(originally posted on my LinkedIn)
First of all, thank you to the World Whisky Forum staff and everyone at Stauning Whisky for such a brilliant event! Thank you to the speakers for their presentations on everything from sustainable distilleries to warrior-cats riding unicorns. And above all, thank you to everyone who assisted, for sharing your points of view, knowledge, research, friendship, and delicious spirits.
Now, some thoughts on this year's subject of sustainability:
1) It is not an "all or nothing" scenario. Investing millions into a "sustainable", or at least energy-efficient or self-sufficient, distillery is a luxury. If you can manage it then you are an example to follow, but if you can almost manage it then you are also an example to follow. As Bastian Heuser said in his presentation: "reach for the low hanging fruits" and then grow from there. Start small and do what is right for your distillery, we know it's a long road but every step counts. And don't forget to ask for help.
2) Keep it real. Greenwashing, Diversity Washing, and Rainbow Washing are a thing. More than that, they are trending. Just look at transnational companies investing more millions into marketing than into real actions. If you are not sustainable just be honest and face it, and refer to point 1. Don't pretend to be something you are not. We'll know.
3) There is no "one size fits all". And there are many ways to approach sustainability: Energy, By-products, Natural Resources, Agriculture, Community, take your pick. Commit to it and don't worry about labelling it "sustainable". It's what you do, not what you market, and the only one who knows what is best for you and your goals is yourself.
4) Sustainability should not be judged in Eurocentric ways. Distilleries in "developing countries" such as the LATAM region, often have to deal with negative political scenarios and taxes of over 70% (e.g.: Mezcal in Mexico). They have to worry about survival. Sustainability is not at their core and demanding that it should be is just another Eurocentric (UK included) practice. However, that is not to say they shouldn't be sustainable. They definitely should! But how can we help them along the way? Share knowledge, stories, and contacts. Reach out to them and become allies if possible. They often don't know who to reach out to.
5) Whatever you want to do, do it with conviction, with honesty, and above all, with joy. Communicate your success as well as your failure, someone will learn a lesson from it and you are helping build a better community along the way.
Thank you for reading (or re-reading, if you had seen this first blog post before on my LinkedIn). Maybe I got something wrong, but hopefully I learnt a thing or two at the Forum and I'm onto something. I'm just happy to have met so many more people I can discuss this with.
Cheers everyone. 🥃
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