Spier Wine Estate Wins
"Ethical Award"
SPIER WINS ETHICAL AWARD AT THE DRINKS BUSINESS GREEN AWARDS 2022 FOR COMPREHENSIVE ETHICAL SOURCING INITIATIVE.
London – November 29, 2022
Spier Wine Farm won the Ethical Award at the Drinks Business Green Awards 2022 at a ceremony in London on Tuesday.
This special award is given to a company dedicated to improving and benefiting surrounding communities and applying the best ethical practices in its daily operations.
The Ethical Award recognizes Spier's comprehensive efforts to ensure fair and responsible treatment of workers throughout its supply chain. These efforts – as well as compliance with leading local and international ethical certifications – are part of Spier Growing for Good: a set of initiatives that help communities bring about positive social and environmental change.
Caring for vines. Caring for people.
In 2004, Spier became one of the first wineries and farms in South Africa to be certified by the WIETA (Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trading Association). Based on the WIETA Code of Conduct, which covers employee working conditions, accommodation, ownership, and health and safety, the company received the most favorable risk assessment – A. WIETA standards and benchmarks are in line with South African labor and occupational safety legislation, as well as with International Labor Organization conventions.
In 2021, Spier sourced grapes from 23 winegrowers employing 2,731 people and bulk wine from 26 wineries employing more than 10,000 people. Spier CEO Frans Smit says: "As Spier sources grapes and bulk wine from many suppliers, we realized we needed to look not only at our own operations, but our entire supply chain."
In 2017, Spier introduced a system that ensures suppliers grant access to their WIETA audit reports, sign Spier's supplier code of conduct, and commit to continuous improvements.
Smit says: "After jointly identifying areas where suppliers needed support, our compliance team provided training and other forms of tailored support on an ongoing basis to ensure continuous improvement of their ethical status."
On-site supplier audits, conducted by Spier's Social Compliance and Training Specialist, consist of a comprehensive assessment using checklists and in-depth employee interviews. The result is a meaningful, accurate, and nuanced picture of a supplier's ethical status and the working conditions of its employees.
Following the last audit in 2021, Spier received the highest audit rating (A) for the amfori BSCI standard, issued by amfori, a global specialist in supply chain certification based in Brussels.
Knowledge is power
As gender-based violence (GBV) is one of the biggest problems for workers in Spier's supply chain, the winery has also launched an education and empowerment campaign to educate and empower employees (both its own and those of 14 suppliers – a total of 424 workers) with the right tools. Trained social workers conducted personal, multilingual sessions, referred victims of violence against women after training, and helped create educational posters. These were distributed throughout the supply chain.
Spier has also provided significant support to the South African program of Stronger Together, which helps the country's agricultural businesses identify and combat the risk of forced labor in their businesses and supply chains. The program's offerings include a pilot assessment that enables South African producers to identify signs of forced labor, as well as training and educational materials on modern slavery and human trafficking.
"We are delighted that our efforts to ensure fair and ethical treatment of all employees in our supply chain have been recognized with this international award," says Smit.
This is the second time Spier has been honored by the Drinks Business Green Awards. In 2019, it won the Biodiversity Award for its ambitious native tree replanting program.
Image Spier Ethical Award Drinks Business Awards 2022 – Copyright Spier
Contribution by Spier, dated November 30, 2022
