Since I started Songbird Wines in 2014, sustainability has been an important factor in how the company is run. We have never printed wine brochures which, I found working at previous companies, would more often than not be out of date within weeks of arriving from the printers and the majority would end up in the bin. We send our list to customers remotely and encourage our suppliers to do the same.
I also made an early conscious decision to make the majority of the portfolio wines from Europe, with very little offering from the Southern Hemisphere. This is not a reflection on the quality of wine being produced in South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina et all – there are some delicious wines from these countries. My reasoning is, why ship wines from halfway across the world when we have so much choice from Italy, Spain, France and the UK itself. Yes, Songbird Wines does list a few wines from the Southern Hemisphere (particularly for our on-trade customers) but these account for less than 10% of the portfolio.
All our packaging is made from recycled paper and cardboard and if we receive any non-recyclable packaging we ensure we use this again and encourage the recipient to do the same. For our tasting events we use reusable glasses rather than single use plastic.
We streamline all local deliveries to one day to keep our carbon emissions to a minimum.
Caring for the environment is an important part of our business but we are always looking for ways to improve. So, if you feel we can do even better then please let us know by contacting me, Jonny Wren, on jonny@songbirdwine.co.uk
