Review and development of SWBC Standards and Assurance Framework

With the current shifts and emerging trends of international trade, sustainability is no longer a “nice to have” but a "must" to be competitive in the global wine marketplace. Numerous export markets from Europe to Asia and the U.S. now require farms and traders some type of sustainability certification or independent verification to access markets; retail markets that focus specifically on sustainable and responsible produced wines are expanding; and research and evidence show that consumers want to support conscientious businesses that are doing well by doing good—caring for nature and community.

In this context, the British Columbia Wine Grape Council created the Sustainable Winegrowers British Columbia Program (SWBC) to help vineyards and wineries adopt sustainable practices and measure and demonstrate ongoing improvement through a voluntary, self-assessment system.

This system is now evolving into a third party assessment aiming to reinforce the credibility of the SWBC program and ensure it is setting high and verifiable standards for sustainability; and as a result the SWBC Program partnered with SAN to request high level advice and technical support .

By providing its expert services, SAN supported the development of a thorough assurance framework for the SWBC, which included the technical review of their Sustainable Standards, the design of performance assessments protocols, and the setting up of a monitoring mechanism through the iHub, the SAN's data management platform.