Serving as Good Stewards of our Environment and Natural Resources

As an agricultural-based company, Constellation Brands relies on water, land and other resources for our continued growth and success. In order to safeguard natural resources, we are committed to serving as good stewards of the environment by ensuring that our facilities operate sustainably and by putting measures in place to help reduce our use of precious natural resources. Beyond our operations, this focus on sustainability is also critical to the people, communities, and environments where we operate.

 

Improving Water Availability & Resilience for Our Communities Where We Operate

We recognize access to clean water is a human right and critical to help build strong communities and businesses. It is, therefore, our responsibility to be good stewards of the water we use while working to help ensure the resiliency of water resources for future generations. In our operations, we continue implementing disciplined water management strategies and investing in water efficiency measures.

But that’s only part of our approach, as we believe water challenges are bigger than any one organization can tackle. Our people and our communities make us who we are, so we are promoting water resiliency where we live and work—listening, collaborating, and treating natural resources with respect while investing in public infrastructure and watershed health for our collective benefit.

Our ambition is to protect the water resources in the communities where we operate by collaborating with community leaders and organizations to support local watersheds and enable the restoration of water consumed by our operations. As such, the water accessibility projects and water infrastructure improvements we have supported are expected to help approximately 11,150 people.

In fiscal year 2022, we developed a water restoration target to restore approximately 1.1 billion gallons of water withdrawals from local watersheds between fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2025, and in fiscal year 2023, we surpassed our initial water withdrawal restoration target ahead of our fiscal year 2025 timeline.

Now we have set a more ambitious target, we are targeting to restore 5 billion gallons of water withdrawals from local watersheds, while improving accessibility and quality of water for communities where we operate between fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2025.

Our Operating divisions are contributing to our total company targets by leaning into the components of our strategy that best meet the needs of communities they operate in while maintaining focus on operational improvements that align with the unique aspects of each production process. Here’s how our divisions are turning the strategy into practice.

 

Water Stewardship Efforts in our Mexican Beer Operations

With our beer operations achieving some of the best-in-class water efficiency metrics in the industry, the strategy for our Mexican beer operations puts greater emphasis on water restoration and infrastructure improvement for the communities where we operate in Mexico. Critical projects have been identified through community collaboration and input and guidance from third-party water restoration organizations. For example, to improve water quality in the Nava area, we have partnered with Pronatura Noreste, investing in a 10-year project that will help restore the Bravo Conchos basin in the Serranía del Burro. In Obregon, we have worked with local organizations to construct three dams along the Yaqui Valley canal that help improve water management efficiency, recovering volumes of water that play a vital role in the sustainability of the region.

Water Stewardship Efforts in our Wine & Spirits Operating Regions

In our California operations, we are working to improve water efficiency by implementing employee education programs and supporting greater adherence to water management best practices to further reduce our overall water withdrawal and use. We have invested in expanded sub-metering and instrumentation within our facilities to provide improved monitoring and tracking, helping to optimize the operational management of water.

While we remain committed to efficient operations and employee education within our company, we know that effective water stewardship is not something we can achieve alone. We believe the most impactful opportunity to advance our water stewardship is through broader community engagement. We continue to evaluate affiliations and programs focused on protecting higher-risk watersheds to engage in more nature-based solutions such as reforestation, waterway rehabilitation, and wetland and groundwater restoration, and to help protect and ensure the future resiliency and integrity of the watersheds.

Progress on Water Stewardship

Constellation Brands participates in the CDP Water Security annual reporting process. For a copy of our report, please visit http://www.cdp.net/.

Reducing GHG Emissions & Doing Our Part to Limit Global Warming

As part of our commitment to protect the environment and the communities where we operate and live, we continue our efforts to reduce GHG emissions by decreasing dependence on non-renewable energy sources and lowering overall energy consumption. We monitor certain aspects of our GHG footprint on a per liter of product produced over time basis.

To help us better understand continued opportunities, we track our emissions of four major GHGs that are relevant to our business: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), in accordance with the international guidelines of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which was developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. We express our carbon footprint in terms of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e).

Our near-term focus to help reduce the impacts of climate change is a target to reduce our GHG Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 15% by Fiscal Year 2025* To deliver this target we are focused on three areas of opportunity:

• Optimizing our energy efficiency
• Investing in renewable energy
• Supporting green energy initiatives of our footprint by participating in the carbon market

*From baseline Fiscal Year 2020 Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions

We are working to convert our operations to optimize energy efficiency and implement sustainable energy solutions and technologies. Within our Wine & Spirits operations, we are investing in renewable energy. We have implemented solar energy technology at The Prisoner Wine Company in California and at three Ruffino facilities in Italy to provide local renewable energy that advances our ongoing transition away from fossil fuel-derived energy sources. Meanwhile, we plan to convert a portion of our Beer operations to natural gas and invest in wind farms. We anticipate these collective efforts will represent approximately half of our target GHG emission reductions by fiscal year 2025.

