Eight out of 10 indies want suppliers to act sustainably

It’s often said that, ultimately, only consumer pressure can persuade producers and retailers to make decisions that will benefit the planet.

That may well be true. But this year there’s no sign that such pressure is necessarily building among the people who frequent independent wine shops.

We asked respondents if more of their customers are now demanding products with sound environmental credentials

Last year, the proportion agreeing with this stood at 56%; this year it’s 55%. (In both surveys, the proportion agreeing strongly, rather than “to some degree”, was 11%, and the proportion disagreeing was 15%).

So what about the merchants themselves? This year, 64% say they are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint, not far off the 65% we recorded in the 2022 survey.

For the first time, we asked respondents how much it matters to them that suppliers and producers act in a sustainable way The vast majority, it seems, do care about these things, with 27% saying they agree strongly with the statement and 54% agreeing to some degree.