The amount of plastic waste floating in the world’s oceans corresponds to a surface area three times the size of France, with plastic accounting for more than 85% of marine litter.
This shocking statistic was just one of the reasons which prompted the Bordeaux co-operative Tutiac, France’s largest producer of appellation d’origine contrôlée wines, to team up with cork producer Viventions and grocery chain Sainsbury’s to launch the Help Protect the Ocean campaign, which aims to slash the amount of plastic ending up in the world’s seas.
Tutiac is helping to support the Help Protect The Ocean campaign
Under the initiative, plastic waste (called Ocean Bound Plastic – OBP), is collected from rivers and beaches to prevent it from ending up in the sea and is recycled and turned into fully recyclable corks by Viventions. Each cork contains eight grammes of OBP, the equivalent of around one and a half plastic bags, and Viventions is working to increase that content even further.
This summer Tutiac, which was established in 1974 and has 5,400 hectares of vines across 150 chateaux with six production facilities, launched two wines under the Help Protect the Ocean banner using the new, environmentally friendly closures. These include a Sauvignon Blanc and a Merlot, with 200,000 bottles earmarked for the UK market.
The co-operative claims this initiative will help to prevent nearly two tonnes of OBP from polluting oceans around the globe in the first two years of production just for the UK and France. Given the positive feedback received so far, the company is planning on introducing a rosé to the range for next year. It is also in discussions with other UK grocery retailers to list the range.
“There is definitely a great opportunity for rose next year,” confirms Tutiac’s export manager for Europe, Alistair Stephenson. “However, it was important for us to launch in Sainsbury’s first, as we have been working with them for over 15 years, and they are one of our biggest clients in terms of sales.”
Taking action
Tutiac's range of Protect The Ocean bottles
OBP is made from plastic waste such as discarded fishing nets in coastal locations and urban waste in seaside towns, which is collected upstream of oceans, and which has a very high risk of migrating and polluting oceans over the long term, hence the need to intervene upstream to avoid pollution.
The waste is currently collected mainly in North East Asia, where there is little to no recycling of waste, and its organisation is managed by the NGO Zero Plastic Oceans.
But what prompted winemaker Tutiac to get involved in such a project?
“We are the first producer of organic wines in Bordeaux, and we make non-residual pesticide wines. We were trying to find something that mattered at a global level and not just at a local level within the vineyard,” explains Tutiac’s marketing manager Damien Malejacq.
The idea for the initiative was originally sparked by a conversation with Sainsbury’s, whom Tutiac supplies with wine for the retailer’s Taste the Difference Bordeaux range.
“Sainsbury’s said they were looking for something that can help the planet, but something that the UK consumer would be able to understand in literally five seconds,” explains Stephenson. “While there are a lot of concepts out there to buy this and get that, customers want something real. We have worked with Sainsbury’s for many years, so it was important for us to launch with them.”
After much head scratching, Malejacq eventually came up with the idea of doing something to help conserve the oceans which are under threat from plastic waste and which consumers could readily understand. Conversations with cork producer Viventions followed, and after two years the global concept of Save the Oceans was dreamed up.
How it works
Plastic is collected from rivers in areas of the world such as Asia where there is currently little or no recycling or plastic collection, to avoid it ending up in the oceans.
“In Europe we already have a lot of recycling initiatives, but that’s not the case in Asia where the carbon footprint isn’t exactly the best,” says Malejacq.
But simply switching the cork to a recyclable stopper wasn’t enough for Tutiac – they have gone several steps further ensuring the paper the label is printed on is made of recycled paper and is recyclable. The bottle, at 410 grammes, is also lightweight.
“We are trying to get that even lower and working on a 360 gramme bottle for the next batch which will be the lightest on the market,” explains Malejacq. “We are also working on the shape so we can use less glass and reduce the weight even further.”
It is also planning on reducing the weight of its bottles across its portfolio, not just those that are part of the Save the Oceans initiative.
“All of our ranges will be in the 410 gramme bottles, and this will be our first at 360 grammes – the lightest on the market,” he says.
Any lingering concerns that lightweight bottles are associated with value wines are dismissed by Malejacq. “I think that’s quite an old-fashioned view, and is less and less the case, because there are so many more lightweight bottles around,” he says. “Consumers increasingly accept lightweight bottles and understand the concept and reasons behind it.”
Not only have the bottles been reduced in weight, but the bottle caps have been modified to ensure they do not contribute to plastic waste. Made from sugar cane waste, they come with an easy open tab to prevent littering. ”This way we have avoided the creation of yet more plastic waste and contributing to the problem we are trying to resolve,” says Malejacq.
Good start
Tutiac’s marketing manager Damien Malejacq said it wanted to back an initiative that would have a global as well as local impact
While it has only been just over a couple of months since the wines were launched in Sainsbury’s in mid-August, Tutiac says they have already received excellent feedback, with the wines receiving favourable reviews from the retailer’s customers.
Tutiac already has plans to roll out the project further. “The bigger the better,” says Stephenson. “We are ready to launch a rosé next year, and the more we sell, the more plastic we will take out of the oceans, and we hope to multiply the initiative with our clients."
Other varietals are also being considered for the initiative, including Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon though that is dependent to some extent on Sainsbury’s. However, Stephenson is keen to stress that while the wines are currently listed exclusively at Sainsbury’s, this is definitely a Tutiac initiative piloted by the company.
“We wanted something that was really strong, not just paying lip service and greenwashing,” adds Stephenson. I don’t think there are enough initiatives within the wine industry.”
But it was also important that any environmental project was also affordable, to both the client and the consumer. Both wines are currently available in the UK in Sainsbury's, and retail for £10, though were on promotion at £8 when they were first launched. ”It’s a quality wine but still affordable," claims Malejacq. “That’s the sweet spot for us.”
However, Tutiac want to see the range listed more widely, and are currently in talks with other retailers. And they are also looking beyond the off-trade, and looking to get the wines listed in the on-trade too in tandem with its UK importer, Bibendum.
“We are planning on talking to the national pub groups, though it is very early days,” says Stephenson. “We are just trying to get the message out there, and it’s a very exciting time. We have a good concept and Damien has done a great job.”
The producer is also looking to roll the project out to other overseas markets, including Belgium, Canada, Japan and the US.
“We are currently in talks with the biggest supermarket in Belgium and a multiple retailers in Ireland, and also at the pre-selection stage in Canada, so it’s all up for negotiation,” adds Stephenson.
* You can find out more about Tutiac at its website here.
* For more details on the Help Protect the Ocean campaign click here.
