Committing through Time
Sustainable Exception
Firmly committed to reducing its carbon emissions and achieving Net Zero by 2050, Rémy Cointreau is encouraging all of its partners to sustainably improve – or even better transform – their practices. Its target-focused action is spearheaded by a carbon trajectory based on tangible operational levers. The Group is reducing the energy consumption of its production sites and switching its distilleries to renewable energy.
It is also redesigning its bottles to reduce their impact, promote new modes of consumption, and optimise its distribution flows by prioritising low-carbon modes of transport.
1/ Reducing carbon footprint
A combination of creativity, pragmatism and determination is driving Rémy Cointreau’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. A whole raft of actions undertaken within the Group and Maisons is geared towards a more circular and low-carbon economy: reduction of emissions linked to the production of agricultural raw materials; transport; reduction of energy consumption; increase of the supply of renewable energy; eco-design of bottles and then their recycling and re-use, the list goes on.
15%
Rate of reduction of CO2 emissions (scopes 1, 2, 3) in line with an SBTi target, in absolute value and down 5% since the benchmark year (2020-2021)
79%
of products sold without secondary packaging (up 58 points in 4 years)
38%
Rate of renewable energy consumption (stable)
Our actions
Using lighter-weight bottles
The Group aims for 80% of its bottles to be eco-redesigned by 2025. By late March 2024, it hit the 66% mark. Telmont, which already offers the lightest champagne bottle on the market, has again broken the mould by releasing its “193,000 shades of green”: the Maison decided that, rather than discarding glass that did not meet colour standards when shifting from one shade to another, it would use it, thereby creating a broader colour palette, from green to cinnamon.
At Bruichladdich, the new bottle for The Classic Laddie is a feat of ecodesign three years in the making: the distillery scrapped the metal box, lightened the bottle by 32%, used 60% recycled glass in the bottle and enhanced their design to optimise bottles’ distribution. These efforts combined have slashed the bottle’s carbon emissions by a whopping 65%.
Partnering up to improve the sustainable use of glass
Verallia France, the leading producer in Europe and third-leading worldwide of glass packaging for food and drink, is helping Rémy Cointreau meet its target to reduce its carbon footprint. In May 2023, the two companies announced their partnership, focusing on producing more lightweight bottles and increasing the share of recycled glass in the Group’s liqueur and spirit bottles. Indeed, a 10% increase in the volume of recycled glass used represents a 5% reduction in CO2 emissions.
In recent years, the higher proportion of cullet used in Verallia’s furnaces has already drastically reduced the environmental impact of our spirit bottles, notably Rémy Martin VSOP and Cointreau, whose bottles now contain over two thirds of recycled glass.
Running circular projects
Rémy Cointreau is rolling out its “One Bottle for Eternity” initiative through three pilot projects led by its Maisons to explore different dimensions of circularity:
– Mount Gay has been testing a deposit return system in Barbados since 2022. By the end of March 2024, 13% of bottles sold on the island of Barbados were returned and resold. The medium-term target is 30% to 40%. CO2 savings are estimated to be around 60% per bottle returned and refilled.
– in 2024, the Group signed a four-year global contract with ecoSPIRITS. This partnership aims to promote greater circularity for containers at on‑trade outlets (bars, restaurants, hotels): 4.5-litre ecoTOTES are supplied and once emptied are collected, washed and refilled locally. This has resulted in a 30% to 50% shrinkage of rear storage areas and a 95% reduction of daily glass and cardboard waste for establishments participating in the project.
2/ Conducting solidarity-based climate actions
The Group is fully committed to its plan to reduce the carbon footprint of its activities. Above and beyond these actions, it also strives to closely support countries where it operates by championing solidarity-based climate actions that promote environmental and energy transition, and mitigate the effects of climate change on local communities.
75,000
hectares of natural ecosystems preserved or regenerated in partnership with South Pole
Our actions
Supported by the South Pole agency to identify solidarity-based climate projects, the Group is co-funding six certified projects in the US and China, in the areas of renewable energy, sustainable management and forest restoration. In addition, it supports initiatives to protect territories and communities most vulnerable to climate change.
In China, the Group is contributing to the development of facilities powered by renewables to replace coal plants and the construction of 100 hydroelectric plants to supply low-carbon energy to local rural communities.
In the US, Rémy Cointreau Americas is supporting, for example, the Pierce Conservation District with the restoration of riparian forests (woodland adjacent to a body of water). Last but not least, it is helping the Boone County Conservation District in its efforts to manage the Appalachian Mountains more sustainably.
Through its actions, the Group is doing its part to preserve 75,000 hectares of natural ecosystems and over 25 protected species, including stags, black bears and wapitis.
3/ Committing the Group to a more sustainable water resource management approach
The rapid escalation of temperatures causes water scarcity that alters our terroirs, their seasonality and their resilience. The Group is therefore taking steps in its production chain to preserve and save water resources.
-19%
Volume of water consumed at our production sites (vs 2022 in absolute value)
-20%
2030 target for volume of water consumed per litre of alcohol produced (vs 2022-2023)
Our actions
Water reduction targets at all our production sites
The Group aims to reduce its total volume of water consumption per litre of alcohol produced by 20% by 2030-2031 compared to 2022-2023. After a survey at each site, flow meters and water meters were installed. A roadmap was also defined containing water reduction targets linked to four key actions: increase measurement points across the production chain, eliminate leaks, improve water recovery and increase opportunities for water reuse.
Agroecology: a solution for building more water stress‑resilient terroirs
The most water-stressed regions in which the Group operates are presently the Mediterranean Basin (where we grow oranges and vines) and, to a lesser extent, the AOC Cognac. By converting to agroecological practices, all the Group’s estates and, in the long term, its supplier farmers and winegrowers should see increased soil water retention in dry periods and improved preservation of water resources overall. This will allow for a more resilient supply of critical raw materials as the effects of climate change evolve.
Preparing for water shortages
The Charente region in France was put under drought alert in July and August 2023. In the Charente’s drainage basin, the average deficit between water consumption and availability is currently 10%, with the potential to hit 40% by 2050. Accordingly, in July 2022 the board of the Union générale des viticulteurs pour l’AOC Cognac (UGVC) took the decision to ban the extraction of groundwater for irrigation purposes. But the Cognac industry needs water, both as an ingredient and in the distillation process. The Group has therefore entered into a two-year partnership with WWF to come up with ways to bolster its water roadmap and explore opportunities and actions to promote regenerative hydrology practices in the region.