Sustainability Initiative
We have embarked on a sustainability initiative which we call TRIALTO20/20. Our goal is to create a culture in which employees and stakeholders are enabled & encouraged to take responsibility for minimizing their impact on the environment, engage in their local community as well as achieve our business goals in a sustainable fashion. No hot air (!) and no window dressing allowed: we only engage in activities we believe in and that deliver real results.Ultimately, we want to become and be recognized as a leader amongst Canadian wine agencies
for our sustainable business practices. How do we view sustainability? Sustainability is when a company operates on a triple bottom line: conduct business in a manner that is environmentally sound, socially equitable and economically viable. For us, it’s way more than green as it involves:
- Stakeholder engagement
- Transparency and reporting
- Community investment
- Energy conservation
- Waste and emission reduction
- Progressive HR practices
- Partner with sustainable wineries to build the best portfolio of eco-friendly wines in Canada
- Educate our stakeholders on the benefits of sustainable business practices
- Increase our involvement and impact in the communities where we work and live
- Decrease our environmental impact and footprint
- Deliver on our financial objectives
The following are some recent Trialto news articles that are related to sustainability:
Southbrook is Entering the Dragons' Den
March 1, 2012
Bill's Editorial: A note from the owner
When we first started farming, we looked at winter as a time for rest and regeneration. It seems now that with all our new projects, we are busier than ever with extremely exciting things happening every day.
Our biggest and most time consuming new project is Bioflavia. As some of you know, we launched our new anti-oxidant powder last summer, and it has moved along very well. Registered as a Natural Health Product with Health Canada, its 11,000 ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity) units per 10 grams put it on par with Goji and other super foods. Made last year from our own pomace (the skins left over after we make red wine), this year we have expanded by purchasing all of the Organic red wine pomace produced in Ontario.
We have been anxiously awaiting word, and we can now confirm that we will appear on the CBC hit show Dragons' Den on March 7th. We still can't tell you what happened, but Marilyn, Robert Egli and I will try to beard the Dragons: tune in at 8pm and cheer for us. For those who miss it, go to http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/episodes.html. We will be episode 18. If you are outside of Canada, we will be posting the episode on our website.
Bioflavia is available either through us at Southbrook.com (1-888-581-1581) or from over 150 stores across Canada.Parducci Opens Tasting Room at Solar Living Institute
September 27, 2011
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Date:Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Trialto partner Parducci has recently announced they have opened a tasting room at Real Goods Solar Living Center (SLC) campus – the ‘Greenest Store in the Nation’. This announcement concurs with Parducci’s label of America’s Greenest Winery.
We are very proud to represent Parducci, a winery committed to high environmental standards.
Please click here for the full article.Barone Ricasoli Joins the Magis Project
February 8, 2011
Source: Castello di Brolio Press Release, February 2011
Brolio has always been known for research and experimentation, and it should therefore come as no surprise that Barone Ricasoli is among the first Italian wineries to participate in the Magis project, which is promoted by the Unione Italiana Vini in collaboration with Bayer Crop Science. The project was launched following the EEU's decision to implement new regulations for the use of agropharmaceuticals in agriculture, which will go into effect in 2013.
Given the decision, the Unione Italiana Vini decided to anticipate the regulations and promote a Sustainability Protocol that draws from medical protocols, and that, when fine tuned, will allow wineries to improve and guarantee the safety and sustainability of Italian wine.
Together with about seventy other top Italian wineries, Barone Ricasoli immediately joined the Magis Project, and contributed to the studies undertaken before drawing up the "Sustainability Protocol." To this end the Barone Ricasoli dedicated a large, 12-hectare Sangiovese vineyard to the project. Five hectares of the vineyard were managed according to the Optimized Defense Protocol furnished by the Scientific Coordinators of the Project, in which the Universities of Florence, Milan and Turin are also involved, while the remaining seven hectares were managed according to the winery's usual schedule. During the year vine leaves were collected a number of times to measure chemical residues, and the grapes from the two vineyard parcels were vinified separately to allow comparative analyses. The results of the first analyses will be released shortly, at Rimini, during Agrifil, the Salone della Filiera Agroalimentare (the Agrifood Sector trade show), which will take place in the city's convention center from February 19th to 22nd.
Barone Ricasoli has also decided, independently, to cultivate another 40 hectares of Sangiovese organically. This experiment will continue for three years, which will be long enough to allow the evaluation of analytical differences and management costs.
Thus Francesco Ricasoli, after mapping all 250 hectares of vineyards, and coming close to completing the long process of clonal selection and approval of an autochthonous Sangiovese clone from the Brolio vineyards, has also decided to follow the paths of sustainable productivity and consumer protection.
Food Drive for the Gold!
March 16, 2010
As the world headed to Vancouver to compete in the Olympics, we thought it might be fun to have our own office competition! Three offices...three medals...who will win Gold in our first Food Drive? Let the games begin!
From February 12th to the 28th, each office collected food donations the local food bank. Although Vancouver collected the most food, the real winners were the three food banks. Thank you all for your generosity!
Green Evolution
March 16, 2010
Trialto is proud to once again partner with the LCBO to showcase leading sustainable wine producers. The events will be held in Toronto on April 20th and in Ottawa on April 21st. See the details here:
http://www.vintages.com/events/eco-friendly_event.shtml?green
Trialto Annual Toy Drive!
November 27, 2009
Trialto has kicked off its (now) annual toy drive in all three offices on October 29, 2009. We are collecting toys and coats to benefit local charities. Our donations will be collected on December 4th and taken to The Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau (Vancouver), Sick Kids Hospital (Toronto) and Women's Centre of Montreal (Montreal). Thanks for your generosity!
Trialto Tries to Reduce Its Paper Use
May 15, 2009
We are currently testing software called Printelligence from PREO. The software lets us warn our employees of the cost of printing any given document thus allowing them to not print it or shift to double sided printing. PREO claims savings from 10 to 40% in printing costs. You can learn more here:
Trialto Ditches Bottled Water
May 15, 2009
We have recently removed old style water coolers with large bottles in all three offices and switched to a water filtration system. This will reduce our carbon footprint by stopping the useless shipping of water (and clear up some cupboard space too!). Our provider for the filtration systems is City Water international and you can see their product line at:
http://www.cityh2o.com/home.php
Trialto Cuts Travel Emissions with Video Conferencing
May 15, 2009
Trialto installed the Lifesize videoconferencing system in its three offices in late 2008 and the response has been amazing. We can now conduct "face to face" meetings with all our employees without having to jump on a plane. We are also planning to hold "virtual wine tastings" where the winemaker (from the comfort of their winery in Napa or Mendoza or Tuscany) will be commenting live on the wines we are evaluating. This will cut back our greenhouse gases emissions significantly by canceling multiple long haul flights.
You can read up on Lifesize at:
Trialto Plants Tree for Earth Day
April 22, 2009
On Saturday April 18, 2009, some Trialto employees joined the annual Evergreen Jericho Beach Earth Day celebration. More information can be found at http://www.evergreen.ca/earthdayvancouver/
You can also view pictures of the event at http://gallery.trialto.com/v/trialto/sust
Thanks to everyone involved!