We are already New Zealand’s most sustainably certified wine producer, now we’re a Certified B Corporation too!
You’ll know by now that sustainability is at the core of everything we do. We even have, ‘certified sustainable & carbonzero’ on the front of our bottles! Well, we have something else to share with you… we are now B Corp Certified!
Yay! Woohoo!
But what does it mean? Well, by achieving a hard-earned B Corp Certification and verifying that we meet high standards of social and environmental performance, we are among businesses that are proving to the world that it’s possible to be commercially successful while benefiting people, communities and the planet.
Our GM, Sion (who led us through this process) is really pleased and believes that this latest certification helps us to work more successfully. He said, “Alongside our other sustainability accreditations, becoming B Corp Certified continues to improve our business at every juncture.”
Andrew Davies, the CEO of B Lab Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand even gave us a comment, saying, “Congratulations to Lawson’s Dry Hills on achieving B Corp Certification, joining 170 leading businesses in Aotearoa New Zealand and now over 9000 B Corps worldwide. Meeting our high global standards is challenging, especially in industries with complex supply chains and manufacturing processes like winemaking. Lawson’s Dry Hills’ certification independently verifies their ongoing commitment to sustainable wine production, people, and the planet.”
Being accountable and taking responsibility for environmental impact is not new to us. We joined Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand over two decades ago and then chose to adopt ISO standards, gaining independent certification for ISO14001 (Environmental Management) in 2011 and ISO14064 (Carbon Zero) in 2021.
“But what about the wines?” I hear you ask! Well, our brilliant 2024 vintage Estate wines have just been released, and we are super excited as it was such an amazing year. It was a bit cool around flowering so crop levels were lower, but the long, dry and sunny growing season meant we picked flavour-packed grapes in perfect condition. Winemaker, Marcus says, “This was our earliest ever harvest and perhaps our shortest as well and we’re really excited by the wines.”
Oh, and as the B Corp Certification applies across the business, it includes all our brands: Blind River, Inviniti, Mount Vernon and The Sisters as well as Lawson’s Dry Hills.