Piper-Heidsieck, Rare Champagne and Charles Heidsieck have been awarded B Corp certification
Piper-Heidsieck, Charles Heidsieck & Rare Champagnes
The Piper-Heidsieck, Charles Heidsieck and Rare Champagne houses, which form part of the family-owned EPI Group, have just announced that all three have achieved a score of 91.9 points in the B Corp certification process, established in 2006 by the non-profit organisation B Lab Verification. With this certification, these three iconic Champagne Houses are reinforcing their social and environmental commitments. This represents a significant step in the overhaul of their practices to support virtuous business models driven by objectives that go beyond the financial sphere.
B Corp certification is one of the most rigorous, assessing each brand’s social and environmental impact through more than 200 questions defined by B Lab, covering governance, employees, the community and the environment. B Corp certification entails obligations towards all stakeholders, not just shareholders. It also requires transparency, allowing information on a company’s performance to be compared against B Lab’s standards, and is made public in the B Corp profile on the B Lab website. B Corp certification is more than just an assessment of a product or service. It evaluates the overall positive impact of the companies that hold it and commits them to a process of continuous improvement.
Damien Lafaurie, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Champagne Piper-Heidseck, Charles Heidsieck & Rare and of the EPI Group’s Wines and Champagne division, said: “We are proud to be part of this pioneering community leading the global business movement to make a positive social impact and drive the transformation of the global economy for the benefit of all individuals, communities and the planet. We are proud to be the firstChampagne producers to be certified by B Corp, and we fully share B Lab’s vision of building an inclusive, equitable and sustainable economic system; we hope to inspire the rest of the wine world to join the cause!” He added: “Above all, I am proud of the tremendous work carried out by the teams at Piper-Heidsieck, Charles Heidsieck and Rare Champagnes to bring about the profound changes required for B Corp certification, and we will continue to improve. I hope that our responsible approach will lead to a collective initiative on social and environmental issues emerging in Champagne.”
The specific steps a champagne house takes to achieve B Corp certification include:
Incorporating its purpose into the company’s charter, thereby becoming a ‘well-being enterprise’ that aims to have a specific positive impact on society and the environment
Reducing the carbon footprints of Scopes 1 and 2 by 61 per cent in absolute terms, and that of Scope 3 by 46 per cent in production intensity per bottle, by 2030, as required by the Paris Agreement, by joining science-based targets initiatives and achieving carbon neutrality by 2020, with a view to reaching this goal by 2050
Launch a plan to significantly reduce energy consumption (-40% by 2025), completely phase out fossil fuels in production and use 100% renewable electricity • Shift 100 per cent of suppliers to Europe by 2030
Promote sustainable environmental practices in their vineyards. Maisons does not use herbicides, pesticides, chemical fungicides or CMR substances. They also recommend the use of organic soil improvers, sustainable viticulture and all initiatives that promote biodiversity in the vineyard.
Support the VDC (Sustainable Viticulture in Champagne) transition for all viticulture staff by 2025 Introduce sustainable development targets for every employee to accelerate the adoption of best practices across all departments and levels of the organisation
Ongoing commitment to gender equality at all levels of the organisation • Promoting diversity within our teams, with a focus on inclusion and the recruitment of young talent from diverse backgrounds, and supporting the contribution of ‘Notre communauté a du talent’.
