Callmewine becomes carbon neutral
As a result of its new packaging, the many initiatives adopted to mitigate the environmental footprint and offset the remaining CO2 emissions, Callmewine is one of the first Italian e-commerce portals to become carbon neutral.
It is reducing emissions as much as possible and offsetting the rest, thereby eliminating the company's carbon footprint. This is the strategy that brought Callmewine, a leading platform for the online sale of wines and spirits, to become one of the first Italian e-commerce portals to achieve carbon neutrality.
This result was due to the combined effect of various actions taken to reduce the direct and indirect CO2 emissions of Callmewine, including the adoption of new, even more sustainable packaging and the purchase of CO2 credits to offset the company's entire carbon footprint for the two-year period 2023-2024. In line with the commitment of the parent company Italmobiliare, which has identified sustainability as a founding pillar of its growth strategy for the group, Callmewine integrates ESG into all phases of the business.
“We started this journey years ago," explained Roberto Pesenti, CEO of Callmewine, "integrating ESG criteria into supplier selection policies and even when choosing the wineries we work with, purchasing only certified renewable energy and overseeing every aspect of packaging. This way we have already considerably reduced direct and indirect CO2 emissions. And we are committed to carry on doing so. In addition to our constant mitigation actions, starting this year we decided to invest so that we could fully offset our carbon footprint. We are going to do this by supporting projects with a high environmental and social impact, aimed at safeguarding water resources and the local area, resources that we feel are closest to our sector.”
More information about the project is available at the link www.callmewine.com/en/sustainability
ECO-SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING
Long-term customers will remember the iconic red box, which was the company's trademark for years. Today Callmewine is saying goodbye to red to offer neutral brown packaging. This choice makes it possible to use more than 75% recycled paper from responsibly managed forests, avoiding bleaching processes and consuming less water. However, this did not seem like enough, so Callmewine moved on to more compact packaging (-10% paper compared with traditional packaging), less consumption of raw materials and less weight to transport. Individually, these are all tiny contributions towards reducing our climate footprint, but they have a huge effect in total. With the new packaging, CO2 emissions have been reduced by 50%.
TRANSITION TOWARDS ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION
Callmewine only relies on shippers that fully embrace its values; for example, choosing from among the many that were certified GOLD by ECOVADIS in 2022. Callmewine immediately and concretely joined the "Last Mile" pilot project for deliveries in the last mile using electric vehicles in the main urban centres. Just a few months after the start of the project, more than 20% of "last mile" deliveries were made in these centres using electric vehicles.
GREEN ENERGY
Callmewine only uses green energy from renewable sources. Already in its offices, and by 2023 also in its warehouses, which will make it possible to reduce other tonnes of CO2 emitted.
SELECTION OF WINE PRODUCERS
Callmewine has always given preference to wine producers that focus on the sustainability of agricultural practices, so it is no coincidence that it has one of the widest selections of organic and artisanal wines. Vineyard artisans support natural agriculture and do not use chemicals or invasive, stressful treatments on the soil or the vineyard, helping to safeguard soil biodiversity. Many winemakers choose not to irrigate, thus saving a great deal of water, refuse to use artificial yeasts or invasive processes in the wine making phase, thereby presenting authentic, genuine wines, the fruit of a land that deserves to be listened to and respected.
PURCHASE OF CARBON CREDITS
Bringing CO2 emissions down to zero is a long process and Callmewine has been fully committed to it for a long time. With this awareness, it was decided to start offsetting all emissions related to the business, from the vineyards to the wine glass and beyond, supporting and financing projects with a high environmental and social impact. By purchasing carbon credits, Callmewine makes a contribution towards safeguarding water resources and the local territory.