012 to 2017, Belvedere cut energy CO2 emissions by 42% by shifting fuel sources. Then, in 2018, Belvedere became the first spirits distillery to receive a grant from the European Commission to pilot an ambitious green energy initiative that saw the installation of a biomass facility on site in Q1 2021. The new plant will start producing 100% renewable energy, subsequently reducing energy-related CO2 emissions by 80% for Belvedere. The biomass captured from production waste, notably natural by-product and heat recovered from the distillation process, will generate enough energy to supply both the distillery and neighboring businesses. – many of whom rely on burning coal for fuel. We are currently designing a plan to supply the power network of our Żyrardów, Poland hometown with green energy produced in-house starting by 2024.   

Why is Glenmorangie Scotch concerned about sustainability? 

Glenmorangie has been working on sustainability initiatives for many years, particularly with regard to reducing energy consumption and improving water quality. With two coastal distilleries, and in a conscious effort to reduce its impact on the environment, in 2017, the Glenmorangie Company installed an anaerobic digestion plant that is able to neutralize 95% of distillery waste before it enters the neighboring sea, known as the Dornoch Firth. The plant also reduces the distillery’s fuel oil demand by 15% by creating biogas and returning copper-rich fertilizer to the barley fields of Ross-shire. To address the remaining 5%, the team looked at bio-filters through an initiative they started in 2014. The Dornoch Environmental Enhancement Project (DEEP) is a collaboration between industry, academia and charity to restore native European oysters to the protected areas of the Dornoch Firth, as these organisms, which had been depleted from the waters by humans 100 years ago, are efficient biofilters. The Company’s long-term ambition with DEEP is to extend the numbers of oysters in the Dornoch to 200,000 over three years, then four million over five years, creating a 40-hectare, sustainable oyster reef.