Launch of the SWR Bottle Weight Accord
Leading retailers collaborate to reduce wine bottle weight
Yesterday, the Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) was delighted to launch the ‘SWR Bottle Weight Accord’ in front of a virtual audience of more than 150 wine professionals. You can listen to the audio below.
In a ground-breaking development, led by the SWR, leading wine retailers from around the world including Laithwaites Wine, Lidl GB, Naked Wines UK, Naked Wines USA, Systembolaget AB, The Wine Society (The International Exhibition Co-operative Wine Society Limited), Virgin Wines, Waitrose and Whole Foods Market have reached an Accord to reduce the average weight of 750ml still wine bottles in their range.
The average 750ml still wine bottle weight today is approximately 550 grams. The ‘SWR Bottle Weight Accord’ will see the companies involved reduce their average bottle to weight to less than 420 grams by the end of 2026.
We would like to thank Jancis Robinson a founder member of the SWR, who for many years has advocated the need for lighter bottles welcomed the Accord: “I’ve been talking about this for so long. Lighter bottles is an easy win for the wine sector to reduce its carbon emissions. It is very exciting that the SWR has produced an evidence base to demonstrate how change can happen, and for this Accord to push that forward in practice.”
To read the article by Jancis on the SWR Bottle Weight Accord, follow this link: Click Here
The SWR Bottle Weight Accord is the result of research undertaken by the SWR in 2023. This research was co-funded by a group of retailer members including Alko Oy (Finland), Systembolaget AB (Sweden), The Wine Society (The International Exhibition Co-operative Wine Society Limited) (UK) and Whole Foods Market (USA).
To read the SWR Report – Reducing Wine Bottle Weight: Click Here
To read the SWR Bottle Weight Accord – Click Here
To read the SWR International Press Release – Click Here
SWR Wine Packaging Accord
Furthermore, between now and the end of 2025, the SWR intends to develop an evidence backed Wine Packaging Accord to provide members a shared framework to take decisions about wine packaging.
This wider SWR Wine Packaging Accord will be an evolution of the Wine Bottle Weight Accord and its development will take place throughout 2024. The final Accord will be launched in January 2026. Read more here.
If any wine business or organisation associated with wine are interested in learning more about the SWR or getting actively involved, they should contact Delaney Sheridan at delaney@swroundtable.org
