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Seed the Future: Sogrape Boldly Reinforces Its Commitment to Sustainability

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Portugal’s Preeminent Family-Owned Wine Company’s Global Approach Defines Sustainable Development Priorities Through 2042  

March 2023 – Avintes, Portugal | Sogrape announces Seed the Future, its Global Sustainability Approach, which represents and reinforces the company’s commitment to a more responsible, inclusive, and quality future. As Sogrape approaches its 100th anniversary (in 2042), Seed the Future was developed to establish commitments and goals for the coming years and serves as Sogrape’s invitation to all its stakeholders to participate in a journey of long-term value creation. 

Leading the development and implementation of the program is Mafalda Guedes, a 4thgeneration family member and Sogrape’s Corporate Brand & Communications Manager: “Sogrape and the Guedes family share the purpose of bringing friendship and happiness to everyone we touch through our wonderful wines, from the people who work in our vineyards to the consumers around the world who enjoy our wines. Seed the Future represents a dream started by my great-grandfather and a legacy built throughout three generations of my family, which we want to perpetuate into the future. This will only be possible by being a catalyst for positive societal change, while respecting the limits of our earth.” 

Sogrape has always focused on conducting business responsibly, and Seed the Future outlines concrete commitments and goals for the planet, wine heritage and people in three phases between 2021 and 2042. The program was developed with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals serving as a blueprint to maximize its global impact, and outlines efforts to be implemented throughout all Sogrape’s business units in its various countries and across the value chain. 

Seed the Future is built around three pillars of intervention: 

  1. Pave the way to a healthier planet:Transforming how Sogrape operates and investing smartly to reduce its environmental footprint. This includes taking actions involving the entire supply chain to have a relevant impact and implementing initiatives that positively impact nature and biodiversity.
  2. Safeguard Sogrape’s legacy on its journey into the future:Fostering wine heritage through preservation, research & development, and innovation, accelerating the transfer of technology and knowledge in the wine sector. This includes equipping communities and winegrowers with the skills, knowledge, and resources to produce wine sustainably and viably in the future.
  3. Inspire happier and more responsible lives:Ensuring relationships with employees, customers, and communities are based on integrity, ethics, and responsibility. The program extends to the company’s stakeholders through an active contribution to women’s empowerment, the implementation of additional benefit programs for employees, and by reaching out to more people with messages raising awareness for moderate and responsible alcohol consumption. 

Within these three pillars, Seed the Future abides by a series of commitments and goals that Sogrape aims to achieve within each phase of the program. Phase One targets – to be reached by 2027 – include (but are not limited to):

  • Cut total emissions by 50% (ton C02/750ml bottle)
  • Increase in-house carbon storage to attain carbon neutrality
  • Source 100% renewable electricity across global operations
  • Work with 100% of Sogrape’s farmers to help them become more economically and environmentally sustainable
  • Accelerate the transfer of technology and knowledge in the wine industry to at least 5,000 users
  • Actively contribute to the empowerment of 100 women every year

“As a family born into wine, we are connected to the land, to the water, and to the people in every single region where we operate. But above all, we are committed to sustaining our planet for future generations and to ensuring that wine and its culture can be preserved for those who come after us. Because more than a business, for us wine has always been and always will be a way of life,” says Mafalda.

For more information about Seed the Future, visit https://sogrape.com/sustainability

About Sogrape 

Founded in 1942 by Fernando Van Zeller Guedes, Sogrape was born to demonstrate the quality of Portuguese wines to the world. From a single winery in the Douro Valley focused on the production of Mateus rosé – Portugal’s first truly global wine brand – Sogrape has become Portugal’s largest wine company and an exemplar in balancing respect to tradition with cutting-edge winemaking and innovation. Today Sogrape has a presence in more than 120 markets, over 1,600 hectares of vineyards in Portugal, Spain, Chile, Argentina and New Zealand, and over 30 brands in its portfolio.

Headquartered in Avintes under the leadership of Fernando da Cunha Guedes, current President and 3rd generation of the founding family, Sogrape aims to spread its collaborative spirit and zest for life through the wines it shares with the world and ongoing investments into its people and communities. The 4th generation is also making its mark, with Mafalda Guedes leading Sogrape’s Global Sustainability Approach, which was launched in 2021 to be a catalyst for positive societal change and drive the wine industry toward a sustainable and inclusive future.

 

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