Bijou showcases Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability in Paris
Vinexpo Paris
Last month marked the much anticipated return of international wine fairs with Wine Paris opening up the calendar year. Our latest vintage received extensive praise from a wide range of trade visitors and attracted much interest in the open tasting area. “Presenting a new vintage is always an exciting time, especially as it is something we have all been working so hard on, so we are delighted it showed so well in Paris. As a result of the fair we have now been able open new accounts in several new countries from the Middle-East to Scandinavia.” explained Edward Vellacott, Commercial Manager at Bijou. The cosmopolitan audience provided by Vinexpo finally provided our team the opportunity to use their diverse expertise and to present Bijou in more than eight different languages face to face. We are now looking forward to showcasing Bijou in Dusseldorf and the U.S in the coming months.
The Legend of Sophie Valrose
We support and value the great work of all the women in the wine industry. To promote gender equality in the workplace, we tributed our flagship rosé, Le Bijou de Sophie Valrose, to a strong woman who worked in the Languedoc Vineyards during the early 1900s. Sophie stood up against female exploitation improving the working conditions for her peer workers and soon became somewhat of a local legend.
In fact, Sophie’s real name was Anastasie Vergnes, however this did not exactly roll off the tongue and in a world where global brands thrive off the unwritten “Law of Three Syllables” we took some poetic licence. Call it outrageous marketing but in order for this vital message to be taken in my the consumer, it had to be easily communicable. Our Le Bijou de Sophie Valrose is a tribute to all the women who contribute their knowledge and strength into this great industry.
Bijou’s commitment to a more sustainable future
At Bijou Wine we have long established our goal to continually improve our approach to wine making from an environmental perspective. From the vineyard, our choice of packaging, the logistics and transport, our goal is to provide our quality driven wines whilst assuring there is minimal impact to the environment.
We believe at Bijou that economic success and an environmental responsibility go very much in tandem.
We continue to strive towards a greener future and have created the following initiatives which are already in place :
We identified that one of the most efficient ways to reduce our carbon footprint was to design a pioneering alternative to the traditional heavy glass bottle. After a long period of product development we launched a sustainable wine in the pouch :
Bijou Le Chic 1.5L pouch rosé and white
Compared to the traditional heavy weight glass bottles, the pouches produce approximately 80% lower carbon emission! How?
- 330g less packaging weight :
Compared to 500g for an average 75cl glass bottle, the pouch weighs only 60g when empty.
- Responsible and eco-efficient supply chain management:
The compact design allows efficiency throughout the supply chain. Bijou Le Chic pouches are shipped flat-packed to the winery, saving 5x more space than glass bottles. Once full, 40% more wine can be loaded onto a single pallet, economizing space during transportation and reducing shipping costs.
Light weight bottles
Glass is heavy and expensive to transport. With the increase in freight over the last year it has never been more crucial to get our wines to the consumer at the best prices possible. In addition to our pouch range, we have also introduced lightweight bottles. Resulting in not only an environmentally friendly format but preserving the quality of the wine alike traditional bottles without losing the performance in the eyes of the consumer. As all in the trade are aware there are huge shortages of bottles in France and as such, we are gradually changing our customers over to lightweight glass – not always an easy sell, especially when we distribute into some of the top on-trade establishments who always demand classy packaging.
Sustainable agriculture
HEV Level 3 Certified
Thanks to the hard work of our wine makers and agricultures we are officially HEV Level 3 Certified, which officially reflects environmental excellence . This is a three-tiered system that encourages vineyards to:
- Focus on increasing biodiversity.
- Decreasing the negative environmental impact of their phytosanitary.
- Managing their fertilizer inputs.
- Improving water efficiency
We have also come to realise that sustainability does not just come from viticulture but with the value placed on like-minded individuals . Therefore we ensure that our winegrowers are paid early and fair to ensure we are able to continue developing our relationships and approach to producing quality wines for years to come.
Caladoc: Sustainable grape variety
Caladoc is an extremely worthy grape variety in a changing climate. A crossing of Grenache and Malbec, this hybrid grape variety has proven significant resistance during extreme weather conditions. It is however notoriously tricky to get right and we have spent valuable time analysing which parcels yield the best quality for our blends. With Caladoc a crucial make-up of our flagship Le Bijou de Sophie Valrose rosé, it is an important building block for our future and therefore worth ensuring its sustainable qualities.
