The drinks industry is born from the environment and 2024 is expected to be a year of unprecedented developments. It is critical to unite and realise its responsibility and power.
As a response to this, the inaugural Sustainability in Drinks (SID) launches in October 2024. The exhibition will be held at St Mary’s, Wyndham Pl, York St, London W1H 1PQ on Tuesday 15 October with a conference and informal dinner the previous afternoon and evening, supported by SID’s Founding Partners. It will be an unrivalled opportunity to hear from those working at the heart of sustainability in drinks from around the world.
Organised by seasoned drinks event professionals Judy Kendrick and Janet Harrison, this will be a unique and a ‘much needed’ event series. SID aims to be the annual event on the sustainability calendar, bringing together producers, suppliers and thought leaders. It will be an unrivalled resource for products, advice and support, for all members of the drinks trade globally.
The exhibition, free to attend for drinks trade and press only, will be split into four areas, representing wine production; general drinks production (including beer and spirits); packaging and logistics and advisory bodies, including trade associations, funders and auditing services. A range of useful masterclasses will also take place during the day, which will seek to address many current issues.
“Finding advice and products which meet current and future sustainability targets is difficult and spread across many different European events,” commented Kendrick, co-creator of SID. “This practical and essential conference and exhibition aims to tackle upcoming legislative issues, enable sharing of best practice, generate honest and open debates and provide a valuable showcase for producers, suppliers and advisory bodies.”
The first-of-its kind event launches with a high calibre line up of influential sustainability professionals, signalling its gravitas and long term ambitions.
Anne Jones, ex Waitrose and Wine GB sustainability leader will have a key role in content delivery. “We believe that this event will help those attending to step-change their response to climate change, whether they are at the beginning of their ESG journey, considering alternative packaging analysis, creating regenerative habitats and biodiversity on their land or looking for more effective distribution, carbon accounting or green finance strategies” states Jones, director of Limestone & Jones, drinks sustainability consultancy.
Fran Draper, wine marketing and sustainability consultant is also involved in shaping the event. “Navigating the sustainability challenge and the changing legislative demands can be daunting and can sometimes feel isolating. By bringing experts and colleagues together under one roof SID will create a shared resource and a community of professionals who can provide relevant advice and information, creating positive change within the industry.”
SID will be underpinned by a select number of Founding Partners, who have invested in the concept and will play a central role in supporting the event series as well as contributing to debates on key industry topics, which will take place over the two days. Encirc is one of those partners. “Within our Beverages business, we are working in partnership with suppliers, customers and retailers and in line with our ZE30 mission (Zero emissions 2030) in bottle manufacture, we are creating unrivalled sustainable supply chain solutions.” States Fiacre O’Donnell, Sustainability Director for Encirc.
The multi award-winning Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Project (WASP) is another powerful Founding Partner. One of Europe’s most progressive regional wine sustainability initiatives and certification schemes based in Portugal, it supports the improvement of the environmental, social and economic performance of the region’s winemaking activities. João L. Barroso, WASP Coodinator explains why the project was keen to be involved from the beginning “For the past 11 years, the Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme has pioneered sustainability in the European wine industry. We believe that SID´s pioneering spirit and breakthrough event aligning the industry, the science and the public in an unprecedented way, is the way to go for the industry.”
WASP will also be bringing six producers from Portugal as well as having an advisory space to demonstrate their impressive work in sustainability certification.
“This unique annual event will provide a new opportunity for the drinks industry to come together and help each other understand the risks and harness the opportunities of a sustainable future – keeping up with the rapid pace of change” said co-creator Harrison, “We don’t want anyone to be excluded from the conversation and we aim for SID to be a springboard for international collaborations and networking. We’d like attendees to take back a practical plan of action for their businesses to help them move forward with their sustainability targets” she adds.
Potential exhibitors and visitors can visit the website to find out more.
Conference details will be announced soon.
The organisers would like to hear from other potential founding partners and organisations wishing to support the event or to speak at the masterclasses and the pre-exhibition conference.
Contact for all enquiries: hello@sustainabilityindrinks.com
