Sustainability Across the Globe: BevZero’s Services and Equipment Bring Environmental, Operational, and Cultural Sustainability to Winemaking in the Low- and No-Alcohol Space

With an increasing awareness as to the energy and resources required to produce products, consumers want to know what it takes to make an amazing glass of wine. While sustainability is not a new topic, BevZero is deeply committed to cutting waste everywhere possible in the production of beverages, across many products and categories, particularly the growing low- and no-alcohol sector.

BevZero has been working for years to implement sustainability practices into each of its facility locations, with dedicated sustainability systems across production processes, equipment and management practices. Each location is affected by varying degrees of climate, water and energy challenges (cost, scarcity, and non-renewable), and the BevZero team across the globe is committed to improving its footprint. In addition to efforts at its own facilities to reduce environmental impact, BevZero understands that their customers struggle with the same challenges across their production processes and offer customized equipment solutions that improve sustainability - and their bottom line.

According to a McKinsey report, 33% of businesses are integrating a sustainability strategy to improve operational efficiency and drive down costs. But sustainability is more than a cost-saving business practice; it is a company ethos for our customers - and our team. Matt Hughes, General Manager, BevZero Services USA explains, “We are maintaining a track record of reducing the footprint of our operations and creating solutions for our clients as well.  For us sustainability doesn’t stop at our door.”

BevZero’s Global Commitment to Quality and Sustainability 

While consumers may think of the vineyard as the heart of the sustainable efforts of a winery, industry professionals know a lot can be done on the cellar side as well. BevZero is proud that its production facilities in the US, EU, and South Africa all carry quality certifications that ensure streamlined and efficient production processes that reduce waste of resources and materials, while delivering the highest quality products and services.

For example, its Spanish facility recently received top environmental certification ISO14001, validating a long series of sustainability improvements, including equipment and processes resulting in reduced emissions and energy and water savings. Gustav Fouche, Managing Director, BevZero South Africa, applies this trend to his facility, explaining, “Power and water savings are the most important— as well as the management of natural resources. These are areas where BevZero is working to build out a long-lasting low-waste approach.”

BevZero’s South Africa location has also implemented a zero-waste process at its facility, where its wastewater is sent to the adjacent winery’s water treatment plant and used in the grazing fields next to the cellar. Their US location is exploring and implementing ways to convert waste process water to byproduct water onsite rather than having to send off-site for further processing—saving energy and resources. Globally, BevZero is exploring solar power that could be used to offset a large portion of its operational energy use. Strong and innovative processes like these will always be at the forefront of BevZero’s quality and sustainability efforts across global operations.

How BevZero’s Equipment Serves Its Customers Sustainability Initiatives

BevZero’s best in class equipment offerings such as VinFoil tank mixers, PolarClad tank insulation, and GoLo dealcoholization technology offers its customers operational efficiency improvements including energy, labor, and water savings, helping to provide financial and environmental sustainability to wine producers globally.

BevZero’s equipment is a first line of defense against the sometimes exorbitant amount of energy needed to produce products in warmer regions like Australia, California, and South Africa. PolarClad alone provided Mondavi wineries with a 5-figure annual energy bill savings in a case study. This highly efficient tank insulation system can reduce the energy needed to keep products at a safe holding temperature by thousands of dollars each year and is also made of environmentally friendly materials.
Other equipment like the VinFoil tank mixer, custom fabricated for each tank, reduces the mixing time to turnover a tank, saving time and money, with an average energy savings of over 80%. The GoLo dealcoholization system is designed with sustainability and reduced consumption in mind. With the ability to operate in a single pass, it uses less energy than multi-pass systems, using a minimal amount of water.

Cultural Sustainability

In addition to resource, energy and water savings implemented in its facilities and offered by its equipment, BevZero knows that sustainability extends to the community as well, in its wellness and quality of life.  The effects of each effort of improving environmental impact help the world and communities as a whole.

According to GlobalData, 16% of consumers are actively trying to reduce their consumption of alcoholic drinks globally, while 39% say they only consume alcoholic drinks “in moderation”. As more and more consumers are reducing alcohol intake in pursuit of a more balanced lifestyle, they are finding they don’t have to stop drinking things they enjoy. BevZero believes that achieving greater balance is part of individual and cultural sustainability, and we are proud to be building low and no-alcohol beverages that contribute to that ethos.

“Our ongoing efforts to reducing our impact on the environment is one of the keys to the success and future of our company”, reiterates BevZero President and CEO Jerome Eckert-Nathan. “It is the right thing to do for our customers, our communities, and ourselves.”

For more information about BevZero visit www.bevzero.com .