Sustainability isn’t a new concept for the wine industry. In fact, for many vineyards, eco-friendly winemaking was a way of life long before sustainability became a buzzword in mainstream media.
Today’s consumers are starting to have a bigger sense of urgency when it comes to choosing sustainable brands and many are choosing to only pledge their support to businesses that are earth-friendly and socially conscious. In a recent McKinsey study, 70 percent of respondents said they try to purchase products from companies they see as ethical. So how do you stand out against the competition? And how do you keep your business running while also keeping everyone safe amidst the COVID-19 pandemic?
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Roll with the punches and adapt to the times.
Ashes & Diamonds, a Napa Valley winery located along Highway 29, has been doing just that.
Forced to temporarily close in mid-March amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Ashes & Diamonds reopened less than a month later with delivery and drive-through options. The winery then reopened for on-site gathering two months after that, fully equipped with a contactless food and wine experience.
“Contact-free service a step above the restaurant industry and contemporaries in the valley has attracted a very specific customer,” explained Ashes & Diamonds proprietor Kashy Khaledi. “As a conscientious winery, we were already accommodating this psychographic, but certainly even more so now.”
The taste and longevity of wine is dependent on a wide variety of climate-related factors, so it’s no wonder that winemakers consider how their product is made throughout its entire life cycle.
Contactless service meant Ashes & Diamonds would need an alternative way to serve water to customers and Khaledi knew turning to plastic bottles and aluminum cans weren’t the answer. Instead, the winery has opted to serve Boxed Water Is Better at its outdoor venue.
“We don’t want our world to look like the trash dispenser in Star Wars,” Khaledi quipped. “Boxed Water became attractive to us because it appears to represent the same tenets that are meaningful to us — to do right by people and good for the earth. We use it now exclusively for our contactless service since we no longer reach over and pour water for guests in glasses (to maintain proper social distancing).”
Ashes & Diamonds was thinking green long before the global pandemic forced the rest of the world to. The winery is Napa Green Land-certified, meaning it has been recognized for its commitment to sustainability, environmental stewardship, and climate action.
The winery is a great example of a brand that is making social and environmental activism a core part of its business mission. Ashes & Diamonds recently teamed up with Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeah band to raise money for The Okra Project, an organization that delivers home-cooked meals to people in the Black Trans community experiencing food insecurity. Karen O hand-painted the original wine labels for 18 Ashes and Diamonds magnum bottles of rosé in what she described as “the only project for a bad case of pandemic brain…”
We’re proud to have Ashes & Diamonds join the Boxed Water Wholesale program. Interested in our wholesale perks? Learn more about our Boxed Water Wholesale Program.
