Cape Ardor :: South African Wine Specialists

Corporate Social Responsibility Cape Ardor is committed to moving the agenda forward on environmental and social issues. The majority of our South African producers are currently employing sustainable farming practices through Integrated Production of Wine certification and land conservation through the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative. We are continually refining our business practices to do more with less; by pushing our partners towards paperless systems, using recycled packing materials, controlling waste and purchasing carbon offsets for our importing and distribution activities. We recognize that the global trading community is here to stay, so we endeavor to do our part to encourage fair trade business practices, reach out to under privileged communities and support local fund raising efforts with our products. To learn more about the various programs that our producers and Cape Ardor support, please read on.South Africa’s Environmental & Socially Responsible Organizations

Biodiversity & Wine Initiative (BWI) Biodiversity & Wine Initiative (BWI) – A unique South African partnership between the South African wine industry and the conservation sector to minimize the further loss of threatened natural habitat, promote fynbos preservation, removal of invasive species, and to contribute to sustainable wine production. Their vision is to protect and conserve the unique natural heritage within the Cape Winelands. To date, over 126 000 hectares of natural area have been conserved by BWI producers in less than four years. For every hectare under vineyard, an additional hectare of natural vegetation is committed to conservation – and this figure continues to grow.Over 70% of Cape Ardor’s portfolio is an active member of BWI.For more information on the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative, please see: BWI

Fairtrade An organization that uses market forces to establish fair and equitable labor and production practices for member / producers. The guidelines established by FLO & certified under FLO-CERT focuses on developing producers that meet agreed environmental, labor and developmental standards. Consumers of these products can be assured that producers have been treated fairly in the purchasing of their products along with confirmation of environmental standards in production are being practiced. Cape Ardor is working with our producers to establish Fairtrade formal certification and we currently carry some wines already there.For more information on Fairtrade, please see: Fairtrade

Ntsiki Biyela - Wine Maker at Stellekaya

Black Economic Empowerment (BEE)A South African program for providing equity, training, and opportunity to Black South Africans who were disadvantaged during Apartheid. This program gives workers ownership and influence in the wineries they have often lived and worked on for generations.
For more information on BEE, please see: Black Economic Empowerment

Integrated Production of Wine (IPW)A voluntary environmental sustainability scheme established by the South African wine industry in 1998. IPW complies with international wine industry environmental sustainability criteria, including the ‘Global Wine Sector Environmental Sustainability Principles’ as published by the International Federation of Wine and Spirits (FIVS) and the ‘OIV. Guidelines for sustainable Viti-viniculture: Production, processing and packaging of products’ as published by the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV).The South Africa wine industry has launched the world’s first sustainability seal as a guarantee of eco-friendly production. Issued by the Wine and Spirit Board, the seal, intended for bottled wines only, is backed by a sophisticated tracking system in which bottle contents can be traced back to source at every stage of the supply chain to confirm the integrity of their production.For more information on the IPW, please see: Sustainable Wine

Cape Ardor – Environmental Program Support

Carbon Credits / Offsets

Starting in 2011, for all inbound shipping and national transport activities, we are implementing an annual evaluation of the amount of product we are moving around the U.S. We then will calculate the carbon credits required to offset our activities and purchase them through an accredited Carbon Credit broker. Our annual numbers will be posted upon availability.

For consumer shipments, we are using the UPS Carbon Neutral Shipping option, which will assess a small surcharge on package delivery to allow for appropriate Carbon Offsets to be purchased by UPS on behalf of Cape Ardor’s shipping activities. This process has been certified through the Carbon Neutral® protocol. For more information, please see details at UPS.

Cape Ardor – Social Program Support

Ashoka – Youth Venture

Youth Venture enables young people to learn early on in life that they can lead social change. Ashoka developed the concept of Youth Venture from understanding a key insight of Ashoka Fellows in the field of youth development: one of the most effective ways to improve the lives of youth is to empower them to realize their own ability to make positive social change. Youth Venture thus inspires and invests in teams of young people to start and lead their own social ventures, and is building a powerful network of young changemakers across the world. Youth Venture seeks to create impact by transforming:

The youth participant, through the enabling experience of starting a social venture
The youth team, as they learn important life skills and realize that they can create change
The community, as growing numbers of Youth Venture teams “tip” the local culture toward greater youth leadership
Society at large, by fundamentally redefining the role of young people as leaders of social change

Youth Venture plays a critical role in actualizing Ashoka’s vision of Everyone a Changemaker™. For more information, please visit Ashoka Youth Ventures.

Cape Ardor from time to time sponsors events with incentives given to consumers to actively donate to the Ashoka Youth Venture.

Cape Ardor also makes a portion of our budget available to subsidize wine at select fund raising events annually.

For more information about Cape Ardor’s programs, please Contact Us.