Certified Alternative
Alko’s Certified Alternative is a product responsibility concept that compiles responsibility certifications in the beverage industry.
The Certified Alternative concept, as the name suggests, compiles products with various responsibility certifications. The concept takes the areas of responsibility that are essential for the beverage industry into account: the environmental impacts of cultivation and production, as well as working conditions. The Certified Alternative has replaced the previous Green Choice concept.
The beverage industry has a wide variety of international, national and regional certifications, with varying coverage in these areas. In future, we will therefore the responsibility work behind the products more transparently highlight with the aid of colour markings for the different certification categories.
In stores, the Certified Alternative products can be identified by a shelf speaker – that is, a label attached to the product’s price tag. In addition, the price tag specifies which categories are covered by the product certification with the aid of colour identifiers. Behind the labels is a joint benchmark study of Nordic alcohol monopolies’ certifications in the beverage sector that examines several responsibility indicators.
Certifications, their categories and areas of operation acknowledged in the Certified Alternative concept can be found on this list. The certificate logos granted for the product can be found on the product packaging or label.
Cultivation
The wellbeing of soil is vital for the alcoholic beverage industry, as the production of beverages depends on the production of grapes and grain. Healthy soil sustains crop yields, promotes pollination, protects against pests and diseases, regulates and purifies water, recycles nutrients, and binds carbon. Cultivation is one of the most important areas of environmental responsibility in the alcoholic beverage industry, which is why it now has its own label. The cultivation category looks at several areas important for cultivation:
- Long-term soil health
- Crop / pest management
- Use of fertilizers
- Biodiversity
- Energy use and climate impact
- Waste management
- Water use, conservation and treatment
Most certifications in the beverage industry cover both cultivation and production. However, there are also purely cultivation-related certifications on the market, such as organic, with which many people are familiar. In addition, in recent years, the beverage sector has also received new types of certifications for regenerative farming.
The cultivation category can be identified by the brown colour marking.
Read more about the importance of cultivation in the production of alcoholic beverages.
Learn more about the environmental impact of alcoholic beverage production.
Production
Most environmental responsibility certifications in the beverage sector cover both the cultivation of raw materials and the production phases of beverages. At the production stage, climate issues are particularly emphasised, as energy is used for the maintenance, cooling, heating and lighting of production facilities, the beverage production process, and the transport of raw materials and finished products. Packaging and water use also have a major impact on the environmental responsibility of a product. The production certification category examines the following areas:
- Energy use and climate impact
- Water use, conservation and treatment
- Waste management
- Packaging
The production category can be identified by a violet colour marking.
Learn more about the environmental impact of alcoholic beverage production.
Learn more about the role of packaging in the product’s carbon footprint.
Working conditions
The working conditions symbol serves as an umbrella for ethical certifications whose criteria focus particularly on human wellbeing, but also on environmental perspectives in different phases of production. Ethical certifications often originate in emerging countries, in which local legislation is often weak or not complied with. Certification provides tools that can help winegrowers deal with challenges in agricultural primary production, for example:
- Freedom of association
- No discrimination
- Living wage
- Decent working hours
- Occupational health and safety
- No child labour
- Special protection for young workers
- No precarious employment
- No forced labour
- Ethical business behavior
The working conditions category can be identified by an orange colour marking.
