StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/48975
Selling Sustainability Sustainable production and stewardship are aspects that savvy operators include in the stories they tell. By Dan Bolton F or many operators selling small-production wine and spirits is straight forward, however explaining how they may be locally sourced isn't always so easy. "Customers do care and they frequently ask these questions but the answer is too complex for a sound bite," says Allison Jordan, executive director of the San Francisco-based California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA). People "see the connection to the soil and they care how a business operates within the community but there are complicated tradeoff s involving conservation, commerce and competition for resources," she notes. "Sustainability is like love and democracy [and has] multiple meanings, not always perfectly realized, but always struggled for, at least by most of us," says Denise Lach, a sociology professor at the Corvallis-based Oregon State University who is also co- director of the university's Center for Water and Environmental Sustainability Department. "We do agree, basically, on what it is. We disagree when we must make specifi c choices in our lives." CSWA relies on a Venn diagram, of overlapping circles, depicting the multiple needs of economics, environment and community. Jordan says it's easy to see but try to explain the balance of soil, pesticides, energy effi ciency, carbon footprint, greenhouse gases, water conservation and the social component; how you treat employees and neighbors and the importance for future generations that produce wine: "Th ere is just too much in the mix," she adds. Contents Selling Sustainability . . . . . . . Sustainable production and stewardship are aspects that savvy operators include in the stories they tell. By Dan Bolton View from the Front Lines. . . . . . . 6 On- and off -Premise Operators comment on their views of green beverage alcohol products. Survey Says: We're Going Green! . . 10 Reader Responses from the on-premise, off -premise and control state executives. The Green Wine Report . . . . . . . 13 A study of off -premise stocking in metro U.S. markets. The Industry Goes Green . . . . . . 15 . . 3 MAKE IT SIMPLE "Sell the quality. Th is is about making a better wine. Sustainability is a megatrend, similar to industrialization or the introduction of computers. Sustainable production and stewardship are facets of quality that retailers should include in the sales story they tell customers," says Jordan. Napa-based Honig Vineyard president Michael Honig agrees. "Selling sustainability is no diff erent from selling single malts and craft beers. If you are not willing to put the eff ort into learning about these products, then customers will be going down the street to the next retailer that is!" If wineries provide pos materials with the sustainability message and retailers should know the story and tell it, he says. "Keep it simple," he advises. "Some retailers over-analyze it in the collateral. Bullet points will do. We display certifi cation symbols and recommend that retailers include this information in the collateral material they send out," he says. GREEN EVOLUTION NURTURES A PROMISING NICHE 3