Forty years of Vintage Roots: Sustainability from vine to glass
In 1986, friends Neil Palmer and Lance Pigott started a business focused on selling organic wines. Forty years later, Vintage Roots is widely recognised as the UK’s leading organic wine merchant, offering an extensive portfolio of more than 500 wines from around the world, alongside beers, ciders, spirits, and liqueurs. The company has remained committed to sourcing only certified organic and biodynamic wines, but its approach to sustainability extends far beyond that. The B Corp has initiatives across packaging, freight, energy, waste and supplier practices.
Climate action is a major focus for the organisation. Alongside reducing emissions, the team is developing a long-term decarbonisation plan, mapping out Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions to identify hotspots and priority areas for action. As with many organisations, the greatest challenge in measuring carbon lies in Scope 3 data. While Vintage Roots can measure its own fuel, electricity, mileage, and waste reasonably well, carbon data from manufacturers, producers, shipping, and delivery partners is much less consistent and available at varying levels.
The team is working to improve supplier sustainability data through questionnaires, its Supplier Code of Conduct, and direct conversations about emissions, energy, waste, water, biodiversity, bottle weight, and packaging. However, Vintage Roots recognises that not all producers have the same resources for detailed carbon reporting. Communication and collaboration are central to progress. “By asking the questions and raising concerns we help to highlight the issues, and gradually more suppliers will make better choices,” shares Neil.
The focus is not just on collecting better data from suppliers, but also encouraging lower-carbon practices. Packaging and shipping are the biggest sources of emissions. Glass bottles are energy-intensive to manufacture, and wine is heavy to transport. Factors such as packaging format, bottle weight, recycled glass content, shipping methods, and final-mile delivery all affect emissions. Vintage Roots strongly encourages lighter bottles, higher recycled glass content, less unnecessary secondary packaging, and the use of lower-carbon formats such as cans and bag-in-box where appropriate.
Distance alone does not determine the impact of shipping. Wine travelling a longer distance by sea can have a lower footprint than wine transported a shorter distance by land. The merchant never uses air freight and instead prioritises shipment consolidation, load planning, efficient routing, lower-emission vehicles, and the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). Final-mile delivery poses the biggest challenge. Although Vintage Roots encourages the use of electric vehicles and HVO among its delivery partners, barriers such as vehicle availability, charging infrastructure, and the weight and fragility of wine remain.
When it comes to offsets, the company’s approach is clear. They are used as a supporting measure rather than a substitute for emissions reduction, which remains the priority. Certified offsets are only used for residual Scope 1 and 2 emissions that cannot yet be eliminated. “We have offset for many years and were one of the first UK wine companies to do so, since 2005. We do not currently offset our Scope 3 emissions, due to costs involved and we have to remember our business also needs to be sustainable,” explains Neil.
Vintage Roots aims to demonstrate that choosing organic wine does not mean compromising on taste, quality, or value. “We offer quality organic drinks that are fine on the palate, kind to the planet, and fair on the pocket,” says Neil. In the early days of Vintage Roots, organic wine was widely misunderstood and sometimes dismissed. Today, organic is no longer a niche category, but a rapidly growing segment of the wine market. “Organic certification is not 100% perfect, and there are those that like to pick holes in it and point out inconsistencies, but at least brand ‘organic’ is now more widespread and dare we say mainstream,” he notes.
When it comes to communicating sustainability, Vintage Roots focuses on making it as practical and relatable as possible. The team uses producer stories to explain topics such as soil health, biodiversity, pesticide use, packaging, and carbon emissions. Storytelling is a powerful way to engage consumers, helping to paint a picture of what sustainable practices actually look like on the ground. Ultimately, it is this collection of stories, the practical decisions made consistently over time, from viticulture and packaging to transport and logistics, that drives progress.
Vintage Roots will be hosting a 40th anniversary trade tasting and press event in London on 28th September.
Find more details here, or email trade@vintageroots.co.uk with any enquires.
Featured members