We recognize that thoughtful collaboration and alignment across our value chain is needed to improve our Scope 3 GHG data collection and benchmarking in an effort to enhance data accuracy. We’re continuing to make progress by improving and expanding our Scope 3 GHG emissions data collection process while working to better understand opportunities to reduce GHG emissions in our value chain through stakeholder assessments, supplier surveys, and sharing of best practices.

Progress on Global GHG Emissions

Constellation Brands participates in the CDP Climate Change annual reporting process. For a copy of our report, please visit http://www.cdp.net/.

Commitment to Waste Reduction and Circular Packaging

Waste is a part of any production process, and we are continually improving the ways we manage our waste to reduce the environmental impact of our waste generation, transportation and disposition. For this reason, we are implementing plans to reduce our operational waste and significantly enhance our use of circular packaging across our beverage alcohol portfolio.

As part of this commitment, the company will execute plans to attain TRUE Zero Waste to Landfill Certification in its key operating facilities1 by fiscal year 2025 by further reducing operational waste across our facilities and enhancing diversion from landfills. TRUE Zero Waste to Landfill Certification is the first zero waste certification program dedicated to measuring, improving, and recognizing zero waste performance by encouraging the adoption of sustainable materials management and reduction practices which contribute to positive environmental, health, and economic outcomes.

To achieve our goal of significantly enhancing circular packaging across our beverage alcohol portfolio by fiscal year 2025, we plan to:

  • Reduce ratio2 of packaging weight to product weight by 10% across our Wine & Spirits portfolio3.
  • Ensure that 80% of packaging from our Wine & Spirits portfolio is returnable, recyclable, or renewable.
  • Replace hi-cone plastic rings with recyclable paperboard for all applicable 4-pack and 6-pack SKUs across our Beer portfolio.

1 Key operating facilities, for the purposes of this target, consist of our major production facilities (i.e., our breweries in Mexico and our U.S. wineries generating the vast majority of waste).
2 Total packaging weight vs weight of wine or spirits liquid.
3 From baseline fiscal year 2022 ratio of packaging weight to product weight in Wine & Spirits portfolio.

Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability (EHSS) Global Policy Statement

Constellation Brands is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment and developing a culture where every employee takes responsibility for their own safety as well as the safety of others while minimizing our impact on the environment in the communities where we live, work and source. Our management team and employees work together with a sense of shared responsibility to ensure that we operate our business in compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements in each market where we operate around the world.

As an agriculture-based company, environmental issues are not only important to us – they are an essential component to our continued growth and success. Because we rely on the land for our livelihood, it is critical that Constellation does all it can to ensure clean water, air and soil at all of our sites and in all of the countries and communities where we operate. Our aim is to look for ways to improve the environment, while also minimizing Constellation’s collective environmental impact.

 

Amplifying Our Efforts Through Certifications & Programs

We understand that much of what we do to advance sustainability can be amplified through our conservation and sustainability certifications and our participation in industry programs, which share a wide range of best practices and help us measure progress.

Enhancing our Sustainability Rigor Through Certification

Biodiversity Friend Certification

“Biodiversity Friend” is a standard certification developed in 2010 by World Biodiversity Association to evaluate biodiversity and promote its conservation in agriculture. The procedure to obtain the certification considers the environmental impacts of the agricultural activities on the agrosystem and the biodiversity and suggests operational strategies to improve the environmental quality of the agriculture areas. Our Ruffino Group in Italy is certified under the Biodiversity Friend Certification.

California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance

All of our California wineries and vineyards are proud to be certified as part of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance third-party Certification Program. The program is based on 227 best management practices and 58 prerequisites covering environmental practices and socially equitable business practices. The goals of the program are to enhance transparency, encourage statewide participation and advance the entire California wine industry toward best practices in environmental stewardship, conservation of resources and socially equitable business practices.

