Positive Power of Principled Profit
Volume 1, Number 4 - December, 2003

Positive Power Spotlight: Fetzer Vineyards: Sustainable and Profitable

Commercial wine growing is not always very good for the earth—or for its workers. Clear-cutting forests, heavy use of pesticides, and exploitive labor practices have been a part of the industry for decades.

So learning about Fetzer is a "sip" of fresh air.

Since the mid-eighties, when Paul Dolan took over as head of the company, it has pledged to be an industry leader in earth-friendly farming, sustainability in every aspect, and treating its employees well.

* All grapes in its own farmland are organically grown

* The company is using its leverage with other vineyards to encourage organic practices (and require them by 2010), and has used its success to influence other vineyards toward organic and sustainable practices

* The company's offices are housed in a building made of compressed earth and recycled lumber, and is primarily solar-powered

* Its vehicle fleet runs on biodiesel recaptured from local fast food restaurants (and the company is beginning to phase in solar and electric vehicles)

* Fetzer has raised wages, instituted immunization programs for its workers' children, and added no-cost English classes for its largely Mexican workforce

* The state of California considers Fetzer a "zero waste business"; waste was reduced 97 percent, from 1700 cubic yards down to 40—and the firm is working to reduce even that amount

Dolan's philosophy is summed up in a formula he calls "E3—economics, environment, and equity"—which is now a standard mantra, company-wide. People even talk about "E3ing an idea" before going forward. The company is very profitable, thank you, and has become a model not only for other California wineries, but for other companies within Brown-Forman, the conglomerate that owns Fetzer along with many other product lines.

"True to Our Roots" by Paul Dolan

What could be more fitting than a recommendation for Paul Dolan's book, "True to Our Roots: Fermenting a Business Revolution"? Through this book, I became aware of Fetzer's attempt to reengineer the entire American wine industry along sustainable principles.

A few quotes:

"Fetzer Vineyards increased earnings an average of 15 percent a year through the 1990s, while keeping its environmental and social responsibilities as top priorities. Our experience proves that operating on a more sustainable basis is not an economic liability. If anything, we see sustainability as an economic asset and a competitive advantage."

"A successful sustainable business... reaches out beyond the next four quarters, beyond the next five years, to consider what's ahead for the next generation. I is prosperous without being wasteful. It grows without mortgaging its future. It shares its discoveries without giving up its leadership. A successful business lives by its principles, and each new challenge is an opportunity to express those principles more fully, not abandon them conveniently."

Taking a stand is different from taking a position. Gandhi did not take a position that the British salt laws were bad, or unfair, or illegal. They may have been all that, but he was not interested in taking a position about them. He wanted to end them. So he took a stand. There is a huge difference."

(I wish I had space to reprint Dolan's vision of a sustainable society based on sustainable business. If you get the book, it's on pages 150-151.)

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