Sustainability & Stewardship: Canadian Wine Industry Analysis

This essay examines the current state of sustainability and environmental stewardship within the wine industry, with a specific focus on Canada. It defines sustainability and environmental stewardship, highlighting their importance in the wine industry, and explores how these concepts are implemented globally, particularly in countries like Australia, the USA, and Canada. The essay details Canada's initiatives, such as the Sustainable Wine making Ontario program, and compares Canada's progress with other nations, noting its later adoption of sustainable practices. It also addresses the impact of consumer choices and the role of environmental stewardship in reducing costs and promoting resource efficiency. The conclusion emphasizes the increasing prevalence of sustainability initiatives in the wine industry and acknowledges Canada's progress in achieving environmental excellence through sustainable activities.

Running head: CURRENT STATE OF SUSTAINABILITY
CURRENT STATE OF SUSTAINABILITY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
According to Bhamra and Lofthouse, (2016), sustainability can be defined as the
process which related to the ways by which changes can be maintained within the
organizations in a balanced manner. Furthermore, Hensen et al. (2016), has opined that
sustainability can be seen as the basis of the different principles which is inclusive of
economic, ecological principles along with the equity principles which is concerning both
intergenerational and intragenerational equity. Moreover, as commented by Laszlo and
Zhexembayeva (2017), this can be identified that the implementation of the sustainability in
the wine industry is consisting of the environmental soundness, economic feasibility along
with social equity which will be beneficial for the overall success of the wine firms.
On the other hand, Laszlo and Zhexembayeva (2017), has commented that the
environmental stewardship on the other hand is based on the ways by which resources offered
by the natural environment are used in a responsible manner and sustainable practices are
maintained as well. The discussion that will be made in the paper will be based on the
implementation of environmental stewardship and sustainability by the organizations which
operate in the wine industry. The country which will be focussed in the analysis is Canada
(Hensen et al., 2016).
Current state of sustainability and environmental stewardship in wine industry
According to Laszlo and Zhexembayeva (2017), environmental challenges have been
able to affect the lives of people and different organizations which operate in various
industries as well. The concept related to sustainability is based on different elements which
include, depletion of the resources, environmental and ecological aspects and the quality of
life. The organizations which operate in the wine industry have also implemented many
sustainable methods in order to maintain the production based systems. Sustainable

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development in the wine industry is now prevalent in different countries like, Australia, USA,
New Zealand, South Africa and Europe.
For example- Tai and Chuang (2014), has commented and opined that the different
efforts which are spent by the Californian wine industry for educating and reaching out
towards educating the growers are operationally defining the overall sustainability as the
viability of the agricultural enterprise. Moreover, Sustaining Success Strategy of Australian
wine industry is one such program which was established in the year 1992 wherein proper
training and education is being provided in order to provide the proper view on the different
kinds of aspects such as related to the environmental protection schemes.
As discussed by Ledgerwood (2017), the organizations which operate in these
countries have thereby started taking effective steps in order to ensure the sustainability of
operations. As per the table shown in the appendix, this can be seen that the different steps
for ensuring the operations sustainability is inclusive of an ongoing kind of practice along
with control of the erosion which will be helpful in improving the vineyard roadways along
with the drainage system waterways to prevent the further soil erosion around the entire
property. Furthermore, modern equipment along with mechanization which helps in
controlling weed for the herbicides as well which will be effective in nature. The programs
related to sustainability had started in USA in the year 1990 which was further followed by
the other countries as well. Research based on the operations of organizations of the wine
industry has been based on different countries which include Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain
and Greece.
The point of view of consumers regarding sustainability is also considered by the
organizations which operate in the wine industry. Different factors related to sustainability
which are able to affect the consumers of wine based organizations in the industry are,

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environment friendliness, distinctiveness, taste based profile, packaging, labelling, reliability,
safety. These factors need to be considered by the wine-based organizations when they aim at
operating in the industry in a sustainable manner. The global wine based industry is based on
the small or medium sized organizations (Ortiz‐de‐Mandojana, Aguilera‐Caracuel &
Morales‐Raya, 2016). The sustainability-based steps need to be implemented by the
organizations in order to continue their operations in the industry for a longer time and by the
usage of less amount of resources as well.
According to Tai and Chuang (2014), environmental stewardship is another major
factor which is implemented by the organizations in the global wine-based industry. This
concept is based on the ways by which the organizations have been able to use the resources
which are present in the neighbourhood areas. This has reduced the costs based on
manufacture of different products and also increased the usage of resources in an effective
way.
For instance- Social along with environmental Stewardship is the major shift in the
social attitude of the different companies to perform which is right for the environment along
with the different inhabitants. With the help of the environmental stewardship program,
proper implementation of the different programs and practices will have a positive
environmental impact such as reduced the carbon footprint along with conservation of the
energy in an appropriate manner.
As commented by Worrell, Allwood and Gutowski (2016), the green initiatives have
been taken by the organizations in order to maintain the levels of sustainability within the
wine industry. The organizations which operate in the wine industry of different countries
have started implementing the concept of environmental stewardship in order to operate in
the industry in a sustainable manner.

