I have been thinking a lot about sustainability as of late. Well, I suppose that I always have since I was young – about environmental sustainability – although we didn’t call it that back then. As a pre-teen I was all about saving the earth and tried to get my pals and sisters to join my Kids for Saving Earth Club. In high school I was Environmental Minister on the school council and I stopped eating meat – something that I have held onto 29 years later. Caring for the earth – recycling, composting, shopping for secondhand clothes, conserving water/electricity – has just always been something that I’ve done. It’s just who I am. Sometimes I forget that the basic care that we can do for the planet isn’t universal. That not everyone also operates in the world this way.
Sustainability is a buzzword that has been tossed around a lot for the past while. I don’t think that that is a bad thing. Anything that is trending that is for the greater good of us and the planet is a wonderful thing. Sustainability comes in many forms including:
• sustainability for the planet – the care of it, the longevity of it
• sustainability for people – the quality of life they have, how they live and work and care for themselves and others
In a time when many governments are reversing policies aimed to positively help the environment – think Trump’s recent reversal of banning plastic straws and Carney’s promise that if he gets elected as the new Prime Minister of Canada, he’ll repel the ban on single-use plastics – it seems that the responsibility lies on all of us who care for the places we live and work in to take action.
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For the past three years we have worked closely with Torres Brandy on their global competition: Torres Brandy Zero Challenge. This is not a cocktail competition and instead, interested hospitality folks are asked to submit an idea for a sustainable bar project. The grand prize for this competition is 30K Euros to make said project come alive.
In 2024 when we attended the global finals for Torres Brandy Zero Challenge in Barcelona, I was amazed by the variety of project ideas that were presented by 10 bartenders from across the globe. My eyes were opened to how each country is facing different challenges in terms of sustainability and how these finalists were working to tackle these challenges.
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This past March I was able to attend the global finals again and this time around, I was amazed by the similarities of some of the projects that were submitted by the 11 national finalists. This year it felt that we were more united in our struggles, enforcing the importance of tackling some key issues.
Common themes were that we have to stop using so much plastic for things like coasters and instead look at alternatives. South Korea’s finalist Bean (Jaehyung) Jung and Romania’s finalist Adrian Epure both spoke about using spent coffee grinds to create objects like coasters. To use something that many of us discard daily and to create something useful is something that feels like a necessity. The UK’s finalist Chris Tanner’s project was all using PHA, a naturally fermented bioplastic that composts in six months without leaving toxic residues to create things like coasters. During his presentation, one of the judges said to Chris “well we should just stop using coasters!” and while that may seem like an easy solution, it’s not a practical one. Coasters serve a purpose (think sweaty cocktails on a hot patio!) so finding other ways to produce them will do a whole lot of good.
Spain’s Angel Pérez and Mexico’s Gerardo Vázquez Lugo both presented very different projects that dealt with composting and USA’s Lauren Pellecchia project was all about finding a new way to deal with glass bottles (ask her how much of the glass used in USA actually gets recycled. Hint: very little of it!). These three took an approach for how to deal with waste in their communities in thoughtful and creative ways – turning the waste into something productive.
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Another common theme in this year’s finalists was the need for community, for looking after one another, for caring about the mental health of the people who make up the hospitality industry. I truly believe that the importance of community – of real, in-person connections – is something that the pandemic showed us. When we were stuck at home in isolation, it was being away from these connections that really hurt a lot of us. Canadian finalist Lacey Roberts presented her project, Barside Gatherings, a community event that she has been hosting in British Columbia as a way for bartenders to share and swap swag/bar tools/books and to gain useful life skills from one another through seminars and workshops. Tommy Wong who represented Greater China at the Torres Brandy Zero Challenge presented his project that focused on fundraising that would go towards mental health support for industry folks. Finland finalist Mika Ammunét’s project was all about working hard and in community to avoid work burnout through education aimed to help people thrive in their jobs.
Norway’s Daniel Pappa ended up taking home the big win at this year’s Torres Brandy Zero Challenge for their project D.G.Æ (Ugly Duckling) – a speakeasy style bar located in the basement of SVANEN (Swan). SVANEN is a bar located in an old pharmacy that is originally from the late 1800s and due to the historical significance of the space, the team was limited in what they could renovate to make it a bar. It pays homage to this history. D.G.Æ is all about the now – and the future. Their goal is to be nearly zero waste by repurposing surplus or damaged farm products into syrups, cordials, sodas, liquors, and fruit wines. This supports local farmers, cuts costs, reduces plastic packaging, and lowers carbon emissions associated with imported goods. It’s a challenge that they are up to tackling – showing the rest of the world what can be done with some effort and creativity.
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Every project that was presented at the global finals for this competition was a knockout. Every one of them would offer a great positive impact on their local community. With competitions like this, the real value is in the meeting of people from around the world and the sharing of ideas and knowledge. This is how we get better and this is how we make real positive change for everyone.
Torres Brandy is a family business and has been for five generations. This is a company that truly cares about doing things not only good but also right. We’ve spoken in the past about all of their initiatives that they do including using ancestral grapes and collecting water to reuse. What’s important to note is that they didn’t create the Torres Brandy Zero Challenge competition to be current and trendy. They created it because this competition feeds into the ethos of the company. It is who they are. They are showing themselves as leaders in sustainability and it is such a pleasure to continue cheering alongside them.