Green Retailer of The Year 2015
We are delighted to announce that we have been named Green Retailer of the Year at the Drinks Business Green Awards.
Green and Organic are our focus. Vintage Roots are the only UK company to have been importing and retailing exclusively a list of organic wines & drinks, since Neil and Lance set up the business in 1986. It’s exactly why we started and it’s what keeps us motivated to this day. We’re not perfect, but we aim to continue innovating and running an ethical, sustainable business, leading by example. And although this award is nominally for the last 12 months, it recognises our near 30 year commitment to green principles.
Neil Palmer and Lance Pigott
receiving The Green Retailer of The Year Award 2015
First and foremost, all our products are certified organic, they already come with that message and associated strong environmental credentials. Not only that, we rigorously select for quality, with all wines being tasted multiple times and at least once in ‘blind’ line ups by our tasting team. Taste, quality, and ultimately value are all critical factors to gain a place in our list. We aim to work only with the best and most committed producers and suppliers, and are lucky in that many of them actively seek us out.
We want to communicate the benefits of organic and biodynamic farming through the quality of our wines and drinks, many win awards and gain mentions, and last year we were pleased to have won Decanter Gold Medal and Trophy Award for our Argentinian Red Blend ‘Gaia’ from Domaine Bousquet. We’re really proud to have been successfully and profitably running a sustainable business since 1986. We’ve ridden out our third and possibly worst recession (2008) and have enjoyed a return to growth in this last year.
We’re not however, just content with listing great organic wines. We are also innovators in our field developing and maintaining some strong ‘own brand’ wines. For example our ‘Organic’ range (Blanc, Rouge, Tinto, Rosso and Bianco) launched back in 1998 and offers fantastic, great value wines from France, Italy and Spain. Our recently expanded range of ‘Wild Thing’ (White, Rosé, Red and Fizz) organic wines goes from strength to strength thanks to loyal support from our customers. A donation is made from every bottle sold to The Born Free Foundation to directly benefit conservation and animal welfare, with well over £10,000 being raised so far.
We’re serious about our carbon commitment too. Working with carbon management company ‘Carbon Clear’ since 2006 we believe we were the first UK company to carbon offset all our wine and beer imports, also finding out comparative carbon impacts for shipping from various countries around the world by road and sea. Since 2005 we’ve been powered by ‘Good Energy’, who supply energy from 100% renewable sources.
Within our wine list and via website (including this blog) we provide detailed information on all the issues. Organic and biodynamic naturally, but also sulphur and no added sulphur in wine, vegan and vegetarian and fair trade. By going further than other merchants, we provide symbols against all wines and drinks to help customers and consumers make informed choices.
We are delighted to have won this award, but it doesn’t mean we’ll be resting on our laurels; we are always looking for new products (many new wines and spirits coming later this summer!), and new initiatives that will benefit our business, our suppliers, our customers and the environment. Thank you for reading, and for your custom and support over the last three decades!