Ethics & Environment
The Winery of Good Hope is of course a business. However, it is also –and probably more importantly- a way of life, a team, a common ethic and a set of values. As much as we eschew competitions, medals, trophies and the craving for status that seem to drive many egos in our industry, we do seek official recognition for various other ethical and environmental aspects of our daily interaction with this land, its people, and the planet at large. Why ‘official’ recognition ? Simply because it is very easy, for purposes of marketing (or for ‘passing-off’ as a cynic once called Marketing) to claim to be environmentally-friendly or socially responsible, for example. However, unless you open yourself-up to the critical scrutiny of an independent accreditation agency or a sworn-auditor, abusive or exaggerated claims are both too easy and undeservedly rewarding.
Hand-sorting the 2011 TWOGH Pinot Noir
Over the course of the years, we have set ourselves targets in 4 critical areas of the non-business side of our Winery. They are listed below, in no particular order. Each of these facets has a particularly strong place in our collective spirit and together give healthy counter-balance to our often unreasonably passionate wine-side ! Certain of these subjects are becoming fashionable and are used in a tokenistic fashion to simply sell wine these days. We will stick to these principles when the next vogue appears and the less serene move on to greener pastures...
ENVIRONMENT
Actually, the South African wine industry has taken the lead in the international field in ecological and environmental regulatory matters. See the below extract from the IPW website:
Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) is a voluntary environmental sustainability scheme established by the South African wine industry in 1998. The 2000 vintage was the first to be certified under this scheme. Certification of IPW compliance falls under the jurisdiction of the Wine and Spirit Board (WSB), with a dedicated IPW office responsible for administering the scheme since its promulgation in 1998.
IPW complies with international wine industry environmental sustainability criteria, including the 'Global Wine Sector Environmental Sustainability Principles' as published by the International Federation of Wine and Spirits (FIVS) and the 'OIV. Guidelines for sustainable Viti-viniculture: Production, processing and packaging of products' as published by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV).
The production practices on farms and/or cellars of persons joining the scheme are evaluated and audited by the board.
Functions of the scheme for the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) are:
- to serve as a basis for the application of the principles of integrated production in the growing of grapes and the production of wine;
- to regulate the registration of farms where grapes intended for the production of IP wine are grown, and of cellars in which such wine is produced;
- confirm the correctness of indications relating to integrated production which are used in connection with the sale of such wine;
- to establish confidence in such indications when they are thus used.
An exciting development for the SA wine industry, since the 2010 vintage, is the new sustainability seal on environmentally-friendly produced South African wines. What does it mean? This seal means that the Wine and Spirit Board, appointed by the Department of Agriculture, certifies that:
- The vintage, variety and origin that are shown on the label are correct.
- The wine has been produced sustainably, in an earth-friendly manner.
- The wine can be traced all the way from the vine to the bottle.
- It was bottled in South Africa – so it is 100% South African!
There’s a video explaining it all. Click on here.
The Winery of Good Hope is a fully signed-up member of IPW and our most recent independent Audit was in December 2010 (there are annual self-audits and periodic independent or external-Audits). We go to extensive efforts, in all aspects of our Winery’s existence, to work in an ecologically-friendly manner and to ensure sustainable production methods. We have invested heavily -from the vineyards to the winery, to our waste water management system, to our packaging and even to our logistics- so as to create a virtuous loop for any customer or consumer buying or drinking any one of our wines.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC
Most people are aware of South Africa’s checkered political past and the enduring social inequities that it bequeathed on the nation’s current generations. The Winery of Good Hope, numerous years ago, set-up a Trust for the benefit of its (using the politically correct terminology) Previously Disadvantaged Individual (or PDI) employees. For the understanding of non South-Africans reading this, the term essentially refers to people of colour. The Trust is called LAND OF HOPE and, as the name suggests, it revolves around an extremely optimistic, positive and energetic spirit to create a bright future -and in particular for the children and dependents of our (PDI) team members. From the start, we focused on Education. This because we passionately believe that you cannot build a new society without giving the intellectual capacity to its youth to take themselves -let alone their community and their land- to the next level. The oppression of peoples over history has been economic as it has been intellectual as it has been over basic human rights. Giving the gift of a first rate education to every child or dependent of each of our PDI employees has been the best method we could envisage to reward our team for their loyalty, their beyond-the-call of duty work-ethic and their dedication over the 12 years we have been in existence. We wished to provide the means whereby they could ensure a better life with enhanced opportunities for their children than they or their parents knew before them.
The Land of Hope Trust is, beyond the mandatory taxes and levies imposed by government, our willing, voluntary and significant effort to help contribute as positively as we know how to the social and economic development of our staff, their families and our immediate community.
