Chivas Brothers Aims to ‘Shape the Future of Sustainable Scotch’ With $75M Pledge Toward Carbon Neutrality

(Photo: Chivas Brothers)

On Thursday, Chivas Brothers announced the company would pledge over £60 million ($75 million) toward reducing carbon emissions. The investment plan is charted to take place over the next three years, with the aim of achieving carbon-neutral distillation at the end of 2026.

The Pernod Ricard-owned brand announced the initiatives in light of its quarterly earnings. Chivas Brothers reported a successful year, with net sales up by 17% — a 10-year high for the brand.

In order to protect the future of scotch whisky production, Chivas Brothers plans on allocating the investment to building heat recovery technology and the installation of electric boilers at qualifying distilleries. The brand plans to invest in strategic inventory management, which will allow it to meet global demand while focusing on sustainability.

“The historic highs we’re seeing across our strategic brands signal the success of our premiumization strategy which has enabled Chivas Brothers to outperform the market,” Chivas Brothers Chairman and CEO Jean-Etienne Gourgues said in a news release. “Our highest growth of the last decade reinforces our position to shape the future of sustainable Scotch while continuing to meet demand. We have fast-tracked a number of sustainability initiatives to meet our own ambitious targets and remain committed to supporting the industry in ushering in this new era – as we demonstrated earlier this year by making our heat recovery findings open source.”

In July, Chivas Brothers shared its carbon-reducing technology with the scotch whisky industry, more specifically its heat recovery technology, according to The Spirits Business. The technology was used at the Glentauchers distillery and cut the facility’s carbon emissions in half, proving successful. Gourgues touted the importance of the scotch community working collectively toward a common goal when the technology was released to the scotch whisky world.

“Collaboration across our industry will be fundamental if we are to meet collective ambitions around sustainability, safeguarding the long-term future of our product and our planet,” Gourgues concluded.

Join the Whiskey Raiders Bottle of the Month Club, where you will receive hard-to-find bottles curated by Whiskey Raiders staff with a 90+ rating on whiskeyraiders.com plus live virtual tastings. Sign up here!