B Corp certification rewards companies whose aim is to be a positive and regenerative force for the environment and the community
Sorbo Serpico (AV), June 27, 2022 – Feudi di San Gregorio, southern Italy’s leading winery and one of Italy’s leading wine brands, has been awarded B-Corp certification, the most important in the world, thus confirming its pathway towards a sustainable business model.
B-Corp certification is just one of the steps of a pathway undertaken long ago by Feudi di San Gregorio and is part of an investment plan worth around 25 million euros implemented over the last five years. The designation comes after the company’s transformation into a Benefit Corporation in May 2021, its obtaining Equalitas certification from the Ministry of Agriculture last August, and its becoming a founding member of Co2alizione Italia, an initiative of a small group of leading companies that have decided to commit to carbon neutrality, an objective they have included in their statutes.
The company has developed a number of projects in recent years. These include the implementation of increasingly low-impact cultivation methods – developed in partnership with national and international research centres – the adoption of increasingly sustainable packaging components, the exclusive use of energy from renewable sources and the investment in social projects, such as joining the San Gennaro Foundation as a founding member. The certification covers the entire Tenute Capaldo Group: the winery in Irpinia, the two organic estates – Campo alle Comete in Bolgheri and Basilisco in Vulture – and the two Marennà brand restaurants (in the winery itself and at Capodichino airport).
“Achieving B Corp certification is a great encouragement to continue working in different directions,” comments Antonio Capaldo, President of Feudi di San Gregorio, “whilst respecting our suppliers and customers, our daily work and the economic and social objectives of the company. It is also the recognition of our commitment to sustainable action, in environmental, social and economic terms, whilst seeking to preserve the beauty of our territory and the integrity of our community so we leave the world a little better than we found it”.
“In the coming years,” Capaldo continues, “we will aim to further consolidate our Group, by creating an ever-stronger interdependence with our suppliers and customers. In particular, we will present a new initiative in support of the San Gennaro Foundation, work on energy recovery from all processing waste, and make the vegetable garden of our restaurant Marennà a major attraction for families. During the Christmas period, moreover, thanks to our collaboration with the large-scale retail trade, we will involve consumers in our sustainability pathway by offering them packaging in FSC-certified paper – instead of wood – on which we will explain our choices”.
B Corp Certification identifies companies that operate in accordance with the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, transparency and responsibility, in order to generate a positive impact on their employees, the community and the environment. B Corp standards, which ensure a continuous and concrete measurement of a company’s performance on the various points of its sustainability programme, are today the most widespread but also the most rigorous in the world. Out of over 100,000 companies assessed to date, only 3% met the requirements of excellence established by B-Lab, the international body that awards the certification. In Italy, there are about a hundred B Corp companies. With the B-Corp certification, achieved among other things thanks to the support of Nativa Regenerative Innovation Company, Feudi di San Gregorio confirms its intention to continue to achieve ambitious and measurable goals in the field of sustainability.
Paolo Di Cesare, Nativa co-founder, comments: “The B Corp movement started over 15 years ago to demonstrate that companies can generate a positive impact for people, communities and ultimately the planet. Today, with over 5,000 certified B-Corps and over 200,000 companies using the same standards, we have reached a turning point, understanding that sustainability is not a practice or a process but the company as a whole. Congratulations to Feudi di San Gregorio which, through becoming a B Corp, demonstrates its commitment towards a new business paradigm according to which not only the profit generation but the value creation for all shareholders plays a central role”.
About Feudi di San Gregorio
Since its foundation back in 1986, Feudi di San Gregorio winery has been enhancing the value of indigenous Campania grape varieties such as Greco, Fiano and Aglianico. The winery has studied and researched its terroir, Irpinia (the central part of Campania), which is historically well-suited to growing vines of the highest quality. Today, Feudi works over 300 hectares of vineyards fragmented in over 800 plots which differ in altitude, exposure and slope. Each parcel is specifically studied and vinified to magnify Irpinia diversity potential and allow the creation of its extraordinary crus. With over 30 million euros in turnover, very solid brand awareness and export to more than 50 countries around the globe, Feudi is the leading winery in southern Italy. The experience has prompted the Capaldo family to explore the wine potential of other regions of Italy too, as part of the “Tenute Capaldo” project which encompasses a series of wineries with the same founding values of long-term vision, a local approach, and a client centric culture. The Group spans the following territories: DUBL – a classic method sparkling wine from Campania; Campo alle Comete – a bulwark of Tuscany from Bolgheri; Basilisco – an organic winery in the Vulture area (Basilicata). All of these wineries share the same values of making fine wines as a product of their local terroir. Backed by an invested capital of more than 80 million euros and ongoing study and research, Feudi is much more than just a winery: it is a venue for meeting and being together, a laboratory for ideas, art and culture. Feudi’s penchant for art and design, thanks to the fruitful collaboration with great Italian masters, has always been distinctive. In May 2021, Feudi di San Gregorio changed its legal status into a Benefit Company with the ultimate aim of safeguarding and promoting the natural environment, and the social and cultural heritage of the Irpinian territory and its community. In August 2021 it has obtained the Equalitas Corporate certification and from now on is part of the B Corp Community.
