Concha y Toro Joins 420g Bottle Initiative

Viña Concha y Toro, South America's largest wine producer and one of the world's top 10, has announced its commitment to the Bottle Weight Accord. This international initiative aims to minimize the environmental impact of wine packaging by reducing the weight of 750ml still wine bottles to a maximum of 420 grams by 2026. Concha y Toro's participation marks the largest wine producer to date joining this carbon-reduction effort.

The Bottle Weight Accord was created by the Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) in autumn 2023. It emerged from a study led by five major retailers—Whole Foods, Lidl, The Wine Society, Alko in Finland, and Systembolaget in Sweden—who examined the weight of wine bottles across the industry. The analysis found that the average bottle weighed around 550 grams. Recognizing that glass bottles account for roughly 30% of total carbon emissions from wine production, the group sought to encourage industry-wide adoption of lighter bottles to achieve significant environmental benefits.

Sustainability director Valentina Lira emphasized Concha y Toro's determination to meet the 420-gram target. She credited the company's progress to ongoing efforts in product design, packaging, and production, driven by a strong sustainability focus. "We are confident that we are well on the way to the 420g average thanks to great efforts made by our product design, packaging, production, and sustainability teams to date," said Lira, adding that the firm aims to explore further innovations and new packaging formats in the future.

Concha y Toro's annual output of approximately 384 million bottles includes well-known brands such as Casillero del Diablo in Chile, Trivento in Argentina, and Bonterra in California. Its commitment to the Bottle Weight Accord could influence other major producers, particularly given South America's history of using heavier wine bottles. Dr. Peter Stanbury, director of research at the SWR, welcomed this development, noting the significance of a major South American player adopting a lightweighting standard. "It is great to see Concha y Toro, a major player in the region, take the lead," Stanbury said.

Dom de Ville, sustainability and social impact director at The Wine Society, underscored the importance of bottle weight reduction. "Carbon emissions from glass bottles make up around 30% of our total emissions as a business," he explained, emphasizing that cutting bottle weight is critical for The Wine Society's goal of halving total emissions by 2032.

Since its launch, the Bottle Weight Accord has gained support beyond its original backers, attracting a broad range of wine industry members throughout the global supply chain. Concha y Toro's involvement sets a precedent for other large-scale producers to prioritize sustainable practices and packaging innovations as the wine industry seeks to reduce its carbon footprint.