The Land of Hope Trust has won many awards, both for the ethics and efficacy of its concept and, importantly, for the quality of its work and its wines. Find-out more here: www.landofhope.co.za
BEE
What is BEE? For an official explanation, click here. It stands for BLACK ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT. Not to be confused with AA or affirmative action (although employment equity forms part of BEE). The base concept is to economically uplift the majority in South African society, meaning those previously disadvantaged and disenfranchised under Apartheid. It is official government and national state policy and is an increasingly prevalent reality across the economy and across the nation. BEE is now not only legislated into the South African system, it is regulated and applied, especially for any entity wishing to do business with government and state-owned companies or, increasingly, with any blue-chip corporate within the national economy.
The wine industry in the Cape is to this day a predominantly white-owned industry and BEE has yet to really take root in a significant or statistically relevant manner. However, off a very low base, there are an increasing number of black-owned wineries and wine brands, though these still count for a minority proportion of the industry’s production.
Since its inception, The Winery of Good Hope has stood for the type of employment equity principles for previously disadvantaged individuals that BEE now aspires to. Indeed, one of the great attributes of our team is its totally multi-racial and egalitarian composition, from bottom to top. This stands in fact as much for race as for gender. For many years we innocently went-about our own business, doing what we thought was right and just and we did not wait for legislation to be passed to tell us what to do. Even as our sector remains somewhat slow off the mark in relation to complying with BEE, and given that we had such a head-start, we decided to submit ourselves to the independent scrutiny of a full BEE Audit –if only to test our own methods and principles against the system which has been enacted, subsequent to the creed of our own creation. In September 2010 we submitted to an independent BEE verification and received an unqualified Audit. We are now the proud owners of our very own BEE certificate.
BEE Status Level: Level 3 Contributor
BEE Procurement Recognition Level: 110%
ETHICAL
South Africa has a dual agricultural economy: a well-developed commercial sector and a predominantly subsistence sector. About 12% of the country can be used for crop production. Some 1.3 million hectares (ha) are under irrigation. Wine farming in the Western Cape comprised +/- 107,000 hectares under vine in 2010.
Primary agriculture contributes about 2.5% to the gross domestic product (GDP) of South Africa and about 8% to formal employment. However, there are strong linkages into the economy, so that the agro-industrial sector comprises about 12% of GDP. The wine industry alone employs close to 300,000 workers, including wine tourism. Wine is South Africa’s biggest agricultural export, earning R2.75 billion in foreign exchange in 2010.
Hand-sorting grapes in the background, cleaning lug-boxes in foreground
Following the introduction of the South African constitution (in 1996) at the dawn of democracy here, regulations, conditions and working practices have been extensively legislated in order to protect the rights of all workers, including those employed in Agriculture.
The Winery of Good is a small, privately-owned Winery and a mere speck on the agricultural landscape of South Africa. However, in all we do, we strive to adopt a morally upstanding methodology and to -at all times- promote ethical and common sense practices in every aspect of our activity.
We learned about the concept behind WIETA (Wine Industry Ethical Trading Association) in the latter part of 2010, when researching Fair Trade and other such accreditation organisations. The Fair Trade model –probably the most widely-known internationally- does not necessarily fit well with all types of ownership and set-up and, in our case, we believe that WIETA bears far greater relevance to what we do and to how this impacts on our team and their well-being, not least in the context and the social history of South Africa.
According to the WIETA website:
WIETA’s mission is to improve the working conditions of employees in agriculture by:
- Formulating and adopting a code of good practice governing employment standards for those involved in primary growing and secondary production operations;
- Promoting the adoption of and adherence to the code of good practice amongst all producers and growers;
- Educating producers and workers on the provisions of the code;
- Appointing independent social auditors to ensure that members of the association observe and implement the code of good practice;
- Determining ways of encouraging implementation of and compliance with the code and determining measures to be taken in the case of non-compliance with the code.
The WIETA Code
What is contained in the WIETA code?
The code contains the following important principles:
- Child labour shall not be utilised
- Employment shall be freely chosen
- The right to a healthy and safe working environment
- The right to freedom of association
- The right to a living wage
- Working hours shall not be excessive
- Harsh or inhumane treatment is prohibited
- Unfair discrimination is prohibited
- Regular employment shall be provided
- Worker’s housing and tenure security rights will be respected
The code is based on the ETI base code and South African legislation, and sets out in more detail what each of the above principles entails within the agricultural context. Download the full document (pdf).
Having completed our Audit in November 2010, we received our full WIETA accreditation in March 2011.
SUMMARY
In summary, we do what we do because we believe it is right and not because it is politically correct, fashionable or expedient. This philosophy is the mirror-image of our approach to wine-making. The two winemaking & social faces of our winery coin articulate best what our true value is -and better than any marketing blurb. If you care about such things and if you enjoy our wine, then we are especially happy to meet you !