Fish Friendly Farming

Fish Friendly Farming is a certification program for agricultural properties managed to restore fish and wildlife habitat and improve water quality. More than 1,300 acres of Constellation vineyards in Napa and Sonoma counties are certified in the Fish Friendly Farming program. The third-party certification is provided by the California Department of Fish and Game, regional water boards, and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

ISO 14001

ISO 14001 is the world’s most recognized framework for environmental management systems. Earning certification to this standard highlights a facility’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint. Achievement of the ISO 14001 certification requires that a company have a culture of environmental responsibility, and a commitment to reducing its potential impact on the environment. Our Ruffino group facilities (Ruffino Srl and Tenute Ruffino Srl Società Agricola, situated in Tuscany and Poderi Ducali Srl Società Agricola in the Veneto Region (North of Italy)) are certified under ISO 14001:2015.

Napa Green Certification

Napa Green is a voluntary program focused on independently certified, environmentally sound farming and production methods that meet and exceed local, federal and state “best practices.” “Napa Valley vintners and growers develop farm-specific plans tailored to protect and enhance the ecological quality of the region. The Napa Green programs are open to all Napa County vintners and grape growers.” There are two certification programs: Napa Green Certified Land and Napa Green Certified Winery. Robert Mondavi Winery and The Prisoner Wine Company are certified under Napa Green Certified Winery certification.

Leading Harvest

Leading Harvest is a nonprofit organization committed to increasing the adoption of sustainability practices in agriculture for all stakeholders across the agricultural value chain. The organization provides assurance programs comprised of standards, audit procedures, training and education, and reporting and claim offerings that are optimized for flexibility, scalability, and impact.

National Quality System of Integrated Production (SQNPI) Certification

The National Quality System of Integrated Production (SQNPI) in Italy is aimed at the enhancement of agricultural and agri-food production. It provides for the certification of an integrated production process that combines good agronomic practices with a sustainable use of fertilizers and phytosanitary products, to meet the dual goals of strong agricultural practices and low environmental impact. Our Ruffino Group is certified under the SQNPI Certification.

Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand

All of our wineries in New Zealand are proud to be members of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, an industry group established in 1995. Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand provides members with environmental best practices for the vineyard and the winery, an external audit structure, and much more. The group also addresses consumer concerns about the environmental impacts of the products its members produce.

DRIVING IMPROVEMENT THROUGH COLLABORATIVE INDUSTRY PROGRAMS

Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable

Constellation Brands is a member of the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER), a technical coalition of leading global beverage companies working together to advance environmental sustainability within the beverage sector. Through BIER, we work with other members to monitor and inform the development of climate change policy initiatives and work to ensure policy compliance through common guidance for calculating, tracking, and reporting sustainability impacts such as water security within the beverage sector. Our participation enables us to provide our industry’s unique perspective on water stewardship and climate change issues, while working collaboratively to develop best practices and industry guidance. Our Corporate Environmental Sustainability manager serves as a Member Chair in BIER.

Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) Environmental Sustainability Committee

DISCUS is the national trade association representing leading producers and marketers of distilled spirits products in the United States. Over the years, DISCUS has served as the distillers’ voice on policy and legislative issues in the United States’ capital, state capitals and foreign capitals worldwide. DISCUS sustainability strategies include land stewardship, responsible water use, energy reduction, Circular Material Syncing, waste reduction and evaluating transport burdens. Our Corporate Environmental Sustainability manager is a member of the DISCUS Environmental Sustainability Committee.

International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA)

International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) is a collaborative working group of environmentally committed wineries focused on a science-based approach to reducing carbon emissions across the wine industry. Constellation Brands Fine Wine (U.S.), a member of IWCA, is comprised of four key wineries producing several iconic and well-known brands including Robert Mondavi, The Prisoner, To Kalon Wine Company and Schrader, to name a few.

Tennessee Sustainable Spirits

Tennessee Sustainable Spirits (“Sustainable Spirits”) is a voluntary recognition and technical assistance program administered by The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Office of Policy and Sustainable Practices. The program seeks to reduce operational costs and environmental impacts for wineries and wine growers, breweries, and distilleries as well as serve as a gateway to sustainability education through popular brands. It assists wineries and wine growers, breweries, and distilleries in improving operational sustainability by promoting best practices, providing technical assistance, and developing relationships. Our Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery is a member.

Enhancing our Sustainability Rigor Through Certification

Biodiversity Friend Certification

“Biodiversity Friend” is a standard certification developed in 2010 by World Biodiversity Association to evaluate biodiversity and promote its conservation in agriculture. The procedure to obtain the certification considers the environmental impacts of the agricultural activities on the agrosystem and the biodiversity and suggests operational strategies to improve the environmental quality of the agriculture areas. Our Ruffino Group in Italy is certified under the Biodiversity Friend Certification.