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Position of the Canadian industry as compared to other nations in taking the efforts
As discussed by Waddock (2017), the choice of consumers has started changing in the
modern business-based environment. The demands for healthy products have affected the
offerings of the wine industry of different countries. Researches have been able to depict that
different countries like, USA, South Africa, Germany have implemented many sustainable
options for manufacture of the wine products. The organizations which are a part of the wine
industry of Canada have also started implementing many sustainable methods.
According to Worrell, Allwood and Gutowski (2016), the wine industry of Ontario
has implemented a program named Sustainable Wine making Ontario. This program had
been started in the year 2007 which was based on the ways by which the organizations aimed
at preserving and protecting the environment. The program further aimed at helping the
wineries of the country to improve their operations on a continuous basis. The development
of this program was based on years of research related to the best levels of environmental
practices which are followed all around the world.
For instance- The various types of areas which is inclusive of winery-based
hospitality and grape growing has also been included in the program. Major goals of the
program were to improve the usage of energy required for production, reduction of the usage
of water, improvement in the management of waste water. Improvement of the quality of air,
management of natural resources are also considered to be some of the major objectives of
the program (Waddock, 2017).
According to Ortiz‐de‐Mandojana, Aguilera‐Caracuel and Morales‐Raya (2016), the
Canadian government and the wine making organizations have taken effective steps related to
sustainability and environmental stewardship. However, the country has taken much longer
time to implement the different sustainable solutions as compared to the organizations in

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other developed countries like Australia and USA. The initiatives which have been
implemented in Canada have affected the industry after a longer period of time. Moreover,
this was being analysed that large usage of the synthetic chemicals such as fertilizers will
help in preventing the grapes from offering the truest expression and this can disrupt the soil
composition as well.
For instance- The entire Canadian wine industry is dependent entirely on the
different natural resources which is inclusive of the climate, solar energy and soil along with
water which plays a major role in enhancing the overall sustainable resources and practices
which are necessary. However, in August 2011, the Canadian vineyard have received the
environmental excellence award for implementing the sustainability in the different programs
which are being undertaken by them in improving their approach effectively.
Conclusion
The paper can be concluded by stating that sustainability and environmental
stewardship based initiatives have become quite common in the wine making industries of
different countries. Canada has been quite late in implementing these activities based on
sustainability. This has been seen that there are different awards for the environmental
sustainability excellence have been gained by the Canadian vineyard which has helped them
in successfully becoming more sustainable towards the different activities. However, the
organizations in Canada have started implementing many sustainable initiatives for the wine
making process. The wine industry can be considered highly sustainable in nature.
Environmental stewardship is also an important part of the operations of wine making
industry of different countries.

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References
Bhamra, T., & Lofthouse, V. (2016). Design for sustainability: a practical approach.
Routledge.
Hensen, N., Keeling, D. I., de Ruyter, K., & Wetzels, M. (2016). Me, myself, and future
generations: the role of affinity and effectiveness in the creation of Consumer
Environmental Stewardship (CENS). Psychology & Marketing, 33(5), 389-406.
Laszlo, C., & Zhexembayeva, N. (2017). Embedded sustainability. In Embedded
Sustainability (pp. 116-140). Routledge.
Ledgerwood, G. (2017). Greening the boardroom: Corporate governance and business
sustainability. Routledge.
Ortiz‐de‐Mandojana, N., Aguilera‐Caracuel, J., & Morales‐Raya, M. (2016). Corporate
governance and environmental sustainability: the moderating role of the national
institutional context. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management, 23(3), 150-164.
Tai, F. M., & Chuang, S. H. (2014). Corporate social responsibility. Ibusiness, 6(03), 117.
Waddock, S. (2017). Stewardship of the future: Large system change and company
stewardship. In Corporate stewardship (pp. 36-54). Routledge.
Worrell, E., Allwood, J., & Gutowski, T. (2016). The role of material efficiency in
environmental stewardship. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 41, 575-
598.

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Appendix