At the end of last year, The Uncommon became the first UK wine company to be certified as a B Corporation (B Corp).
Established in October 2017 – with its first vintage released in 2018 – by Henry Connell and Alex Thraves, the B Corp certification validates The Uncommon’s dedication to sustainability and the co-founders’ mission to make high-quality wine the right way. “We were very aware that the world didn't need another wine, but we wanted to start the conversation about sustainability in the UK wine industry,” Henry Connell, co-founder of The Uncommon, told Forbes. “We started small and focused on what we could control and influence immediately – grape growing, winemaking and packaging. Once we had this process in place, we started thinking about our wider sustainability ambitions – to become the most sustainable wine brand in the UK.
The founders' entry-level position in the wine industry – coming from backgrounds in design and consulting – encouraged them to ask questions and thus challenge the status quo – something Connell says an experienced winemaker might not have done. During these early days of wine R&D and training, Connell and Taves realized the amount of waste in the world of wine.
“We farm the land intensively, we have AOCs (such as Champagne or Stilton) that restrict production volumes so that healthy grapes are left on the vine, we press the grapes lightly and only process the free juice (wasting good quality presses), we have a controlled temperature,” explained Connell. “Storage and heavy, fragile glass packaging that is susceptible to damage by air and light is then wrapped in protective single-use materials and shipped worldwide,” he said, adding their discovery during this time that more than 500 million liters of wine was lost every year in the UK Now that number is approaching a billion liters per year, which represents businesses and households. “As outsiders, it was easy for us to question this,” Connell added.
Exposure to the harsh reality of waste in the world of wine influenced The Uncommon Foundation, with the company becoming the first winery to make wine in the UK, through a process powered by renewable energy (four on-site wind turbines, solar panels and heat pump technology using water from disused mines), All while allowing for the absence of single-use packaging materials. The company has also created a fully local supply chain, with certified sustainable vineyards located in the south of England, ensuring a low carbon footprint.
The B Corp certification recognized The Uncommon's sustainability efforts to date, but also justified the entirety of its business operations; B Corp is a multi-faceted review across five key impact areas, including governance, workers, community, environment and customers. A company must demonstrate socially and environmentally responsible practices in all categories to achieve a benchmark score of over 80 and a maximum of 200 points. “People think B Corp is all about the environment, but the bulk of the questions are about the community and the workers. “Maybe it's a cliché, but we really want people to enjoy working for us and we really want to have a positive impact on our community,” Connell said. Pointing out that the average score ranges from 40-100 (but 80 is the standard that should be adopted.) of which The Uncommon scored 107.4.
Below, Connell shares more about the B Corp certification process with Forbes, as well as The Uncommon's long-term plan to become the UK's most sustainable wine brand, which includes becoming carbon neutral within three years and carbon positive within five years.
Jillian Darrah: Was it always the goal to get B Corp certification? If so, what kind of timeline did you set to achieve this and how did you stick to the timeline?
Henry Connell: We wouldn't bring any new business to market without sustainability at its core but honestly, a B Corp wasn't on our radar back in 2017 or 2018. We became aware of a B Corp in late 2019, but it was only in our release Old Third In early 2020, we felt confident in our company values, supply chain and governance to begin the process.
Dara: Was there a company you looked up to during the process or modeled your more sustainable efforts afterwards?
Connell: Not in the UK wine business. We wanted very much to be pioneers in the movement of alternative thinking in English wine, to lift the lid on some issues and break with tradition if and where necessary. We've long admired English heritage brands like Hunter and aspects of other smaller brands from fashion to floral like Uncut Stems and STORY mfg. Patagonia also stands out. Yvon Chouinard (Founder of Patagonia) book “Let My People Go Surfing” is very much the culture and philosophy we want to create and establish here at The Uncommon. We also thought their 'Don't Buy This Jacket' campaign was a smart way to challenge consumerism.
Dara: What does it mean to you to be the first B Corp certified winemaker in the UK? How do you plan to use this title to pioneer the industry and inspire others to make a difference?
Connell: It was a rigorous process that took a year and was not easy at all, so obviously we're really proud. Of the more than 100,000 companies that applied for B Corp certification, only about 4,000 succeeded. It's easy to assign homework. Having a B Corp break down a business and examine and measure our social and environmental impact (from vineyard management and wastewater recycling to community engagement, employee satisfaction, and customer retention) is extremely rewarding and ultimately validated. It also highlights areas where we can improve, and we have a three-year plan to achieve the lofty goal of 150 points by 2024 (our next assessment).
Dara: Can you share more details about the responsible practices you rely on?
Connell: We have strong policies and practices in place in our vineyards regarding soil health, yield management and biodiversity. These standards extend to our winemaking where we monitor energy and water use (reducing and recycling wastewater). This also extends to our office (the “Uncommon Room”) which offers bike storage, recycling bins and natural cleaning products for staff.
We are also very proud of our conservation work through our partnership with The Bee Friendly Trust. We've committed to giving five percent of revenue to charities to create bee habitats across the UK (and we help build them!). We have also planted wildflowers between the rows of vines in our vineyards and installed beehives at the end of the rows (along with livestock in the vineyards during the winter) to increase biodiversity and improve soil health so we rely less on herbicides and agriculture for Crop quality. We also encourage our team to take paid volunteer days (up to 5 per year) to help support the local community, either with The Bee Friendly Trust or other local charities of their choice.
Dara: What about the materials you use? How does B Corp certification reflect?
Connell: We have achieved our outstanding B Corp status not really because of “ability” but because of our ethics and values, employee well-being (health and financial security including ownership), high community engagement, and our entire local and local supply chain commitments to conservation. The can is the best format for our young, fresh and aromatic wines. They are also single-serve, convenient and recyclable, giving wine lovers the option to enjoy high-quality wine without any additives. Nearly 30 percent of our business is now through the premium trade (events and English venues as well as airlines) where there is a clear synergy (glass is heavy and breakable, it's dangerous and plastic is very bad) and we believe that will continue to grow.
Dara: What's next for The Uncommon to reach “the ultimate ambition of Europe's most sustainable wine brand?”
Connell: The idea is to learn, adapt and progress, and continue to make incremental changes where we can. Specifically, we need to improve workforce diversity and minority representation within our business and companies in our supply chain. We will also hold our external suppliers accountable. Where possible, we will encourage them to become B Corp certified but at the very least we will help them review their employment policies as well as their social and environmental policies and be prepared to withdraw if there is resistance or meaningful marginal improvement. More broadly, we will always ensure the lowest environmental impact when sourcing raw materials, developing new products, and selecting suppliers and distributors.
It's also important to remember that this is much bigger than us and our business. We need to ensure that our employees and stakeholders understand and value the environmental impact of their daily lives regardless of whether it moves the needle on our B Corp dashboard.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