California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance

All of our California wineries and vineyards are proud to be certified as part of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance third-party Certification Program. The program is based on 227 best management practices and 58 prerequisites covering environmental practices and socially equitable business practices. The goals of the program are to enhance transparency, encourage statewide participation and advance the entire California wine industry toward best practices in environmental stewardship, conservation of resources and socially equitable business practices.

Fish Friendly Farming

Fish Friendly Farming is a certification program for agricultural properties managed to restore fish and wildlife habitat and improve water quality. More than 1,300 acres of Constellation vineyards in Napa and Sonoma counties are certified in the Fish Friendly Farming program. The third-party certification is provided by the California Department of Fish and Game, regional water boards, and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

ISO 14001

ISO 14001 is the world’s most recognized framework for environmental management systems. Earning certification to this standard highlights a facility’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint. Achievement of the ISO 14001 certification requires that a company have a culture of environmental responsibility, and a commitment to reducing its potential impact on the environment. Our Ruffino group facilities (Ruffino Srl and Tenute Ruffino Srl Società Agricola, situated in Tuscany and Poderi Ducali Srl Società Agricola in the Veneto Region (North of Italy)) are certified under ISO 14001:2015.

Napa Green Certification

Napa Green is a voluntary program focused on independently certified, environmentally sound farming and production methods that meet and exceed local, federal and state “best practices.” “Napa Valley vintners and growers develop farm-specific plans tailored to protect and enhance the ecological quality of the region. The Napa Green programs are open to all Napa County vintners and grape growers.” There are two certification programs: Napa Green Certified Land and Napa Green Certified Winery. Robert Mondavi Winery and The Prisoner Wine Company are certified under Napa Green Certified Winery certification.

Leading Harvest

Leading Harvest is a nonprofit organization committed to increasing the adoption of sustainability practices in agriculture for all stakeholders across the agricultural value chain. The organization provides assurance programs comprised of standards, audit procedures, training and education, and reporting and claim offerings that are optimized for flexibility, scalability, and impact.

National Quality System of Integrated Production (SQNPI) Certification

The National Quality System of Integrated Production (SQNPI) in Italy is aimed at the enhancement of agricultural and agri-food production. It provides for the certification of an integrated production process that combines good agronomic practices with a sustainable use of fertilizers and phytosanitary products, to meet the dual goals of strong agricultural practices and low environmental impact. Our Ruffino Group is certified under the SQNPI Certification.

Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand

All of our wineries in New Zealand are proud to be members of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, an industry group established in 1995. Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand provides members with environmental best practices for the vineyard and the winery, an external audit structure, and much more. The group also addresses consumer concerns about the environmental impacts of the products its members produce.

DRIVING IMPROVEMENT THROUGH COLLABORATIVE INDUSTRY PROGRAMS

Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable

Constellation Brands is a member of the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER), a technical coalition of leading global beverage companies working together to advance environmental sustainability within the beverage sector. Through BIER, we work with other members to monitor and inform the development of climate change policy initiatives and work to ensure policy compliance through common guidance for calculating, tracking, and reporting sustainability impacts such as water security within the beverage sector. Our participation enables us to provide our industry’s unique perspective on water stewardship and climate change issues, while working collaboratively to develop best practices and industry guidance. Our Corporate Environmental Sustainability manager serves as a Member Chair in BIER.

Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) Environmental Sustainability Committee

DISCUS is the national trade association representing leading producers and marketers of distilled spirits products in the United States. Over the years, DISCUS has served as the distillers’ voice on policy and legislative issues in the United States’ capital, state capitals and foreign capitals worldwide. DISCUS sustainability strategies include land stewardship, responsible water use, energy reduction, Circular Material Syncing, waste reduction and evaluating transport burdens. Our Corporate Environmental Sustainability manager is a member of the DISCUS Environmental Sustainability Committee.

International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA)

International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) is a collaborative working group of environmentally committed wineries focused on a science-based approach to reducing carbon emissions across the wine industry. Constellation Brands Fine Wine (U.S.), a member of IWCA, is comprised of four key wineries producing several iconic and well-known brands including Robert Mondavi, The Prisoner, To Kalon Wine Company and Schrader, to name a few.

Tennessee Sustainable Spirits

Tennessee Sustainable Spirits (“Sustainable Spirits”) is a voluntary recognition and technical assistance program administered by The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Office of Policy and Sustainable Practices. The program seeks to reduce operational costs and environmental impacts for wineries and wine growers, breweries, and distilleries as well as serve as a gateway to sustainability education through popular brands. It assists wineries and wine growers, breweries, and distilleries in improving operational sustainability by promoting best practices, providing technical assistance, and developing relationships. Our Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery is a member.