Sustainability on the Menu? What On-Trade Wine Buyers Really Want

Most wineries we work with agree that sustainability is a critical value-add in so many ways — including financially. But we wanted to dig a little deeper into one aspect: is it actually changing how buyers make decisions?

At our recent Knowledge Exchange Seminar for IWCA members on sustainable on-trade procurement, three industry insiders gave an honest, and perhaps predictably imperfect, answer: it's complicated.

Alisha Wise (Regional Sales Director, Crimson Wine Group – IWCA Member), Alex Linsley (Business Development Director, Liberty Wines UK), and Martin Dibben (Champagne Buyer, Searcys) brought perspectives from across the supply chain in Europe and the U.S.

Here are a few of our takeaways from the conversation.

Sustainability is increasingly a procurement requirement.

Once largely a marketing selling point, sustainability is now a core requirement in many procurement processes, Martin Dibben explained. This has represented a big shift in intention and rigor. Alex Lisley pointed to large hotel groups like Accor and Hilton that use frameworks like Ecovadis ratings to evaluate suppliers. Alisha shared her experience using IMI's brokerage portal, which includes sustainability questions for submissions to national accounts like Delta Sky Club and Landry's.

Nobody on the panel argued that sustainability is a primary purchase driver. Price still dominates. But the panel agreed that sustainability is a differentiator. When two wines are closely matched on quality and price, it can tip the balance.

The mainstreaming of sustainability requirements is a good and bad news story, because…

Buyers are interested. They're also confused.

These procurement trends show buyers’ interest, as do customer data. Around 70% of wine consumers say sustainability factors into their purchasing decisions. In the UK and US, between 38–48% of regular wine drinkers say they'd pay more for sustainably produced wine. That's not nothing.

But growing interest has also brought growing skepticism and confusion. What does "sustainable wine" actually mean? Organic? Regenerative? Low-carbon shipping? Lightweight glass? The lack of standardized definitions makes it hard for buyers — let alone customers — to evaluate claims. Ultimately, as Alex shared, the risk is that sustainability is becoming a “tick-the-box” exercise for buyers (and wineries), where it's about clearing the floor rather than raising the bar.

(Allow us to make a self-serving plug here: IWCA has set rigorous, third-party-verified requirements for its members, in a mission to establish credibility around decarbonization claims.)

Complexity is a harder story to sell.

As a wine supplier, Alisha described the challenge of articulating environmental impact to on-trade buyers. In her experience, it's a lot easier to appeal through certain types of visible, inspiring sustainability practices — say, a conservation bee program — but a lot harder when it comes to lightweighting glass bottles or slashing operational GHG emissions, for instance.

Crafting a narrative for consumers around sustainable wine is challenging for hotels, restaurants, and other on-trade buyers, too. Martin's team has explored options like dedicated sustainable wine sections or green leaf indicators, but again, there isn't a common understanding of what this means.

The panelists did point to a few success stories. Alisha highlighted 60 Vines, a restaurant concept that offers 60 wines on tap and actively tracks bottles saved from landfills. It's an example of a tangible practice and communicable metric that cuts through the noise for consumers.

The education gap remains a real problem.

Martin raised a concern: as suppliers face business pressure, education is often the first thing cut. Staff training, customer-facing storytelling,… all of it takes time and resources. When margins tighten, these investments tend to drop, with consequences for the sector: buyers don't understand what sustainability certifications mean, they may not be able to critically assess claims of impact, and when they don't understand the issues themselves, they can't educate consumers.

What the panel was pointing toward, collectively, is a need for better infrastructure: standardized language, clearer certifications, and the kind of consistent messaging that makes it possible for a wine buyer, a sommelier, and a customer to understand what they're actually choosing.

That's a big lift. But we left the conversation optimistic that the appetite — from buyers and consumers both — seems to be there!

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The IWCA Knowledge Exchange Seminar series are closed-door webinars for IWCA member wineries, bringing together peers and outside industry professionals to discuss sustainability challenges and opportunities across the wine trade.

Learn more about IWCA membership.