Viña Concha y Toro signs Bottle Weight Accord

By James Lawrence

Published: 13 November, 2024

Multinational wine producer Viña Concha y Toro has signed up to the Bottle Weight Accord, a pan-global agreement that aims to reduce the carbon footprint of wine packaging.

A key signatory of the Harpers Sustainability Charter, Viña Concha y Toro has committed to reducing the average weight of its 750ml still wine bottles to 420g or below by the end of 2026.

Today, over 50% of the total carbon footprint of wine emanates from the production and distribution of 75cl glass bottles, while global emissions from glass manufacturing amounted to 95 million metric tons in 2022.

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Launched in November 2023, the Bottle Weight Accord was drawn up by the Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) group, of which Argentina's Domaine Bousquet is also a member. The scheme was initially supported by a group of retailers, however, its signatories now include wine businesses across the whole value chain.

Viña Concha y Toro, whose holding group of wineries includes world-renowned wine brands Casillero del Diablo from Chile, Trivento from Argentina and Bonterra in California, produces circa 384 million bottles of wine annually.

“This is an important and valuable step for our business. As part of our overall Sustainability Strategy, VCT is already involved in many key initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint, and the fact that key retailers from around the world are also signatories to the Bottle Weight Accord gives it extra impact and influence,” said Valentina Lira, sustainability director, Viña Concha y Toro.

“We are confident that we are well on the way to the 420g average thanks to great efforts made by our product design, packaging, production and sustainability teams to date. This is just the first step for us as we look to continue reducing the weight of our bottles and incorporate new formats in the future. We will work closely with SWR to ensure we share our progress along the way.”

Dr Peter Stanbury, director of research at the SWR, added: "South America is one of the regions which historically has seen some of the heavier wine bottles used, so it is great to see Concha y Toro, a major player in the region, take the lead in committing to a lightweighting standard.

“We have had some great conversations, and it is clear that they have worked hard internally to get strong buy-in to sign the Bottle Weight Accord. We are delighted to have them aboard.”

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