Continuous Improvement, SWNZ | New Zealand Wine

The Sustainability Guardians programme has replaced the 'Sustainable Winegrowing NZ Continuous Improvement' programme as an industry driven initiative developed to cement New Zealand’s position as the world leader in sustainability.

The idea was seeded by feedback from New Zealand grape growers and wineries who wanted to see Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand evolve and have the opportunity to be recognised for sustainability achievements over and above the baseline.

Sustainability Guardians Focus Areas

Get a feel for the aspirations of the Sustainability Guardians programme, watch the video above. To find out more, click on the headings below.

The Sustainability Guardians Programme is a voluntary extension programme for NZ Winegrowers members. It offers a framework to support New Zealand grape growers and winemakers in advancing and recognising their sustainability commitments and achievements, in whichever areas are most important and relevant to them. In simple terms, the Guardians Programme is a template for finding more sustainable ways to run a vineyard or winery.

The Guardians programme has been developed to cement New Zealand’s position as the world leader in sustainability.

We know the demand for authentic verifiable sustainability credentials is growing from both retailers and consumers of high value wine. This is backed up by research. By joining the Guardians programme, New Zealand winemakers and grape growers will create their own new sustainability stories above minimum standards.

New Zealand Winegrowers has set aspirational industry goals for each focus area of sustainability (water, waste, pest & disease, climate change, people).

Members of the Guardians programme can choose to focus on the area of sustainability that is most relevant to their particular situation (region, business size, resources, etc.) and work to extend their sustainability commitments in that area. Members will then set and achieve their own goals that align with the industry aspirational goals.

The main focus of this programme is the formation of working groups for each of the five focus areas of sustainability. These working groups are designed to promote problem solving, innovation and peer-to-peer learning.